Page 61

Dionysus

CHAPTER SIXTY

“Should I wait here, Mr. Kostanidis?” Anderson asks when he parks in the penthouse garage. In the rearview mirror, I can see that he is smiling.

“Yes, I’ll go up and get her.”

“If I may be so bold, it is your destiny to be together.”

In another time, perhaps the comment would have bothered me, as I don’t like my private life being discussed, but after Cecily’s kidnapping, we have been the subject of headlines and honestly, I don’t care about public opinion. All I care about is her.

Cecily needs to know that I’m not ashamed of our story. Of any details about her.

“Yes, she was meant for me,” I finally reply, getting out of the car.

It takes me less than two minutes to get to her floor, and it seems strange to have to ring the doorbell, that the woman in my life is on the other side of the door, but right now, the penthouse belongs to her, it’s her home, and Cecily deserves every bit of the privacy she wants.

I just ring once and the door opens.

I always thought women looked beautiful when they were pregnant, but Cecily takes it a step further. Her face is flushed and radiant. Her breasts stretch the fabric of the flexible dress, which clings to her body, outlining her delicious curves.

Her hair, which I love to wrap around my fist while I fuck her, falls loosely down her back.

I push away those thoughts.

I haven’t touched her in weeks, and I feel like I’m starving, but I don’t want to waste one moment now that she’s making room for me in her life again.

“Ready?”

She nods. “I’m anxious. Do you want a boy or a girl?”

I want you and anything that comes from you. One child or several. Everything.

“I don’t have a preference,” I say instead, so as not to scare her.

I give her space to leave, and her perfume enters my nostrils, making me hard.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t touch her, that I wouldn’t impose myself on her, but my body has a mind of its own and I place my hand just above her ass to guide her.

She shudders at my touch, and when we enter the elevator, we face each other, each against an opposite wall.

“And you?” I ask.

“What about me?” she answers breathlessly, and at that moment I know we are on the same page.

The desire is reciprocal.

“Do you want a boy or a girl?”

“Like all mothers, I want our child to be born healthy.”

Our child.

Every time she says that, I have hope that everything will be okay.

I respected the space she asked me for because I know I hurt her, but I’m reaching my limit.

“How much longer?”

“Until the birth?”

“No. How much longer do I need to convince you that I’m crazy about you? I will never give up, Cecily.”

She swallows hard. “I don’t want you to give up.”

“What do you want, then?”

The elevator door opens, and she heads for the exit, but first, she looks back, and for a second, I catch a glimpse of my sassy girl. The same delicious redhead who stole my heart.

“I want you to chase me. I dreamed about it all night.”

“I want you to chase me. I dreamed about it all night.”

As we wait for the doctor to set up the ultrasound equipment, her words make my blood boil.

I’ve never considered myself to be an anxious person. Why would I be? I’ve always had everything at the snap of a finger.

Now, I feel torn between paying attention to the exam and letting my mind wander to whatever I want to do with her.

“Let’s get started,” the doctor says, and to my surprise, Cecily extends her hand to me.

It’s the first time since we’ve been apart that she’s taken the initiative to touch me.

I intertwine our fingers and bring the tiny hand to my lips.

A moment later, like the first time we came here, the image of our baby appears on the screen, and I feel my throat tighten as their heart makes itself heard loud and clear.

During the other appointment, in my arrogance, despite being very happy, I took everything for granted: my woman, my child.

Now, after almost losing her in more than one sense, the enormity of what is happening reaches another level. I feel my eyes moisten, and when I look at Cecily, she’s crying too.

“I assume they are tears of joy, Mom and Dad, because your boy is doing very well.”

“A boy?” Cecily repeats. “A little brother for Joseph?”

I smile and bend down to kiss her, forgetting the rule to keep my distance. “Let’s make a whole football team. Fill this city with little Kostanidou.”

The doctor and nurse laugh and then leave to give us privacy.

Cecily sits on the patient bed. “I want that.”

“What, my redhead?”

“Our family. A football team or two. Everything.”