“You’re not gonna like my opinion,” he says frankly. “So I’m trying not to say it.”
“Chris…”
“Do you really want to be tied to him for the rest of your life, Jessa?” he blurts out. “Because having his child is a life sentence.”
“Meaning what?” I demand, anger flooding my body. I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing. “You think it would have been a blessing in disguise had I lost the baby?”
“He’s a fucking Bratva don,” he hisses. “As I keep reminding you.”
“And you’re supposed to be on my side!”
“I am on your side. Why do you think I want him out of your life so bad? Jess, you’re not going to have a life if you stay with him.” He gestures to the men sitting two tables away. “Look at them over there. Four fucking bodyguards following you and your child through life. Is that really what you want?”
“It’s temporary.”
“You really think so?” he snorts.
“I know so,” I spit at him. “This is because Marina is still out there and she’s not likely to give up easily. After she’s not a problem anymore, then—”
“Do you even hear yourself?”
I stop short. “What do you mean?”
“‘After she’s not a problem anymore,’” he repeats. “That’s what you just said.”
“So?”
“You realize what that means, right? You realize how she ceases to become a problem?” He leans in and whispers, “He kills her. That’s what it means.”
“She tried to kill me!” I point out.
“So go to the police! Put up wanted posters. Send the fucking law after her,” he argues. “You can’t take it into your own hands. You’re the daughter of a police officer, Jessa. You know this.”
I grit my teeth. “I also know that sometimes the law doesn’t always serve justice.”
“And Anton does?”
“He’s trying to protect me.”
“You wouldn’t need protecting if you’d never met him in the first place. Let’s face it, the only reason you’re even on Marina’s radar is because Anton expressed interest in you.”
His logic is ironclad, but I still find myself railing against it. “It’s not like he could see this coming. He thought she was dead.”
“I can’t believe you’re sitting here and defending him.”
“What do you expect me to do?” I demand. “I love him.”
I don’t mean to say the last part, but it slips out all the same. Chris stops short, his breathing growing more erratic.
“Chris…”
He shakes his head at me. “You’re doing it again. You’re making the same fucking mistake over again. Except this time, it’s going to be so much worse.”
“Dane cheated on me. He treated me like shit.”
“Dane was an asshole,” he agrees. “But Anton is dangerous. What if one day you decide you want a different kind of life? What if one day you want to leave? Do you really think a man like him is going to let you go?”
“I think he would. If it’s really what I wanted.”