AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I released her hair, and the silken tendrils draped down, reaching beyond her shoulders. There were bags under her eyes and her skin looked paler than normal. She did not look well. I raised a questioning eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and averted her gaze. “What’s wrong with what?”
I stepped closer to her and grappled her jaw, tilting her head backwards. “We’re back to this fucking game, aren’t we? I ask you a question, and you feign ignorance. I’m not in the mood for games, Mariana. Tell me what happened. Why were you hunched over that hedge? Was it the food?”
She nibbled on her lips and rubbed her arm, looking everywhere else but my face. “I don’t know. Maybe I caught the flu or something.”
Lie.I’d gone through years of training, studying people’s body language to know when a person was lying. Stiff shoulders. Shifty gaze. Tensed jaw. She made it too easy;shewas lying. I added more pressure on my hand “I’m not going to ask twice.”
“Let go of me, Vlad.” Her feeble hands slapped my chest and pushed against me. I slid the other arm around her waist and dragged her closer. “Let go of me! Now! If you don’t, I’llscream, and everyone will come out here and see you assaulting me.”
I fought the urge to grin. She was so fucking cute and naïve; it amused me. But she was avoiding the question. I saw it in her eyes; the second I loosened my grip, she’d take flight. “Fucking do it, then. Go on! They’ll come out here and do what, huh? Take me away and lock me up? You don’t know shit, do you? The second you open that mouth of yours, the only intruder here will be you.”
That shut her up. Her eyes welled up with tears and she thrashed against me. “Leave me alone, Vlad.”
“Answer the fucking question, Mariana.” I gnashed my teeth. Why the hell did she have to be so infuriating?
“I don’t want to talk to you,” she cried, her voice was weak, like a wounded animal.
“I am not letting you go without an answer. What was that back there? What’s wrong with you?” Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, and my heart raced relentlessly within me. I was hurting her. “Dammit! Why the fuck do you have to be so stubborn?”
She stopped thrashing and stomped her feet. Her eyebrows rose high on her forehead, stunned that I would ask such a question. “Because that’s how I’ve survived in my world,Vlad.” She sniffled. Resentment and fury burned in her eyes. “Through my hard work, my guts, and not because of any man, I made it! I am who I am today. So, please, release me, right now.”
I let out a guttural growl. “Mariana...”
“I’m pregnant! I am pregnant, okay?” she whispered harshly. The tears rolled down her face faster now, and theimpact of her words punched me in the gut. My arm froze around her.Pregnant?
“What, are you surprised? You wanted to know what was wrong, right? Well, there it is. I am carrying a baby in my womb, and it’s yours, Vlad. You’re the only man I’ve had sex with.”
I searched her eyes; I knew the signs. This time, Mariana Lopez wasnotlying.Iwas going to be a father. It seemed incredulous; almost ridiculous. I tried to find my voice.Family.That was the first thought that formed in my mind; it was all I could think about. “You’re not going to suffer. You won’t raise that child alone...”
Her eyes flashed with fury. “What?”
“You heard me. I will take care of you and the baby.”
“No!” Her voice soared to a high pitch. “The baby ismine.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I wrangled her wrist, shaking it in the air. “What, you think I’m going to leave you out there, on the streets, when I know I have a part of me growing inside you? I will not allowmybaby to grow up as an illegitimate child. You and me... we’ll get married.”
She calmed, scrutinizing my eyes. Then, the flames in her eyes roared. She yanked her hand from my grip and pushed against my chest, hard enough to cause my grip loosen.
She stepped backward. “For the baby, isn’t it?” she laughed wryly. “Keep your fucking proposal for another, then. I don’t want you fighting for me because of the baby. And... and I don’t want to live in a world... in a world like this,” she motioned a hand toward me, “domineering, extreme chauvinism... where my life will be controlled by men. I want to live, Vlad. And I just want to be happy.”
A wrenching sensation churned within me. I reached for her. “Mariana, listen to me...”
She swatted my hand away and sniffed back tears.
“For the love of...” I drove my fingers through my hair, frustrated. “Princess, listen...”
“Don’t you dare!”
Her anger climbed the roof and I saw the red flash through her eyes. I’d never …neverseen her like this.
“Don’t you dare call me that, Vlad. Keep it out of your fucking mouth. You are about to get married to another woman and I amnotyour princess.” She cast a quick look at the door and faced me. “I hate you...”
I withdrew a step. It felt like one of those times, standing in front of an enemy with a gun pointed at your head.
“I hate you so much, Vlad Vadim, and I never want to see you ever again. Have a nice life.”
