Mia stared at her smiling reflection in the mirror. After Max left, she soaked for a while longer until she was pruney, then got out, wrapped herself up in a towel, and promptly fell asleep lying on the bed. The fire in her eyes glowed brightly, all because of that man. He might be a damn brute, but he was her brute, now, and she knew there would be no leaving him, even after this arrangement of theirs was over. The marriage was only supposed to be for four years, but she wanted longer. She wanted more.

Not to mention she had to explain to him what she’d learned that afternoon, thanks to the pregnancy tests. She hadn’t gone to the doctor yet since it wasn’t even supposed to be possible, but her hand slipped to her flat belly and she glanced downwards. The hard-to-ignore morning sickness, the fatigue, the random bouts of wanting to cry at nothing… She was glad Max had been gone on his work trip for the last few days. It was bad enough he worried so much about her breaking down again, but that was a one-time deal. She’d had her bout of crying, her night of losing her sanity, and Max had been there to put her all back together. She only hoped that when she told him her news, he wouldn’t be upset. When he’d admitted he wanted a child, she’d told him flat out it wasn’t possible. He seemed to accept it, but now that she might be pregnant, would he still want one? And what if all the tests were wrong and she raised his hopes, only to have them come crashing down around him? There were so many questions she needed answers to and no easy way to get them.

Her mind racing, she drew her shorter brown hair back into a ponytail and wiped her hands down her face. The smile remained, and the second Max returned from taking care of business at the office this evening, she would tell him how she really felt. How the words hadn’t managed to slip out while they made love in the tub, she was unsure. There was no hiding it, though, not now. The idea of making this awkward crossed her mind, but if she read him right, he experienced the same monumental emotional upheaval when they were together. The way his eyes followed her every move, how his touch on her skin told her no matter what happened, he would be there to take care of her. To look out for her, but it was so much more than that. He would never let her down, not like the other men in her life had.

After slipping on blue jeans and a bulky sweater to be comfy the rest of the night, she decided to set the TV up for when Max returned later, when a knock sounded at the door. She set the remote down and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Max had his keys. They weren’t on the table by the front door, and she was pretty sure Jeremy wasn’t stopping by until later that night.

She waited to see if the person would go away, but there was another knock, more insistent. She picked up the landline beside the couch and called down to the front desk. “Hey, Harry, it’s Mia. Did you send someone up to the penthouse?”

“Oh, yeah. I tried calling, but the phones in the building have been acting up again.”

“No problem. Who is it?”

“He said he was Max’s new assistant, the one Jeremy was training? Said he was dropping off the papers Max asked for.”

Mia stared at the door, gripping the phone in her hand hard. “But he’s at the office.”

“Maybe he left already and forgot a few things?”

“Maybe. Thanks, Harry,” she said.

“Mia? You want me to come up before you let him in?” Harry offered.

“No. No, I’m sure it’s nothing. Max said he was going to grab food on his way home too. I’m sure everything’s fine.”

She thanked him again and hung up. Another knock sounded and she clutched the phone in one hand as she crept towards it. Leave it to Max to be the only idiot in the city without a damn peephole on his door.

“Who is it?” she called out.

A high-pitched man’s voice replied, “Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Ward. I’m just dropping off some files the boss forgot at the office.”

Quick, just be quick, she told herself. She opened the door, forcing her lips into a smile, until a hand gripped the door hard and a booted foot planted itself in front of it. Shaking in terror, all of Max’s self-defense lessons went out the door as Keith’s sneered down at her. “No,” she whispered. “Keith.”

“Honey, I’m home,” he growled and forced her back inside.

* * *

Their takeout in hand, Max strolled down the sidewalk on his way back to the penthouse. He had to tell Mia the truth. There was no more hiding from it, no matter what she might think. Four years be damned. He wanted her for the rest of his life, and deep down, he sensed she wanted the same. Their connection was too strong, too intimate to part at the end of this arrangement. He considered running the idea by Jeremy first, even though his friend had told him a hundred times just to admit he loved her. When he passed the window of a jewelry boutique, he tucked his cell away and let his heart guide him for once.

“Evening, sir,” the woman behind the counter greeted him. “Something I can help you find tonight?”

