Chapter 39
MAXIM
“Iwant to leave, you can’t keep me here!” Hollie’s arms cross over her chest, then she winces as the movement pulls at the stitches on her shoulder.
“Hollie, darling. I’m not trying to keep you here against your will, believe me. But the hospital is the best place for you right now.”
“What about you?” She pouts up at me. “You should be in bed too.”
“I wasn’t thrown through a windshield.”
“But you were stabbed.”
“A flesh wound.”
“All my injuries are flesh wounds!”
“Maybe, but you have more than me, plus some whiplash. Staying here is how I keep you healthy and safe.”
“And if I refuse?” Her eyes narrow, so I sit on the edge of the bed and gently rub her thigh through the blanket.
“Why do you want to leave so badly?”
Her face crumbles slightly and she sighs. “I want to see my parents. I want to spend Christmas Eve with them, and I don’t want to miss out on dinner because of that asshole.”
Vinnie. He deserved a much slower death than the one we granted him, but news of his death spread quickly.
While Hollie was getting checked over by the doctors last night, I spent an hour on the phone with Zoe, assuring her that the man haunting her is definitely dead.
Stu will take her to see his body when she’s ready so she can get the closure she needs, something I would do if I didn’t need to be here with Hollie.
Finding that car and her missing was the most terrifying moment of my life. I was convinced I was too late and the only thing I’d find was her body.
Luckily, someone was watching over her.
“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” Hollie says, her expression softening.
I meet her gaze and nod. “Yeah.”
“Did we do a bad thing? Killing him?”
“No, of course not. I’m thinking more about how you’re right. He’s taken and affected a lot of our life and I understand why you want to be with your family. So… if you can get the doctor to clear you, then I will take you home.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Good.” She briefly closes her eyes and sinks back into the pillows. “Can we visit Toto before we leave?”
“You’re so certain the doctor will let you leave.”
“I have my ways. But I want to see him. When I think about him, all I see is his body in the snow.” Her face crumples slightly. “So many people got hurt.”
Toto’s survival is thanks to the snow, ironically. It slowed down his heart enough that when the ambulance arrived for Hollie’s father, they were able to tend to Toto, and he sits in the next ward with two gunshot wounds. Thankfully, he’ll make a full recovery and be back on his feet by New Year’s.
“But we won.” My hand slides over hers. “Your father is okay, just a broken nose. Toto is going to be okay. Zoe gets to spend a Christmas with her son without being terrified. I hate that he did this to you, but I am so proud of you.”
“For killing him?” Her lower lip wobbles, so I lean forward and kiss her softly.
“You didn’t kill him, remember? Stu did.” It was a nice touch for him to ensure he shot that bastard too. We’ll never know what bullet killed him, but it helps stop Hollie from torturing herself about taking a life.
“Right.” She doesn’t look entirely convinced. “I, uhm…” Hollie sits up and wraps her hands around mine. “Actually… I told myself if I survived, then there would be something I would tell you.”
My heart skips a beat. There’s nothing she can say that will change how I feel about her, but there’s apprehension in her eyes and she can’t look directly at me as she speaks.
“I need you to understand that I kept this a secret at first because I was scared and I thought you were a murderer and I was terrified I’d made a mistake because you wouldn’t let me leave and you had guards with me all the time.
And then when I started to fall for you, I was going to tell you, but you were so busy.
We both were, and I kept telling myself a perfect time would arise, but it never did, and then when Vinnie attacked me, I couldn’t tell you my secret because I was so worried that it would have affected me. ”
Instantly, I know where she’s going with this and it’s almost impossible to keep the smile from growing on my face.
“And I promised myself that if I survived, then I would tell you and I really don’t want you to be mad because this feels like something I should tell you, but I’m also scared because…” She trails off and glances up at me. “Why are you smiling?”
“Because you’re trusting me.”
She laughs briefly and rolls her eyes. “Maxim… I’m pregnant.
That’s why I followed you into the pizzeria last month, because I’d been looking for you for weeks and you were a ghost. Then I saw you and I thought fate was finally helping me, so I came to tell you that I was carrying your baby.
Everything just sort of got fucked after that, but I… I’m pregnant.”
Her eyes flit repeatedly up to my face as if she’s almost too scared to look at my reaction. I lean forward and cup her face with my free hand, then tilt her up to look at me.
“I love you, Hollie. So much. I fell for you so fucking hard and almost embarrassingly fast, so this?” I tilt my head and glance down at her abdomen. “This is amazing.”
“You’re not mad?” she whispers. “That I hid it?”
“Not at all. If anything, I’m thankful you finally trust me,” I say, kissing her softly.
“A baby, Hollie. Our own little nugget is growing inside you… I can’t believe this.
I’m going to be a father!” Laughter bubbles up inside me and I kiss her repeatedly.
There’s no point in telling her that I already knew.
