“MOMMA? HOW ARE you?” I asked after Silvia stepped away.

Her chest rose and fell. “I’m alive.”

“Are you in pain?”

“Some, but it’s getting better.”

I rested my hand on her blanket-covered legs. “Can you take anything?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No. I’m an addict.”

“No, you aren’t. They did that to you.”

“No, sweetheart. Alton poisoned me or at least we think he did. I guess we’ll never know for sure, but I poisoned myself too. No more pain medicine. No more alcohol. I’m thinking clearer than I have in years and I like it.”

“But I don’t want you to hurt.”

“Tell that to the physical therapist who visits every day. He just left. That’s why I’m here on the sofa in front of the fire. The man is a tyrant, and instead of trying to help me, Oren and Silvia encourage him.”

We’d turned the volume down on the TV, but it was still playing. “I can’t believe they’ve arrested her. Do you think she really did it? The police asked us about Alton’s liquor. I think maybe he was poisoned.”

“Karma…” Momma said. There was no humor in her tone or her eyes, but the irony was there.

“I wondered if he could have done it to himself,” I said. “When the police first told us, that was my first thought. I mean, he was grasping at straws to save his kingdom and it was crumbling around him. Even Bryce.” I shook my head. “Momma, he’s lost it. Yesterday when Bryce pulled that stunt at the hotel, he proved how certifiably nuts he really is. He solidified public opinion of him. It will affect the murder case. Alton had to know that. He had to see it all dissolving around him.”

“I’m sorry,” Mother said, “for so many things. I have no excuse, except that I drank the Kool-Aid for so long that I believed it. I had to. I couldn’t face each day if I didn’t.”

I turned back to the television. The screen was filled with a picture of Suzanna. I recognized the sapphire-blue dress. The picture was from the engagement party only a week ago. “Damn, she was prancing around the manor like the queen bee, and now look at her. Did you know she fired Jane?”

“What?”

“I hired her back. There were so many things that happened.”

“I think she did,” my mother said.

“What?”

“I think Suzanna killed him.”

“He changed his will,” I explained. “Alton did, making Bryce his heir. My attorney said it was done only two days ago. That was the day he said he’d give you the divorce if I married him.”

Momma’s lashes fluttered as she slowly moved her head back and forth.

“Jane said they fought—Alton and Miss Suzanna. I saw how angry she was in the attorney’s office. She even cursed.”

“Saying he’d marry you over her was probably the final blow. She expected more, but she wasn’t good enough. No one ever was… he excelled at making people feel that way.” Momma’s eyes closed. When they opened, they were moist with new tears. “Alexandria… I’ve thought about his proposal to you over and over since you called. I need to know something. It’s true that I turned a blind eye to many things, but the one thing I tried to do, and Jane tried to do, was protect you. Did he ever…?”

“Do anything—sexually?” I asked, finishing her sentence. “No. I never felt that vibe, not until the proposal. And even then, it was a feeling. He didn’t actually touch me. It was the way he looked at me, and how he said Bryce couldn’t tame me, but he could. I thought I’d vomit right there. Nox went nuts. Suzanna went crazy, as I said, cursing and yelling.

“While I was growing up, he was demeaning and cruel, psychologically abusive. I never knew when he’d blow. He believed in corporal punishment. But no, thank God, he never made sexual advances.”

She closed her eyes. By the fire’s light, I watched as a tear trickled down her cheek.

“Were you and Suzanna really friends?”

“Yes,” she said. “I know that may be hard to believe. It even pains me to think of her arrested for Alton’s death. Part of me wants to thank her. She’s cleared a path for you with Montague, but the other part of me feels sorry for her. I was married to the man for twenty years, but she was the one who loved him.”

I scrunched my nose. “How could you be all right with that?”

“I wasn’t. I accepted it. If I’d loved him, I might have been jealous. As I said, I never did. My marriage was a business deal. I was nothing more than a bartering chip for my father to ensure the future success of Montague Corporation.”

“Do you think he loved her?”

