Chapter 21
Brielle
I told myself that the first night I’d spent with Kane was a one-off. The chemistry between us wasn’t something that could be re-created. I even convinced myself that because I had been so starved for attention that I made it better than what it was.
I was wrong on all accounts.
Sex with Kane isn’t like anything I’ve experienced.
He takes charge while giving me control.
The chemistry between us is off the charts.
Hell, I actually orgasm when I’m with him.
But it’s more than that. Being with him has me feeling things I haven’t felt in years.
Wanting things I was too scared to want.
He’s asleep next to me, and I can’t help imagining what it would be like to be with him for the rest of my life.
When he insisted that I marry him, a part of me figured we would get married, and then once he got what he had come to Harbor Point for, he would leave, and I would start my life all over again.
But now, the thought of him leaving has me feeling shit I don’t want to feel.
I glance down at his strong arms wrapped around me, and my heart races in my chest. The life I’ve lived means that my body knows what a threat looks like, and Kane is not only a threat to my mental well-being, but to my heart.
I need to distance myself.
Clear my head and remember who this man is.
I slide out from under him, careful not to wake him. Grabbing my phone, I quietly pad to the bathroom, texting Nicole that we’re going shopping this morning. Unless she’s short an employee, Sunday is usually her day off, so I’m not surprised when she texts that she’s down.
After some good retail therapy, I’ll take her with me to see Matteo, Dani, and the baby. Because she gave birth naturally, they’re only in the hospital for a couple of days before they go home.
I shower, do my makeup and hair, and then get dressed.
I assume Kane is still in bed since I haven’t heard anything coming from the room, so I nearly jump out of my skin when I step out of the walk-in closet and find him leaning against the edge of the bed in nothing but the boxer briefs he fell asleep in, his arms crossed over his chest and his brown hair messy from sleep.
“Going somewhere?”
“Um, yeah. I’m meeting Nicole.”
He quirks a brow.
“We’re going shopping.”
“Why?” He pushes off the bed and stalks toward me. “Do you need something?”
“No,” I reply defensively. “We’re just going for fun.”
“You mean, you’re sneaking out to go shopping so you can escape your feelings after what happened last night.”
Damn him for calling me out.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” I lie, trying to move around him to get away. But of course, he sees it coming and pushes me against the wall.
“Since you want to play dumb this morning, let me break it down for you. We had sex last night—”
“We’ve had sex before.”
“Not like last night,” he notes, lifting my chin when I look away. “Last night was more. We both felt it, and now you’re freaking out, and instead of facing your feelings, you’re trying to escape them by doing what you do best when you need a distraction—shop.”
“You don’t know shit,” I hiss, despite him hitting the nail on the head.
“Okay.” He steps back. “But just know that when you come home later with all the clothes and shit you bought, you’re still going to feel just as confused as you do now because you won’t have addressed your feelings like a big girl,” he mocks.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.” He steps toward me and cups the side of my face, forcing me to meet his whiskey eyes. “And that scares the shit out of you.”
He slides his hands down my body and clasps my ass, lifting me and carrying me over to the dresser, where he sets me down and spreads my legs, stepping between them. Our faces are so close that I can feel his cool breath mingling with mine.
“I’m not going to enable you while you run from your feelings, Princess. Now, talk to me. Tell me what’s going through your head.”
I swallow thickly, debating whether to tell him the truth. That I’m falling for the man who’s forcing me to marry him. But instead, I go with a partial truth.
“Shopping is my escape,” I admit. “But it’s not just the shopping.
It’s what I buy, what it all represents.
My entire life, I was the perfectly groomed Antonov princess.
It was expected that I wore the most expensive brands, that my hair and makeup were done to perfection because our family had an image to uphold.
Andrey Antonov owned this town, had people eating out of his dirty-ass hand.
On the inside, we were living in hell, but to the outside world, we were picture-perfect.
The rich looked up to him, wanting to be richer.
And the poor believed that by trusting him, they could one day become just like him. ”
I snort out a mirthless laugh. “We didn’t talk in my family.
My father gave orders, and we obeyed them.
If we stepped out of line …” I shake my head, hating to even think about my childhood.
“I might’ve been dressed like the perfect Antonov daughter, but the Gucci and Chanel only hid the scars underneath. ”
Kane reaches up and frames my face, and there’s just something about the way he holds me that always makes me feel heard and safe. Like I can tell him anything, no matter how bad it is, and he’ll listen.
“I understand needing to uphold a certain image,” he tells me.
“My father hid us away, partly because he didn’t want us exposed to what people would say if they found out he had an entire other family with his mistress, but also because he didn’t want to taint his image.
But inside these walls, we talk. We don’t hide or escape. You’re too strong for that, Brielle.”
Warmth spreads through my veins, and I nod, wanting that type of relationship with him. I’ve been lonely for years, and I don’t want to go back to taking on the world by myself. And something tells me that Kane would make a great ally.
But then the other part of what he said has me thinking …
“I don’t want to live two lives.”
He raises a brow in confusion.
“Your dad was married to one woman while he was with another. I know this marriage isn’t real, but—”
“Fuck that,” he says. “I will never cheat on you. And if you so much as look at another man, I’ll be forced to take out the competition. So, be careful who you give your attention to. I warned you before that I don’t share, and I meant it. You’re mine, baby.”
He lifts me into his arms, and I shriek in shock.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you back to bed.” He drops me onto the mattress and hovers over me, nuzzling his face into the crook of my neck. “And then I’m going to eat you for breakfast.”
“What about me?” I laugh as his facial hair tickles my face. “I’m hungry too.”
He pulls back and gives me a wolfish grin. “Oh, Princess, I’ve got plenty for you to eat.”
“I have to go visit my brother and Dani.”
