“Then why defend her so fiercely?”
“Because she’s carrying my child. That makes her valuable until she delivers. After that...” I shrug. The gesture is calculated to seem indifferent, but inwardly, I’m hoping like hell that all this works—because saying it is fucking shredding my soul to pieces.
Mikayla stands, moving closer to me. “You’re really that cold?”
“You’ve known me for eight years. Am I anything else?”
She reaches out, almost touches my arm, then stops. “That night at the club, after you killed those men, you held me while I cried. That wasn’t cold.”
“That was practical. You were hypothermic. Body heat was the fastest way to warm you up.”
“You stayed with me for three days.”
“You were an investment. I saw your potential.”
“You taught me to shoot. To fight. To read people.”
“All useful skills for someone in my employ.”
She’s close enough now that I can smell her shampoo—the same jasmine scent she’s used for years. “And when I had nightmares? When I woke up screaming for months after?”
“I needed you functional. Sleep deprivation would have made you useless.”
“You’re rewriting history, Stefan.”
“No—I’m clarifying it. You saw what you wanted to see, Mikayla. You always have.”
Her hand finally makes contact, fingers wrapping around my wrist. “I saw a man who saved me.”
I don’t pull away from her touch. “You’ve been essential to me.”
“Essential.” She tastes the word and closes her eyes, as if that is all she ever wanted.
I turn my hand to catch her fingers in mine. “Mikayla, my mother is using you. You know this. She’ll discard you the moment you’re no longer useful.”
“Unlike you?”
“I’ve never discarded you. Even now, after everything, I can’t. You want to know why I really brought you up here instead of leaving you down in that cell?”
She nods, eyes wide.
“Because I remember that girl outside the club. Broken but not beaten. Wounded but still fighting. That girl became the woman who helped me build an empire. I can’t forget that. I won’t.”
“Even though I betrayed you?”
“Even though you betrayed me.” I squeeze her fingers gently. “But Mikayla, I need my heir. I need that baby. And if my mother hurts Olivia, if she causes a miscarriage...”
“She won’t. She needs leverage over you.”
“Then you know where they are.”
Mikayla rips her hand away and wraps her arms around herself. “If I tell you, your mother will kill me.”
“I would never let that happen.” I step closer, close enough that she has to look up to meet my eyes. “I will protect you the same way I did the night you were assaulted by those men.”
“That was different. You weren’t fighting your own mother then.”
“My mother is just another threat to handle. You know what I’m capable of, Mikayla. You’ve seen me work.”
