Chapter Ten-Anna
CHAPTER TEN-ANNA
T he bakery is dark when we get there. But that’s not unusual. I look around with mixed feelings.
This place is chock full of memories for me. Good times and bad. Times when Dad was stressed out and missing Mom so much, he just fell down the rabbit hole that was drinking and gambling.
I was left to watch out for my little brother and now, in this place, I feel like such a failure.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I walk behind the counter and touch my fingertips to the old, framed photo of the four of us together.
The picture shows me and Sammy in costumes holding plastic jack-o-lantern buckets, so I know it’s Halloween.
I hear the men moving around, but I’m stuck in the past for another minute. Someone opens the door to my office and the protest of the hinges brings my head up.
Nico wanted to be here before the first shift came in. So, it’s three in the morning, and I’m tired, but I need to see this through.
Angel is with us. Luc, too. There are a couple of other men, but I think they’re just bodyguards or something. They are wearing all black and seem to stand at intentionally spaced intervals.
I don’t know what it is about those inked up monsters, but for some reason, I feel safe around them. Maybe it’s because they don’t look at me for too long.
They don’t ask why their king has chosen me. I’m very well aware I’m not the kind of woman a man like Nico Fury would marry.
I haven’t found the courage yet to ask how long he plans for us to be wed, but I will.
For now, I’m content to let him take the lead. There is something deeply freeing in placing my life, and the life of our unborn baby, into his large, tattooed hands.
I know I should run screaming. Or object to his bullying me into marrying him. And sleeping in his bed.
But he’s treated me with respect so far, and crazy or not, I feel safe with him.
I feel other things too, but I don’t look too closely at that.
It’s just hormones.
Mostly.
Well, probably.
I make eye contact with one of the bodyguards, and he quickly turns away. I know it’s because of my husband.
I don’t think it would be in anyone’s best interest to look at Nico Fury’s wife too closely. Not because he loves me or anything. More likely, it’s because of his reputation.
When I was in Florida, I spent some time scrolling through old newspaper and online articles through my library membership online.
Nico Fury’s name comes up quite often in the news. If I believe everything I read, I would have no choice but to think he’s insane.
But it’s all just speculation. Money laundering, drugs, gambling, real estate schemes.
But no one has ever been able to tie him to any one crime. Not enough to even garner an arrest warrant, much less convict him.
He’s smart. Cunning. And he’s so intense.
It’s one of the things that makes him so hard to dismiss. When we’re together, and his attention is on me, he makes me feel like I’m the only woman in the entire world.
But that’s dumb. And I can’t afford to be dumb.
I walk into my office and see Nico, Luc, and Angel. It’s disorienting. My office is small, and they are so big. They seem to suck out all the air inside the room.
“These your books?” Luc asks.
I nod.
“Can I look at them?” he asks again.
“Sure. Um, an employee has been keeping them for me while I was away. Though I worked some, remotely,” I murmur.
Nico is standing beside Luc, his azure gaze on the pages in front of them. I know what he’ll see. Red ink. And a lot of it.
“So, this Javi is like the crew boss?” Nico asks.
“Yes. There are two crews. Sammy actually found him when our old guys retired. He hired Javi last year. ”
“Sammy did?” Nico asks and I swear, I can feel his anger.
His gaze flits to Luc first, and the man makes a gesture I’m sure is code for something, but I have no idea what.
Nico hums a sound of assent. Then he looks at Angel, who simply dips his chin once.
“They’ve been okay. I mean, there was some trial and error in the beginning with Javi coming in as the crew boss, but some of the guys have been baking bread for us for years,” I say, needing to fill the silence.
“They’re trying to muscle you out, right?” Angel asks, but his eyes are on his cousin.
“I, well, yeah,” I mumble.
His face is calm. Nothing unusual. It’s his eyes that give him away. I see his temper flare in their crystalline depths, and it’s both wondrous and frightening.
It’s like Nico’s fury is a living thing. I feel it growing, slithering, contracting and expanding and once again I’m left to wonder if his surname is just a twist of fate or if he chose it.
I should probably ask, but now is not a good time.
Angel hums again. Or maybe it’s more of a grunt. Still, it must have significance because Nico seems to relax once more.
I don’t know how I know it, but it is clear these three men just came to some sort of agreement.
And I’m completely in the dark about it.
“Someone’s pulling in the back,” Angel murmurs, and his voice is so deep it startles me.
He looks so much like Nico, they could be brothers. But I guess being first cousins is close enough. He’s bigger though. Taller, too.
“It’s them. The bakers. First shift,” I reply.
“Let’s go,” Nico says, but I’m frozen in place.
The baby moves inside my belly, and I close my eyes for a second so I can just feel the tiny life I’m already so in love with.
