Page 92 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

Or that this nightmare was finally over.

"Is he really okay?"

"Yes," I whispered, acutely aware that she was trembling with the effort it was taking to stay upright against me.

"He is fine. Just sleeping. You did such a good job of protecting him and our unborn baby as well. You were so brave, Daisy, and I’ll be forever in your debt for that."

"I—" she twisted her body so she could look up at me, and I could tell by the sheer concentration on her face that she was about to go down again.

I swung her into my arms.

"Ilya." She opened her mouth to argue.

"No." This time my voice was firm. "No arguments, Daisy. This time you let me look after you."

She didn’t say a word until I had her back in my giant bed, and had pulled the covers back over her shivering frame.

"Okay," she finally said. For a second her eyes closed; she didn’t open them again, and I thought she might have fallen back to sleep, so I settled back in my chair and took her hand in mine. My thumb playing over her fingers. Bare from any jewelry at all. Not that she needed flashy things to make her beautiful. She did that just by being herself.

"What are you doing, Ilya?" she whispered.

Her question took me aback; it didn’t make any sense to me. What the hell did she mean, what was I doing?

"Looking after you." I kept rubbing my thumb over her skin. "Holding your hand?" I tried to lighten the tone.

Slowly she blinked her eyes open. "Why?"

"Because—" I swallowed hard. She arched an eyebrow. "Because," I tried again, and this time my voice came out stronger, "I can’t stand the idea of you being alone."

Steadily she stared at me for a few seconds. And the unspoken words hung between us.

I knew what I had to say, but my lips just wouldn’t form the words. Even though they were right there on the tip of my tongue.

Jesus, why couldn’t I say them? I knew what she was thinking, because it’s what she had always thought. That I didn’t love her. When in reality, I loved her more than anything else apart from my son. I had no problem telling Alec that he was my world, so why couldn't I say the words to her?

I needed to, otherwise I was going to lose her. I could already see her pulling away.

"You don’t owe me anything," she whispered, and the pain in her voice was palpable. "I would protect Alec with my life. You don’t have to pretend to care."

Keeping her hand firmly in mine, I slid the other one under her chin. "I know that, Daisy. I know what you did for him. You’re his mom."

"Yeah."

"I can never repay you for keeping him safe." I frowned. That wasn’t what I had planned on saying. I didn’t want this to be transactional because that’s how it was in the past, and I didn’t want to go back there.

"Just don’t force me out of his life again," she begged. "That’s all I ask. No matter what happens next. Please let me be his mommy. I don’t want to leave him."

I tightened my grip on her hand. "Never," I promised. "Never again. You’re his mom and you need to be in his life." I gulped hard. "I want you in my life as well. If that’s something you want."

"Ilya," she whispered my name. Half prayer, half whimper of fear. And that gutted me. I had been terrible to her, I knew that, but I never wanted to hear her say my name like that ever again. I took a deep breath to steady myself.

"I can’t force you to want to be with me. But we have a son and we are about to have another baby and—"

She yanked her hand away from mine. "So that’s why? Because I’m pregnant? That’s why I am back here?"

I grabbed at her hand before she could hide it under the blankets from me. Bringing it to my lips, I kissed each knuckle.

"I don’t want you in my life because you are the mother of my children," I growled out raggedly, finally admitting to her how I felt in a rush. "I want you in my life because I am in love with you."