He set the food down at the far end of the counter and smiled. Even the woman’s wary glance at the scar running down his face didn’t bother him as it usually did. He was too surrounded by his love for a woman he was not supposed to fall for. “Yes, I think you can. I’m in need of an engagement ring.”

“Ah, and who’s the lucky lady?” she asked.

Max grinned wider as he realized how weird this would sound. “My wife.”

The woman frowned. “Your wife—you need an engagement ring for a woman you’re already married to?”

“It’s a long story, but let’s just say I couldn’t get her the ring she deserved, but now, I can.”

“Well, now, I’d be more than happy to help you with that, sir,” she said and waved her hands over the glass cases around the small store. “Where would you like to start?”

Max pictured Mia in his mind’s eye—her stormy grey eyes, her dark brown hair, the way she grinned a bit crookedly when she was really smiling. “White gold, I think,” he said tentatively, knowing how much she hated gold. “And no diamonds.”

“No diamonds?”

He shook his head. “Rubies. She’s a ruby girl.”

“Then right this way, sir,” she said and guided him down three cases. “Do you know her size? If not, you can always come back with her after the special reveal and we’ll get her all fixed up.”

“Tiny, that’s all I know.” He chuckled, picturing her small hand in his, but damn, how that tiny hand packed a punch. His eyes danced over the sparkling ruby rings and he tried to imagine each one on the hand of the woman he loved. “Let’s try that one.”

* * *

Gulping, Mia debated her chances of darting around Keith for the door, but she would never make it. He yanked the phone from her hand and threw it in the sink, smashing it to pieces.

“I don’t want you calling anyone,” he snapped, and she backed away quickly.

“What do you want?” she demanded fiercely. “I don’t want to be with you, so just leave me the fuck alone.”

His sadistic grin fell at her sharp tongue, and Mia forced herself not to flinch away from his furious glare and the way he reached out and gripped her shoulders hard enough to make her wince. “You do not use that tone with me, Mia. Ever. You are coming with me, right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, you fucking ferret-faced bastard!”

He raised his hand and she braced for the hit, but like always, his hand fell to the side, curling into a fist. “Watch your mouth! You are coming home with me, and then you and I are going to have a nice long talk about where we’re moving.”

“I’m married!” she yelled in his face. “You can’t kidnap someone’s wife!”

“Why not? He did the same thing to me,” he shot back and gave her a hard shake. “You are mine, and he just swooped in and stole you from me! My pure, beautiful Mia… you’re not pure anymore, are you?”

It wasn’t a question so she didn’t offer him an answer. Max. Any minute now, he would come home. If she could stall until then, make him stay here, then Max would arrive and everything would be fine… everything would be just… fine. Her eyes widened when Keith shifted and his jacket moved aside. A handgun was tucked in his belt and her body froze.

“Have I taught you nothing about how important your purity was to me?” he muttered angrily and released her.

Mia backed away towards the hall. He had a gun. There was nothing stopping him from shooting her—or Max. “Keith, please,” she said, her voice shaky. “Just calm down. We… we can talk about this calmly. Work something out.”

He ran a hand through his hair, and the sudden blank stare in his eyes chilled her to the bone. “Talk. You think I came all this way to talk? God, how did that man put up with your stupidity this whole time?”

She bristled. “I’m not stupid, but you are if you think I want to spend any more time with you. Just get out. Please, leave before you do something you’ll regret.”

“The only thing I regret,” he raged as he stormed towards her, “was not locking you up when I had the chance! Come here!” He lunged for her, but Mia ducked under his arm and sprinted down the hall, sliding on the floor in her socks. She managed to stay on her feet and slipped into the master bedroom, slamming and locking the door seconds before Keith’s body slammed into it full force. The door rattled in the frame. It wouldn’t hold for long, and Mia tried to shove the dresser in front of it. “Come on, you bastard,” she snarled, bracing her feet against the other wall as she pushed.

But it was too heavy, and with every hit from Keith, the door cracked and threatened to give way. She was trapped with no phone, no way out, and no way to warn Max of what he was walking into. The door slammed open on the next impact, and Mia screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping someone would hear her, when a fist connected with her face. She flew backwards, landing hard on the floor and cringing at the sharp ache in her cheek. Gingerly, she rolled over to her back as Keith towered over her, his chest heaving, eyes wild, and his fist curled at his side.

