Page 86 of Silence and Surrender

“You should eat something.” His voice was rough with sleep, but his hands stayed gentle on my waist. Always so careful now, so aware of my triggers. “The grapes are fresh from the vineyard.”

I turned in his arms slowly, needing to see his face. The morning light caught the worry in his eyes, the tight tension in his jaw.

“Allegra says there’s a clinic,” I said quietly. “They can do paternity testing at eight weeks. I don’t really know how far along I am, but—”

“Whatever you want.” His thumb traced my cheekbone, the touch feather-light. “Whatever you need.”

“What do you want? We aren’t even really dating, haven’t put any kind of label on…this. A baby? Is this really something you want?” The words crushed me as they tumbled out of my mouth, but I had to know. Had to know if he was still here beside me because of pity. Because of duty or a righteous sense of obligation.

He was quiet for a long moment, just studying my face. Finally: “Before I met you, I was done with relationships. I never expected…never wanted anything remotely close to intimacy or monogamy. But then you came into my life with your infuriating intelligence and your unwavering tenacity…and you changed all that. What do I want, Bella? I want it to be mine. God help me, I know the odds, but I want this baby to be mine. To be ours.”

The raw honesty in his voice made the tears threaten again. “The timing—”

“Let’s get you to see the doctor,” he said firmly. “We’ll know more at that point. Until then...” His hand slid to my stomach, protective and possessive at once. “Until then, I’ll take care of you both.”

“And if it’s not yours?”

“Then I still take care of you both.” No hesitation. No doubt. Just that same quiet strength that had drawn me to him even before everything shattered. “Whatever you decide, whatever you need. I’m here.”

“You would do that?” I whispered. “Raise another man’s child? After what they did?”

“I would raise your child.” His voice was soft but certain. “Because it’s part of you. Because you deserve to have choices now, after having so many taken away.” His thumb traced gentle circles on my stomach. “And if you choose not to keep it, I’ll support that too. Your body. Your choice.”

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks like a monsoon. How had this happened? How had the bank’s asshole chief counsel become this amazing man who held me like a lover while offering me complete autonomy?

“I don’t know what I want yet,” I admitted. “When Allegra showed me the test results, all I could think was...” I shuddered at the memory.

“I know.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “But…there’s some hope too, isn’t there? A tiny chance that it could be…ours?”

Ours. The word felt dangerous. Wonderful. Terrifying.

“The tunnels,” I said softly. “The timing...it’s…possible. I don’t know for sure what happened to me while I was drugged, but…”

“Yes.” Something flashed behind his eyes—that same hope I’d seen earlier.

“And the bank? The trafficking ring? We can’t just hide in Tuscany forever.”

“We won’t.” His tender tone morphed into one of conviction. “But right now, you are my priority. Everything else can wait.”

“Always doing the right thing.” But I smiled slightly, the first real smile since seeing those two pink lines. “Even about revenge.”

“Especially about revenge.” His hand was warm on my stomach, grounding me to this moment. To him. “It needs to be perfect. Like everything else.”

“Nothing’s perfect anymore.”

“No.” He kissed me softly, barely a brush of lips. “But maybe some things can be better than perfect.”

I let my mind wander again to a baby with Colton’s lips, his beautiful eyes. A future built from the ashes of our past. A love that had survived horror and emerged stronger.

“Just a few weeks,” I whispered against his mouth.

“A few weeks,” he agreed. “And until then...”

“Until then we hope?”

“Until then we heal.” His other hand came up to cup my face. “We plan. We get stronger.”

“Together?”

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