Danielle’s shrewd, cold-as-ice glare stares at me from across the table. It doesn’t affect me though, not in the way she wants it to. She’s trying to intimidate me, but it isn’t working. I’m too pissed off at her to be scared of her. She’s never really scared me, and the past five years I’ve honestly felt indifferent toward her. Lust and love, I don’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve felt either emotion for my wife. It’s sad, really, more sad than anything else.

“Let’s get down to the real reason we’re here. Danielle is mad because Thomas wouldn’t follow some plan she had. So, she’s trying to make him pay. They haven’t lived under the same roof in over five years. There is no reason for her to get half of his retirement, other than greediness, and spitefulness,” Robert states as his opening words to the attorney next to Danielle, and the mediator at the end of the table.

“Danielle makes more money than Thomas, she always has, and they each bought their homes without co-mingling their funds. The only accounts they were joint signers on were ones that they had before they moved away from each other, and those funds hadn’t been touched until Danielle filed for divorce,” he announces.

“We file taxes together,” Danny announces, her bottom lip pouting. This is a side to her that I’ve never really seen before, an attempt to be submissive, interesting.

The rest of the meeting is a bunch of back and forth between my attorney and Danny. Her lawyer just kind of sits there, and I’m surprised that she doesn’t have more of a shark for an attorney. The mediator asks if there is some kind of agreement we can come to, and Robert gives them what I’m willing to negotiate with, which isn’t my retirement, but instead I’m willing to give her half of what my home is worth, nothing else.

I watch as her attorney talks to her, quietly, and she crosses her arms over her chest, her eyes focused on me and extremely pissed off. They argue back and forth and then her attorney finally addresses the room.

“Yes, my client is willing to accept those terms,” he states.

Thank fuck.

We sign the documents, waiving all of the waiting periods and discovery times and settle right then and there. My attorney also drew up a motion to expedite on the grounds that we’ve been separated for so long, his next meeting is with a judge, who will hopefully grant it.

Originally, I had hopes of filing in Nebraska and hadn’t realized that New York had a longer divorce proceeding, making the minimum ninety days. I haven’t had the heart to tell Ines yet, Robert assuring me that he would try to get it handled earlier rather than be forced to wait the entire wait-time.

When everything is finished Robert tells me to go on, and that he’ll call me when he’s finished at the courthouse. I thank him, giving him a hearty handshake before I walk out of the building. I can’t believe it’s pretty much finished, and a heavy weight lifts from my shoulders.

Danielle had an idea of grandeur, of ruining my life and it didn’t work—or hasn’t, and I hope she gives up because I don’t care to fight with her, not anymore. I wish her the best, I truly wish her happiness, I just know that it won’t be together.

“This isn’t over.” A voice calls out from behind me as I begin to walk down the steps of the courthouse. Turning around I see Danielle, her attorney tugging on her bicep.

“Are you threatening me?” I ask. “And in front of your counsel?”

She snorts. “I don’t know how this dumbfuck passed the bar,” she says, hooking her thumb in his direction. “I’m not threatening shit, Thomas. I’m promising you that even when this divorce is final, this shit between us isn’t over. You fucked with me, you spineless prick,” she hisses, her eyes darting all around, unable to focus, yet again.

“I hope that you find your happiness, Danielle,” I murmur.

Turning away from her, I ignore her when she calls out my name three more times. I walk away, leaving my past behind me and my wasted youth. Wasted, which fucking hurts, because I don’t think that she ever truly loved me. Had she, had we really loved one another, I would never consider a moment wasted. That’s not the case though, and now that I’m almost completely free, I see that.

With Ines, I don’t feel as though a minute has been wasted. I feel that if something happened tomorrow and we were no longer, I would still think fondly of her, no matter what tore us apart. Everything with Ines is different than anything I’ve experienced before. She makes me feel like a new man, like for fifteen years I haven’t been breathing and suddenly—I’m fucking alive.

* * *

“You’re a lucky bastard,” Robert says as we sit back in our seats on the plane.

