Page 25 of Let Vengeance Be Mine

“I’m scared too.” She reaches out to take my hand like she can read my mind, and I let my defenses slip, squeezing her fingers between mine as I grip it.

“Has it been three minutes, yet?” she asks.

“It hasn’t even been one.” I check my watch. Time is passing so slowly, I swear I can hear it ticking.

“What did your mother want?” Aria asks, attempting to make it pass quicker.

“I don’t want to talk about that, now.” I swallow the lump in my throat and close my eyes.

“Matteo.” She steps a little closer, her free hand sliding up my shirt and resting on my jaw. “I want you to promise me that, no matter what, you’ll make sure we stay together.” I open my eyes and crease my brow at her.

“Sure, I’m scared, but I know that if I have you, everything will be ok. If that test is positive and we’re starting a family together, I need you to know I’m all in.” She drops her hand to her stomach and makes me forget that I’m mad with her. My hand reaches around her, cupping the back of her dainty neck and dragging her close so I can kiss her lips.

The reason I brought her here doesn’t seem important anymore. I don’t want revenge, I want everything she just said. I want a family.

I hold her close, breathing her in and waiting for the minutes to pass.

“I think it’ll be ready now,” she whispers, looking up at me with a smile that I think I’d die for. And suddenly, I feel like I don’t deserve any of this. This girl in front of me, may have been born into this world, but she’s innocent to it.

“Matteo, it's time to check.” She bites her lip like she’s excited and I don’t know when this became a thing she wanted, I don’t understand how, but I feel a flutter in my chest when I nod my head and let her step past me. She steps up to the basin unit and picks up the stick, when she spins back around, the huge smile on her face gives me the answer I need.

“We did it!” She holds the stick out as evidence and when I see the two pink lines in the window, I quickly move closer and check it against the instructions. I don’t know why it comes as such a shock. This is what I’ve been planning. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve come inside her to make sure of it; but holding that stick in my hand, confirming it, makes everything suddenly seem very fucking real.

“Matteo, are you gonna say something?” She giggles like this is something she’s been wanting her whole life. Not something that she was stolen for and had forced upon her.

“Matteo, we’re going to have a baby.” She takes my face in her hands and forces me to look at her. “We actuallydid it.” I’m hearing every word she’s saying, but finding it hard to believe it’s true.

“Come with me.” I take her hand in mine and drag her out the bathroom, through the bedroom and into the corridor. My guard stands a little taller as we pass him and when I get to my bedroom door, she stares at me in confusion when I open it.

“Is this your room?” she asks, looking around her at the tall ceiling and the dark walls.

“It’sourroom.” I grab her and lift her onto my body, carrying her to my bed and laying her out on the mattress. All of a sudden she looks so different. Even more precious and vulnerable. My instinct to protect her has just multiplied by a fucking hundred.

“You want me to sleep in here, from now on?” She sits up on her elbows and watches me lift up her sweater. Of course, her stomach is still flat and tightly toned, but knowing that she now carries my child inside it, makes me want to kiss it all over.

“What are you doing?” She giggles as I press my lips all over her skin. I can’t remember a time when I’ve felt as happy as I do, right now, and I refuse to let any paranoia of someone taking them away from me ruin this moment.

I kiss my way up her body until I get to her lips and then I kiss her there too.

“Are you feeling happy, Matteo Romano?” she asks with a clever smile on her lips. She’s proud to be pregnant with my child inside her, I can tell by the glint in her eyes.

“I’m feeling on top of the goddamn world” I admit.

MATTEO

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Why are you so tense? Today's supposed to be exciting.” Aria swallows the last of her pancake from the fork, I’m holding to her mouth. I have to be really strict with her at meal times, if she had her way she wouldn’t eat, at all. Since she’s been pregnant, the baby’s only been making her feel sick, luckily she keeps whatever I can get into her, down.

“Iamexcited.” I stroke my hand across her tummy, there's still no sign of her condition from the outside, but it won’t be long before she starts to show.

“Are you scared there might be something wrong? I’ve done everything your doctor friend told me to. I’ve eaten the right food, taken that folic, whatever, tablet. Apart from the nausea, I feel great.” She tries to reassure me, but that's not why I’m anxious about today.

I have kept Aria in my protective bubble for the past four months. Today we are having to step out of it, and that concerns me.

“Not at all, our child’s going to be perfect.” I put her mind at rest, kissing her cheek before I gently shift her off my lap and get up from the table. “I just have a few things to take care of and then we can leave.” I fake her a smile and head for my office, sucking air through my nostrils and trying to remain calm. Demitri must pick up on my mood because he follows after me, efficiently.

“Okay, out with it. What's wrong?” he asks, closing the door behind him.

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