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  I’d fallen in love with my wife for many reasons, reasons I couldn’t even understand. I’d always admired her ambition, her cold sassiness, and the way she was so fiercely independent. But I’d be lying if I said her beauty didn’t cast a spell over me.

  I watched her stand in front of her closet and look for something to wear, her slightly damp hair cascading around her shoulders. She pushed the hangers to the left as she selected an outfit to wear to work, completely oblivious to my lust.

  Her long legs were toned and beautiful. With slightly tanned skin and a fair complexion, she had a Tuscan hint to her features. She had a deep curve in her lower back that made her plump ass hypnotizing. With perfect posture, she carried herself like an invisible crown had been placed on her head. She contained royal elegance, a presence so captivating, she was addictive to the eyes.

  Her face was her most gorgeous feature, with full lips, big eyes, and contoured cheekbones. Compared to all the beautiful women in the world, she might not stand out, but to me, she was the sexiest woman on the planet.

  And she was mine.

  I was sitting at the table watching her, ignoring my laptop in front of me. I was showered and ready to get dressed, but I continued to sit in my sweatpants and stare at her. She hadn’t told she was ready, but she didn’t refrain from parading her naked body in front of me.

  Maybe it was time.

  I wanted her so much, I was willing to try. Maybe after a few kisses, she would reciprocate my desire. I could get her to stop thinking about the past and think about the present. I could get her to think about me and only me.

  Plus, my dick was so hard I thought it might explode.

  I shut my laptop and got to my feet. My hands slid into the pockets of my sweatpants, and I approached her from behind. My heart quickened in my chest, as if I actually felt nervous for the first time in my life. It was mostly excitement because I wanted this woman more than anything in the world. I stopped behind her, close enough to smell her shampoo, her perfume, the floral scent of the lotion she rubbed across her skin. She seemed oblivious to my presence, more focused on the black dress she was considering for the day.

  My hands snaked around her waist and rested right over her belly. I pulled her toward me gently as I bent my neck down and placed a kiss on her exposed shoulder. The touch was innocent, the affection borderline tame. But when my lips felt her warm skin, there was a distinct shiver down my spine. I inhaled a deep breath through my nose and felt my fingers tighten their grip on her stomach. There was more excitement in the delicate embrace than I’d ever had with another woman. That simple kiss was the greatest foreplay I’d ever experienced.

  She tightened noticeably under my touch, but she didn’t push me away. Her fingers released the dress she was holding, but she didn’t turn around.

  My lips gave her another kiss on the neck, my mouth opening so I could taste her skin on my tongue. I pulled her a little closer so she could feel my hard chest against her back. I wanted her to feel me…all of me. I wanted her to understand how much I wanted her, how much I desired her.

  My kisses continued until I began to devour her. My mouth moved closer to her ear, wanting her to hear the way she made me pant with desire. I could grab her tit and squeeze it, but I preferred the little bump of her belly. It was her sexiest feature. I knew some men had a fetish for pregnant women, but I certainly had never been one of them.

  That wasn’t the case anymore.

  She’d never been so sexy. I knew I didn’t feel this way about all pregnant women. It was because she was my wife. And I knew the baby was mine. The longer I kissed her, the more excited I became. I was oozing in my boxers, and my muscles were tightening. It’d been so long since I’d had her, going on months now. I was a man with needs, and she was the only woman who could fulfill them.

  I guided her around to face me so I could kiss those lips with the same passion that I kissed her everywhere else. My hand cupped her cheek, and I kissed her aggressively. I lost control and fell into the chemistry between our bodies. My hand pushed down the front of my boxers so I could get naked and take her to bed.

  But then she extinguished the fire.

  She pulled her face away and pressed her hands against my chest to put distance between us. Her eyes fell as if she couldn’t look me in the eye. “I’m not ready…”

  Disappointment washed over me, and my body was so hot that even an ice bath couldn’t cool me down. I would respect any request she made, never push her to do something she didn’t want to do, but I thought she needed a nudge. “Baby, I’m not him.”

  “I know…”

  “I’ll wait as long as you want me to wait. But it’s always going to be hard until we take that next step. We need to push through it and move on with our lives.” I searched her face, hoping she would change her mind. I knew she wanted me, knew she still desired me. “It’s you and me. It’s different with us.”

  She wouldn’t budge. “I’m sorry.”

  I swallowed all my frustration and let it disappear. This was something that couldn’t be rushed, and I had to be patient a while longer. Once I composed myself, I slid my fingers under her chin and forced her gaze to rise to meet mine. “You are worth the wait.” My arms circled her waist and brought her closer to my chest. My lips rested against her forehead, and I gave her a kiss. I was getting less action as a married man than I did as a bachelor, but that was okay. As long as we were still together, we would be okay.

  20

  Sofia

  I sat across from Hades in the dining room downstairs. My mother sat beside me, rambling on about bullshit neither one of us cared about. I loved my mother, but since she’d lost her husband, she talked a million miles a minute because she didn’t have anyone else to talk to. Sometimes, it was overwhelming for the two of us, especially Hades since he was a quiet man.