“You… you made me do that.” He stepped closer as she scrambled to get away. “Your perfect face, you ruined it.”

She spat at his feet. The weak Mia he knew was gone. Max had drawn her out and helped show her the woman she could be. “You’ll never have me, Keith. Never.”

He grabbed the handgun from his belt—a small revolver—and waved it before her. Automatically, her hands slipped to protect her belly and his nostrils flared. “No—no, it can’t be. You fucking cheating bitch!”

Mia winced as he yanked her to her feet and shoved the gun into her side. She fought the fear and panic, trying to focus as Max had taught her to do, but the gun at her side made it too hard. All she wanted to do was cry, to let the tears fall and give up. She had fought all her life, and she was so tired. Her life was a nightmare that would never end. He dragged her out of the bedroom when she heard the front door open and keys jingling.

“Mia? I’m back.”

Fire coursing through her body, she threw her elbow back into Keith’s side and tried to run out of his grasp. “Max!” she managed to scream before it was cut off on a yelp of pain. Keith snatched her by the hair as Max sprinted towards her.

“I’d stop if I were you,” Keith warned and pressed the gun against her temple.

Fuming, Max skidded to a stop at the end of the hall, his hands curling and uncurling at his sides and his lips screwed up in a snarl. He slipped one into his pocket, but Keith’s hold on her hair jerked her head back and she lost sight of whatever he did. “Let her go,” he whispered harshly.

“Why would I do that?” Keith smoothed his hand through Mia’s hair and she cringed, wiggling her body to try and break free. She turned her head, and Max’s curse as he stomped forward a few more steps told her he’d spotted the mark left by Keith’s rage. “Stay where you are or this gets messy.”

Max’s gaze softened as it shifted to Mia’s. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

“Everyone will be fine,” Keith said happily, “if you let me leave with her.”

“You really think I’m going to let you walk away with my wife?” Max’s hand brushed against his pocket and his eyes glimmered as he stared intently at Mia.

She frowned. What was he telling her? She squinted at his pocket and realized his cell was in there—had he called the police?

“I came to reclaim my property. Though she might be damaged goods, now, after you spoiled her purity and infected her with your seed, I’ll be able to do as I’ve wanted with her.” He traced his fingers down her face, then lower.

Mia squirmed in his grip, but he lowered the revolver to her stomach and she gasped. “No, don’t, please.”

“Why not? He put it inside you, now I have to take it out.”

Max took a half step closer. “What’s he talking about?”

Mia smiled through the tears forming in her eyes. “This is not how I wanted to tell you, but you’re going to be a father.”

“But I thought you couldn’t have children,” he whispered, shocked.

“I thought so too. Apparently, I was wrong.”

Keith pressed the gun harder against her stomach, and Max flung curses at him to let her go. “Put the damn gun down and step away from my wife and child!”

“This is how this is going to go,” Keith informed him calmly as if they were discussing the weather. “You are going to let me walk out of here with my wife, and tomorrow morning first thing, you’re going to file for a divorce. The moment it goes through, Mia and I are taking a nice, long trip far away. Maybe to the country… we’ll get a nice farmhouse. Someplace I can keep a better eye on you.”

Her future flashed before her eyes, being trapped with Keith for the rest of her life, never able to see Max again, never able to hold the miracle baby growing in her belly. No, it wasn’t going to end like this. She had to get away from him, get to Max. If he’d called the police and they were listening, they would be here soon, right?

As if on cue, the elevator doors dinged out in the hallway, a sound that echoed through the penthouse since Max had left the door wide open in his rush to get to her. His eyes locked on hers and he nodded. Mia pushed her fear aside, and with a yell, shoved away from Keith, stepping on his instep hard to throw him off balance. Max rushed forward at the same time, stretching his hands out for hers. Everything happened in a blur. Several cops rushed in through the front door and yelled for Keith to drop the gun.

Keith screamed her name as Max quickly curved his body around hers in the hall. “No!”

