Page 45 of Forbidden Boss

I swallow. My hand covers his where it still rests low on my stomach.

“I was ready to run,” I admit, because if he’s going to be honest, I have to be, too. “I had a plan. It wasn’t a good one. But I had one.”

He nods once. No surprise. “I know.”

“Of course you do.” I sigh. “You’ve got half the city watching me order lunch.”

“Look at me,” he says.

I do. His face is open in a way I haven’t seen before. There isn’t softness there, exactly, but there is clarity and conviction.

“I can’t promise you a version of life that looks normal,” he says. “I can promise I’ll put you and the baby first. Even when it pulls at the way I run things. Especially then.”

“You said you don’t say words you can’t protect,” I say.

“I meant it,” he says.

I lift our joined hands and rest them over my heart. “Okay,” I say.

“Okay,” he repeats, like he’s trying the word on in this new room we’ve made between us.

We lie there, quiet, until the quiet turns warm again. He doesn’t push. He lets me move first. I shift closer, and he understands. His hand slides down my spine, slow, and settles at my hip. He kisses me again, without rush or edge, and I open for him. When he rolls me under, I go willingly.

He takes his time. He checks in with every change. His mouth trails the line of my throat, then my collarbone, then lower, reverently. When his hands come back to my stomach, his touch gentles further, and the gentleness lights me up from the inside.

We move together. He keeps listening. I keep answering. The heat builds again, and he keeps me right on the line until I’m whispering pleas into his mouth. He gives it to me when I ask, not a second before, and I break apart in his arms. He follows, breath shuddering against my cheek.

Afterward, he stays. He pulls the sheet over us and tucks me in against his chest, holding me in place. His hand is back where it always goes. To our future. The wild, terrifying shape of it that I’m still trying to accept.

As his breath starts to change and his body begins to relax, I start to consider what life would be like with him. It’s a future I hadn’t once let myself imagine before this moment. I put my hand on my stomach and think about our little baby inside. In a few months, he or she will be here, demanding every second of my attention, and I realize that I already love them so much.

And I love the idea of being with Lev. Maybe I do love him. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have this man caring for me, falling asleep next to me, raising our child.

That’s the thought that eventually lulls me into my own slumber.

20

LEV

Over the next few days, I don’t sleep much. My brain is wired tight. I spend the hours working and planning how best to protect Mari and our child. Now that I care this deeply about her, I won’t risk her safety for anything.

The first order of business is to move Mari to the compound. She can work from there. I still need her eyes on the books while I hunt the hand that’s been stealing from me. The city is too exposed. The compound is layered, patrolled, and quiet. She’ll be able to work and breathe. And I can do the same, knowing she’s safe.

At dawn, I call the grounds chief. I want new cameras installed on the ridge and thermal cameras on the tree line. We’ll need to replace the south fence runs with newer mesh, add a second gate on the service road, and set a crash bar thirty yards inside. I want two medics on rotation, one OB nurse on call, and a clinic room stocked by noon. I tell him to clear the guest wing closest to my room and gut it of anything unnecessary. She needs a good workstation with plenty of room.

I have the chef draft a simple menu and keep ginger, broth, fruit ice, crackers, and protein options on hand.

The second order of business is to monitor her daily movements until we go. I split her team into three cars and change the route every day. There can’t be any patterns to her movement. I take a page out of the Petrov playbook, having the drivers rotate. I also make plans for her detail to rotate on a regular schedule, with Thom as the point man.

Elevators are called before she steps into the lobby so she’s never waiting. I add a female guard to the inside team because she prefers that. I tell the guards to give her space unless there’s a hard signal. I don’t want her feeling caged.

I tell her about the move at breakfast. She’s at the table with tea and a notebook. Her laptop is open to a reconciliation she’s been building. I take the chair across from her so I’m not looming.

“We’re going to the compound,” I say. “You’ll work from there until I deem it safe.”

Her chin tips up, and I know she’s got an argument ready.

“When?” she asks.