Page 54 of Kept By the Bratva
“I want this baby. Both of them. I won’t let anyone take them from me.” She sat up, trying to get more comfortable. “It was stupid. It was irrational. But I panicked, and I thought that if you assumed my child was someone else’s, eventually, you’d let us go.”
“Come on,” Alek told Mila. As he urged her to leave us, noticing how bewildered I still looked, he nodded his head to the door. “We’ll talk more about this later,” he told me.
Alone with Amy, I stood next to the bed and sighed.
“I know it was stupid. I’m sorry, Nik. I’m sorry that I lied at all and tried to deceive anyone. It’s all been sprung on me, and with the kidnapping and Diego and… just… everything, it’s been overwhelming to know how to process my life.”
“You shouldn’t have lied.”
“Iknowthat,” she argued. “But you don’t understand.”
“Thenmakeme understand.” I crossed my arms, then lowered them and shoved my hands into my pockets. And then I crossed them again. I wasn’t prone to fidgeting like this, but I had to do something with my hands before I lost the fight to reach down and touch her, hold her.
“I’ve always wanted a family. I’ve never been a part of one, of anything. My deepest wish was to have a family. To fit in someone else’s life so I wouldn’t have to be so alone.”
I stared at her, hating the tremble of her lower lip as she spilled her heart out like this. She spoke the truth, and it wasn’t easy, but that was another testament to her determination.
“I was orphaned. I never had anyone to really support me or need me. Then when I learned how unlikely it could be to start a family, I got used to the idea that I never would.” She took my hand and placed it on her stomach. “These babies are miracles, and I willneverapologize for trying to protect and keep them.”
“But to lie that you were raped?” I shook my head. “That’s just crazy talk, Amy!”
“Ifeelcrazy. All the time! In hindsight, I know how stupid it was to make up such a lie like that, and to your crime lord of a brother and sister-in-law. But I was put on the spot. I feel insane half the time from these hormones. And being sick all the time. And not eating well and sleeping terribly.”
I lowered to sit next to her, reaching over to snuggle her to me in a hug. I couldn’t stand to see her upset.
“And I missed you, Nik. Ever since you ran away that night, when you left me without a goodbye…” She wiped at her cheeks and sniffled. “I missed you the moment you were gone. It was just supposed to be random sex, right? One night of fun. But when I woke up, I knew it was anything but.”
“Fuck,” I growled, lowering to kiss her lips. I couldn’t resist. Listening to her so distraught cracked my heart in half.
She gasped in surprise at the touch, but with a breathy sound, she pushed back against me, kissing me harder.
I pulled back, gazing at her pouty expression in protest. I licked my lips, tasting the salt of her tears, but I refused to go any further. The doctor was clear that she should rest, and if I lost my control with Amy and showed her how badly I wanted to kiss her everywhere, that would be the opposite of taking it easy.
Framing her face, I stroked my thumb over the satiny skin of her cheek.
“As soon as I realized I could be carrying your baby, I was so scared, Nik.” She sighed, resting into my touch as I lowered to lie with her.
I brushed her hair back, gazing into her gorgeous, soulful eyes.
“I was terrified I could lose the baby. I hated that I couldn’t tell you. And when the men captured me…” She grunted a rough laugh. “It’s been hell. I’ve been stuck in a loop of panic and being in nonstop survival mode.”
“You don’t have to be scared anymore,” I promised, leaning closer to kiss her brow. It was impossible to resist touching her. The longer I lay here with her, calming down from the shock and soaking up her presence, the more I relaxed into what I needed to do.
“I will be here for you. Every second of the way.”
She smiled slightly, almost nervous and timid to take my words as the truth.
“I missed you too. I can’t explain it. I won’t try to. But I wanted you every fucking day after the night we shared. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about you and wanting you again. When I saw you at the club, I couldn’t believe my luck.”
She frowned. “But you tried to lie about who you were. You tried to make me believe that we were strangers, even though I felt like I recognized you.” Her hand rubbed down my face in a sweet caress. “It was your voice. I just had this feeling that you were familiar, and when you kissed me, I felt torn, that I was being unfaithful to the memory of you that I wanted to keep.”
“I knew you were too good for me. You didn’t belong in my life. Like you told the others, this world—my world—is different from yours. I understood that. We were too different to ever make anything work.”
I kissed her again, proving how wrong that ended up being. “But now that you are here, Amy, I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy and safe.”
Lowering my hand to her hip and brushing my finger over her stomach, I added, “All three of you.” Dammit, her lips called to me. I had to keep this light, but I kissed her again, pulling back quickly. “You have your family, Amy. You will never be alone again. I’m sorry this family is not at all what you ever could have imagined or wanted, but you have a family here, and that will never change.”
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