Chapter 90
CHAPTER NINETY
Lily
One week later…
“So… Daddy Drago kinda has a ring to it, don’t you think?” I tease, biting my lip.
A dangerous growl rumbles out of him.
And then I’m on my back on the couch so fast I barely have time to gasp, my arms pinned above my head, his body covering mine.
It ignites everything inside of me.
After a week of hell…
There is hope.
His eyes hold mine. “Are you happy, Lily?” he asks, voice rough as he leans in, hovering like he’s trying not to scare me with how much he wants this.
I arch my back, giving him my throat, and his lips skim there, barely a touch but enough to make me shiver.
“I’m scared,” I admit, honest enough that it stings. “A little bit. Of giving birth… of my body changing… of letting our kid down.”
My voice wavers. “I don’t have much to go on with my own parents.”
His expression shifts instantly. All the darkness in him turns into something protective. Devoted. He presses soft kisses along my throat like he’s soothing the fear right out of my skin.
“You’ll be a perfect mom,” he murmurs. “And I’ll be there. Right by your side. No matter what.”
“Even if I have to waddle around?” I whisper, trying to lighten it, trying not to cry.
He nips my earlobe, and I jolt. “Especially if you’re doing that pregnant waddle,” he growls.
A laugh bursts out of me, shaky and real.
I turn my head to look at him, and he’s not joking.
He’s looking at me like he’s already picturing it. Like he’s already in love with every version of me that could ever exist.
“I love you today,” he says quietly, his forehead brushing mine. “I’ll love you through everything. Even when we’re old and wrinkly.”
His grip tightens around my wrists—firm, grounding.
“I love you for you, lastochka.”
My heart flutters so hard it almost hurts.
“And I’ll find you incredibly sexy no matter what,” he adds, voice dropping lower, his mouth hovering over my lips.
I swallow. “I love you, Drago,” I whisper. “We’ve got this, haven’t we?”
His grin tells me he’s certain. “There’s nothing we can’t do when we’re together, baby,” he murmurs, kissing the corner of my mouth. “We’ve got this.”
I lift my legs and wrap them around his waist, pulling him closer, needing him, needing the weight of him, the certainty of him. My anchor.
“You know…” I trail off, voice turning soft and wicked. “Apparently, being pregnant increases a woman’s sex drive.”
His brows lift like he’s pretending to consider it.
Then he nods, dead serious. “You need an orgasm, Lily, you just tell me,” he says, voice like sin. “Doesn’t matter when. Or where.” He winks, mouth brushing my cheek. “I’ve got you.”
My stomach flips. I meet his gaze, pulse racing. “Right now works.”
“Here you go, beautiful,” Drago says, sliding a glass across the counter toward me.
It’s… violently green.
Like someone blended a lawn.
“And what could I possibly want to drink for breakfast that’s this green, Drago?” I tease, eyeing it like it might attack me.
His mouth twitches like he’s proud of himself. “Every vitamin and mineral you and our baby could possibly need.”
A smile spreads across my lips before I can stop it.
He’s so fucking cute.
I pick it up, and I don’t even smell it. I just drink. Because I can feel his eyes on me the entire time, like this is his new obsession—keeping me alive, keeping me safe, keeping us okay.
It’s actually not that bad. Citrusy. Cold. Sharp.
I place the glass down and round the corner of the island, stopping right in front of him.
He grins, wipes a drop of juice from my lip with his thumb… then brings his finger to his mouth and licks it slowly, like he’s reminding me he’s still Drago. Still lethal. Still sin wrapped in devotion.
“I just had a call from Finn,” he says.
My pulse flickers.
“They’re going to try to get Lev off some of the machines today. See if he’ll wake up.”
My stomach drops so fast it feels like the floor tilts beneath me. I look down, staring at the tiles like they’ll hold me together, because living in limbo is its own kind of torture. Not knowing if I’m going to wake up one morning and be told he’s really gone.
Drago steps closer and tips my chin up, forcing me to meet his gaze. “We have to think positive, baby,” he murmurs. “Fight for him. Only good thoughts go into the universe, remember?”
I half laugh, but it doesn’t reach my eyes. “The universe has trouble deciding if it likes us.”
His huge hand splays over my stomach, warm and possessive and gentle all at once. “I think it’s coming round,” he whispers.
My throat tightens.
I lean forward and rest my head against his chest, breathing him in, and he wraps his arms around me like he’s building a shield. “I want to tell him,” I whisper. “That he’s going to be a grandad.”
My voice breaks, the words catching like I’m scared to say them out loud in case the universe hears and decides to take this too.
“I want to say thank you for saving me.”
A tear slips down my cheek. It feels like that’s all I’ve done lately, bleed emotions I didn’t know I had. But the panic doesn’t rise. Because I can’t crumble. Not now. Our baby deserves strength. And I know I can do it.
I’m safe.
I’m loved.
But God… I just wish my dad would wake up.
I have every right to be sad about this.
Drago’s mouth presses to my hair. “Then we go to the hospital,” he says quietly. “And we wait for him to wake up so you can tell him.”
He wipes my tear away as if it offends him that anything has ever hurt me.
“I’d like that,” I whisper.
He nods once, decisive. “Then I’ll tell Finn to text us when we’re allowed in. Okay?”
I nod again, swallowing hard.
He studies my face, his gaze softening. “Did you want to tell anyone else about the baby?” he asks. “Or shall we wait until we have the scan?”
His mouth tugs at the side, like he’s holding back a secret.
My eyes narrow instantly.
“Drago Korolyov,” I warn. “What have you done?”
He chuckles, both hands framing my face.
“Finn knows,” he admits.
I blink.
“And he’s booked you in for a scan…”
My breath catches.
“A scan when, Drago?” I ask, already knowing by the way his eyes flick to my mouth like he’s bracing for impact.
“Today,” he says gently. “After everything that’s happened… I thought it would be safer to just—make sure you’re both okay. I have to see the Quinns first. And then we can go.”
I blow out a breath, the tension in my chest loosening into something warmer.
Of course he did. Of course, he couldn’t sit with uncertainty when it comes to me. When it comes to our baby.
He needs reassurance like oxygen. And I don’t blame him. I can’t argue with him. Not when his love looks like protection.
“Thank you for arranging it,” I whisper.
He tilts his head, suspicious now, like he expected me to fight him on it.
I drag my hands up his bare chest, feeling his heartbeat under my palm. “You looking after our baby and me will never be a bad thing, Drago,” I murmur. “That’s what you do best, and I love you for it.”
His smile turns slow. “Good,” he says, his hand covering mine. “Because I’ll never stop.”
His thumb strokes my knuckles, like he’s anchoring this promise into me. “You two are the most important people in my life,” he whispers. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep you both happy and healthy.”
His forehead dips to mine. “That’s a promise.”