Page 166 of Creep

“I planned for this to be over within nine months’ time.”

I threw my hands up. “That is ridiculous. How much time has passed since you wanted to take revenge on Leo?”

“Too fucking long,” he answered.

“And what makes you think this will be over in nine months?”

I was going to ignore the fact that he thought I was pregnantnowand would be giving birth in nine months.

“Because now I have the motivation to end it once and for all,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward him. I resisted at first, but even I knew it was a futile fight. I let him pull me into his arms. I rested my head on his chest, listening to the slow rhythm of his heart, letting him comfort me, even if rationality told me that was the last thing I should be doing with him.

“Revenge wasn’t motivation enough?” I mumbled. I knew he heard me.

“Yes, it was. But not like you. Once this is all over, I’m thinking about retiring.”

I paused, taking in his words. “Retiring,” I repeated. From his job… as a hitman.

Was that even possible?

“What?” he said when I didn’t say anything more. “No response?”

“You can do that?” I asked.

His chest shook as he laughed. “Yeah, kitten. I can do that. No one knows my identity. And I’ve made enough money to last two lifetimes.”

I grimaced at the thought. I knew he said he only targeted the people with their skin in the game, but there was just something about killing other people for a living…

I might have accepted that—accepted him—but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach.

“What would you do after?” I asked. What exactly would a retired hitman do with his time? I shook my head slightly. That was something I never thought I would ever have to think about.

“I would spend most of my time keeping you satisfied.”

I slapped his side. “Be serious.”

He grabbed my hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing the back of it. I tilted my head back to look at him. His blue eyes were already trained on me. “I am.”

“We still have to talk about you messing with my birth control.”

“I’m not apologizing for that.”

I let out a small sigh. “You don’t really see anything wrong with that?”

“What would be wrong?” he asked seriously. I opened my mouth, but no words would come out. “You’re mine,” he continued. “You’ll carry my child and no one else’s.”

“Yes,” I answered him. “Somewhere down the line, when we’re both not dealing with so much shit.”

He shrugged. Again, with that shrug. I was going to slap him again. Or punch him in the throat. My hands balled up into tight fists, and he looked at them, amusement lighting in his eyes.

I shook my head. It was pointless. I didn’t even think I had done any damage to him with that slap.

“Why would you even want a child with everything you’ve gone through?” I asked tiredly.

Arguably, I had a good childhood. But all this betrayal from the two people I had trusted for most of my life had me second-guessing whether or not I wanted to bring a child into this messed-up world.

He looked me straight in the eyes when he answered, “Redemption. We can give them a better life.”

I shook my head. “Our child can’t be your redemption, Mael.”

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