Page 102 of Captive Vows
Again, I kissed her, savoring the sweet serenity of her gentle smile.
“Not as my captor, but as the powerful leader and lover who’d be willing to die for me and our son.”
I sank my fingers into her hair, reveling in the love she gave me. The allure of keeping her in my life had paved the way for us to get together, but it was this intrigue, this thrill of adventure and how much her love made me a better man, that excited me for the future.
“You’re the captor,” I told her as a nurse came into the room to do the routine check on our son’s vitals. He slept in the bassinet at the foot of Gabriella’s bed.
She gazed up at me, mesmerizing me with the adoration in her eyes.
“You’ve captured me. Heart, mind, and soul.”
This time, she leaned up to drug me with a deep kiss.
I can’t wait to make you mine for good.
38
GABRIELLA
One month later…
Four weeks should have feltlike a long time, but they blurred by so quickly. One minute, I was being discharged from the hospital with Luka and our son, Andre, and the next, I was trying to adjust to being the supposed woman of the house.
“I’m not joking,” Luka said as he rocked Andre.
I sighed, putting my hands on my hips. “It’s too many changes to handle at once.”
I was blessed to have such a smooth post-partum experience. Despite the dangerous situation where I’d given birth, too early and among violence, I was doing fine. My years of dancing had likely set me up for having a good birthing experience—physically. In just a couple of weeks, I would go back for one final checkup. I couldn’t tell if I was more excited for it or Luka was. Having the all-clear to have sex again was something we were both anticipating. We were so stubborn for so long, keeping our distance all through my pregnancy, that we agreed we had so much lost time to make up for now.
Recovering from having a baby was one part of it all. Adjusting to being a new mother was something else.
And per the massive ring on my finger that Luka had given me in the hospital before we left, when he proposed with such a romantic speech, I was expected to embrace the role of a bride-to-be.
“I’ll help,” Emil said, getting up to take over holding his half-brother. He was still an arrogant, cocky man, but it was too sweet to see him hands-on with this new Dubinin in the family.
“You’ll help her pick out new house staff?” Luka asked, huffing with a dry laugh.
“Sure.” Emil grinned, looking up from Andre to wink at me.
“That means he’ll chose the ones he’d want to fuck,” Luka said.
I shook my head, rolling my eyes.
When we brought Andre home, Luka ordered Allen to round up all the members of the house staff. They were subjected to a loyalty test, questioned and interrogated. I suspected they were tortured to talk. And I really couldn’t feel guilty about that.
Because of someone in the house, Miguel was informed about my appointment at the medical facility. I was getting more on board with the idea of killing anyone who threatened me or my son.
But it was a lot of work. In the end, Luka decided to fire them all unless they were old loyalists who’d been working for the family since before he was even in power.
“I don’t have a clue how to hire maids or cooks,” I said.
“You just pick whoever seems best,” Emil replied.
I sighed. “Sure. That makes sense.”
Luka approached me with a smug smile. “You trust your judgment.”
“I have no judgment.”
