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“Cinderella, what can I say? I couldn’t stay away,” He sounded amused and not at all as terrible as he should, considering he had just outed our relationship to Song men, at the very least, and put himself on their hit list, at best.
He crossed the space between us, and he pulled me up into his arms, his eyes flickering over me, checking for hurts.
“You failed to mention earlier that you’re sick,” he muttered, with a tone of disapproval in his voice. I spied Kira, his terrifying, dead-eyed sidekick, entering the room behind him. She strolled over to the doctor’s desk, and I turned my attention back to Kon.
“You seriously didn’t follow me here just to ask what’s wrong with me, did you? Kon, don’t you know what you’ve done? Jae won’t forgive this,” I fretted.
“I didn’t kill anyone, pumpkin. I wouldn’t. They’re your men, after all, just trying to keep you safe, even if they’re doing a piss poor job at it. It doesn’t matter, because, in the future, Ivanovs will provide the kind of security that money can’t buy,” he went on. I stared dumbly at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you and me, Hana. I can’t allow you to go to Korea, not for a vacation, and certainly not to live. I’ve known since the moment we met, we were going to end up here, your mother’s time frame has simply moved up the schedule a little.”
“End up where?”
He wet his lips, his green eyes seeming almost apologetic for a moment. “I’m taking you, Hana. I won’t allow anyone else to have you. You’re mine. Your brother can rant and rage about it, he can try and kill me, he’s welcome to… but I won’t be giving you up.”
Emotions crashed in my chest. Relief that I wasn’t the only one who felt this wild connection between us, crashed against the fear of what this meant for both our families.
“They won’t accept any of that like this. You’ll only get people killed. You’ll get hurt. Don’t start a war we can’t win… we don’t have a justification to,” I rambled, my thoughts incoherent and hard to untangle. How could such drama and potential for conflict come from me?
“I have a justification to do whatever I want to keep you. I want you, Hana and I know you want me too.”
“What I’ve wanted has never mattered to anyone,” I shot out, the words painfully heartfelt. A spark of deep, festering resentment smoldered in my soul as I confessed one of my darkest and deepest pains. “I don’t see why that should change now.”
A scowl crossed Kon’s face. “It’ll change now because I want it to. If you want me like I want you – no one will stand in my way.”
Those words were delivered with such devastating confidence, words failed me. How could I make him understand a lifetime of being biddable and easygoing? A lifetime of bending my desires and dreams to fit others. It was too much to admit to, and yet, accepting the opposite – blowing the peace between our families to smithereens for my selfish desires – seemed utterly incomprehensible.
Then Kira spoke and sealed my fate.
“She’s not ill. She’s pregnant,” Kira announced calmly, holding my chart.
Kon tensed, his eyes narrowing on me with a look of wonder, and then he smiled. It was a bloodthirsty sight. “Just in case you really believe what you want isn’t reason enough, there’s the justification you were looking for Cinderella. You are mine, and the child you’re carrying is mine. We will not be parted, come what may.”
CHAPTER11
Konstantin
Pregnant. Hana was pregnant with my child. The thought sent a thrill through the deepest, more primitive parts of me, which was far greater than other men. I had no problem admitting I was less evolved than other men, and the thought of the woman I loved, swollen with my child? It was a turn-on like no other.
We left out the back, and when I had her bundled into my car, speeding away from the clinic, I took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back. Her skin was cold, despite the way she’d wrapped up before we left. She was in shock. So was I, but mine was the victorious kind, where you end up getting every single thing you’ve ever wanted, unexpectedly.
I tightened my grip on her hand. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of it.”
“How?” she asked, sounding lost. I hated that sound, more than anything.
I don’t know.
“I’ll find a way,” I said, hoping I sounded more reassuring than I felt. The truth was, I was used to getting my way by any means necessary. If I had to kill, maim or terrorize, I did it. Now, I was in a situation where none of that would help. I was powerless before Hana’s family. I couldn’t threaten them, I couldn’t hurt them.
“How?”
“I’ll find a way.”
* * *
I gotHana settled into my apartment, the very same one where I’d brought her the first night, and met with Kira in my office. She perched on the edge of my desk and cleaned under her fingernails with a knife.
