“You’re sure that this is what you want?” Altin finally whispered into the phone. “You know that father could choose to make an example out of you and have you killed, Llir, right?” He knew that fact very well. Alek Tirana wasn’t a man who let betrayals slide. It didn’t matter that Llir was his flesh and blood—if his father wanted to make an example out of him, he would and there would be nothing and no one who’d be able to stop him.
“I understand that father will do as he pleases with me. But I won’t be able to live with myself if I stand by and do nothing, and something happens to Elira or Tarek. I have to take a chance that this might work.”
“Fine,” Altin agreed. “I’ll set up a meeting but I can’t promise that father will come here.”
“I won’t go back to Albania. If I do, he’ll use that to his advantage and never cut a deal with me to keep them safe. He’ll take away my leverage. If I stay in America, he’ll do just about anything he has to for me to return home. That’s the only way this works—he has to come here,” Llir insisted.
“I’ll see what I can do and I’ll be in touch as soon as I have an answer for you, Llir,” Altin promised.
“Oh—one other thing.” Llir knew he was pressing his luck, but this next part was crucial. “Don’t tell Elira or Tarek that I’ve asked you to do this for me. If they know that I’m sacrificing myself for their safety, they won’t allow it. I’m afraid they both think that together we can conquer anything—even our tyrant of a father.”
“All right,” Altin agreed. “But for the record, I don’t like this plan one bit.”
“Noted,” Llir said. “Thank you, brother.” Altin hummed into the other end of the phone and ended the call. Llir pocketed his cell and started back up the gravel road that led back to the house where Elira and Terek were still probably sleeping. Now, all he had to do was pretend that everything was fine and that he wasn’t waiting for a phone call that would essentially end their time together. All he could do was wait and make the most of what little time he had left with them.
Llir found Elira sitting in the living room crying and he panicked. He didn’t do well around crying women. He wasn’t used to seeing a woman break down. His grandmother was the only woman he remembered ever crying around him and that was the day his grandfather passed. That was the only time he had ever seen her cry. Finding Elira crying made him want to find whoever upset her and break them in two.
“What’s wrong, Baby?” he asked. Tarek walked into the room to find Llir standing over her, questioning why she was crying and he immediately crossed the room to sit down next to her and pulled her into his lap.
“What did you say to make her cry, Llir?” he asked.
“I didn’t say anything to make her cry,” he insisted. “I found her sitting in here like this and just before you walked in here and accused me of wrongdoing, I was asking her why she was crying.” They both looked back at Elira and she stared off into space, not making eye contact with either of them. She swiped at her tears and shook her head as if she was having a silent conversation in her mind.
“Elira,” Tarek breathed. “You need to focus and talk to us, Honey.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“What can’t you do?” Tarek asked.
“I just can’t—you’ll both be angry with me,” she insisted.
“How about you tell us what has you so upset and let us decide if we’re angry with you?” Llir said. “I’m betting it’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be, Honey.”
Elira barked out her laugh and stared him down as if accepting his dare. “I think I might be pregnant,” she sobbed.
“Pregnant,” Tarek repeated as if he didn’t quite understand the words coming out of her mouth. Llir understood her just fine and the thought of a baby both thrilled and terrified him all at the same time. He had noticed that she seemed a little off lately. She’d even gotten sick a few mornings in a row, but he assumed that Elira had just caught a stomach bug. It never crossed his mind that she might be pregnant.
“When did this happen?” Llir asked. The three of them had only been together for two months. He and Elira got together just a month before that since he didn’t lay a finger on her during her first month with him. If she was more than a few months pregnant, there was a possibility that the baby would have been conceived when she was being held by her handler. Llir knew the exact moment when Elira caught on to the real question he was asking.
“You’re asking if there is a possibility that I got pregnant before you bought me,” she whispered. Tarek wiped at her freshly fallen tears and kissed her forehead, pulling her trembling body into his own. Llir felt like a complete ass for even asking his question now, given how much it seemed to upset Elira. That was the last thing he wanted to do.
“I’m sure that Llir is just trying to help, Honey. No matter how the baby was conceived, he or she will belong to us, just as you do. None of that other shit matters to us, Elira,” Tarek promised. She wiped her nose on her sleeve and nodded.
“He’s right, Baby,” Llir agreed. “I don’t care who the biological father is—this baby will belong to us, just as you do. I love you, Elira.” It was the first time he had given her those words and he worried that he’d chosen the wrong time to make such a sweeping declaration. He meant it though—he had been in love with her for some time now, he’d just been waiting for the right time to tell her. He could tell that Tarek felt the same way about her. His guy wore his heart on his sleeve—it was one of the things Llir loved most about him.
“How can you say that to me now?” she sobbed. “You don’t know what our future will be if this baby turns out to be fathered by the monsters who took me and held me in a cage for three months. I can’t remember when I last had my period. How will I know for sure?” she asked.
“Wait—you’ve had it since moving into my apartment. You were in pretty bad shape back then, and I let you have your space but you asked me if I could get you some feminine products, about two weeks into our self-imposed isolation. I had to send my housekeeper out for the things you asked for, and she thought it was hilarious that I was asking her to purchase that stuff. I think she just enjoyed seeing me squirm and how uncomfortable it made me to ask her to run that errand,” Llir said.
Elira’s smile nearly lit up the room and she covered her mouth with her shaky hand. “I remember that,” she whispered. “So, that means that I’m three months late. Which also means that the baby is—” she looked at Llir and now, it was his turn to feel a little shaky.
“Mine,” he finished for her. “The baby is mine.” He looked at Tarek, worried that the realization that Llir was the baby’s father might upset him. Elira practically threw herself into his arms and wrapped her body around his.
“Thank God,” she breathed. Llir wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He was going to be a father—they were going to be a family. Well, that was, if she ended up being pregnant. They still had to figure that all out.