Victor - Her Ruthless Husband (Ruthless Triad 3)

“Mah…mah…mah…”

I wake up to these strange sounds and the light of a new morning streaming through the hospital’s windows.

The sunshine isn’t the only surprising sight to greet me when I open my eyes. I also find Victor beside my bed, sleeping on a cot.

He looks larger-than-life in his suit and entirely out of place on top of the simple bed, even more so because he seems to be having a nightmare again. He’s vocalizing something I can’t understand, just like on the plane.

“Victor, Victor, wake up.”

My voice must cut through the nightmare; he comes awake with a sudden jerk.

Then he immediately sits up on the cot, body tensed, like he’s ready to fight someone.

However, he visibly relaxes when he sees me staring at him from the hospital bed. He raises his hands to sign, “Are you OK?”

“I'm fine. Are you OK?” I ask back. “It sounded like you were having a bad nightmare again.”

A shadow falls over Victor's face. “It was nothing.”

It sounded like something. But I wasn't exactly a Lena, so I let the conversation slip into awkward silence.

“Is this why you were learning Korean?” he suddenly asks after a few excruciating beats.

I blink, not understanding the non sequitur change of subject.

“To teach the baby,” he clarifies.

I nod. Even though I realize what I’m telling him along with this information. That I knew. That I knew even before he asked for the three dates.

Another tense moment passes between us.

But then he rises from the cot and says, “I'll have my men bring me a new suit and some breakfast for you. After that, I would like you to come back to Rhode Island with me for a week or two, just until I’m sure you do not have side effects from your concussion. But if you want, I can make the arrangements for you to go to the Ferraros. Just let me know what you decide.”

I blink, beyond shocked. I’d been expecting an edict, but against all odds, he’s giving me a choice.

So now, the main question of the morning is will I go down to New Jersey to wait out this observation period or back to Rhode Island with Victor?

I don’t know what makes me more uneasy at that moment. That he’s kicking the ball back into my court, or that the answer to that question isn’t immediately obvious.

23

VICTOR

“The room right at the top of the stairs is the one we designated for guests. But if you prefer something bigger, I can have all of the things moved out of Han’s suite. He has a much larger space. Yes, that's a better idea. I'll have his room cleared out for you. He's in Delaware still, so he won't be back anytime soon. He won't mind.”

Victor is talking too much as they walk into the house with the rolling suitcase his men fetched from her Manhattan hotel. He knows he is. But he can’t stop moving his hands.

Just like he can’t believe Dawn chose him over the Ferraros. He gave her a choice against all of his instincts, and she’d actually said yes to moving in with him.

He drops his gaze to her rounded belly, once again magnetized by the beautiful sight. Speaking of things he can’t believe….

No wonder the need to protect her was burning even hotter during their August dates. On some primal level, he must have known she was carrying his progeny.

And he let her go, tried to not think about her living out in the world on her own. But as soon as he received Luca Ferraro’s message, that deep-seated need to watch over her returned with a roar.

“The guest room is fine.”

Dawn’s answer brings his eyes back up to her face. “I'm only here for a couple of weeks, so…”

He decides against acknowledging her answer with his hands or his heart.

Dawn is carrying his baby. The only scenario he can see where they spend any part of the rest of her pregnancy apart involves him in a body bag.

But he holds himself in check. She’s here now. That’s all that matters. For once, he must ignore his instinct to future bank and, as Han used to say when he was going through his yoga girl phase, keep himself grounded in the present.

So Victor simply escorts her up the stairs to the guest room for the beginning of the stay that only she thinks will be temporary.

And he’s rewarded at the door of her chosen room when she pushes one of her messy curls behind her ear. “I um… I just wanted to thank you again. I can take care of myself. But that was scary. And I'm grateful you came through. No matter what happens next, I want you to know that.”

“I was happy to help,” he answers. “And if you need anything else. Anything at all. I’m sleeping right down the hallway.”