I hit my head on the floor, but I didn’t let the disorientation slow me down. I climbed to my feet and reached for the glass cookie jar so I could slam it on his head.
“Nope.” He grabbed me by the ankle and dragged me toward him across the floor. “I had no intention of hurting you. But now, you’ve pissed me off.” He pulled his hand back and slapped me hard across the face.
I turned with the hit but refused to show any sign of pain. “You picked the wrong family to fuck with, asshole.”
He kneeled down on top of me, staring at me with his disgusting expression. “No. Your brother shouldn’t have crossed me.”
“And who are you?” I spat on his face. “A real man doesn’t go after the weakest prey. He fights a man his own size.”
“But you aren’t the weakest, sweetheart.” His hand moved to my face, cupping my cheek. “I find you very fascinating.”
I turned my face and bit down hard on his thumb.
He yanked his hand away and slapped me again. “Calm down, bitch. If your brother cooperates, you’re home free.”
“What do you want from him? Money? Who are you?”
“Money?” he asked with a laugh. “No, I don’t give a damn about money. But he took someone that belongs to me…a woman that should be mine. He has to give her back…or I’ll keep you instead.”
The only woman I could possibly think of was Sapphire. “Sapphire?”
“Yep.”
My brother loved her and would never give her up. And she was my friend…so I didn’t want her to hand herself over anyway.
That meant I had to get out of this on my own.
But how?
15
Conway
I walked into the bedroom and dropped my jacket on the ground. Like every other day, I stripped off each piece of clothing and didn’t give a damn where they fell. But once I saw them on the ground, I realized Muse would pick them up.
And I didn’t want her doing anything.
I gathered my clothes again and hung them up so Dante could take them after dinner.
Muse stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room, dressed in a dark blue dress that reached past her knees. She was only a few weeks pregnant, so there was no visible change in her body. But to me, she was already glowing.
“How was work?” she asked.
“Everything is coming together.” My body was starting to return to normal now that I was exercising every day. When it was too cold to swim, I went to the gym and lifted weights. My abs were thicker, and my biceps were stronger. “Nicole thinks you should still be in the show.”
“In a few weeks, I’ll be a month along. It might not be obvious, but I’ll still be a little bigger than I should.”
“Even if you are showing, I think that’s fine. It’d be sexier anyway.”
“Sexy?” she asked. “Men don’t fantasize about pregnant women.”
In the past, I would have said the same, but now that my woman was pregnant, there was something innately sexy about it. Knowing I was the one who knocked her up gave me a new sense of purpose. “I don’t agree with that. I think any man who has a pregnant wife is turned on every time he looks at her.”
“I don’t look pregnant yet, so you don’t know.”
I looked her up and down. “Oh, I know.”
She moved into my body and wrapped her arms around my neck. “So, what are we going to do?”
“It’s up to you. Do you still want to do it? Because you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
She tilted her head back to look at me, her eyes lit up as she stared into my face. “Yes, I want to.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I rubbed my nose against hers before I kissed her on the forehead. “Then I’m going to make an announcement that we’re having a baby together. I think that will attract even more attention to the lingerie.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked. “Maybe we should wait—”
“Don’t even talk like that.” I silenced her with my tone. I didn’t want to entertain my thoughts with the horrible possibility that she could lose our baby. A week ago, I didn’t want children, but now that she was pregnant, I would do anything to protect that baby growing inside her.
She rested her forehead against my chin. “Alright. Then let’s do it.”
“Perfect.” I rested my lips against her forehead. “I made an appointment with a doctor in Milan. He’s the best in Italy. We’ll see him tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s great. Thank you.”
“I’m sure he’ll want you to take some prenatal vitamins or something.” My fingers moved underneath the fall of her hair.
“Did you tell Nicole?”
“Yeah.”
“What did she say?”
“Congratulations. Stuff like that.”
“Have you told anyone else?”
“I called my father the other night.”