Mother shook her head. “I’m not sure he loved anyone, except himself and money and power.”

“Momma, I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be. I don’t deserve that. I almost did the same thing to you, and I’ll regret that for as long as I live.”

“Stop.”

Her blue eyes opened wide. She looked too frail. In the fire’s light, I could see her cheekbones, and the bones of her fingers as her hands clenched in the blanket’s edge.

“We’ve lived with enough of that. There’s been enough regret. Spend your energy getting better, growing stronger. Decide what you want to do about Montague Corporation.”

“Me? It will be yours.”

“Ours. As I’ve always said, I don’t want it. If you do, make it a success. Show the world a female Montague is better than the male in her stead. Besides, I’m going to be a little busy.”

Before I could go on, we both turned to Oren and Nox coming through the doorway toward us. Though Nox had been happy, perhaps even joyous, when we’d arrived, both his and Oren’s expression had turned. Lines cluttered their brows. Even their steps seemed slower, creating a cloud of unease.

“Is everything all right,” Mother asked.

“I was about to ask the same thing.”

Nox sighed as he sat in a nearby chair. “Everything is fine. Work has been piling up. It’s time to get back to the city.”

Momma reached for my hand. “I’d hoped you’d stay here a little longer.”

“I have a few more weeks of class and finals. There’ll be no honors this semester. I’m hoping to pass.”

“I’m impressed you’ve been able to keep up to date as it is,” Oren said.

“Yeah, it’s been a little difficult.”

“You have your life to keep you busy. I understand,” Mother said.

I’d been right when I’d told her to stop with the regret. Alton was dead. Bryce was in jail and now so was Suzanna. My mother was sober and clean, and most importantly she was alive. My monsters were caged, and miraculously, we’d survived. It was time to focus on the future.

“Nox?” I asked.

His eyes opened wide as joy returned to his light-blue eyes. “Are you sure?”

A grin covered my face as I nodded. “I am. Let’s concentrate on good things.”

“Alexandria, what is it?” Momma said.

“Yesterday,” I began, “at the standoff at the hotel, I fainted.”

“Lennox told us,” Oren said.

“You called from the hospital,” Momma said. “Were you hurt more than you said?”

“No,” I replied unable to contain my smile. “Even though I hit my head when I fell…” I touched the back of my head. “…and it’s still sore, they didn’t do a scan.” I shook my head. “This is really weird talking to both of you like this.”

“It is,” Nox agreed. “I have no idea what you two plan on doing, but no matter what, Charli and I need to let you know that you’ll share a grandchild.”

Oren shot to his feet. “Did I just hear you correctly?”

The cloud of death and poison infiltrating our thoughts disappeared as Momma reached for my shoulders. “You’re pregnant? My baby’s having a baby?”

I lifted my shoulders. “That’s what Dr. Beck said.”

“Dr. Beck…” She sighed.

“Yes, he asked about you.”

“Alex, are you all right?” Oren asked.

It was Nox who answered. “Dad, she’s perfect. We had an ultrasound last night. You should have seen…” He pulled the picture from his pocket.

I couldn’t stop the tears. My damn emotions were on overdrive. The man who’d told me he never wanted children, the same one who warned me about his father, was oozing joy and excitement, explaining to that same father about the ultrasound and how our child was safe and secure, exactly where he or she belonged.

When I turned to my momma, her eyes glistened with the new tears. For once, they weren’t from sorrow or pain. Tears of joy blurred our vision.

“What?” Silvia asked, coming back into the room. “What’s happening?”

Nox turned. “How does Aunt Silvia sound?”

Her face paled as she looked from Nox to me and back to him. “It sounds great,” she said cautiously. “And you’re happy? You’re really happy.”

“I am,” Nox said.

THE BED DIPPED as I cuddled toward Nox’s warmth. His cologne filled my senses as he wrapped his arm around me providing his hard shoulder as a pillow.

“That went better than I imagined,” he said.

“How is this going to work?”

“What work?”

I lifted my head. “Hi, baby, this is your grandmother and grandfather. What will our baby think when he or she figures out they’re your dad and my mom. That should make grandparents’ day at school interesting.”

