CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ebony felt Atlas slip his arms around her waist as he got into bed beside her and she turned, smiling at him. “Strange day.”
“Very.” He pressed his lips against hers, kissing her tenderly, and then sighed, burying his face in her hair. “Today, I got so excited about the baby, and yet when we were looking at the scan, I thought – how can this baby not be mine? I feel like it is and yet I also feel strange saying that. I’m rambling, I have no idea what I’m talking about,” he added with a laugh and Ebony chuckled.
“Yes, you are, but I get it. Atlas, I wish with every cell in my body that it was your child growing inside me. Today was a wake-up call. I really do know nothing about the child and maybe…maybe I should try and find the father.” She looked at him with worried eyes and saw the slight hurt in them. “Atlas, I love you, as far as I’m concerned, you, me and the baby are a family. Don’t you think though it would be better to know? Isn’t that what Mateo discovered when he found out about Fino?”
Atlas sighed and closed his eyes, pain flashing across his face. “Of course, I know you’re right. We should try to find out who the father is and give him the chance to be involved.” He grinned at her sheepishly. “But I really hope he doesn’t want you back.”
“Ha, first, he never had me, so to speak, and secondly, no one could take me away from you, Mr. Tigri. Despite everything that’s happened, loving you and this baby are the only things I know I’m sure of.”
“Good.” He took her hand and kissed the top of her fingers in turn. “So, if I asked you to marry me, that wouldn’t be too fast?”
The breath caught in Ebony’s throat. Marriage? Now? Soon she realized her hesitation had grown to more than was appropriate and that the hurt was back in Atlas’s eyes.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to answer that question. Forget it.”
Ebony crushed her lips against his. “Atlas, you are my everything. I just think we should slow down, take things one-by-one. You ask me that question a year from now? I promise I’ll say yes.”
Atlas half-smiled. “I told you, I’m impetuous. You’re right, of course. Again.”
She stroked his face, lightly scratching at his dark stubble and kissing him softly. “I love you so much.”
Much as she would have loved to make love with him, she was as exhausted from the day’s events as was he. They wrapped around one another and were soon fast asleep.
Later, when Atlas was still asleep, Ebony woke with a dry throat and got up to get some water. As she padded down to the kitchen, she stopped and listened. She could hear crying. Worried in case it was Fino, she followed the sound of it until she heard a young woman’s voice. Bella. Bella was crying as she talked to someone. Ebony inched closer to the door, raising her hand to knock when she heard Bella groan.
“No, you can’t…no, that’s not fair, it isn’t right. But…I cannot believe you’re going to do this. No…no…I won’t. No, fuck you.”
Ebony heard the splintering of glass against a wall and guessed Bella had hurled her phone across the room. She knocked tentatively. There was a hesitation then, “Come in.”
Ebony pushed opened the door and smiled at Bella. The red-haired girl was sitting cross-legged on her bed, her face tear-stained. She wouldn’t look Ebony in the eye.
“Are you okay, pumpkin?” Ebony went to sit by her and Bella shrugged.
“Just my mom being my mom.”
Ebony peeked over at the smashed iPhone on the floor. “Being extra-Mom, I would say.”
Bella half-smiled. “She just gets to me.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Bella shook her head. “But thanks.”
“Anytime.” Ebony got up and went to the door before Bella called her back.
“Ebony…just…be careful. People sometimes aren’t who they say they are.”
Ebony frowned. “Who do you mean?”
“No one in particular. Just…be careful.”
Ebony went back to bed after looking in on a sleeping Fino. The boy had lost weight and looked so tiny and vulnerable in his bed that Ebony wanted to cuddle him, wanted to promise him that nothing bad would ever happen again. Of course, she couldn’t promise that, couldn’t bring Mateo back for his son.
As she crawled back into the warmth of Atlas’s arms, she couldn’t help thinking about that terrible day. Mateo, his handsome face not comprehending at first what had happened, then understanding and grief for his son. His last thought had been for Fino, Ebony knew, and suddenly she was crying, trying not to wake Atlas, but she couldn’t stop the tears. When she felt his lips against her forehead, and his arms tightened around her, she let go, sobbing out her grief.
As her sobs subsided, she looked up at Atlas, her eyes determined. “Atlas, ask me that question again. Ask me now.”
Atlas looked confused. “Which one?”
Ebony smiled, but her face set with resolution. “Yes, Atlas Tigri, I will marry you. I will marry you because I love you now and one year from now nothing will have changed in that respect. I will marry you and and together we will fight for Fino, fight for our children. No one else is going to hurt this family again, do you understand me? No one.”
Gathering her into his arms, Atlas’ kiss said everything his heart was too full to reply.