“You’re free. It’s not something I want anymore. I don’t want to trap you or kidnap you ever again. I don’t ever want to hurt you.”
I smile and nod. “Good. You don’t get to tell me what to do or boss me around in any way. We make decisions together. Understand?”
“Yes, together,” he says, smirking a little as I smile at him, giving up a little of my authority.
“And you give up searching for Nina. You leave Nina and Arlo alone.”
This is the one condition I expect to be the hardest for him. I don’t understand what his connection is to her. I don’t know if he still wants her or wants revenge. I don’t know.
When I was free, I called Nina a few times. I didn’t tell her what happened. I pretended I was still back in the US and had just been busy working. But she didn’t seem that shocked I hadn?
?t called in a while. She understood I was busy with work.
“I won’t go after Nina or Arlo. I give you my word,” Matteo says without hesitation.
I listen to his words looking for any deception. But I believe him. I have to if I’m going to give whatever crazy relationship we have a shot again.
It doesn’t mean I won’t want him to continue proving it to me over and over.
But to be honest, something changed when I found out I was pregnant in the hospital. Matteo changed. He set me free. And I realized what I wanted, more than my freedom was to be with him. How fucked up is that?
“Can I show you something?” Matteo asks.
I nod.
He holds out his hand, and I take it automatically, feeling his warm grip comfort me with just his touch.
He leads me inside, and we walk to his bedroom. I smirk, he’s going to show me his cock. He’s such a guy.
He opens the door that isn’t locked and holds it open while I step inside.
It’s so bright. Light shines in through the large windows that he usually keeps hidden beneath the drapes. The bed and furniture are gone and replaced by white antique furniture with a light gray comforter and turquoise and pink pillows.
“Pink?”
He shrugs. “I had Gia help. She said you would like the pink.”
I laugh. But my laughter soon turns to tears when I see the bassinet he put in the corner next to the bed. I walk over and run my hand across the white lace fabric draped over it.
I turn to Matteo who has his hands in his pockets. He does that when he wants to touch me but won’t let himself do it.
“I started clearing out the room next door for a baby’s room, but I thought I should wait to see if you’d come back before I decorated it. I thought you might enjoy doing that. And I had no idea what color you would want it to be.”
“Pink.”
He chuckles. “It can be pink, or whatever color makes you happy.”
I shake my head because he doesn’t understand what I’m saying. I walk over to him swaying my hips just to torture him.
“There is a reason I want it pink, and it’s not because I like the color.”
He frowns. “Why?”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing hysterically. He’s so clueless; he doesn’t even understand what I’m saying. “I’m having a girl.”
I don’t know how he will respond. If I had to guess which gender he would prefer, it would be a boy. A boy to follow in his footsteps and his father’s before him. A boy that will become as ruthless as him. He would have taught him how to shoot a gun at the same time he learned to walk most likely.
He grabs me by the waist and twirls me around before kissing me firmly on the lips. “We are having a girl.”