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“He hit me.” Dante’s entire body went ramrod straight, his muscles taut as if he was a snake coiling, ready to spring and capture its prey. “I fell on the bed”—I rubbed my stomach where the ache was—“then…I can’t believe I did it. He made me sign the paperwork. I signed my rights away, Dante.” Tears streamed down my cheeks, so quickly it was as if someone had turned a tap on. “He made me do it and I…I didn’t know what to do.”
“So you came here?”
I nodded, moving my hand off his arm and covering my face, trying to filter my sadness, but it was too much to bear, too much pain at the thought of my baby being taken by someone else.
His arms banded around me as he maneuvered us so that we were lying on the bed, my sobs taking me over completely.
I was tired, so damn tired.
I’d been holding all of this on my shoulders for so long that it felt foreign relying on someone else, but if there was one person I trusted right now, it was him.
Our baby.
He’d fight for the baby just as much as I would. I had no doubt in that.
“I’ve got you, Navy,” he murmured. “I’ve got you. Nothing will happen. You’re safe here with me.”
I closed my eyes, letting his words seep into the darkest recesses of my mind, and for the first time since I’d met him, I let myself truly relax.
* * *
DANTE
I’d held her all night, refusing to let go. Ma had come in about thirty minutes later with a tray of food, but I dismissed the thought of waking Navy up. She cried herself to sleep, and now the only thing in my power was to make sure she was safe. And right there, in my room, I knew she would be.
The sun rose, shining light through my windows because I hadn’t closed the curtains. My eyes burned, my lack of sleep taking me away on a power nap. The clock on the bedside table read 5:32 a.m. the last time I looked, and as my eyes shot open, it was flashing 6:08 a.m.
“Fuck,” I whispered, realizing that Navy wasn’t next to me anymore. I shot up, the room spinning at how fast I moved. “Navy?”
No answer. I swung my head left and right, thinking she might be here somewhere, but she wasn’t. She was gone. Just like last time—
Running water made its way through my thoughts, erasing the panic that had bubbled over and taken all of my attention.
She was in the shower.
And I…
She was in the shower.
My feet were moving before my mind could catch up, my hand turning the handle of the bathroom door and opening it, just enough so that I could slip inside. The air was filled with steam, blocking my view, but that was okay because it meant she couldn’t see me either.Yet.
She hummed a tune, and as I tilted my head, I realized it was a nursery rhyme. Was she humming to the baby?
Baby. We were having a baby. Fuck. It still hadn’t sunk in, not even after I’d felt it kicking me last night.
“I know you’re there,” her voice said, followed by a chuckle. “You know it’s rude not to knock.”
“And you know it’s rude to use someone’s shower without asking,” I countered.
She laughed, this time louder, more carefree. “Can I use your shower, Dante?”
I stepped forward, flicking the button on my jeans and undoing the zipper, still not able to see her. “That depends, sweetheart.” I pulled my T-shirt off over my head and shucked out of my jeans, leaving me standing in just my boxer briefs. “How do you feel about someone joining you?”
I was putting it out there. I was moving too fast, but fuck, she was already carrying my baby, what was the worst that could happen?
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered, her voice cracking in the middle. “I…I don’t know you.”
She was right. But I still slipped my boxer briefs down, leaving me completely naked as I pulled the shower door open. “Then get to know me,” I said, finally able to see her face. The bruise was darker now, the cut on her lip scabbed over.
