Page 94 of Captive Vows
I smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed to wait for her to come back. Yawning, I checked the time and dreaded that I’d have a full day to expect to get through.
She waddled back into the room, also yawning, so I extended my arms to welcome her back under the covers.
“Now I won’t fall asleep again,” she mumbled.
I spooned her, resting my hand on her belly where I felt the proof for why she’d said that. “Active, huh?”
“As soon as I lie down,” she admitted.
“Not long to wait now. Then I can handle the active hours while you rest.”
“Oh?” She peered back at me. “You’re a hands-on kind of dad?”
I sighed, kissing her and encouraging her to snuggle and relax with me again. “No. I wasn’t before. When Emil was born, Maria insisted on handling his care because I was so busy.”
“Oh.”
We’d never talked about Maria, but as I kissed the top of Gabriella’s head, I planned to discuss her more so as not to lose the memory of her, but also to prove to my new love that I wasn’t pining for the ghost of my first wife.
“And I was busy. Too busy with being the boss and not yet reaching the degree of being able to delegate and trust those in the organization. Coming into power included a phase of weeding out dissenters.”
She yawned, and I reflexively did as well.
“Now, I know how to be the boss. You won’t be stuck raising him or her on your own. I will be there. So will Emil and my nephews.” I yawned again, tiring myself from speaking. “Allen’s sister was Emil’s nanny. She passed away already, but I can think of more staff to hire for us.”
She sighed. But the longer I waited for her to reply, I realized she was already asleep again.
“You let her rest,” I whispered to the baby in her belly as I kept my hand pressed on the swollen girth there.
Later, when we woke, I grumbled at all that would keep me from her today.
We showered and ate breakfast together, meeting everyone with smiles as the others came in and out of the house.
“Fucking finally,” Emil said dryly as he came to the dining room.
I held Gabriella’s hand and lifted it to kiss the back of it.
“What final—oh.” Ivan filed in, stirring a coffee cup. He smiled. “Just in time to make up, huh?” He shook his head as he sat next to Emil.
“That’s enough,” I said, mildly annoyed. I still wasn’t going to talk about emotions and sappy shit. With her, I would open up my heart as much as she wanted me to. It’d take me time. I’d approach it with baby steps, but I was ready to be whatever Gabriella needed me to be.
“Speaking of time,” she said, “will you be able to come to my appointment?”
I sighed heavily, wishing I could swear I’d be there. Most of her checkups had been done here. All but one were completed in the privacy and comfort of her room. At the last checkup, the monitoring equipment got damaged on the drive. For this reason, she was being taken to the medical facility.
It was the first time she’d be out of the house since the resort I’d taken her to. That fated day that kicked us into turmoil, when I discovered she was carrying my child.
“We’ve got a thorough security detail arranged,” Ivan said, glancing at me, then her.
“I figured that,” she said calmly. Still, she looked at me.
“I want to be there,” I replied honestly. “It just depends on how my meeting goes this morning.”
She nodded. “Okay. I just wanted to know. I bet they’ll do another ultrasound and you could hear the baby’s heartbeat.”
I leaned over to kiss her, fucking smitten with how happy she was now. Hell, I was pretty damned happy, too.
“But you’ll be there for the big day, right?” she asked, raising her brows.
