Page 24 of Slightly Married (Irresistible #2)

“ K , where have you been? You’ve been gone for two days. I was starting to wor—” The words died on my lips as I spotted the dark stains spreading across his white shirt.

I scrambled off the bed, my laptop forgotten as I rushed to him. “What the hell happened to you?” My hands hovered over the stains, afraid to touch yet desperate to help. “Please tell me that’s not your blood.”

K glanced down at his shirt as if noticing the blood for the first time. “It’s not mine.”

“Then whose is it?” I asked, tugging at his jacket. My heart was racing a mile a minute. “And don’t you dare give me a vague non-answer.”

“Giorgos Pavlou. He took his own life.”

“Stella’s father?” I stepped back, studying his face. Despite his calm tone, the muscle ticking in his jaw told me everything I needed to know about his emotional state.

When he nodded, I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my face against his chest despite the metallic scent of drying blood.

“You need to get out of these clothes,” I said, wrinkling my nose as I pulled back. “That shirt is definitely going in the trash. No amount of stain remover is saving that designer piece.”

As soon as the bathroom door closed behind him, I heard the shower start.

I turned my attention to the mess across our bed—laptop open to the interior design plans I’d been working on for the Thalassía villa, fabric swatches, and color samples scattered beside it, and half a dozen design magazines spread across K’s side of the mattress.

I’d been so caught up in my vision boards I hadn’t even realized how late it had gotten.

I gathered everything, carefully placing the fabric swatches in their folder and saving my design files before closing the laptop and setting it on the desk in the corner.

By the time the water shut off, I’d dimmed the lights and was sitting against the headboard. K emerged a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair still damp.

“Feel human again?” I asked, patting the space beside me.

“Much improved,” he replied, retrieving a pair of boxers from his drawer before dropping the towel and slipping them on. He joined me on the bed, immediately pulling me flush against his side.

“Spill it,” I said, trailing my fingers down his chest. “Every single detail, K. I want the whole story.”

As K recounted the day’s events, I listened with growing horror. Giorgos’ gambling debt and his arranging of the yacht attack.

“Wait, back up,” I interrupted when he mentioned Stella’s involvement. “Are you telling me she knew about this the whole time? The same woman who was playing devoted fiancée?”

I climbed into his lap to straddle him, needing to be closer as he continued with the devastating details—Giorgos reaping the benefits of Theo’s death, Stella drugging him, and everything that followed.

“Damn,” I breathed when he finished. “That’s fifty shades of messed up.

No wonder you came home looking like an extra from a horror movie. ”

His expression was grim but somehow lighter as he grabbed my ass cheeks and began rocking my hips back and forth over his growing erection. “It’s over now.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said, cupping his face between my palms. “The truth is out, but healing from betrayal takes time. Trust me, I know a thing or two about being blindsided by people you thought had your back.”

“Perhaps,” he replied. “But unlike before, I’m no longer expending energy on misplaced guilt. Wounds heal faster when the infection is removed completely.”

His hands tightened on my hips as he added, “And I have better places to focus my attention.”

“I think Theo would be proud of you for uncovering the truth. For seeing it through, no matter how painful.” I pressed my lips to his forehead. “Let me take care of you tonight,” I whispered, moving to kiss his eyelids, the bridge of his nose, finally capturing his mouth.

K’s hands slid up my back, his fingers pulling my lace nightie up as it went. I shifted, lifting my arms so he could pull it off completely.

He reached up to cup my breasts, thumbing my nipples until they hardened. I moaned and threw my head back as sensation shot through me.

Capturing one peak in his mouth, he sucked and licked until I was whimpering. He moved to the other breast, giving it the same attention, his tongue circling and flicking, drawing out a deep throb of pleasure from within me.

Pushing him back, my hands trailed down his chest, tracing the defined muscles of his abdomen until I reached the waistband of his boxers. I tugged them down, freeing his erection. He kicked the boxers off, and I positioned myself over him, my knees on either side of his hips.

