Page 55 of Defiant Devotion

“And now you have one.”

“Do I?” he asked, making eye contact again.

“Are you asking me if you’re the father of this baby?” I accused, narrowing my eyes.

He chuckled, that delicious, deep sound I was coming to love. “No. I’m asking if I have a family with you. If we’re in this together.”

“How can you ask that?”

“I can ask that because I need to know.” He leaned in to kiss me soundly. “I need to know if you really want to be mine.” Another drugging kiss. “If you want to be with me and raise this baby together.” Once more, he laid his hot lips on mine, kissing me until I moaned with need. Damn, was he potent.

When he reared back, staring at me, I nodded. “Yeah, I want that, too. I kind of assumed you were interested in… something with me when we kept having sex.”

“It’s not just sex I want with you,” he murmured.

“But I couldn’t tell if you wanted me, or what you wanted.”

“I want to kill Eric for you. I want to raise our child together. I’ll kill O’Malley so he’s not a threat. I’ll kill the Petrovs and Ilyins. Any rival who threatens you. I want no threats coming from any direction when I’m focusing on my family.” A goofy grin lifted his lips. “Myfamily. It feels so right to say that. I’m done with the solo, nomadic hitman life, Sonya. I want you. I want our family.”

This time, I was the one who leaned in to kiss him deeply. He grunted and held me close, encouraging me to practically climb onto his lap.

Only the nurse coming into the room to discharge me prevented us from getting carried away with lust and need.

As soon as Ben handled the payment and billing details, everything sent to him, we walked out of the room with the peace of mind that nothing was wrong with our baby. Now that I had ultrasound pictures, I felt like it was so much more real. It was stupid to think that. Of course, the baby was real. But seeing him or her in a black-and-white image was different. A pregnancy milestone, I supposed.

“Are you ready to go see Oleg now?” he asked in the elevator. He’d closed the doors but hesitated before tapping a button for a floor. “You didn’t really have a chance to see him before.”

I nodded. “Is everyone else still up there in his room?”

“Lev will be. Vik too. I bet the women will still be there as well.” He tapped the button for Oleg’s floor. “Eva is at home, but Irina and Kelly were there when I stopped in there earlier.”

“And you didn’t tell them I was back?”

“No. I gave you my word, Sonya, and you can always trust in that.”

I think I’m already in love with you.I smiled instead of sharing such a declaration. It seemed surreal to fall in love this quickly. Things were moving so rapidly between us, but in life-or-death circumstances, that wasn’t too surprising.

We walked toward my uncle’s room for the second time. Two Baranov guards stood at the door, narrowing their eyes at us as we approached.

Ben nodded at them.

“Warner,” one greeted dryly.

“Lev said no more visitors,” the other guard said.

“You’re going to tell me I can’t see my uncle?” I challenged.

It took them a moment, but they both reacted by dropping their jaws.

“Sonya?” one asked, eyes wide with shock.

I nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve been waiting eleven years for this moment.”

Ben held my hand as he opened the door, leaving the stunned guards outside.

I held my breath slightly, apprehensive about what I’d face in this room this time.

No guard was attempting to smother my uncle. No nurse was on her way to inject something into his body. And no corpses lay on the floor. The cleanup had been done.

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