AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Finally, I look up at him, eyes wide and stunned. “Do you want me on my schedule?”
“I want what you want,” he says. “But I also want a future with you.”
It’s the most direct conversation we’ve had about our relationship since… ever. Sleeping in the same room, doing a whole lot ofnot-sleeping in the same room—it all pointed towards this being an actual relationship. But neither of us had said it out loud.
Until now.
I blink back a flood of emotion. “I want a future with you, too, Ivan. I want all of it.”
“Kids?”
Leave it to Ivan Pushkin to be direct about life’s big questions. “Yeah,” I admit. “I want kids. I want to be a better parent to them than either of mine were to me.”
“That won’t be hard. For either of us,” he says.
I chew on my lip. “I hope so.”
His thumb brushes over my mouth, untucking my lip from between my teeth. “I know so, Cora. You’re going to be an amazing mother whenever the time comes.”
My heart races. “I haven’t really thought about—I mean, the timing is—There has been a lot going on and I guess I don’t know what you are—”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He curls his hand around my neck and presses his forehead to mine. “I’m here with you,solnishka. No matter what. Whenever you’re ready.”
I press into his steady touch. He’s solid and dependable. I’ve never felt safer than when I’m in this man’s arms.
I know our kids will feel the same way.
“I’m ready.”
He pulls back to look in my eyes. “Ready.”
“Ready,” I repeat. “I’m not going anywhere, either. So why not just… let fate decide?”
His eyes are a bright amber when he smiles. He’s so handsome that I want to look away. It’s too much.
“Fuck fate,” he says, plucking the pills out of my hand and tossing them back into the bedside drawer. “You and I will choose our own future.”
52
IVAN
Cora is still asleep when Yasha texts me a warning.Your dad is on his way to the house.
Not exactly the start to the morning I was hoping for. My hopes were firmly wedged somewhere between Cora’s sleep-warm skin and the top sheet.
I could have the guards lock the front gates and refuse to see him. It’s my house; I can do whatever the fuck I want.
The trouble is, laying out my future with Cora felt good. We’re going to start a family and build a life together. As much as I’d love to stay here and get a head start on building that family, I also need to make it clear to my father that the window of time when he could barge into my house and call the shots is long over.
I quietly slide into a pair of dark jeans and a t-shirt and head downstairs. I get to the entryway with just enough time to open the front door and intercept Boris on the porch.
Based on the way he stumbles back a half-step, I can tell he wasn’t expecting me. Surprise drop-ins have always been his favorite. I’ll have to thank Yasha for the heads-up later.
“You put a tracker on me or something?” he grumbles, lowering his shoulder like he’s ready to push through me to get inside.
I fucking wish he would.
I wave him in with a stiff arm. “I pay the guards to tell me when visitors arrive.”
