Chapter 17
Dani
Dani had never seen Jonnas look undone before—not really.
Even when he was emotional, he still carried himself with that same steady confidence that made everyone around him feel calmer.
But standing in her grandmother’s cabin while rain pounded against the windows, he looked wrecked—completely wrecked.
And somehow, that scared her almost as much as how much she loved him.
“I’ve got you,” he promised. The words wrapped around her while she cried against his chest, and Dani realized with painful clarity that this man would absolutely break himself while trying to hold her together, and that terrified her, because no one had ever chosen her like this before. Not without eventually regretting it.
Jonnas kept one arm tight around her waist while the other stroked slowly up and down her back, grounding her, steadying her. It was like he already knew she was seconds away from completely spiraling.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered shakily.
His entire body tensed instantly. “No. None of this is your fault.” The firmness in his voice made her pull back enough to look up at him.
Rainwater still dripped from his dark hair onto his shoulders.
His shirt clung to him from the storm outside, but he didn’t seem to notice or care.
The only thing he cared about right now was her, and God, that hurt.
“You had to drive three hours in the rain because I freaked out,” she whispered.
“You left,” he said, as though that would explain everything. The roughness in his voice stole the air from her lungs. He wasn’t angry. Instead, he sounded wounded, and that was somehow worse.
Dani looked away immediately. “I thought it would make things easier for you.”
A bitter laugh escaped him. “Baby girl, there was nothing easy about you disappearing on me.” Emotion climbed thickly into her throat. Jonnas tipped her face back toward him gently. “Do you have any idea what it felt like walking into that apartment and finding you gone?”
Fresh guilt crashed over her instantly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“I know.” That quiet understanding nearly undid her again, because he believed her. Even now, after she ran from him.
Dani swallowed hard. “I just needed space to think.”
“And what did you decide?” he asked. The question settled heavily between them.
Dani stared at him silently because the truth was terrifying.
She’d spent the entire drive here trying to convince herself that leaving was the right thing to do.
She told herself that protecting him mattered more than her feelings, and that eventually he’d resent her for what this scandal could cost him.
But then he showed up, soaked from the rain, looking half out of his mind because she’d left, and suddenly none of her logic felt stable anymore.
“I decided I love you,” she whispered finally. Jonnas closed his eyes briefly, as if the words physically hit him.
Then his forehead dropped against hers with a rough exhale. “Thank Christ.”
Tears filled her eyes again immediately. “I don’t know how this happened so fast.”
“I don’t care how fast it happened,” he growled.
“You should,” she insisted.
“No.” His hands tightened gently against her face. “You know what I should care about?” His voice roughened. “The fact that the woman I love thought she had to run away alone while carrying my child.” The raw emotion in his voice shattered something inside her.
Dani covered his hands with hers shakily. “I was scared.”
“I know,” he said.
“No.” Her voice cracked. “I’m scared that one day you’ll wake up and realize that loving me cost you everything.”
For the first time since arriving at the cabin, real anger flashed across his face. “Do you really think so little of me?”
The question hit hard enough to make her flinch. “No.”
“Then stop deciding for me what’s worth sacrificing,” he said.
Silence crashed between them, and Jonnas exhaled slowly before stepping back just enough to peel his soaked shirt over his head.
Dani’s breath caught automatically, because of course, this man looked devastating standing in the middle of her grandmother’s tiny cabin kitchen, dripping rainwater down his chest.
Jonnas tossed the shirt onto a nearby chair before looking back at her, and immediately his expression softened again. “I like it when you look at me that way, baby girl,” he murmured quietly.
Dani blinked. “What look?” she asked, trying to keep up. Her mind was stuck in the gutter with him standing in front of her, half-naked.
“That look.” He stepped closer slowly. “The one where you’re trying not to fall apart, and turned on at the same time.”
A weak laugh escaped her. “I think I’ve cried every day since finding out I’m pregnant. And can you blame me, looking at you that way when you're standing there shirtless?”
“You’ve had a stressful couple of weeks.”
“That’s one way to put it,” she breathed.
Jonnas brushed his fingers carefully through her hair. “You know what I think?”
“What do you think?” she asked, hoping that they were thinking the same thing.
“I think you’ve spent your whole life believing love is conditional.
” The truth of it hit so hard she physically froze, because yes, she had.
She had learned that love lasted until you became inconvenient.
Jonnas saw the exact moment realization hit her, and something heartbreaking flickered across his face.
“Baby girl,” he said softly, “I need you to understand something.”
Her throat tightened. “Okay.”
“You don’t have to earn me wanting to stay with you.
” The words shattered her completely, and a sob escaped her before she could stop it.