Two nights away from Ines and I’m like a fucking addict, my hands are trembling from the need to touch her. I’m close too, and I can’t wait until this plane lands so I can break the speed limit all the way home. I lift my chin toward Robert. I am a lucky bastard, but I’m not sure in this context what he means by his statement.

“The judge granted the expedited divorce, and only because I had concrete evidence that you’ve been living apart for so long. Danielle agreed to everything, which I don’t understand why because she was coming at you with vengeance before.”

I snort. “She’s still going to fuck with me, I can feel it. She’s just going to go about it a different way. Her plan backfired. Her demands were stupid, even her attorney knew it. Then she tried to scare off Ines, but failed, next she’ll go after my career, I’m sure of it.”

“Thomas, you need to be careful,” he mutters.

I shake my head, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Last night I sent out feelers for jobs in my field. It might be pointless, and nothing may come of it, but I’m not going to let her blindside me again. I have to prepare myself for the worst, which would be that she goes to the school and tells them that I’m sleeping with a student, and in a relationship with said student.”

“Which would fuck both of you over,” Robert grunts.

I chuckle. “Which would fuck us both over, and she knows it. Which is why I’m not going to sit around with my dick in my hand and wait to get caught.”

The plane begins to descend, and we don’t speak about my divorce, or my career again. Choosing instead to talk about Robert and what’s new in his life. By the time we’re in the parking lot of the airport we say our goodbyes, and he informs me that he’ll let me know as soon as anything happens in the case but nothing else should come up and I should be free to marry Ines at our planned timeline.

“I want to meet this girl, and soon,” he shouts as I start to walk away.

I lift my hand, “You will, we’ll do dinner or something,” I call out as I slip into the driver’s seat of my BMW.

I do exactly as I had planned, I haul ass home. Glancing at the clock on my dash I smirk. Ines should be finished with all of her classes by now, and we can spend the evening wrapped up between the sheets. I can’t fucking wait.

I pace. I look down at my phone, the text message telling me, I’m on my way, and I pace.

He’s coming, he’s almost here, and I have to tell him that I’m pregnant, with his baby. What the fuck is he going to say, or do? I wrap my hand around the front of my throat and try to breathe. I feel around for my pulse, it’s racing, just like my heart.

What the fuck am I going to do? I can’t keep this from him for even a second, he’s going to know just by the wild and crazy look on my face that something is up. I just hope his reaction is a good one, that he doesn’t freak the fuck out on me, because honestly, I’m freaked out enough.

I hear keys in the laundry room door, and then the door opens. It’s time. Oh God, it’s time. I’m not ready. I turn my back to the hallway that I know he’ll be walking through at any second. I need to breathe, I need to get it together and stop panicking—but I’m freaked out.

We’re too new, and this is a serious game changer. What was I thinking when I was excited, the other day? I wasn’t, it’s clearly apparent that I wasn’t thinking at all, and now I’m overthinking.

“I’m home, sweetheart,” Thomas calls out. I close my eyes tightly before slowly opening them, and then I turn to face him. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

I watch as his bag falls to the floor and he quickly marches toward me. I love how concerned he is, and as soon as his hands wrap around me, pressing against my back, all of my worries melt away.

I gulp, my eyes meeting his blue gaze. “We need to talk,” I state.

“Fuck,” he hisses.

I shake my head and cup his cheek with my hand. “I don’t know, you might think it’s bad, but I don’t think it’s bad. It’s definitely something we need to chat about.”

“Is it about your family? Angel eyes, we can go there tomorrow. I’ll properly introduce myself, and I’ll fix it all,” he rambles.

Tears fill my eyes and they fall, one by one, but I don’t make a move to wipe them away. I’m too mesmerized by his blue gaze, too in love with him to miss even a second of his eyes on my own.

“I’m pregnant, Thomas,” I announce.

My voice betrays me and what I intend to be a declaration comes out barely a whisper.

