Page 79 of Captive Vows
Protecting her was ingrained in my psyche now, and that would fall onto our child as well.
“I’m not marrying you,” she repeated, not softening at all. “I don’t need to feelmoretrapped and stuck here.”
“It’s funny that I haven’t heard you complain much yet.”
She glowered at me, sharpening the fierce anger in her eyes. As if she could bore me with the wrath of her laser-like stare.
“I hated to be trapped and stuck. I can’t stand the worry that as long as I’m here, I have no choice in anything. You’ve kept mehere without a break. And I’ve overheard enough of the horrors that happen outside these walls to convince me that there will never be any peace if I stay.”
I shook my head slightly. I heard her, but it wasn’t enough to convince me to think otherwise. I wouldn’t budge. Maybe pushing the idea of marrying her was a rash and impulsive concept that could wait. Letting her stay as my mistress didn’t quite cut it.
“You will have no say in this. No possible means to change my mind.” I would lock down on this, on her, regardless of what she said. “And from this moment forward, I forbid you from even thinking about leaving.”
“Just because you knocked me up?” she exclaimed. “I don’t need you to help raise this baby. You’ve got Emil. You’ve got your army. Just let me have this child and enjoy having a real family for the first time in my life.”
“No.”Fuck no.“You will stay here. I will have Allen arrange for an appointment with a doctor to begin the checkups now.”
Leaving her with that final, last word, I turned and exited her room.
Distance felt both right and wrong where she was concerned. It was hot to see her so furious and mad. She had never looked so alive and full of fight like that.
But I needed a step back. Again. With her keeping my life interesting and never the same, I had to temper my fight, too. If I used too much of a control on her, I just knew her spirit would diminish because I was in charge and I was the Alpha. I didn’t want to crush her soul. I didn’t want to make her not fight back.
In the light of this pregnancy news, though, space was needed. We both would benefit from taking a breather.
I had to come to terms—on my own—about how I’d feel about being a father again.
She had to adjust to the reality that she would not be allowed to leave.
The first few days were the hardest.
She stuck to her room or the dance studio, and I steered clear.
The first couple of weeks were difficult.
I avoided initiating any contact with her, determined to wait her out and make her come crawling back to me. It was much like the beginning, when I gave her space until she gradually warmed up to me and couldn’t deny how much she wanted me in the end.
After the first month had passed, I wondered if this was the proverbial hill she’d choose to die on. Her submission seemed like a thing of the past.
“Maybe you’re giving her too much space?” Alexsei asked one night when I had dinner with him and Misha at their house.
I shook my head, rejecting that possibility. Pushing Gabriella to want to be near me again would do more harm than good. This was merely how to handle a headstrong and defiant woman. The wait would make her submission all the more sweeter.
“No, I’m not giving her too much space.”
Alexsei sighed, shrugging as he offered Misha another serving of the chicken he loved so much. Chicken nuggets, that was. I recalled when Emil was a fearless five-year-old testing his independence to insist on only eating one or two.
“How is she handling the pregnancy?” he asked.
I wasn’t giving her so much space that I was slacking in her care. Providing her with qualified and top-notch medical care, I was informed weekly of her vitals and how she was progressing.
“She’s got to be what, five months now?” He raised his brows.
Even though everyone was aware of the rift between me and Gabriella, they were interested and concerned about her anyway. A new heir to the Dubinin name was something torejoice. Yet, her stubbornness about not trusting the Mafia lifestyle kept it complicated.
You will submit to me, Gabriella.
I needed her too. These past couple of months without her present and in my bed felt long and hard. Missing her wasn’t something I wanted to prolong. Allen claimed that I was acting more stubborn than she was, and I ignored him for a day. Emil seemed to be on her side as well, telling me this morning that maybe I was being too hard of an asshole with her, not bending on how she wasn’t used to the family structure we operated with.