A shot went off and Max grunted in pain, their bodies hitting the floor hard. More gunfire erupted, but Max tucked Mia’s head down, keeping her safe with his body. Then there was silence, a loud thud, and it was over.

“Max?” She shifted in his arms, trying to move him, but he didn’t budge. “Max? Damn it, say something! Max!”

Two police officers rushed over and helped drag Max off. He grimaced in pain, and Mia ran her hands up his chest, searching for wounds. He reached up to catch them. “Fine,” he muttered. “Perfectly fine…”

“Max!” She held his face hard in her hands. “Open your eyes, Max!”

Her eyes searched his body for any sign of a wound when she spotted the blood on the floor beneath his back. One of officers was already on the radio, calling for an ambulance and the coroner. Another cop rushed over to put pressure on the gunshot wound.

“Is he going to be all right?” she gasped. “Tell me!”

“I can’t tell where he was hit,” the cop told her. “I’m sorry.”

Max’s grip on her hands loosened and his eyes slipped closed again. “No, look at me.” She kissed his lips hard. “Max, please, you have to be all right, you can’t… you can’t leave me now.”

His lips twitched. “Pocket.”

“What?”

“Pocket… coat pocket.”

Fumbling with his leather coat and cursing vividly under her breath until he laughed with a wince, she found a small box and pulled it out. “This? What is it?”

He squinted one eye open. “Yours…”

Confused, she flipped the box open to find a sparkling single ruby stone set on a band of white gold. It was shaped in a circle, the band twisting around it. “A ring?” He nodded stiffly. “You got me a ring… what… why?”

“Propose to you… the right way.”

She laughed through the tears pouring down her cheeks. “You damn idiot. You had to wait until you got shot to propose to me?” She stared at the ring, running her finger over it in disbelief until his head slumped to the floor. She dropped the box with the ring and scooted around to hold his head in her lap. “Max, please. You have to open your eyes. We’re getting married—for real this time—and you’re… you’re going to be a father and I can’t… I can’t do this without you, okay? I can’t.”

The cops close by whispered under their breath, but what they said, she didn’t understand or care. She only had eyes for Max, could only listen to his ragged breathing.

“I didn’t think I could love until you came into my life.” She smoothed his hair back from his face, tracing his scar. “You taught me what it meant, you saved me twice, and it’s not fair… it’s not fair for you to just go out like this so you have to make it. Please, God, you have to make it.”

His hand raised slowly, cupping her cheek as his lips curled into a smile.

The paramedics arrived and she was pulled to her feet and out of the way as they loaded him on the stretcher. The police said they needed her statement as the paramedics checked the wound on her face. Her eyes shot to Keith’s body, and words failed her as she swallowed hard. He was dead. They covered his body and she blinked a hard few times before quietly telling them she was pregnant, and the second set of paramedics escorted her to another ambulance to get her checked out as well. Numb, she let them direct her where to go and told the police weakly what had happened. There were questions and she thought she answered them, but her only care was for Max and seeing him open those blue eyes again.

She was walking towards the ambulance when the events of the last twenty minutes took their toll and the world went dark.

* * *

He floated in a world of shadows and voices whispering to him. Max cringed as bright lights flashed overhead before disappearing. Beeping… so much beeping, and then silence. He thought he heard crying—Mia, maybe? He thought he’d reached for her, swore she’d gripped his hand, but there was nothing there.

How long he was out, he wasn’t sure, but when he attempted to open his eyes, pain flooded his body and he winced against the light filling the room. It was dim but still hurt, and he tried to turn away from it, grimacing at the pain ricocheting up his back.

“Careful, Maxwell, you’ll rip your stitches,” a man said and two hands eased his shoulders gently back. “How are you feeling?”

Max blinked to clear his vision so he could see a young man’s face staring down at him quizzically. “Feeling? Pain… does that count, doc? Hell, are you even old enough to be a doctor?”

The man laughed. “Afraid so. Dr. Jones. I’ve been out of school two years now.”

“Two years, great. So I should expect to be dead soon.” Max grunted and tried to sit up, but Dr. Jones forced him back down again. “I have to get up.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

Max sank against the pillow and shut his eyes tight. What had happened? He had gone out to the office then to get dinner for him and Mia… came back and… and… “Mia! Where is she? Is she all right?”

