“That’s great!” Cara exclaims, “progress!”
“Mhmm,” I hum distractedly. Blair requesting dinner is almost amusing, maybe she really does think she has a chance. Well, if I’m to play the part I better play it well.
“I better change into something more befitting of ‘hey Blair I miss you,’” I mutter, patting Cara’s calf before I stand. All the soft heat lingering in my muscles from the shower fades at the prospect of stepping outside again.
Suck it up, Killian. One step closer to Samuel…and the truth.
I make it as far as the doorway before Cara calls out to me and I turn as a prickling pulse of heat moves through me.
“Don’t go!” she exclaims, standing so suddenly that the blanket falls from her lap and pools around her ankles.
“What?” I narrow my eyes as irritation begins to swell. She’s having a change of heart now? This was her idea! “You… you literally just helped me set this up.”
“I know! I know I just…” Her hands clasp together in front of her abdomen and her skin flushes crimson, the red sweeping up her throat as she burrows her toes into the rug and stands there, wide-eyed and innocent. “I didn’t think she’d respond so quickly and you’d have to go right back out.”
“Cara… we’ve been trying to get her to meet with at least one of us, I’m not passing up a chance to get closer to Samuel because you—,” I sigh, throwing my hands up as I search for the words. “—because you suddenly have a change of heart?”
“No, no it’s not that!” Cara shakes her head, taking a step closer as a tremble becomes visible around her knees.
Is it jealousy? Frustration? It’d be hot if it hadn’t been her idea.
“Then what is it?” I demand sharply. My words hang heavier in the air, seeking out a plausible reason why we’ve had such a sudden u-turn but Cara simply stays there, staring at me with burning cheeks and no words.
Unless… she’s concerned for my safety? After everything that’s happened, I can’t blame her.
That realization comes with a cozy warmth across my shoulders and I offer a strong smile.
“Relax, I’ll have guards with me and I’ll be fine,” I assure her before I turn and head out into the hall.
“I’m pregnant!”
The world around me mutes so suddenly that my entire body locks up and I can’t move. Neither my heart nor my lungs seem to remember how to work as Cara’s declaration rings around my soul like a gong.
Pregnant.
She’s pregnant?
My wife is with child?!
The second my heart kicks back into gear, it punches a hole right through my chest. I turn back to the doorway, slowly approaching as Cara fills my view once more.
“What?” slips from me, my throat as dry as the desert.
“I’m pregnant,” she repeats in a whisper.
I step closer, cautious like approaching a timid deer. Truly? My child is growing inside Cara right this second? Theloveof my twisted life?
“Pregnant?” I repeat and she nods wordlessly at me, her lips sealed shut by her burrowing teeth and her eyes so wide it’s like Bambi is gazing back at me.
Nothingelse in the world matters in this moment. Not Blair, not Sienna and Dante, not the Russians;no one. Cara and I are going to have a baby. My Cara.
The thoughts flood my mind instantly and energy surges through me, forcing me forward. Cara gasps loudly as I grab her and I clutch her to my chest, crashing our mouths together in a terribly desperate kiss.
Cara’s pregnant!
I’m going to be a father!!
Heat crashes over me from head to toe and I kiss her until my lungs scream for air. Only then do I pull back but I linger in her space, sliding one arm around her waist while I gently press the palm of my other hand to her stomach. Cara trembles in my grasp, tears clinging to her eyelashes as I touch as gently as I dare.