Nox’s shoulder shrugged. “Who knows? It’ll work. I don’t know how. I have no idea what they plan to do.” His nose wrinkled. “I don’t think I want to know.”

Laying my head back on his shoulder, I giggled. “I agree. Not going there…” Unwanted images flashed in my mind. Things a child never wants to imagine with her mother. “Ewww… now I’m going there. Yuck. Make it stop.”

Nox rolled me to my back with a soft laugh. “We could replace those thoughts.”

“What, sir, do you have in mind?”

Our lips united, fueling a hunger I hadn’t realized I had. He pulled away. “I love you. I plan to say that every day. There’s just one thing I need you to do for me.”

“Every day?”

“Yes, everyday, and it’s not what you’re thinking, but I’m good with that too.”

I was thinking what he thought I was thinking. I was thinking about wrapping my lips around his cock and the way my big protective, dominant man trembled as I worked my tongue over his velvety tip and ran my hands up and down his hard shaft, but… every day?

“Every day,” he said, pulling me from my own erotic scene, one I could enjoy since we were in the starring roles. “I’m going to hold you to your promise. Your only job is to stay safe.” He reached down and covered my stomach. “To keep you both safe.”

I nodded. “Yes, Nox.”

“Are you sure Dr. Beck said it’s all right to…? I mean, I don’t want to hurt…”

Reaching up, I cupped his cheeks and pulled his lips back to mine. “We already have, multiple times. Remember, I’m six weeks. That means I’ve been pregnant since…”

His grin grew. “I think it was the night you wore that red dress.”

“You do? What makes you think that was the night?”

“Because it was perfect—the garter belt, the lack of panties…” He wiggled his brow. “Fuck, I’m getting hard just thinking about it.”

The imaginary blow job I’d been thinking about faded away as memories of that night came back to mind. Instead of Nox between my lips, I recalled the lasagna and bread, the chicken and vegetables…

I sighed. “Oh, the food at that restaurant was so good. We need to go back…”

“Is that how this is going to be?” he asked with a grin. “I’m imagining you in fuck-me heels, a black garter belt, and sexy stockings with your tits and pussy at my disposal, and you’re thinking about food?”

No… and yes.

My core twisted at the memories of not only the sex, but also the prelude. It had been perfect. The sexual tension that he’d built had had me ready to combust. Then again, the food was awesome.

“Well,” I said, “I am eating for two now.”

He reached to my breast and rolled one of my nipples into a hard nub. Even without his ministration, the other nipple followed suit. It was as his scruffy chin abraded my sensitive skin and kisses peppered my neck that all thoughts of Italian delicacies slipped away. Well, all but him.

“Oh.”

“That’s it, princess.” His skillful hands moved lower, his fingers splaying over my stomach. “I’m going to dominate your body and mind until the only thoughts in that beautiful head are about me and the ecstasy of me inside you. I’m going to make you hungrier for what I can give than what Antonio can.”

I giggled. “He makes really great lasagna.”

He pointed to his chest. “No more food talk. Me. Mind on me.”

“Yes, Nox.”

It wasn’t difficult to follow his instructions. Lennox Demetri was a man on a mission. As he did as he promised, dominating my body and mind, my legs parted, heels planted against the soft sheets, and back arched. His touch was the music that rocked my world. I was his instrument. Together our song filled the air. My whimpers were the high notes while his growls created the bass.

The flurry of the last few weeks disappeared as we sang, not with our voices but with our bodies. They moved in sync, coming perfectly together. Apart we were half—unwhole. Together we were one—complete.

As I drifted off to sleep my mind lingered in the almost-dream world. It was there I heard the word marriage, the word that used to scare me, but no longer did. It wasn’t a proposal—maybe it hadn’t been audible. I wasn’t sure if it came from Nox or from my heart. All I knew with complete certainty as I surrendered to slumber was that I was loved and adored by a man with whom I would willingly spend the rest of my life, the man whose baby was inside of me.