“Your wife is just fine,” Dr. Jones said and putting a finger to his lips, nodded towards the chair in the corner. “She and the baby are doing well.”

“Baby?” That’s right, she was pregnant with a miracle baby. He laughed in disbelief. “The penthouse and that man… he shot me.”

“He did, but lucky for you, he missed any major organs. You lost a decent amount of blood, but you’ll recover soon enough. From what the police told me, you saved your wife’s life. That bullet would’ve hit her and probably killed her and your baby.” He patted Max on the shoulder as tears welled in the large man’s eyes. “They’re safe, Max. You all are.”

He wiped his eyes quickly and muttered a gruff thanks to the young doctor. “And the man who attacked us?”

Dr. Jones’ eyes fell and he shuffled his feet as he set Max’s chart back at the foot of his bed. “Shot dead by the police once they arrived. Rest, Max. I’ll have a nurse check on you again in a few hours.”

The doctor left, and Max watched Mia sleeping, curled up in the chair across the room. Her head rested on her arms, she’d kicked her shoes off, and from this angle, he could see the black eye where that bastard had clocked her. Max’s hands fisted in the sheets, ready to bring Keith back to life and pummel him right back into death with his own hands. His back throbbed, but he pushed the pain aside. If anything happened to Mia or their baby, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself, probably wouldn’t be able to live at all. She was his world now, and all he had in his life that he cared for. He pushed himself up in the bed, and the change in angle gave him a view of something red and glittering on Mia’s left hand. She wore the ring he’d picked out to propose to her.

Unable to stay away from her any longer, he gritted his teeth and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His weak legs gave out when his feet hit the floor, and he cursed, falling into the wall with a loud thud.

“Max? Jesus, what the fuck are you doing?” Mia snapped as she rushed to his side. “Get your ass back in bed right now.”

He sat down hard on the bed but wrapped his arms around, holding her close and breathing her in. “Thank God you’re all right,” he muttered roughly, tears pricking his eyes again. He held the back of her head, kissing her forehead as she clung to him in turn.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. “We’re… we’re both fine, but you have to lay back. You were shot, remember?”

He did as she ordered, chuckling at her fierceness. She sat on the bed beside him, holding his hand and smiling at him, but the longer they stared, the worse the pain in her eyes became before she collapsed against his chest, sobbing against him.

“This is all my fault. I’m sorry,” she wailed. “You never would’ve been shot if I hadn’t… if I’d left that first day instead of staying.”

Max hushed her and dragged her against his body so he could hold her in his lap. She was so small, and he cradled her securely, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “Mia, what did I tell you about apologizing to me?”

“You were shot, Max. It’s my fault.”

“No, it’s that dead bastard’s fault. He tried to destroy your life and he failed. If I had to do it all again, I would,” he said forcefully. “I do not regret a moment of our time together, do you understand me?”

“But—”

“No,” he growled and crushed his mouth against hers, needing to taste her lips and know she was really there and this was going to be his future. The kiss deepened until he tried to move and his stitches tugged. He hissed. “Damn.”

“I guess we should hold off on a proper reunion,” she mused and kissed his nose.

“Afraid so.” He lifted her left hand and admired the ring. “Is this a yes, then?”

She tilted her hand this way and that, batting her eyelashes as she said, “Nah, I just thought I’d keep the ring and run off.” She hugged him close. “Of course it’s a yes, moron.”

“Good, because you’re getting a real wedding,” he promised. “One fit for the wife of Maxwell Ward.” A flicker of worry appeared in her eyes and he rested his forehead against hers. “Mia, it’s over, really over. You’re free now.”

Smiling softly, she took his hand and settled it on her stomach. “You ready for this, too?”

Max hated how his eyes grew blurry again, but he couldn’t help it. His love for this woman and the babe growing in her belly was too much. “I never thought I’d actually find a woman I loved before you, never imagined actually have a child. Now, I have everything I could ever ask for.”

“Good, because you’re stuck with us both for a very, very long time.”

She settled against his chest as he closed his eyes, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “God, I hope so.”