Revealing that would likely reduce her trust in me, and I value that more than anything else.
“I’m going to be a mom.” Hollie laughs, kissing me back while tears twinkle in her eyes. “It’s also why I want to go to dinner with my parents and not the banquet.”
Leaning back, I study her face. “Are you sure? That job is an amazing opportunity for you.”
“I know, but I want this baby and I don’t want to be pregnant on a cruise. My current work gives me the freedom I’d lose on a cruise, and I want to be here with my family, present while raising our baby.” She slides one hand over her belly and smiles softly. “There’ll be other cruises.”
“Are you sure?” I squeeze her hand gently. “Your dream is important too, Hollie.”
“I know. But my life back then when I wanted out of New York is so different to the life I have now. This is the one I want.” Her gaze meets mine and she slides her fingers between mine, gripping tightly. “Because I love you and this is what I want.”
“My life won’t get any safer,” I warn her gently. “I will do everything I can to keep you and our baby safe, I swear it. But I need to make sure you understand.”
“I understand.” Her smile wavers as her eyes sparkle. “You love me. I love you. That’s all that matters.”
Several hours later, Hollie’s discharged from the hospital with very strict warnings that she return the second she feels off, and we arrive at her parents’ house while they’re halfway through dinner.
Her mother is ecstatic to see her and her father, despite his bruises, welcomes me with a firm handshake.
“Thank you,” he says firmly. “Thank you for bringing her back.”
“Of course.”
I watch from the doorway as Hollie sits at the table and tells her parents she’s pregnant.
Her mom dissolves into excited screams while her dad claps me on the back and congratulates me.
Despite his knowledge of the truth, her mom still appears blissfully unaware of the truth about me and thinks Vinnie was just some crazed person high on drugs who chose a random home.
That lie solidifies when she learns how far along Hollie is, which further strengthens our previous tale about how we met.
She seems more accepting of our sudden wedding now.
Food is shared, music plays, and Hollie’s mom chatters excitedly about the arrival of a baby.
Watching her family close in around her, my heart is full.
Rex and Stu are eventually invited inside, and I call Toto at the hospital to lovingly mock his absence.
We’ll have another party just for him when he’s back on his feet.
The dinner’s in full swing with empty wine bottles filling the table by the time the doorbell rings a little after eleven at night.
It puts everyone on guard until I answer the door.
“Dad?”
He stands on the doorstep wrapped in a thick coat, with several of his own guards filling the front lawn. “Maxim.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Rex told me you would be here. I wanted to leave some men here so you and yours can relax. And also… to bring you this.” In his outstretched hand rests a small black box. Behind me, the dinner resumes once everyone is satisfied the unexpected guest isn’t a danger.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
Taking the box, I pull the lid apart. A sparkling ring covered in red gems rests in a gold band. It’s dainty and sparkly, and achingly familiar. “This…” I squint back up at Dad. “This was Mom’s?”
Igor nods and clears his throat. “The things you have done for Hollie… I can see you are serious. I’m sorry.
It will take me time, I know, to make up for what I did, but you should have this.
If she really is the one for you, then I know your mother would want you to have this.
It was in her family for generations and you…
you deserve it. You are my future, Maxim. You and your wife should—”
He’s cut off as I throw my arms around him in a very tight, very brief hug that’s over as quickly as it starts. As I step back, I swallow the lump of emotion in my throat and close the box. “Thanks, Dad.”
He nods once, silently.
“Do you want to come in?”
He gazes past me for a moment, then he shakes his head. “No. I have some things to tend to and until I have made up for what I did, I don’t want to intrude. Next time.”
As he steps away, words rise inside me and I blurt them out before I can think it through. “You’re going to be a grandfather. So please, be sincere when you apologize to her.”
He stops halfway down the path, caught in whatever thoughts swarm him in that moment.
Then he continues down to the car and only a handful of guards follow.
Given how distant he’s been since my brother died, this is the warmest thing he’s ever done.
Closing the door, I head back inside and beeline to Hollie.
She gives me an incredible smile as I kneel next to her and she cups my face. “Hi, handsome.”
“Marry me,” I say quietly under the hum of activity at the table, presenting the box to her.
Her eyes widen and she gazes down at the ring while thumbing the current ring around her own finger. “We’re already married.”
“Marry me properly. A full wedding. Everything you could ever want. Have your family and friends there, make it as big or as small as you want. I love you, Hollie, and I never gave you the ceremony you deserve. So marry me again and let me make you proud.”
Her lips part and she stares at me in quiet shock, then she takes my mother’s ring and very slowly slips it on until it nestles next to her original ring.
“Wow. It’s heavy,” she murmurs, curling her fingers.
Then she cups my face and draws me up against her, kissing me hard.
“Yes,” she whispers against my lips. “I’ll marry you again. For real this time.”
Never has life been so kind, and I will spend the rest of my days earning every drop of her love.