Page 84 of Beyond Enemy Vows
He stops pacing and looks at me. "All this time and I had no idea."
"That's why I left Rome. My brothers ordered me home, and I thought leaving would protect you. If I stayed and they tracked me down, they'd kill you. And if I told you... I mean, I wasn't even sure it was true. I just didn't know what else to do."
"God, Calli," he says. "I had no part in this. Nothing. I respected your father. Your family. You have to believe me. I would have prevented it if I knew."
I wipe away more tears. "I know, Niko. I didn't think you did. I don't know a whole lot about how I'm feeling with everything, but I knew that."
He comes up and hugs me, and I break. I start sobbing into his chest, and as my tears blur my vision, I can't hold it back any longer.
I lean back up, looking up at him.
"There's more." My throat locks. I almost swallow the words, almost choke them back. But if I don't say it now, I never will.
His face tightens. "What else did my piece-of-shit father do?"
I shake my head. "Not him. You."
Confusion crosses his face.
My voice breaks. "I'm pregnant."
Niko stares at me, his body tense, every muscle in his body flexing.
"Are you serious?"
I nod. "With your child."
"Are you sure?" His voice tight.
"I had a doctor confirm it."
"You're..." His hand hovers over my stomach, not quite touching. "We're..."
"Yes."
"Holy fuck, Calli," he says and hugs me hard. I laugh and cry at the same time, so relieved he knows and he's not upset or running or whatever my brain thought he'd do.
He leans down and kisses me.
"I only found out for sure after Athens. I was going to tell you in Rome, but then Dimitri called, and everything fell apart."
He brushes the hair out of my face, wrapping it around my right ear. "That's my child. I don't care who your family is or what my father did. That's my child."
I rest my head against his chest.
"Who knows?" he asks, kissing the top of my head.
"Just Keira. She went with me to the doctor."
"No one else? Not your brothers?"
I shake my head. "I couldn't. I was afraid."
He pulls me in tighter. "You don't do anything alone anymore. Not now. Not ever again."
"Niko—"
"I mean it, Calli. I'm not letting you face this by yourself. I'll do anything for you. I'll destroy everything between here and Greece before I let anyone touch you. Or our child."
