Page 42 of Dirty Behavior

One life had been hard enough to keep above water, but now my body felt charged. Nothing was going to happen to her, I wasn't going to allow it. I would take a million fucking bullets just to keep her alive.

I loved Ivy.

And I didn't even have to question what I felt for that baby growing inside her.

I loved our child too.

Dragging my hand over my head, my fingers skated my cheek, scratching at my chin. “Wow.” I could feel my chest tighten as my lungs began to strain for air. “Wow,” I said again, my mouth a mix of a smile and a frown.

“I can't tell if that's a good sign or a bad one.” Hanging her head, Ivy stared at the empty space between her legs.

I wanted to tell her it was good, that it was fucking incredible. I wanted to grab her and hug her and tell her that this baby would mean the world to me. That I was going to teach our child everything it needed to know and that our future was going to be incredible.

But that would be a lie. I didn't have a fucking clue what was going to happen tomorrow, the next day, next week. I couldn't guarantee her that both of us would be walking away from this unscathed.

I just didn't know. There was no way I could make her empty promises of a long life together, not with what I planned to do.

Shock had stunned my vocal cords, shredding their ability to function. The words couldn't make their way through the jumbled mess of crazy thoughts that were rolling around my brain like a fucking freight train.

The stakes were higher now, the fear of Ivy getting hurt just jumped up one hundred percent. . . This changed everything.

Her life had been stolen, our world was still ruled by the evil man who destroyed her from the inside out. I had come in and whisked her away. I had taken the only thing Remo had even wanted her for; her virginity.

Now she was pregnant. Ivy was carrying my child.

How do you put into words the emotions that strike you after learning something that heavy? I couldn't. She needed me more then ever and I wasn't about to let her down.

I won't let them down.

Two lives depended on me, two lives needed safety, two worlds that deserved the fucking moon. Determination was the only feeling that wrapped around my muscles, my arms thickened, my chest puffed up.

Bittersweet, that's what this was. I had everything I never thought I wanted; a reason to be better, a reason to feel, a reason to pull myself out of hell and actually walk this earth like the human I was supposed to be. She had flipped a switch inside my soul, breathing life back into this heartless monster.

Ivy was the beauty, I was the beast.

But she found the good in me, I could never thank her enough for showing me a different way.

Killing had been a way of life for me before, but now it was just a way to keep my family alive.

Because that's what she was; Ivy was family.

This is my family.

“I love you, Ivy, and I'm going to love this baby.” Coiling my fingers into hers, I used my other hand to cup her chin and force her head up. “Look at me,” I said as her eyes stayed static, empty and lost. “But you know what this means now, don't you?”

She had to know what I was getting at. She was pregnant, I didn't want her to help me before, there was no way in hell I'd ever let her help me now. That was my child in there, my flesh and bone. She was carrying my legacy. . .

Our legacy.

I would never let her get close enough to even smell Remo ever again, nevermind run beside me to end his life.

Not one piece of me cared if she disagreed, I didn't give a shit how much she might try and protest my decision. Ivy was staying put.

Her eyes danced between mine, reaching for the answer. “I won't run away from this, Dante. I won't let this baby live in danger, we aren't leaving until it's done.”

“Ivy—”

“No.” The word shot out, her voice stern and concrete. “We're ending this once and for all.” Rubbing her belly, her skin glowed like honey. “I'm not running forever, this baby deserves a life, agood life.We won't be able to give it that if Remo's still breathing, he'll haunt us till we die.”

---