Chapter 4 #3
“It is a big deal.” His voice stayed low, but there was an edge underneath it she hadn’t heard directed at her before.
“You’re a pregnant woman living alone in a city you’ve been in for two months.
I don’t care how routine this has gotten between us, you do not leave that door unlocked, not for me, not for anyone. ”
She bristled slightly at the sharpness of it, crossing her arms. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it just fine before you started showing up every morning.”
“I know you can.” He crossed the room to stand in front of her, some of the heat softening into something closer to plain worry.
“That’s not what this is about. I need you to be safe, Sloane.
I need to know that when I’m not here, nothing can just walk through that door uninvited.
” He reached up, his hand cupping her jaw, his thumb brushing once along her cheekbone.
“Please. Lock it. I’ll knock every single morning, and you’ll let me in yourself. That’s all I’m asking.”
She held his gaze a long moment, the protectiveness in his voice settling somewhere warm beneath her irritation despite herself. “Fine. I’ll lock it.” She softened, some of her own edge fading. “I didn’t realize it would bother you this much.”
“Everything about your safety bothers me this much.” He said it simply, no exaggeration in it at all, and the certainty of it lingered in the room long after he’d let her go and settled back into his usual chair.
* * *
Sloane sat across from Draven at her kitchen table, her laptop closed for once, a printed list of flight times pulled up on her phone instead.
She’d been putting this off for two weeks, finding excuse after excuse not to make the call, but she couldn’t keep her mother in the dark much longer without it turning into its own separate betrayal.
“I’m going to fly home this weekend and tell my mother in person.” She said it plainly, watching his reaction carefully. “She deserves to hear this from me, not over the phone, and definitely not from someone else before I get the chance.”
Draven set his own laptop aside, his attention shifting fully onto her in the way it always did the moment something serious entered the room. “I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t need to do that.” She shook her head, already bracing for the conversation she could feel coming.
“This is going to be hard enough without bringing a stranger into the middle of it. My mother is deeply religious, Draven. She’s not going to take this news well as it is, and showing up with the father in tow, a father she’s never even heard of until this exact moment, is only going to make it more complicated. ”
“That’s exactly why I’m not letting you walk into that house alone.
” His voice stayed even, but there was no give in it at all.
“You fainted from shock the day you found out. You’ve cried more than once just talking about how she’s going to react.
I’m not putting you on a plane by yourself to deliver news that big and then leaving you to handle whatever comes after it without me there. ”
“I’ve handled hard conversations with my mother before.” She crossed her arms, the old reflex toward doing things alone rising up despite the warmth underneath his insistence. “I don’t need you there to manage her for me.”
“I’m not trying to manage her.” He reached across the table and covered her hand with his, his thumb brushing slow over her knuckles.
“I’m trying to stand next to you while you do something hard, the same way I have every single morning for the last month.
This isn’t different just because it’s your mother instead of a doctor’s office. ”
She studied him a long moment, the fight draining out of her slowly as she let his words settle.
“She’s going to ask a lot of questions. About you, about us, about what kind of man gets a woman pregnant after one night and then conveniently turns out to be her new boss.
” She exhaled, half a laugh, half a wince.
“It’s not exactly a flattering story when you say it out loud. ”
“Then we’ll tell her the true version instead of the flattering one.” He held her gaze, steady. “I’ll answer whatever she asks me. I won’t hide from this, or from her, just because the story is… different.”
Sloane felt something loosen in her chest at that, the dread of the trip softening slightly at the thought of facing her mother’s reaction with him beside her. “She might not even let you in the house.”
“Then I’ll wait on the porch.” A faint, certain curve touched his mouth. “I’m in no hurry, and I’ll still be there when she’s done with me. One way or another, I’m going where you go this weekend.”
She turned her hand over under his, lacing her fingers through his properly instead of just letting him hold it.
“Fine. You can come.” She softened further, some of the nerves in her chest easing at the simple fact of him refusing to let her carry this part alone either.
“But if she starts quoting scripture at you, you’re on your own. ”
“I can handle scripture.” He lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing a brief kiss against her knuckles. “I’ve survived worse boardrooms than your mother’s living room.”