Jonnas pulled her against him instantly, wrapping both arms around her while she cried into his bare chest. And for the first time in her entire life, Dani realized she wasn’t crying because she felt abandoned.
She was crying because someone finally refused to leave.
Dani fell asleep in Jonnas’s arms sometime after midnight, not because the fear disappeared or the HR investigation magically stopped mattering, but because for the first time since this whole mess started, she stopped carrying it alone. That changed everything.
She woke hours later, tangled against his chest beneath an old quilt her grandmother used to keep folded across the couch. Rain still tapped softly against the cabin windows, but the storm had weakened overnight.
Jonnas was awake already. One hand rested low against her back while the other moved slowly through her hair, grounding her before she even fully woke up.
“Morning,” he breathed. Dani smiled before she could stop herself.
God, she loved waking up to this man. He made her feel seen every time he said it; she felt seen in a way she never had before.
“You sleep okay?” he asked quietly.
She nodded against his chest. “Better.” Relief flickered across his face instantly, like her answer genuinely mattered to him. That still shocked her every time.
Jonnas brushed his lips softly against her forehead before tightening his arm around her. “You scared the hell out of me.” The rough honesty in his voice made guilt tighten instantly in her chest.
“I know,” she whispered.
“No.” He looked down at her seriously. “I don’t think you do.” Dani swallowed hard, because maybe she didn’t. Maybe she still didn’t fully understand how deeply she’d gotten under his skin.
Jonnas exhaled slowly before resting his forehead briefly against hers. “When I walked into that apartment and realized you were gone—” His jaw flexed hard. “I couldn’t breathe for a second.”
Her chest ached painfully. “You made me feel selfish,” she whispered.
His brows furrowed immediately. “What?” he asked.
“I feel selfish, because a part of me loved that you came after me,” she admitted. The confession burned on the way out of her mouth. She felt vulnerable and humiliated, but Jonnas just looked wrecked by her admission.
“Baby girl.” His voice softened painfully. “You think wanting to be chased is selfish?” Dani looked away, because yes, that was exactly what she thought. Didn’t it make her needy? Or too much? Jonnas tipped her face back toward him immediately.
“No hiding,” he said. The quiet firmness in his tone made warmth spread low through her stomach despite everything. “You know what I think?” he murmured.
“What?” she asked.
“I think you’ve spent your whole life settling for people who made you feel optional.
” Even before him, every relationship she’d had carried this underlying feeling that eventually she’d become inconvenient.
Jonnas seemed to see the realization spread across her face, and something fierce moved behind his eyes instantly.
“That ends with me,” he growled.
“How do you say things like that so easily?” she whispered.
“Because they’re true,” he admitted. Fresh tears burned in her eyes.
Dani laughed weakly. “I’m honestly getting tired of crying in front of you.”
“You’re pregnant and overwhelmed.” One corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “I’d be more concerned if you weren’t emotional.”
“You can’t be serious,” she grumbled.
“I am very serious.” His thumb brushed slowly beneath her eye. “What feels fake is how long you convinced yourself you had to survive everything alone.” Silence settled between them after that, and Jonnas’s expression shifted slightly, like he’d remembered something.
“What?” she asked softly.
His jaw tightened immediately. “I have to go back this afternoon.” Fear hit her instantly.
Dani pushed herself upright slightly. “For the investigation?” He nodded, and her stomach twisted violently as reality crashed back over her all at once. The hospital, the rumors, the complaint—they were all still waiting for them outside of the cabin.
Jonnas noticed the exact second panic started climbing into her face. “Hey.” His hands settled carefully against her waist. “Look at me.” She did automatically. “There’s my girl.” The words soothed something inside her instantly. God. That shouldn’t work as well as it did.
“I don’t want you going back there alone,” she whispered.
His expression softened immediately. “You think I’m worried about myself right now?”
“You should be,” she said.
“No.” His voice turned firmer. “I’m worried about you.” Emotion tightened painfully in her throat, because even now—when his career could be collapsing around him—his focus was still her.
Dani covered his hand with hers shakily. “What if they force you to choose?” The question settled heavily between them.
Jonnas didn’t hesitate. “You already know the answer.”
Tears filled her eyes instantly. “No,” she whispered. “You can’t do that.”
His expression changed immediately, and she could see the certainty in his eyes. “Dani.” His hand slid slowly to her stomach beneath the blanket. “You and this baby are my family now.” That word shattered her—family. He didn’t use the words “Obligation” or “Responsibility. He called them a family.
Jonnas looked at her like he meant every syllable, and suddenly Dani understood something terrifying. If the hospital forced him to choose between his career and her, he really would walk away from everything, and she wasn’t sure whether that realization healed her heart—or broke it completely.