"Oh," I swallow and a hot sensation grips my chest. "What was the answer?"
"Forgiveness," he peers into my face.
"That was the solution to the riddle?" My heart begins to race.
He nods, "Will you forgive me for everything I put you through, Victoria?"
I try to pull my hand away, but he holds on.
"Why?" I purse my lips.
He frowns.
"Why should I forgive you, Saint?" I ask. "You refused to accept our child."
"The one you didn't tell me about?" he retorts.
"I all but revealed it to you in the form of a puzzle."
"You could have come outright and told me," he scolds.
"To you? The master riddler?" I throw up my hands. "You who can crack almost any puzzle?"
His jaw tics. He shuffles his feet.
"You tested me again and again with your games. Yet the one time I asked you the one question, the answer to which mattered so much to me, you pretended not to know the answer."
He squeezes the bridge of his nose, "I think I knew what you were trying tell me. I guessed it, my subconscious alerted me it, but I didn't want to accept it." He winces. "I made a mistake."
"Wow," I blink, "You're actually acknowledging that you're not perfect."
"Seems today is a day of many firsts." He rubs his thumb over the pulse on my wrist, "Including my telling you that I want you, Gigi." He leans over and cups my belly.
A shiver runs up my spine.
"And I want this child more than anything in the world. If anything had happened to the two of you, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."
He whispers his knuckles across my jaw, "Promise you'll never scare me like that again."
"I scared myself." Tears prick my eyes.
"Hey, don't." He wipes away the moisture that trickles down my cheek, "I am here, and I'm not going anywhere."
"Never?"
"I plan to be by your side. Through sickness and through health. Through ups and downs. Even when the children we have together are grown up and have left home, I'll be there taking care of you, protecting you, providing for you."
"Saint," I whisper. A ball of emotions chokes my throat. Is he saying what I think he is? My heart stutters and a warmth fills my chest.
"It's true," he nods. "I was too afraid to acknowledge what the thought of becoming a father does to me."
"What is that?"
"It makes me feel as vulnerable, as out of control, as I had been all that time ago when I was kidnapped and held captive. When I had no idea if it was day or night, where I was, whether I would survive to the next hour. I swore then, I'd never allow myself to lose control."
"And having a child is exactly that." I bring my other hand up to cup his face, "To cede power. Children bring their own brand of energy, and will create their own futures. You'll never be able to completely control the circumstances around them."
"I am going to try my damnedest,” he growls.
"And I am going to call you out when you get too overbearing," I trace my thumb over his pouty lower lip.
"I can't change." He glowers, "It's what I am."
"Won't stop me from chipping away at your grumpy-pants ego." I set my jaw.
"Won't stop me from trying to fuck the sass out of you." He smirks, and damn him, but I'm instantly wet.
"You can try," I pout.
"I love that you can stand up to me." His features soften, "I might even let you get your way."
I blink.
"Sometimes," his lips curl.
"Well thank you so much," I grouse.
"If you behave."
I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
"There's one more thing."
Of course, there is.
He slides his hand into his pocket, pulls out the ring, then slips it onto my finger, "Never take it off again."
53
Two days later
Victoria
I glance through the window of the townhouse on Primrose Hill. The beautiful back garden rolls down from the residence at a gentle slope. There's an infinity pool in the middle of the garden and beyond that the view of the city stretches out.
Heat sears my back, a tingle runs up my spine, then Saint steps up, boxing me in with his arms on either side.
"Like it?"
"The view, you mean?"
"Also, the view." He chuckles, "You love the house, admit it."
I turn in the circle of his arms, "Cocky much?"
"That's my middle name, baby," he smirks.
"Will I never learn not to feed your massive ego?" I huff.
He leans in close enough for his hardness to brush against my waist, "Not the only thing that's massive."
I laugh, "Not that I am complaining, but I think we should wait."
His face pales, "Shit, are you feeling okay? No pain or anything... Should I call the air ambulance?" He reaches for his phone, swipes the screen and presses a number.
I grab his wrist. "I'm fine, really. I meant, wait until we return to the bedroom."
"Oh," he breathes out a sigh of relief, then hangs up.
Then I frown, "Hold on a minute, did you say, air ambulance?"
He reddens. "I
