by Kiera Silver
Tears trailed down her cheeks, but she made no effort to wipe them away. “I know what it’s like to have a missing parent, and I won’t let my child grow up without you in his life. I love you, Patrick. I am very angry and very hurt about what you did to me, and to my father, but I also understand the circumstances.
“I get that you were in a situation where you didn’t have much control, and you did the best thing you could. It’s going to be difficult for me to accept you murdered my father, no matter how good your intentions, and move past that. The thing I’m really having trouble with at the moment is that you didn’t tell me all this beforehand.”
Hope sparked in him, but he did his best to fight it, not wanting to nurture something that didn’t stand a chance of surviving. “I wish I’d had the balls to tell you before we got married, but I wanted to make sure you were mine. I was arrogant and foolish enough to think that if my ring was on your finger, you wouldn’t leave me. You wouldn’t be able to, and so when I discovered my stupid assumption was wrong, I panicked. I had no right to drag you around and lock you in here, and I promise that I’ll never do such a thing again if you’re willing to give me another chance to prove it.”
She still seemed uncertain as she moved from the bed and walked closer to him of her own volition. This time, she didn’t flinch when he reached out a cautious hand to cup her shoulder. He wanted to take her into his arms and smother her with kisses, but it was too soon for that. “I probably don’t deserve it, but I’m begging you for another chance, Lauren.”
She tipped her head to the side, wearing a half-smile. “You’re not exactly begging, are you? You’d have to be on your knees for that.”
As he started to kneel at her feet, her expression morphed to one of horror, and she reached out her hands to keep him from bending. “No, don’t. I didn’t mean it. I was just teasing. I don’t want you to humble yourself before me. I just need to make sure you aren’t going to lie to me anymore.”
Her eyes narrowed, and a new surge of anger washed over her features. “Which reminds me, you huge fucking hypocrite, how dare you discipline me for lying to you about a little thing like the birth control pills when you were keeping this a secret the whole time?”
He blinked, not even having considered the aspect before. “I… It never crossed my mind, to be honest. I just wanted so badly to see you like that, and I seized the excuse. I should have just asked if you wanted to play games with me rather than try to punish you as though you were a child and not my equal.”
She nodded, looking satisfied. “I’m not ready to play any games with you for a while, kinky or otherwise. I meant it when I said I need some time and space, but I can find that here as well. I don’t want to rush out of the house, and I no longer want to be apart from you. That’ll only make overcoming this that much harder.”
She took a step closer to him, bridging the distance between them. Lauren took his hand in hers, squeezing gently. “I want to work through this. I want to save our marriage, because I love you. I know you love me too, and what we have is too important to give up. I just need to take it slowly, okay?”
He nodded, trying to hide his reluctance. What he wanted to do was sweep her off her feet and carry her to the bed, to remind her of how good it could be between them, and how amazing they were together. That wouldn’t cut it though. She needed to feel that emotionally, not just physically, and all he could do was give her time. For a man with the power to do almost anything he desired, he was left powerless in the situation. All he could do was give in to his wife’s requests and pray she would be able to forgive him and move past this obstacle.
Epilogue
She moved back to their bedroom three weeks later, and it had been three of the longest weeks of her life. Long before she was emotionally ready to resume their marriage, her body had been clamoring for his. It had gotten harder and harder to deny both their urges, and so she was back with him. She was feeling good about the decision, since they had moved slowly and gotten reacquainted the past three weeks.
There would always be a part of her that would hurt at the thought of what her father’s last few minutes must have been like, and she would always have moments where she would abruptly remember her husband had murdered her father, but she had come to accept Patrick had saved him from a worse fate. Her father had clearly understood the situation, and perhaps he’d even been grateful for Patrick’s intercession. Whatever he’d felt at the end, he must have still trusted his friend to make her Patrick’s ward.
She couldn’t help thinking maybe there’d been another way out for her father, but she also believe Patrick had not thought there was, and he had been doing the best thing he could in the circumstances. Since she hadn’t been there to witness it, she would never know for certain if there had been some other way to reason with Peretti, or if her father would have stood a chance if he’d just spoken up about his relationship with Alessandra.
It was in the past, and she couldn’t do anything to change the outcome. All she could do was try to accept what had happened and move on.
They wouldn’t have a perfect future together, but it was unrealistic if she’d ever believed in perfection. Even if she’d never found out about the events with her father, they still would have dealt with conflict. That was part of being married, and it was part of loving someone so intensely. Perhaps this had even made their marriage stronger, since they had survived what could only be one of the worst things ever, and now they were back together.
He was asleep beside her, his hand protectively over her stomach, where the tiniest bump was just starting to show. Only someone who knew her body well, like Patrick, would’ve noticed a slight thickening at her waist or the subtle increase of her breasts, but they were both very aware of her changing body, and what it meant.
He loved her, and he loved their baby. She knew he would die to protect them, and she was certain her father would have been happy for her, that he would’ve been happy to know she’d ended up with Patrick, under his care and the object of his love. She believed that strongly, even knowing how her father had died.
He would have wanted her to be happy and safe, and she was both those things with Patrick. He had a wicked temper, but he would keep it in check with her, and she knew he would never hurt her or their children.
If he hadn’t been the one to let her out of that room on his own, they wouldn’t be where they were now. If he had persisted down that path, the one urging him to keep her at any cost, it would have destroyed their fragile bond.
By opening the gilded cage, and inviting her to step outside of it, he had shown how much he genuinely loved her. That, more than anything, had given her the strength to try to move past the revelations of her father’s death, along with her hurt and anger at the situation.
He was worth fighting for, even if it meant fighting herself. Now, lying beside him after their first time making love in weeks, she was hopeful for the future and convinced they would go the distance. Patrick belonged to her, and no one was going to take her from him, not even him or herself.
THE END
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The Just Business Mafia Romance Series
NEGOTIATION
ACQUISITION
MERGER
HOSTILE TAKEOVER
The Dark Mafia Series
PATRICK
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CORMAC
ALEXEI
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