Page 39 of Ours

“It’s me, Sweetheart! I’m sorry! I’m so very sorry!” he offered, his voice dripping with regret.

Unable to hold back her tears, Lexi sobbed uncontrollably. A myriad of emotions came crashing down upon her. Relief, joy, frustration, fury, they bled together, leaving her a shaking, blubbering mess.

“Shhh...you’re safe…you’re safe, now,” he said, trying his best to soothe her.

Shaking her head, she tried to push herself away from his grasp. Clenching her hands into tight fists, she pulled back before aggressively punching at his bare chest. “NO! I’ll NEVER be safe!” she spat.“NEVER!”

Holding his large body still, he allowed her to pummel his bare pecs. Wincing slightly with every hit, he patiently waited for her to lose her energy. He deserved her punishment, and he deserved her wrath, but he wasn’t about to let her shut him out. She needed to realize that what he said was true. Shewassafe. Demetri would never come close to harming her ever again.

Crying out into the stale air of the room, she continued her physical onslaught; punching and slapping at any part of his torso she could find. With every swing of her arms, she felt herself growing weaker and weaker. Her mind and body were spinning out of control, but she didn’t know how to stop. All she wanted to do was rage.

Growing increasingly worried about their daughter, Kade grabbed onto her arms and tried his best to still the spitting hellcat. He understood her anger, but she needed to calm down for the sake of their baby girl.

“Lexi,”he said softly, “please stop, Sweetheart. I know you’re angry, but you need to stop. Please don’t hurt our daughter.”

With her pregnant body heaving, she set her fuzzy gaze on his concerned face. She wanted to laugh at his plea, but didn’t have enough air in her lungs.Shewas the one in danger of hurting their daughter?What a fucking joke.

“Please, Lexi,”he begged.

Slumping her heavy shoulders, she dropped her head in defeat. She hated that he was right. Their daughter had been through hell and back in just the span of twenty-four hours. She couldn’t put herself under any more stress.

Easing his hold on her shaking arms, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. Pushing out a small sigh, he whispered an apology. Repeating it over and over, to both his love and their little princess.

“Quit! Quit saying that you’re sorry! It doesn’t fix anything. Tell me, why...why the hell did you let him out?” she croaked, her voice raw with pain.

Sinking his sharp teeth into the flesh of his inner cheek, Kade carefully mulled over his answer. He needed to be diplomatic and careful, only offering enough information to skate by. “He promised me that he wouldn’t hurt you.”

Pulling back her face to create distance, she openly scoffed. “And you took the promise of aserial killerseriously? Withmylife at stake? Withour daughter’slife at stake?” she spat.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, he pulled himself into a sitting position. Raking his fingers through his dark hair, he fought to keep his own frustration under control. It was stupid to take Demetri at his word, but he was desperate.

“I just wanted you to feel loved tonight, Lexi. Demetri knew that and he used it to twist my insecurities. He made me believe that he could give you what I couldn’t,” he said, his intense gaze moving from her swollen face to her belly and back again. “You and our daughter are myonlyweaknesses. He saw an opportunity and he took it...but he never stood a chance. Believe me when I say that I won’teverlet anything happen to either of you.”

Staying silent for a long moment, she clumsily sat up. Wiping her tear-stained face, she found herself at a loss for words. There wasn’t enough time for them to rectify this. They would circle back to this conversation once he had returned from this meeting. Until then, she needed to take his words at face value.

Searching her blank face, Kade lifted his hand to grasp her rounded chin. Making her meet his eyes, he softened his features to try to convey to her how much he loved her. He wouldn’t lose her. Not now, not ever.

“Say you believe me,” he urged.

Furrowing her brow, she struggled internally. She felt like he truly loved her, in his own sick and twisted way. But did she believe that he would protect them? How could he possibly do that from thousands of miles away.

“Don’t leave us,” she said.

Pushing out an agitated sigh, he shook his head. How dare she change the subject. “We’ve discussed this, Lexi. I have to go. You, and our daughter, will be safe here until I return,” he said, dropping his hand from her chin. “I won’t be gone for more than a w—”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was rudely interrupted by the sound of the front doorbell. Hissing an obscenity, he yanked himself from the bed and reached down to the floor for his jeans.Fucking hell,could he just have a few minutes alone with her? It pissed him off to no end that they were always being disrupted by someone or something.

“What’s going on?” Lexi asked, watching wide eyed as he threw on his jeans. “Are you expecting someone? You aren’t leaving right now, are you?!”

Buttoning up his pants, he tossed her a harsh glance in warning. Balling his hands into tight fists at his side, he stalked towards the door of the master bedroom. She had better stay put, no one needed to see her in her current state.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he ordered while crossing the threshold into the hallway.

Plastering a deep frown on her face, she shivered as a ball of apprehension settled into the pit of her stomach. She didn’t care for the way he had looked at her, it made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Whatever was going on, he clearly didn’t want her to get involved.

“Stay here, my ass,” she grumbled to herself.

Sliding her body towards the edge of the bed, she eased herself from the mussed mattress. Gathering her shirt and panties from the ground, she suddenly froze as she felt a series of sharp kicks to the right of her belly button. The movements filled her with relief, drowning out all her anxiety.

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