Page 39 of Requiem for Love

“So you don’t think Curtis’ll lodge a trident in my spine?”

She burst out in quiet laughter. “Why a trident?”

“I…” He breathed through a laugh. “I don’t even know.”

“Joel, the truth is, no matter how much I try to avoid thinking this, Theo never knew his father. He never knew what it’s like to have a father, and my words, videos, and photos can only do so much. You came into his life and made him feel loved, protected, and appreciated. For all intents and purposes…Joel, youarehis father.”

Even after the divorce papers were signed and time had passed, he’d held onto the belief that he’d used up all the love he would ever have. He often used “split” more than “divorce” because it was exactly what his heart had done that day he walked out of a lawyer’s office as a single man, again, all of a sudden.

But things were different now.

It was as if Ayesha had peeled back the layers of his skin and stepped inside him. He could barely remember where he ended, and she began. Without the paperwork, they already had a union, a partnership, and the well he’d assumed had been drained after his divorce now flowed over anew.

Smiling, he raised her hand to his lips. “So, you’re with me?”

“I’m with you,” she said.

“You live here now.”

“That’s fine.”

“I booked the tickets. By the time we get back, you’ll be my wife.”

“Are you nervous?”

He shook his head. “Not…at…all.”

“Me either.”

When their lips touched, what he felt wasn’t another minor heart attack. His blood vessels dilated. His breathing slowed. He dipped his tongue inside her mouth and cradled the back of her head to take as much of her as he could. Later, when they were alone, he would possess this mouth, own this mouth. Right now, their son lay between them, needed them.

So, they pulled apart.

While he wooed her and made her his in every way imaginable, behind the scenes, he would track this fucking Mr. Veeny. And with the level of harm he wanted to commit, he prayed he didn’t fall to a place he couldn’t come back from, even if Ayesha called to him from the other side.

CHAPTER9

Dmitri Sokolov continued his search, for the first time regretting the nine-bedroom estate he called home—technically,oneof his homes—in Santorini, Greece. Nine bedrooms and seven bathrooms gave his girlfriend too many places to hide, and while he enjoyed the games they played, he had a feeling Sydney wasn’t hiding because he’d find her naked somewhere.

“Dorogaya, where are you hiding, my love?”

At the next bathroom he came to, he placed his ear against the door and heard what sounded like someone in pain.

He yanked the door open.

Sydney sat tucked in a corner, her face so wet with tears that, at first, he thought it was sweat.

“Sydney?” He kneeled in front of her. “What’s the matter? What’s wrong?”

He tried to move her to check for any wounds or injuries, but she shook her head and looked directly into his eyes.

“Dmitri, I’m sorry.”

As she stood, she handed him something, stepped around his body, and left the bathroom, coughing between her cries.

Although he wasn’t exactly well-versed in how to read these things, these tests wanted to make sure there was no doubt about their results. All three of them, every single one, had the same word in the small viewing window:

Pregnant

---