Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“What?” I shake my head, completely lost by his train of thought. “Of course you’re good enough to be the dad! You would be the best damn dad! But that’s not how it works. I can’t snap my fingers and make you the dad,” I cry. “If I could, I would.”
“Do you love this baby?” he asks, lowering his hand to my belly. “Despite the baby sharing DNA with Enrique, do you still love him or her?”
“Of course!” I hiss. “I don’t care how they were conceived. The moment I knew the baby existed, I loved them. And I’m going to love them every day for the rest of my life.”
“Do you understand how much I love you?” Matteo says, framing my face with his strong hands. “You have quickly become my entire world. You’re the breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed. Every morning, I wake up and thank whatever god there is that they brought you to me. I think about you all day. Your smiles, your laughter … they fill my dark world with light. And at night, I look forward to watching those stupid vampire shows with you, reading to you, cooking with you, or making love to you.”
He looks at me with glassy eyes, and my heart clenches in my chest.
“You are the best part of me, Dani. My best friend. You own my heart and soul. And if you think that I wouldn’t or couldn’t love a baby that’s part you, then you don’t know me at all.”
His last words come out hoarse, and a single tear glides down his cheek. I feel him starting to lift me, but I tighten my legs around him.
“I’m sorry. I was freaking out, and all I could think about was that you didn’t want kids, and then when you said you did, you kept saying half you and half me, and when she told me I was pregnant and I realized it was impossible for the baby to be half you, I was so devastated because I knew you’d make a wonderful father, or I wouldn’t have wanted to have kids with you.”
“DNA doesn’t mean jack shit,” Matteo spits. “Andrey and I shared DNA, yet I was closer to Lucian and your dad. I might have half of Andrey’s DNA, but I’m nothing like him.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again. “I’m so emotional and scared and shocked.” A fresh round of sobs escapes me, and I shake my head. “If you don’t want to be with me anymore …”
“Stop doing that,” he demands firmly yet gently. “Stop trying to give me a damn out. I love you, and I want to be with you, and unless you tell me otherwise, in three days, I’m going to marry you.” His hand goes back to my stomach, and butterflies erupt inside me. “And as far as I’m concerned, this baby is half you and half me. Fuck what the DNA says. He’s going to be so damn loved by both of us, and he’ll never know any different.”
His admission causes me to start crying all over again as I wrap my arms around his neck and nuzzle my face against his chest.
“Thank you,” I murmur. “Thank you for loving me and this baby.”
“You never have to thank me,” he says. “Loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. And loving this baby is just as easy because he or she is a part of you, Dani, and I love every fucking part of you.”
37
Matteo
The drive home is filled with silence, both of us lost in our thoughts. But I don’t plan for it to stay that way. I have so many questions, and only Dani has the answers … because I wasn’t there. We thought it was a quick checkup, so I didn’t go, and I wish I had because she had to find out that she was pregnant alone.
I’m not a woman, so I can’t begin to understand how she must’ve felt, but based on her bloodshot eyes, puffy cheeks, and red nose, she spent a good amount of time crying.
When she didn’t show up to her dress fitting, my first thought was that something horrible had happened. And all I wanted to do was make sure she was safe.
Seeing her sitting on the bench, full of so many emotions, damn near broke my heart. All I want is for Dani to be happy. And I’d imagine that finding out you’re pregnant should be one of the happiest moments of a woman’s life—if that’s what she wanted.
And she did want that. She still does.
But neither of us expected that plot twist.
“Matteo,” Dani says softly, “can you say something, please? It’s so quiet, and … I don’t know … I guess I’m just worried about what’s going through your head.”