His throat bobs, his head dropping. He focuses on the floor for a brief moment, and then looks back up at me. “Pregnant…”

“Yes,” I whisper. I bite back the tears. The rims of my eyes sting.

He sits down on the edge of the bed anyway, still watching me. He looks at my flat belly, watches as I run a hand over it, and then releases a heavy breath. “Come here,” he exhales.

I go to him, stepping between his legs and wrapping my arms around the back of his neck.

“You want to carry my baby—even after all of this?” he whispers.

I nod without even thinking about it. How stupid of me. He doesn’t want this. Why would he want this right now?

“Yes,” I answer, and I can’t fight it anymore. The tears fall on their own.

“No, Gianna. Don’t cry. This…it’s good news to me. Great, actually.”

“It is?” I’m surprised to hear that.

“Yes.” He shifts a little, holding my waist. “The only thing that concerns me about this is you. Are you happy with this? With me? And why the hell did you go after Yessica when you knew you were pregnant? You could have risked your life and lost the baby—”

“Draco, I did what I had to do so that our baby could have a living, breathing father. I refused to let her get away. We needed her gone so we can have a life together.”

His mouth clamps shut, a hard sigh leaving him. I sit on his lap, squeezing him tight around the shoulders and then leaning back to look him in the eyes. “I don’t think I’m too far along, anyway. Maybe a month or so. Juanita checked me. The baby is fine.” I inhale deep and long, before letting it go. “Nicoteras love hard, just like Molinas do.” I drop my hand, entwining our fingers. “And when I say I love you, I mean it. I don’t want to be with anyone else but you, Draco. And I have no doubt, whether it’s a boy or a girl, that he or she will be our little warrior.”

“The risks—there is always someone after me, Gia. The baby will be in danger his or her entire life, and I won’t—”

I cut him off before he can even finish, pressing a finger to his lips. “We will always, always be in danger. Even before all of this, my life was easily on the line. I was a mafia leader’s daughter, for fuck’s sake. I’m not going to let the threats of this world stop me from being happy and living my life. Yes, I’ll be worried, and yes, I’ll have to watch my back even more now. But what parent doesn’t? I will do my best to protect this baby—our baby. I will be there for my child as much as I can. I will prepare our baby for the best of times and the worst.”

He drops his head, like he’s ashamed or something now. “I only want you safe.”

“I will be fine.”

He picks his head up, gripping my chin between his fingers. “If something happens to you—”

“Then you’ll set the world on fire for me. I know. Trust me, I know.” I laugh just as he does. After laying a soft kiss on his cheek, I rest my head on his shoulder. “It will be fine. I promise.”

“Well, this news settles my internal debate. I’m stepping down,” he declares. “Getting out of the heavy shit. I wont be this cartel’s only leader anymore.”

“What will you do?” I ask.

“I’ve spoken to Clark. He wants to take it on, with Patanza. They’ve agreed to do it together. Run the Molina-Nicotera Cartel.”

I lift my head. “Yeah? Is that what you really want? To hand over everything you and your family have worked so hard for, just like that?”

“I’m doing what’s best for us—for my future.” He releases a long, weary breath. “It’s time for me to retire—lay low for a while. Be a part of an actual family. Live life. My mother has wanted this for me for years. There is someone I trust handling it—Patanza won’t tarnish the name of my cartel—so I’ll do it. For you.” He runs his palm over my belly. “For my baby.”

He grabs my waist and twists me around, lightly placing my back on the bed. “We can get away, just you and me…until the baby arrives.”

“Where?” I ask, smiling up at him.

“I’ll have it figured out as soon as we get through tomorrow. First, we’ll have to do a proper burial for Thiago and Emilio. My mother is flying here in the morning with Thiago’s skull.”

I frown. “His skull?”

“Yes. That bitch Yessica saved it, tried to make a statement with it during a set-up—almost killed me.” I frown, sitting up a little but he presses a hand on my shoulder, relaxing me again. “There’s a lot I need to fill you in on, huh?”

Tags: Shanora Williams Venom Erotic
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