He jerked back and quirked his head. His voice came out low. “Nor will any other man ever again.”
His hand went between my legs to rub my pussy. I rolled my hips, practically ready to screw him there at the kitchen counter.
“Jesus Christ. No wonder you’re pregnant with my child.”
My body wanted nothing to do with shopping. I curved my back, pushing my tits out for him to see.
He groaned. “I swear, either I’m dreaming or your tits are growing already.”
My hands slid up my top to cover them and squeeze. “They’re more sensitive too.”
“Fuck the store. You can order whatever you want.” His hands flew off me and then went under my armpits to lift me onto the table. He grabbed the chair from the table and sat in front of me, a predatory smile on his face. “I’m hungry.”
“You already ate. We should go.” I crossed my arms over the baggy t-shirt of his I wore.
“That’s not the meal I’m starved for, Kate-Bait.” He scrunched the material up at my thighs and then snaked his hands under the shirt and over my belly to my tits. He didn’t rub them nicely. He pinched each nipple and rolled it between his fingers. I gasped, and I knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere if I spread my legs further.
I did anyway.
18
Katie
The extensive spewing of Russian from Ivan’s mouth made it clear he wasn’t exactly happy about the conception of his great grandchild.
“It could be a boy.” Doubtful, but I knew how to work a situation. “Would that be better?”
The swearing in Russian continued. Rome and I stood there patiently.
We’d decided to tackle Ivan before another doctor’s appointment. There wouldn’t be a way to keep the news under wraps much longer with the underground gangs leaking it anyway. Every one of our partners needed to get on board. Especially Ivan.
Especially my only living relative.
“It’s the wrong blood, Katalina.”
“There’s no right or wrong.” I planted a hand on my hip and decided to wait him out. The more he simmered now, the less he’d spout off in the future.
“There were so many plans. Too many ruined layers.” He laser-focused on my stomach. “That seed has ruined everything.”
The motion was fast, faster than I expected, especially because I hadn’t expected it at all.
Ivan’s gun was at my belly as quick as Rome’s gun was at Ivan’s head.
“Don’t fuck with me, old man,” Rome growled, his other hand holding Ivan’s jaw so that the barrel of his gun dug hard into Ivan’s head.
“This baby should be dead.” His cold azure eyes shot daggers into mine.
Showing weakness would have fed him.
I didn’t gasp; I didn’t step away either. I stepped forward, pushing into his line of fire.
Tempting him to pull the trigger would rile him. He’d only pulled the gun to prove he had one, never intending to shoot. He just wanted my fear.
It whipped through me fast enough, though. Fear roared through my veins like a lit match to a dry forest. It grew fast, like gasoline-and-kerosene-poured-on-it fast. The impact almost crippled me.
This was real fear, not the kind I used to have. Before, I was in the mob, I was in men’s beds, I was in a dark alley all alone without any thought of losing anything. I had nothing to lose. That’s what made so many in the mob dangerous. They were willing to do anything because their life didn’t matter to anyone else, barely mattered to themselves. They lived, breathed, and died for the only thing that was relevant: their mob family.
This was different. It wasn’t fear for my mob family or even my own life, but for an innocent bystander, one that I suddenly loved more than myself. Was it evolution or the animal in me? Maybe. The maternal instinct was visceral and vicious.