“They are great,” I say. “She has been a big help with the library, and she and Niamh are really hitting it off.”
“Great.” Again, his sarcasm is obvious, but I ignore him. Either he’ll come to stand Hannah or he won’t. But either way, he’ll have to deal with her presence in my life.
I set my glass in the sink and walk into the living room. “What did you and Theo do for dinner?”
I expect him to be lounging on the couch, but he isn’t there.
“Where are you?” I ask, spinning in a circle. Just as I’m finishing the full three-sixty, I see him standing in the doorway to the balcony wearing a pair of dress pants and the blue cashmere sweater I tell him brings out the color of his eyes. He has a red rose in his hands.
I blink at him, stunned by how handsome he is, and shake my head. “What are you doing?”
He smiles, effectively stopping my heart, and nods for me to come closer. “I think you already have a good idea.”
My heart is hammering against my ribs as I cross the room to stand in front of him. He bends down and brushes a soft kiss against my lips before stepping to the side and revealing the candlelit dinner on the balcony. There is sparkling grape juice—since my pregnancy doesn’t allow for champagne—and two covered plates of food. But the thing that catches my eye is the little velvet box on the edge of the table. Viktor reaches for it and turns back to me, his throat bobbing as he swallows down his nerves.
“Viktor,” I say, tears already welling in my eyes.
He holds up a hand and shakes his head. “Hold yourself together or else I’ll lose it, too.” He pulls a folded-up piece of paper from his pocket and waves it in front of me. “I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget.”
Silent tears are rolling down my cheeks as he unfolds the paper and begins to read.
“Molly,” he starts, looking at me with soft blue eyes. “I’ve given a version of this speech twice before. I laid out the practical reasons why you should marry me for the safety of yourself and our children. I made good arguments that I stand behind, but the thing I failed to mention in both proposals is the depth of my love for you. So, here’s hoping the third time is the charm.”
I choke back a sob, and Viktor reaches out and grabs my hand, smoothing his thumb over my knuckles.
“From the first moment I saw you and Theo, I wanted nothing more than to take care of you. For a long time, I thought it was because I wanted to make right the crimes of the past, but now, I recognize my motivations for what they truly were: love. I loved you from the moment I saw you, and I love you still. Our love story has not been easy or simple. It has been star-crossed in a thousand different ways, yet every single time, regardless of the obstacle, we come back together.”
I’m full-on weeping now, barely able to stand, and Viktor wraps an arm around my waist and hugs me against his chest as he finishes his speech.
“I want you to know right now that even if you refuse this proposal flat out and turn me down, I’ll still choose you, Molly. I’ll choose to respect your wishes. I’ll choose to co-parent our baby and Theo, because he is as much mine now as he is yours. I will choose to do whatever is best for your mental, physical, and emotional well-being, even if it means breaking my own heart.”
His voice cracks, and I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating.
“But if you accept me.” He sighs with the very thought. “If you accept me, then I will make you the happiest woman on earth. I will protect you, cherish you, and respect you until my dying breath.”
Viktor unwraps me from his body and drops down to one knee, wincing from the wound in his leg, and opens the velvet box. The ring inside is huge and shining, but nothing can compare to the hope shimmering in his bright blue eyes.
“Molly Reyes, make me the happiest man in the world and marry me. Please.”
The sight of him on his knees in front of me is the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen, and it feels like my brain explodes. I grab the box from his hands, place it on the table, and throw myself at him.
Viktor laughs as I kiss his face and his neck. As my hands skim down the soft cashmere of his sweater and begin undoing his belt.
“Is that a yes?” he chuckles, lifting his arms to let me pull his sweater over his head.
“Hell yes,” I growl, smoothing my hands down his flat, strong stomach. “Absolutely.”
He lies back on the balcony, letting me straddle his hips, and grips my waist in his big hands. “Usually, consummating the marriage comes after the wedding.”
I yank my dress over my head in one motion and rock my hips against his growing hardness, drawing a moan from him.
“We’ve never been very traditional, so why start now?”
Viktor’s eyes rake over my body, and he finds the clasp of my bra and flicks it open, slipping the lacy material from my body. “Great question,” he growls.
The sex is fast and wild. He keeps his pants on and just pushes my panties to the side, and we find pleasure in each other’s bodies as the cool night air bites against our skin and the sounds of the city drift up to us.
Viktor throws a hand over my mouth as I come, screaming out his name, and he bites down on my shoulder when release finds him, rocking his hips up and into my body, spilling inside of me.
By the time we clean up and get dressed, the food is cold, but neither of us cares. Viktor scoops me up, careful of his wounds, and takes me upstairs for round two. On the way, we stop outside of Theo’s door. Viktor put him to bed before I arrived home, and he is breathing deeply in his room, clutching a teddy bear Viktor bought for him.
Viktor sets me down on the ground and wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me against his warmth. I smile up at him, unable to believe this is going to be my life.
Then, he kisses me, and the fire in my belly reignites.
I close Theo’s door and push Viktor towards the bedroom we share. When he falls back on the bed, I close the door with no intention of opening it again before dawn.
Tonight, he is mine.
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She’s my fake wife, my property… and my last chance at redemption.
She’s beautiful. An angel.
I’m dangerous. A killer.
She’s my fake bride for a single reason – so I can crush her father’s resistance.
But marrying Eve brings me far more than I bargained for.
She’s fiery. Feisty. Won’t take no for an answer.
She makes me believe that I might be worth redemption.
Until I discover a past she’s been hiding from me.
One that threatens everything.
Now, I know that our wedding vows are not enough.
I need to make sure she’s mine for good.
A baby in her belly is the only way to seal the deal.