Page 84 of Mafia Pregnancy

“He’s at the safehouse in Orange County with Molly and Carmen. They’ll bring him back tomorrow once you’re feeling better.” I help him adjust the pillows so he can sit up morecomfortably. “He doesn’t know what happened. They told him it was a short vacation because we were busy with work stuff.”

Relief crosses his features as he processes that our son is protected and unaware of how dangerous the day became. “Good. He doesn’t need to know about any of this.”

I nod before we settle into comfortable silence for several minutes while I study his face for signs of pain or distress. The through-and-through bullet wound was serious enough to require surgery, but the private medical team Andrei arranged provided excellent care without the complications that would have come with a hospital visit.

“Danielle.” Radmir’s voice draws my attention back to his eyes. “About what you said before you walked away from me… About choosing between you and thebratva…”

I tense, not ready for this conversation while he’s still recovering from surgery. “We don’t have to talk about this now.”

“Yes, we do.” He turns slightly to face me more directly, despite the obvious discomfort the movement causes. “What happened today proved you were right about everything.”

The admission surprises me with its immediacy and completeness. “Radmir?—”

“My world nearly got you and our daughter killed. It put Leo in danger and forced you to make choices no one should have to make.” His voice carries absolute conviction despite its weakness. “I can’t ask you to live like that, and I can’t raise children in a world where loving me makes them targets.”

I study his expression, looking for any sign that pain medication or stress is affecting his judgment. Instead, I find only clarityand determination that suggests he’s been thinking about this decision for longer than today’s crisis. “What are you saying?” My stomach clenches as I prepare myself to hear he’s sending us away, even as I hope he’s choosing a different path.

“I’m saying I’m done with all of it.” He meets my eyes directly. “Andrei can have control of the organization, or we can dismantle it entirely. I don’t care what happens to the business as long as my family is safe.”

The words should fill me with relief and joy, but instead, they make me worry about what he’s giving up and whether he’ll resent the sacrifice later. “That’s your life’s work. Everything you’ve built.”

“Everything I built was just a way to survive until I found something worth living for.” He brings my hand to his lips and presses a gentle kiss to my palm. “You and Leo and our daughter are worth more than any empire I could ever create.”

Tears blur my vision as the weight of his choice settles over me. “You’re sure? Once you walk away, there might not be a path back.”

“There’s no path back from being dead either, which is where I was heading if I’d kept prioritizing business over family.” He reaches up to touch my face with careful fingers. “I love you, Danielle. I should have said it weeks ago, but I was too afraid of what it might mean.”

The confession breaks down everything I’ve been holding back since the day I walked away from him. “I love you too. That’s why I was so scared of your world, because losing you would destroy me just as surely as losing our children to your world would.”

“You’re not going to lose me or them.” He pulls me down for a kiss. “Not to enemies, business, or anything that doesn’t matter more than this, which is nothing. You and the children are my world.”

When we break apart, I rest my forehead against his and breathe in the reality of having him alive and safe and choosing us over everything else. “What happens now?”

“We figure out how to be a family without looking over our shoulders for threats.” He traces patterns on my cheek with his thumb. “We find somewhere safe to raise our children and teach Leo about dinosaurs and help our daughter discover what she loves about the world.”

The picture he paints sounds like everything I’ve wanted but never dared hope to have. “Do you think you can just walk away from fifteen years of building an organization?”

“I can do anything if it means keeping you.” His voice grows stronger despite his physical weakness. “Today taught me power means nothing if you can’t protect the people you love.”

I lean into his touch and let myself believe this might actually work. The man I fell in love with can become the father and partner Leo and our daughter need without the constant threat of violence shadowing our lives. “I was so scared when I saw you collapse.” The memory of him falling to his knees, blood soaking through his shirt, makes me shiver despite the warm room. “I thought I’d lost you before I could tell you how I really felt.”

“What do you really feel?” He studies my face with the intensity he brings to everything that matters to him.

“That I want to build something with you. Not just survive together but actually create a life worth living.” I take a shakybreath. “ I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep in your arms every night. I want to watch you teach our children about the world and help them become whomever they’re meant to be.”

“That sounds like a pretty good plan.” He shifts carefully to make room for me on the bed. “Come here.”

I settle beside him with careful attention to his injury, curling against his uninjured side while he wraps his arm around me. The position allows me to rest my head on his shoulder while keeping weight off his wounded side.

“This is the first time we’ve been together without either of us planning to run away afterward.” His observation carries wonder and relief in equal measure.

“It feels different.” I trace gentle patterns on his chest, avoiding the bandaged area where surgery repaired the bullet damage. “Like we’re both finally in the same place at the same time.”

“We are.” He tightens his arm around me. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The simple promise carries weight that has nothing to do with geography or physical location. He’s talking about emotional availability and choosing to stay present and committed instead of maintaining the distance that’s characterized most of our relationship.

“Show me.” The words come out softly, and I don’t take them back.

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