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He snorts. “It’s half yours,” he says as if that’s that. I shift my gaze over to him and watch him, wondering if he’s going to say anything else, but then he does without prompting. “Of course, it’s going to be stunning and perfect, just like you. It will get all the perfect parts of you and hopefully all the decent parts of me. But even if this baby has nothing of mine, if it’s only you, it will still be perfect.”
I laugh, curling my fingers around his wrist at my thigh and squeezing him there. “You’re right, but you’re also wrong. This baby isn’t going to be just me. It is going to have the perfect parts of both of us, because it’s going to be the best parts of both of us, Hendrick.”
My words come out on a hush, and I can’t help my smile. I love being this close to him. My ring sparkles in the sunshine, and I think about the question I had earlier. If this gorgeous sparkling ring was originally intended for Harlow. But again, I shove that thought away because I have something much more important to think about.
A baby.
Hendrick’s baby.
When he pulls the car up to the curb in front of my store, I frown, shifting my gaze to him. I don’t know why we’re here right now. I’m not sure I want to be here either. I don’t want to mar my beautiful day with ugly memories and thoughts.
Hendrick turns to face me, a smile playing on his lips. It’s almost a secret kind of grin, and I can’t help but wonder what is happening. The whole moment makes me nervous. Thankfully, he doesn’t make me wait.
He tells me immediately why he has brought me here.
“I have a cousin who would like to interview for a position. I thought that today would be a good day to talk to her, and I can be there.”
I’m not sure why the words surprise me a little. It’s not like he didn’t tell me that this would be happening eventually. He said he would bring some cousins by and that it would be better than hiring some stranger. Which I mostly agree with. He also said he would be there for the interview.
But I suppose I didn’t think it would be happening so soon. Although, I don’t know why either of us would wait. I inhale a deep breath and hold it for a moment, then let it out slowly. There are other things I need to talk to him about as it concerns my store as well. Like the rent and the cash his father gave me as hush money.
God.
When I think about that and the fact that just a few weeks ago, I accepted the money and the contracts. That I signed the NDA. I can’t believe it. I cannot believe I was a person who could do that. I hate myself for it, and that’s when I realize that the ring not being meant originally for me doesn’t matter.
If Hendrick can forgive both me and his father for plotting to hide his own baby from him, then I can forgive a stupid ring.
Albeit a stupid, gorgeous ring.
I press my lips together for a moment before I release them and his wrist. Pushing the car door open, I walk around the front, still gripping the black-and-white picture. Hendrick is there, his hand pressing against the small of my back.
My feet drag, but Hendrick doesn’t let me fall back. He knows I don’t want to go inside, but at the same time, I need to do just that. All the people who took me are dead. I should feel safe right now, except I don’t.
I’m not sure when I’ll feel safe ever again. Maybe I won’t. That thought consumes me and makes me feel sad. I’ve never been someone who was afraid of much. I’ve always been bold and outgoing, but since the first kidnapping, and now the second, I want to stay in Hendrick’s condo, wrapped in the safety of his security system and his arms—forever.
When I step into the store, it doesn’t even register that Hendrick has a key until I’m standing in the middle of the room. The fog clears around me, and I turn to face him.
“How did you get a key?” I ask.
“My dad gave me an extra he had. The family owns the building,” he explains as if it’s all so simple, and maybe it is. “I came here a couple days ago to get a list of what I needed for your security.”
“My security?” I ask.
He hums, his head tipped back slightly as he checks the ceiling corners of the room. “Yeah, I’m going to outfit you with alarms, cameras, and emergency buttons.”
My breath hitches. I cannot believe this is really happening. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Hendrick asks.
“Like?” I murmur.
His lips twitch into a smirk. “Like you’re fucking shocked that your tech husband is going to outfit your shop so that nothing like that happens again. I won’t let that shit happen ever again, sunshine.”
Tears prick my eyes. I should have expected it. As he said, he is my tech husband, and this is something he probably should be doing for me, but I just… it makes me feel emotionally warm and fuzzy inside.
Reaching out to him, I take his hand in mine, and I’m about to tell him just how much I love him when the door opens, and I hear a woman’s voice call out his name. My eyes widen, though I’m not sure why because he already told me that his cousin would be coming by and that it would be a woman, but maybe it’s the voice that is attached to said cousin.
Slowly, I spin around and see her standing in front of me. I hadn’t imagined that I would see her again, and my heart warms at the sight of her.
“Tiffany?” I ask.