Thomas blinks, twice, and a third time he keeps his eyes closed while he inhales deeply through his nose. Then his eyes reopen, and they shimmer in wetness. “Are you sure?” he asks.

I can’t read his reaction, and I can’t tell if he’s happy or mad. Instead of saying anything, I nod, my throat too tight to speak.

“Holy fuck,” he breathes. Then he unceremoniously falls to his knees. He wraps his hands around my hips and his mouth presses against my stomach. I gasp, my fingers covering my mouth which is now hanging open like a gaping fish searching for water. “Ines,” he practically groans, tipping his head back slightly to look up at me.

I dive my fingers into his hair and wait for him to say something else, my tears flowing down my cheeks like a river now. “I wish that I could marry you tomorrow, sweetheart. I can’t believe that this is real,” he murmurs. “It’s like a fucking dream.”

“One that I hoped you wanted to come true?” I ask on a hiccough.

Thomas doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he stands, picking me up in his arms, cradling me as he does. He walks us upstairs to our bedroom, and then slowly lowers me to the bed. He crawls on top of me, and I wish we didn’t have so many clothes on. I wish that I could feel his warm skin against mine, right here, and right now.

“It’s more than I ever imagined, angel eyes. The love of my life and she’s carrying my child. I never thought I would have any.”

His lips press against mine, and I quickly open my mouth to accept his complete kiss. Thomas slips his tongue inside, and our tender moment turns frenzied immediately. I reach down around his back and tug his t-shirt out of his pants. He pushes up on his arm and quickly divests himself of his shirt, then reaches between us and does the same with mine.

Thomas doesn’t return to kiss my mouth, his lips instead trail down my neck to the tops of my breasts. “Christ, Ines. You make me so fucking happy,” he mutters against my breast, his eyes glancing up to mine.

“I need more, Papi, so much more,” I whine.

He chuckles against my skin and continues stripping both of us of our clothes. Once my pants are gone, I shamelessly spread my legs as wide as I can. My hand wraps around his cock, and I gently guide him toward me. “Sweetheart, fuck,” Thomas groans as his dick runs along my wet slit.

“Need. You,” I practically demand.

Thomas wraps his hand around my wrist, slamming it above my head against the soft pillows above me. He threads his fingers through mine, holding me down. I gasp as he fills me in one quick motion. “Bring your knees up, angel eyes, spread wide for me,” he grinds out through a clenched jaw.

I do exactly as he’s instructed, knowing that when I do, I’ll be rewarded. Thomas pulls almost completely out of me before slamming back inside. I’m glad that he’s not being overly gentle, however, he’s being careful not to rest his stomach on my own. He hovers above me, his weight on his knees, his hand gripping mine tightly and he fucks me hard, and fast.

I arch my back, keeping my eyes trained on his beautiful face as he loses himself inside of me. Every thrust, every swivel of his hips, it’s absolute ecstasy. “I’m close,” I whimper.

“You’re coming with me, together,” he growls.

I nod, his words ramping me up even higher, even closer toward my climax. I shift beneath him, my body bucking at the same time his does. “Yes, don’t stop, please God, don’t stop,” I cry out.

Thomas answers my pleas, and he doesn’t stop, in fact, he slams into me with even more strength than I thought possible. On the third thrust, I lift my head and I let out a cry as my body locks up tightly, and I come.

“Fuck, yes,” he groans before he stills.

I watch as the cords in his neck are exposed, and strained. His cock twitches and then he releases my hand and rolls to the side of me, bringing my body with him when he does.

“I take it you’re happy?” I ask once my breathing returns to normal.

Thomas has one of his hands buried in my hair, and the other around my hip. He tugs my head back gently as his fingers flex against my hip. “I’m the happiest, luckiest, motherfucker breathing, sweetheart.”

I curl closer against him, enjoying his warmth. “Me too, Papi,” I whisper.

My eyes automatically close and the world melts away, my exhaustion and stress of the past couple of days melting away as I fall asleep in my fiancé’s arms—the father of my child—the love of my life.