I didn’t know motherhood would hit so hard. Didn’t realize I would feel such fierce emotion for my baby.
Maybe it’s natural. Maternal instinct. Or maybe it’s my desire to have a family, someone of my own, that makes me feel this way.
There’s no second guessing for me. I love my baby. And I would do anything to keep him or her safe.
Including marry a stranger.
My chest squeezes, and the baby kicks again. I open my eyes and Nico is right in front of me. His expression is concerned.
“You need something? Food, water? Maybe you should sit.”
I shake my hand, then before I can think better of it, I reach for him. I bite my lip, afraid he’ll pull away. But he doesn’t.
The king of the Vipers is docile as a kitten as I tug on his big hand and position it over my belly.
“Is that him?” he asks and looks down as our child kicks again.
My gaze is glued to him.
Jesus.
He’s so beautiful. A rough man like that probably doesn’t get called beautiful often.
But I can’t think of another word half as good as that one.
His bone structure is superb. All sharp angles that directly contrast with his plump lips.
They’re as soft as they look. I know that firsthand, but still, I wish I could kiss him.
We’re married, but he’s not mine.
Not like that.
The baby moves again and the corner of his mouth twitches like he might smile. I wish he would.
He doesn’t strike me as a man who smiles often, and for some reason, I want to be the person to make him do just that.
Normally, Nico looks like an avenging angel, all in black, his arm, hand, and neck tattoos visible. But right now he looks stunned, surprised and maybe even happy.
His blue eyes flick to mine, and I swear I am ready to swoon. Those eyes just get me every time.
They’re so bright, brilliant really, and I hope like hell our baby inherits them.
Mine aren’t bad, but they’re just brown. Simple. Plain. And I bite my lip harder.
“Don’t,” Nico whispers, using his other hand to pull my lip free from my teeth.
His touch lingers on my face before he drags his fingers down to my chin and neck until they drop away, but not before he brushes them over my breast.
The air between us feels charged. Nico’s eyes narrow and I suck in a breath, trying not to show how much he affects me.
“Hey, Boss, I’m gonna go talk to the crew,” Angel says.
Then he prowls across the room like some sort of big cat.
Nico doesn’t so much as look his way .
All his attention is on me, my belly, and I realize he’s still touching me with his other hand.
He looks fascinated, and I shiver in response.
“Day after tomorrow we go to the doctor. Gonna get this little one checked out. Little Mama, too,” he whispers.
“Okay,” I reply.
“Ready to go?” he asks.
“What about the bakers? And the books?”
“Luc and Angel have it.”
I nod. Then I step back, forcing his hand to drop.
Truth is, I could use a little break from all his intensity. Nico is an enigma to me.
I suppose I should just feel grateful to him, but that’s a shitty way to feel about your baby’s father.
I don’t want him to see me as some charity case. Even if it’s what I am.
If only things were different.
If only he married me because he cared.
He takes my hand and guides me to the door, and I have to work to control my racing pulse.
“Where are we going?”
“To get your clothes,” he answers.
I nod again. My apartment is only a few blocks away, but his driver is waiting, and we don’t walk there .
“Wait for me,” he says when the SUV rolls to a stop outside my building.
I look at it, frowning, wondering what he must think of this place. It’s so much worse than his flashy condo.
My door opens, but I’m still stuck somewhere between embarrassment and shame. I hate feeling like that. And the truth is, he has done nothing to warrant it.
It’s just me.
All the ugliness I’m feeling is all me.
Shit. Tears prick my eyes, and I suppose I could blame hormones. But that’s not all of it.
I know I’m not Nico’s type. I’m not even in his league. But he married me, accepted my claim that this baby is his, and just took my word for everything.
I know he’s a powerful, smart, cunning, and well-respected man. But I worry I might be bad for him. I might weaken his reputation.
To anyone else, it must look like I tricked him.
“Anna? You okay?” he asks, when I remain glued to my seat.
“I, um, I mean, are you sure about this? It’s been a day, Nico. We can get an annulment,” I start, needing to offer him a way out .
“No,” he growls, pulling me out of the car.
“Look at me,” he says, and I obey. “You’re my wife now, Anna Fury. The mother of my child. There will be no annulment. No divorce. Not between us. Not ever.”
“But what if you fall in love with someone? I don’t want to be in your way,” I whisper, confessing one of my greatest fears out loud.
“That’s not possible,” he replies, and my heart constricts.
Does he mean he’s incapable of love?
Or that he’s already in love with someone else?
Oh my God, does he have a girlfriend? A mistress?
But before I can voice any of those horrible thoughts, Nico takes my hand and turns to the front door of my apartment building.
“Let’s get your clothes.”