Page 83 of Married with Blood
“Fine.” Hopefully, I’d be able to tell Maksim as soon as dinner was over and then that news would just be out there. “Let me get through this dinner first.”
She didn’t look happy about it, but she agreed to stay quiet.
As soon as we sat at the enormous table, though, the secret was out.
We took our seats. Servers came through to pour our drinks.
The second I put my hand over my wineglass to turn down the offer of wine, though, Lev noticed.
He sat diagonally across from me and Maksim.
“No wine tonight, Carina?” he asked, one brow raised with curiosity.
The room went silent as they all looked at me. Or rather, I’d captured their attention by not immediately replying. I couldn’t figure out what to say. If I said I didn’t want winetonight, that wasn’t going to last long. I’d need to avoid alcohol for months. But figuring out a more elaborate lie off the top of my head wasn’t something I could do at the moment. I was still reeling from the worries I shared with Elena. I was still accepting the results that Iwaspregnant, without a doubt.
Staring at the shiny edge of the plate placed before me, I swallowed and scrambled to speak at all.
“Carina?”
Maksim took my hand and squeezed my fingers.
It was the most intimacy and closeness we’d shared today, and the simplicity of his merely holding my hand pushed me close to tears again.
Say something.
Deflect.
Not now.
Don’t do this here.
Just breathe through it and deflect and tell him later and?—
He tipped my chin up with his fingers on the underside of my jaw. As I gazed into the sincere concern in his dark eyes, I blinked at the burn of unshed tears.
“Is there a reasonwhy?” he asked of my refusal for wine.
I nodded.
Nothing else needed to be said. No other words or explanations were necessary. His gaze turned soft. Something like love and adoration shone from his deep-brown eyes as his lips lifted.
He knew.
Maybe he suspected.
But there was no doubt in my heart that he understood now.
He leaned in slowly and I closed my eyes. Grounded by the grip of his big, strong hand in mine, I savored the familiar and possessive heat of his lips against mine.
He kissed me, and I tuned out the sounds of the others.
Of Elena laughing lightly and talking. Of Lev chuckling and saying his instincts never failed him. Of Alexei asking what the hell was going on. Of Adrik insisting on a confirmation for what just happened.
“You’re pregnant?” Nikolai asked as soon as Maksim reared back, still holding my hand, still smiling at me.
I faced his brother and nodded. “I… just found out.”
“Seriously?” Viktor smiled. “Damn, that was fast.”