  Hades drank from his wineglass and kept eating, his gaze averted and his mind somewhere else. Our relationship was slightly tense after the way I’d rejected him a few days ago. He didn’t seem angry with me or resentful, but there was a hint of disappointment.

  My mother continued to talk about the baby. “I hope it’s a boy. I only have experience raising one daughter, so it’ll be nice to do something different.”

  Hades seemed confident the baby was his, but sometimes I feared otherwise. It haunted me in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. The last thing I wanted was to give birth to my son or daughter and then see Maddox when I looked into their face. I wanted to be prepared.

  When dinner was finished, my mother wouldn’t stop talking, so I had to cut her off so we could go to bed. She didn’t seem aware of Hades’s annoyance, so she never took our subtle cues to be quieter. We said goodnight, and Hades and I walked up the stairs to our bedroom.

  He was silent and a bit moody because he hated our family dinners. He wasn’t so bitter about it when we tapered down our meals with my mother from five days a week to two. But now, it seemed like even two days were too much.

  Instead of pointing it out, I chose to be more positive. “Thank you for putting up with her.”

  He continued to face forward as he walked beside me.

  “I know she talks a lot. She’s just lonely.”

  He cleared his throat before he spoke. “It’s fine.”

  I knew it wasn’t fine, but I appreciated him saying that anyway. I grabbed his hand and held it.

  He squeezed mine in response.

  When we entered the bedroom, we got ready for bed. I continued to undress in front of him and didn’t shield my body from his gaze. He didn’t look at me or make me uncomfortable. He took my request seriously and backed off. In fact, he purposefully turned his head away whenever I was unclothed, as if the sight of me was too much to handle.

  He sat up in bed, shirtless against the headboard. He held his phone between his fingers, and he seemed to be reading emails and paperwork.

  I got under the sheets on my side of the bed and turned to hi
m.

  When he felt my stare, he set his phone on the nightstand and gave me his full attention. He turned off the bedside lamp and then cuddled up to me. He pulled our bodies close together, and as always, he was hard in his boxers. He immediately closed his eyes like he was ready to go to sleep.

  “Hades?”

  He opened his eyes again.

  “I want to know.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly.

  “I want to know if you’re the father.”

  His expression didn’t change. His eyes didn’t convey annoyance or relief. He was a closed book, his thoughts a mystery. He’d been quieter lately after our incident in the closet, more withdrawn, like he needed his own space at the moment. “Okay.”

  “What does that mean?” I couldn’t tell if he approved of my request or was indifferent to it.

  His eyes remained locked on mine. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “But it doesn’t bother you?”

  He shrugged. “Whatever those results are, they don’t make a difference. But if you need to know, then I understand.” He was far more supportive of this than I ever could’ve imagined.

  I wasn’t sure I would handle it so well if I were in his place. “I wish I could be calm like you.”

  “It’s different for me than it is for you. And I already know what the results are going to say.”

  I gently rubbed my fingers against his chest. “How can you be so sure?”

  “I just know the universe wouldn’t let that happen to us.”

  “You mean God?” We never talked about our religious beliefs. We both came from Italian families, so it was just assumed we were both Catholic. But based on his career choice, perhaps I was wrong.

  “Maybe. I know someone is looking out for me. I just don’t know who.”

  “So you think everything that happens to us is fate?”

  He considered the question carefully. “No. But I think someone will always give you a new path…if you need one.” His hand moved to my stomach, and he gently stroked his fingers over the surface. “We’ll see the doctor tomorrow. You’ll get your answer then.”

  “I wish I could be as confident as you.”

  “Don’t compare yourself to me. We’ve experienced vastly different things.”

  But I still wished I had the same kind of faith. I’d lost my faith a long time ago, long before Maddox took me. I didn’t trust relationships or men. But all of that changed once I gave Hades a real chance. He was everything he claimed to be. “I also want to know if it’s a boy or a girl.”

  “Do you have a preference?”

  “No. I just want to know. You aren’t the least bit curious?”

  “I already know it’s a boy.”

  I rolled my eyes. “There’s no way you could possibly know that.”

  “Then I guess we’ll see…”

  “Does that mean you never want to have a girl?”

  “I never cared either way.” His expression slowly fell. “But now I feel a little differently about it.”

  I dropped my gaze, knowing exactly what he meant by that.

  He was quiet for a while, his thoughts drifting away to a different place. He eventually closed his eyes, and his fingers stopped moving against my stomach. I knew he wasn’t drifting off to sleep because his breathing hadn’t changed. But he needed the silence anyway to cleanse his thoughts of the disturbing images in his head.

  “Don’t feel bad for me. Don’t think that way. I’m here with you now…and I’m happy.”

  We sat side by side in the doctor’s office. My legs were crossed, and I was shaking my ankle because I was so nervous. The white room felt sterile, and that blankness made me more agitated. The results I was about to receive would change my life. A part of me didn’t want to know. But the other part knew not knowing would haunt me.

