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I brush my fingers along his chest, my voice sounding hoarse as I say, “I was so scared, Julian.”

He drags me into his chest, holding me tight and resting his chin on my head.

“I killed a man,” I say against his skin. “I killedtwomen.”

He shakes his head. “Genesis, you fought for your life. That’s it.”

“I didn’t just fight for my life.” I inch back, grab his hand to interlace our fingers, and smooth it down my stomach. “I fought forour baby’sand my lives.”

He pauses, his gaze moving from my stomach to my eyes. “Are you serious?”

I shyly smile at him. “I am.”

A wide grin spreads across his face.

I’veneverseen him smile so big.

His lips brush against mine before he before drops to his knees and softly kisses my stomach. “We’re having a baby, Genesis.” Staring up at me, he blinks water from his eyes and then nuzzles his rugged cheek against my skin.

Reaching down, I run my hand through his hair. “We’re having a baby.”

A lightness forms in my chest, and excitement pours through me.

Today has been an emotional roller coaster.

It went from the high of seeing the positive signs on the pregnancy tests, to the horror of being kidnapped by Dima, to this intimate moment now.

This is what I fought for.

For this.

For us.

For our life together.

I wakeup to an empty bed.

Reaching across it, I look around for Julian, but there’s no sign of him.

The bathroom light isn’t on, so I scoot out of bed, taking the sheet with me, and walk across the bedroom. A sliver of light shines from beneath the door. I ease the door open and tiptoe toward the banister. Peeking down, I see Julian sitting at the island, FaceTiming on his phone.

“I’m going to be a dad,” he says into the phone, Damien’s face on the screen.

“Are you serious?” Damien asks before I hear Pippa shout, “Oh my freaking God! You’d better not be lying!”

“Look at that big-ass smile on his face,” Damien points out. “He’s not kidding. After what happened today, other than when he found out Genesis was okay, that’s the only thing that could make him happy.”

“Awww, a happy Julian is a cute Julian,” Pippa comments cheerfully.

I crack a smile, imagining Julian narrowing his eyes at her too-happy tone.

“Look, honey, he’s growing a heart.” She claps. “I’m so happy for you two! Alessia is going to be so excited that she’s getting a cousin! Another Bellini baby! I need to call Genesis.”

“Not tonight,” Julian hurriedly says, as if he saw her reaching for her phone.

She sighs. “I know. Damien told me I had to wait until tomorrow.” Another sigh. “Poor thing, but also what a fucking badass. She killed a fucking Mafia boss.”

“Bratva,” Julian and Damien correct at the same time.