Dimitri had spoken to the police officer. Yes, they were definitely going to press charges! Yes, he wanted the man arrested and thrown in jail! Assault! That was all they could charge the man with.
The term seemed so inadequate. The only saving grace in this whole miserable day was the fact that he and Pepper had been married a couple of days ago, which allowed him to speak on her behalf. If they’d waited until Pepper’s sisters could attend their wedding, he would have had no say in her care, would have been given no information by the doctors. He wouldn’t have had any legal right to know anything about her condition!
Pepper continued to cry as Dimitri held her, trying to soothe her. But the doctor had warned him that she’d be very emotional, not just from the loss of their child, but because her body would go through a massive hormone shift. They’d already taken her into surgery, but they hadn’t been able to save the baby, although they’d ensured that everything about her fertility was still intact. No damage to her internal organs other than bruising.
“You and your wife will be able to have another baby,” the doctor had assured him.
Dimitri had listened to everything, but he was furious. The heartless, miserable assurance that they could have another baby. He wanted the baby that they’d had! As if the one they’d lost was disposable or replaceable!
Climbing onto the bed beside her, he shifted so that she leaned against him and he felt her body shake as she wept. As she cried, he silently cursed the man who had done this to her, who had stolen their child!
A long time later, when she’d exhausted her tears, Pepper looked up at him. He was cradling her in his arms. He didn’t give a damn about hospital policy and only the patient being in the hospital bed. Pepper only seemed to calm down when he was holding her, so he was damn well going to hold her all night if he had to.
“Don’t tell my sisters, okay?” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I don’t want them to know.”
His arms tightened around her. “Anything you want, agape mou,” he promised her, resting his cheek against the top of her head.
A nurse came in to take her blood pressure and gave him a censorious look for being on the bed with her patient, but Pepper sniffled, tightening her hold on Dimitri so the nurse simply patted her hand, then left the room without a word.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
Dimitri didn’t know what she was apologizing for but he didn’t ask. Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow, he’d find out why she kept apologizing.
Chapter 11
“I need to get back to work,” Pepper whispered, sitting in the chair by the window of his penthouse.
Dimitri bent down to look at her, his eyes searching her face. She was still pale, not eating unless he begged and even then, she barely touched what he put in front of her.
“You need to take care of yourself, agape mou. Will you eat something today?” he asked as gently as he could.
Pepper nodded, but he wasn’t sure that he believed her. He’d ask his housekeeper to make something special. Something that might tempt her.
“Pepper, it’s been two weeks. Are you still sore?”
Pepper’s hand moved over her stomach and she shook her head. “I’m fine,” she told him. “Perfectly fine.”
He wanted to pull her into his arms, but every time he touched her lately, she’d pulled away. He didn’t understand why, but he needed her. He needed her in both a physical as well as emotional way.
Angrily, he bent down and locked eyes with her. “You’re not fine, Pepper. You’re melting away! You’ve lost too much weight and you’re not sleeping well.”
Pepper looked down at her clothes. She’d pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt this morning. Gone was the woman who loved clothes and had so much fun choosing something daring and outrageous from her extensive wardrobe. She used to love showing off her designs, her eyes glowing whenever she’d created something special.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Dimitri pressed his lips together, not wanting to yell at her for apologizing yet again. He didn’t understand why she kept doing that, but every time he asked, her eyes closed and tears poured down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry, agape mou,” he whispered, pulling her into his arms. This time, she didn’t fight him, but nor did she hold him back. For a long time, he continued to hold her, trying to tell her how he felt, but she was so cold, so distant.
So instead, he released her and sighed with frustration as he turned to leave. “I’ll be home early for dinner tonight. Maybe we could eat at Tony’s.”
Pepper nodded vaguely, sitting back down in the chair, gazing out at the New York sky. It was grey and dreary today and Dimitri ran a hand through his hair, frustrated and not sure how to get through to her.
Pepper heard the front door close and knew that Dimitri had gone to work. Again.
She shouldn’t blame him. Every time he touched her, she pushed him away. Not because she didn’t love him, but because he shouldn’t love her. And because feeling his arms around her felt…too good.
Pepper didn’t deserve to feel good. She deserved to be punished. She’d lost their child. Lifting her chin, she looked around at the beautiful luxury of his penthouse. It wasn’t her taste, but she could objectively see that it was luxurious.
She didn’t deserve to be here, she thought.
“Ms. Bosalis?” a voice called out.
Pepper never corrected Dimitri’s housekeeper about her last name. She was still Pepper Abbot. They’d been married for three weeks now, but she hadn’t changed her last name. Should she?
Probably not. It would just