  Hades was in his dark suit because he had been at the bank prior to our doctor’s appointment. One ankle rested on the opposite knee, and he looked so relaxed, like he was about to go into a massage or something. He adjusted his watch and glanced at the time before he turned his gaze to my shaking ankle. His large hand reached out and grabbed my thigh, and he steadied it with a strong grasp. He gave it a gentle squeeze before a whisper escaped his lips. “Baby.”

  I stilled at his words.

  “It’ll be alright.”

  I took a deep breath and slowly released it from my lungs. I closed my eyes and tried to think of a beautiful meadow.

  “I am the father. I promise you.”

  I turned to look at him, needing the assurance in his gaze.

  He moved his hand to mine and squeezed it. “And even if it’s not, it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change this.” He brought my hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on my knuckles. The stubble on his jawline lightly brushed against my skin, scratching it.

  The doctor walked inside a moment later, and he looked through the papers in our file. First, he told us the gender of our baby. “Congratulations. You’re having a boy.”

  My hands squeezed his a little harder as I saw a glimpse of my future. I imagined a little boy running around the house, giggling without me far behind him. He had brown eyes and dark hair, a handsome boy who would become a handsome man like his father. But then the dread hit my heart again when I realized I had no idea who the father even was.

  Hades kept his eyes on me even though the doctor was talking. “I told you we were having a son.”

  “Yeah, I just hope you’re right about the other thing too.”

  The doctor pulled out a paper from the file and placed it on the counter beside us. “The paternity test checks out. Mr. Lombardi, you are a match.”

  Hades didn’t react at all, not even a blink. A smile didn’t creep onto his lips because he wasn’t happy at the news. How could he be happy when he’d already known he was going to be the father?

  I grabbed the paper off the counter and looked at it with my own eyes. “Oh my god…”

  “I told you.”

  The doctor excused himself from the room, and we were left alone.

  My hands started to shake as I held the results. Without my even realizing it, tears welled in my eyes. The drops became so big, they fell and splattered on the page. My chest ached with both pain and relief. I’d been terrified to raise the child of my tormentor. I would’ve loved that child anyway, but I would love it so much more if Hades was the father. Hundreds of pounds of weight were lifted from my shoulders. And I could finally breathe again. That asshole had no hold over me anymore. I never had to think about him again. I could move on with my life without looking back.

  Hades wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. He held me as I sobbed and made the ink run on the paper. My makeup was destroyed, and my mascara trailed like rivers down my cheeks. This was what I’d wanted more than anything else…to have this baby with my husband.

  “It’s alright, baby.” His hand moved to my stomach, and he cupped it with his large palm. “We’re a family…the three of us.”

  I could barely speak through my tears. “I was so scared. I wanted you to be the father. I needed you to be the father. I’m so happy it’s you. You’ve been such a good husband to me, and I know you’ll be an incredible parent.”

  His eyes stilled as he looked into mine, caught off guard by what I said. It seemed like he wanted to disagree with what I’d just said, but he never did. “I’ll spend my life taking care of both of you. The two of you are the most important things in the world to me.”

  I looked into his eyes and saw sincerity shine through. “I know.”

  I was a whole different person.

  I was living in a dream, the kind you never wanted to wake up from. My life was stable once again, and I was actually happy. Now that I knew Hades was the father of my son, I was so excited to be a mother. I was excited to start our family. I didn’t know how I was going to balance my job and my kids, but I was determined to figure it out. I could leave the kids with
my mother, but I didn’t want her to watch them. I wanted to watch them.

  I sat in the office at the hotel, my thoughts drifting to baby clothes and diapers, when my phone rang. It was Damien, so I answered. “I have some really good news…”

  His tone was always melancholy now. With Hades still so cold to him, Damien seemed to have lost his spirit. It was profound in his tone of voice, the way he always seemed half asleep or depressed. “Yeah?”

  “Just got the results from the doctor and Hades is the father.” It was ironic that I talked to Damien as a friend when Hades wasn’t even his friend anymore. I was used to having Damien in our lives, and it felt odd that he wasn’t there anymore. He’d screwed up big time, but I knew his heart was in the right place. He cared about me, and he certainly cared about Hades.

  “That’s fucking great. Thank God.”

  “Yeah, I was pretty scared. Hades was so confident that the baby was his, so he didn’t seem concerned about it. But I was a total wreck.”

  “Yeah, Hades has a sixth sense when it comes to stuff like that.”

  He was passionate about his decisions and so stubborn that he could never change his mind. He thought he was right about everything…and maybe he was. “I’m so happy he was right.”

  “Good. Now you can move on. And congratulations on the baby. I don’t think I ever told you that.”

  I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs under my desk. “Thank you. We weren’t ready to start a family just yet, but I’m glad that it happened.”

  “Hades will be a good father. He’s the best guy I know.”

  Listening to the pain in his voice made me so sad. “He’ll come around.”

  He sighed loudly, like he didn’t agree with that statement at all. “It’s his birthday on Thursday. That’s why I’m calling, just so you know. He’s not big on celebrating his birthday, so I know he would never tell you.”