Page 194 of New Storm Rising
“And you,” he told me, capturing my cheek in his free hand, “are my littleifrit.”
I sagged and let myself melt into his embrace, somehow, for some reason, suddenly feeling as if things would be all right.
***
The dark figure watched from the shadows as, out on the sunny street, the couple held each other in a tight embrace. It was an incredibly romantic picture. One that could touch the heart of the coldest of men. And yet, the dark figure’s eyes remained as cold and hard as steel.
As hard as the steel of the weapon in his hands, to be precise.
In the middle of the street, the couple slowly seemed to realize that there was still a world around them and moved off the street. Still staying close to each other, they wandered off, their eyes not even bothering to glance at the busy city life around them. Thus, they didn’t see the man slipping out of the shadows behind them. Mixing with innocent passers-by, the man easily kept up with the two, taking a mental note of every turn they took. Soon enough, they arrived in front of a certain hotel. The pursuer halted, staring intently at the sign above the door, committing it to memory.
The shadowy figure clenched his fist.
“SeñorDe Ravera,SeñorDe La Fuente…you shall be avenged!”
Free
Moaning, I shifted and stretched out my hand to feel the smooth cotton of my pillow with my fingers. Hm…so I was in bed? Well, that fit. I’d had such a weird dream. Mr Rikkard Ambrose had actually promised to take me on a sightseeing tour, right after I’d found out that I was pregnant. Ha! Me, pregnant? That was so incredibly funny I nearly couldn’t contain my—
Right then and there, my eyes fell on a bottle on the night stand with a label proclaimingFizzlewizz Fantastic Fertility Water.
Oh fudge.
Instinctively, my hand shot down to my stomach. Now that I knew, it was quite obvious. There, right there, was a small bulge. And it wasnotbecause I was getting fat, thank you very much! Hesitantly, almost tremulously, I stroked my belly once, twice, a third time.
“Hello there, little one,” I whispered. “How are you?”
“I am perfectly fine, Mrs Ambrose. Your concern is appreciated.”
Jerking upright in bed, I whirled around to glare at the fiend responsible for all of this. Mr Rikkard Ambrose was sitting in an armchair at the window, going through some papers.
“I wasnottalking to you!”
“Indeed?” He didn’t even glance up from his documents.
A long, long moment of silence passed. Lowering my eyes, I gazed down at where my hand still rested on my belly.
“Is…is it really true?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
I felt my breath hitch.
“I will really take you on a sightseeing tour.”
“You…!” Grabbing the closest pillow, I hurled it straight at Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s head—whereupon he promptly reached up and caught it without looking. “I wasn’t talking about that, you bloody son of a bachelor!”
“Indeed?”
I reached for another cushion to throw—only to find that there weren’t any more. Darn! I would have loved so much to indulge in some senseless, satisfying violence. Now that I couldn’t, that left me alone with nothing but my own thoughts.
I swallowed.
“Mr Ambrose?”
“Yes, Mrs Ambrose?”
