Page 144 of Bound By Crimson

Biting her tongue so hard she tasted metal.

Let it go.

Let it go.

This is what being lovable looks like.

---

Later that night, Kai helped her to her feet with a hand on her back—gentle, almost reverent.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he whispered.

She nodded, her throat too tight to answer.

She followed him up the stairs, two steps behind like she had been the night they first arrived.

He opened the door to his room, and she stepped in behind him, scanning the space like it was a sacred place she’d been granted access to.

He unbuttoned his shirt slowly, and as she turned to close the door, she noticed something on the nightstand.

A folded piece of paper. Just sitting there.

Kai moved quickly, snatching it and slipping it into the drawer.

“Just work stuff,” he mumbled, not looking at her.

She nodded. But something in her stomach twisted.

It looked like a woman’s handwriting.

She blinked it away.

She was imagining things. She had to be.

Later, in his bed, she curled into him like she used to.

His arm wrapped around her. His breath warm at her ear.

“I’ve missed you like this,” he murmured, fingers resting on her belly.

And she melted into him.

Because no matter how much she hated herself for it—no matter how many lies she’d swallowed—his voice still unraveled her.

God help me, I believe him, she thought. Or I need to. Maybe there’s no difference anymore.

Chapter Fifty

That word

The rest of January passed in a blur. Kai had been home the whole time—present, attentive, and carefully distant. Now it was February, and Lyric was seven months pregnant.

She woke to the familiar weight of Kai’s arm around her, his hand resting on her belly like he was anchoring her to him. Morning light filtered through the drapes in soft gold streaks, catching the edge of his jaw and the faint flutter of his lashes.

For a moment, everything felt still. Almost safe.

His voice broke the silence, thick with sleep. “We still haven’t picked a name.”