I hold my breath, waiting for Kane’s reaction.
We’ve spent the past couple of hours in bed, getting lost in each other. When Nicole called to see where I was, I was in the middle of giving Kane head, so of course, he used the opportunity to text her that I was having breakfast with him and I needed a rain check.
When we’re within these walls and it’s just us, it feels safe.
But the thought of leaving them, of dealing with reality, is another story.
Everything about us is complicated, and then add the outside distractors, like Dani giving birth to Kane’s niece and the girls and me being attacked during our spa day due to some psycho bitch—at least Dani thinks it’s a woman—coming after my family because she thinks we should hand Harbor Point over to her, and I don’t want to leave.
But it’s inevitable.
“Would you like me to go with you?” Kane asks, rubbing circles along my hips.
We’re still in bed, both of us naked and tangled around each other.
“I don’t want you to do anything that will make you uncomfortable, but”—I clear my throat—“if we’re getting married soon, then you’re about to become family, and my family is around a lot.”
“Then we’ll go.” He slides closer to me and kisses my lips softly. “But first, I’m pretty sure it’s almost lunch, and I’m starving.”
He waggles his brows, and his cock thickens against my leg.
“Okay,” I agree. “First, lunch, and then we’ll go to the hospital.”
“Oh, Dani,” I coo, taking the sweet little girl into my arms. “She’s absolutely perfect,” I choke out, leaning in and closing my eyes and inhaling her baby scent.
The last babies I held were Dominick and Peyton’s twin boys, and they smelled similar—like perfection and innocence, mixed with baby powder. I wonder if all babies smell like this … and then my thoughts go to my unborn baby. Would he or she have smelled the same way?
I open my eyes, blinking back the tears that are threatening to come, and Dani meets my gaze with knowing eyes. I shake my head, not wanting to go there, and she nods in understanding.
“Welcome to the world, Alba Antonov,” I say softly. “You are so loved.” I press a kiss to her forehead and take a calming breath. I should be past my abortion by now. It’s been years, and I was barely even pregnant, but that doesn’t stop my heart from mourning the loss.
“And you’re going to be so spoiled by your auntie Bri,” I add to lighten the mood. “Starting with this …”
Holding her carefully, I go to bend down to grab the gift bag, but Kane beats me to it, handing it to Dani.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
Dani opens the bag and then cracks up laughing, holding up the Burberry onesie with a built-in pleated skirt over it.
“You didn’t,” Dani says with a laugh.
“My niece will be the most stylish baby there is,” I say with a grin, but I can’t help but think about Kane’s and my conversation earlier.
About how my expensive clothes are a cover for the scars I hide underneath.
And as I stare at my niece, rocking her gently, I say a silent prayer that she never needs expensive clothes to hide her scars.
“So, when do they let you go home?” I ask, bringing Alba back over to Dani.
“Tomorrow.”
“Well, be prepared because I’ll be stopping by often to get my fill of this precious little girl,” I say, handing her to her mom.
“You’re welcome anytime,” Matteo says.
“Would you like to hold her?” Dani asks.
I look at her in confusion because I already held her, but then I follow her line of sight over to Kane, who’s back to standing against the wall.
“Dani,” Matteo murmurs, the warning in his tone clear.
“He’s family,” Dani says softly to Matteo, then turns her attention back to Kane. “What your brother did was horrific, but”—she sniffles back a sob—“she’s your niece.”
Matteo growls, and Dani glances at him, silently begging him not to lose his shit. He doesn’t say a word, but he plucks the baby out of her arms and protectively holds her to his chest.
Kane’s jaw clenches like he’s pissed, but his eyes are filled with a myriad of emotions. I’m about to say something to save him from this moment, but before I can, he speaks.
“She might be biologically related to me, but she’s your family, not mine.”
Matteo’s eyes shoot to Kane’s in what looks like appreciation.
“Well, a child can never have too much family,” Dani says. “And with you marrying Bri soon … you are family.”
Kane doesn’t hold the baby, but after that, the tension eases in the room. We spend the next several minutes talking about the labor and delivery and how she’s breastfeeding but is also pumping because Matteo wants to be able to feed the baby as well.
When Alba starts to fuss, we say our goodbye so she can breastfeed in private, and then we head out to lunch—since we never ate, choosing sex over sustenance—where I tell him about my plans to have North Harbor Point Pilates renovated.
“There’s just so much potential,” I tell him, taking a bite of my chicken salad sandwich. “I’m bringing in a Pilates expert, and we’re going to go over what the ideal studio would look like. Then, I’ll get it all put together and submit the plans for bids from contractors.”
Kane looks at me with a smile, and I squirm in my seat.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “I just love to see the passion in your eyes. I’m not an expert on Pilates, but if you need anything, let me know.”
“Thank you.” I glance over at Daniil standing in the corner of the restaurant and throw my napkin onto my plate, stuffed. “Hopefully, my brothers will figure out who this asshole is so we can go back to our normal lives.”
Because of the attack, Dominick has put his family on lockdown, and once Dani is home from the hospital, she’s promised Matteo she won’t leave until they figure out who has been terrorizing our families.
“Speaking of your brothers,” Kane says, pulling his credit card out of his wallet and handing it to the waitress, “after lunch, I want to go by Dominick’s house to talk to him about all this.”
My brows shoot to my forehead at the thought of Kane and Dominick working together. “Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. I want you to go home and focus on your Pilates studio. And once I’m done, I was thinking you could give me a private class in the gym.”
He waggles his brows playfully, and I bark out a laugh.
“It’s your funeral.”
He quirks a brow. “Going to see your brother or the Pilates class?”
“You’re a dead man regardless.” I laugh. “If Dominick doesn’t kill you, Pilates will.”