I lowered myself onto him, inch by inch. His hands gripped my hips, guiding me as I began to move.

He sat up, his mouth finding mine in a deep, passionate kiss. His tongue mirrored the movements of our bodies, a tempo of give and take, push and pull.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, my breasts pressing against his chest as we moved together. His mouth left mine, trailing kisses along my jaw, down my neck, capturing one breast again, sucking and nipping until I cried out and my inner muscles clenched around him.

His mouth returned to mine, his kiss hot and hungry. His grip on my hips tightened as he thrust upwards, meeting my downward gyrations with increasing urgency.

He moved one hand from my hip to find the spot where our bodies joined and circled my clit. The added stimulation sent me spiraling, my body clenching around him as the first pulses of my orgasm hit.

He captured my mouth in another kiss, swallowing my cries of release. His body tensed, his thrusts becoming more urgent, more desperate. And then, he came undone, his groan of release vibrating through me as he filled me with his sperm.

We stayed like that for a long moment, our bodies still joined, savoring the connection.

“K,” I whispered, pulling back to meet his eyes. “I have something to tell you. I’ve been waiting for the right moment, and maybe this is it.”

“What is it?”

I placed his hand against my stomach. “We’re having a baby.”

He froze. “A baby?” he repeated. “You’re certain?”

I nodded, smiling. “Blood test confirmed. Due April twentieth. Oh! I think conception happened the day you wife-napped me. And I may have already peeked at some adorable baby clothes! And furniture!”

In one swift motion, he flipped me onto my back, hovering above me. His hand returned to my stomach.

“Michaila,” he breathed, his voice filled with tenderness. “My child is growing inside you.”

“I know, right? It’s completely wild!” I laughed, placing my hand over his.

He lowered his head, pressing his lips to mine softly. Then he moved downward, kissing my neck, the hollow of my throat, between my breasts, and finally, my stomach.

“I will protect you,” he murmured against my skin, his words meant for our child but his eyes locked on mine. “Both of you.”

His palm spread possessively across my abdomen. “You and your mother will never want for anything. I will always put you first.”

I reached down to touch his face, tears blurring my vision as I saw something I’d never expected. Konstantinos Christakis looked at me with naked vulnerability and unmistakable love.

“We’re going to be parents,” I whispered.

“We’re going to be a family,” he corrected, climbing back up to cradle me against him. “A real one.”

“A real family.” I ran my fingers through his hair. “What do you mean?”

“I want more than what’s written in that contract.” He traced circles on my stomach, where our child was growing. “I want you to remain my wife. I want us to raise our child together. I want you to be with me. Always.”

Joy bubbled up inside me, along with a flutter of apprehension. “K, we’ve only known each other for four months. That’s not very long to decide on forever.”

“Maybe.” He acknowledged this with an incline of his head. “But I want to be your husband and not just your co-parent. I want you as my emergency contact. I want to share everything I have with you.”

I blinked back tears, overwhelmed by his directness. He somehow made emergency contact sound like the most romantic phrase in the world.

“I’m scared,” I confessed. “What if this is just excitement for the baby and the fallout with the Pavlous?”

“It’s not,” he stated firmly. “It’s you. It’s us.”

“I want the same things, K. All of it.” I paused, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I want to build a life with you, too.”

His answering smile transformed his entire face before he moved up and captured my lips in a kiss.

The next morning found us walking hand-in-hand up the stone steps of the church Konstantin had started attending regularly after his brush with death.

“Thank you for always coming,” he murmured as we entered the sanctuary.

“It’s important to you,” I replied simply. “That makes it important to me.”

I watched him during the service, noting how his usually guarded expression softened in the flickering candlelight. When he lit candles for Theo, his father, and my mother, I wrapped my arms around him.

I couldn’t help but marvel at how completely my feelings for him had transformed. Four months ago, I’d agreed to marry this intimidating stranger solely to save my sister. I’d planned to tolerate him at best and develop a cordial friendship for our child.

Never had I imagined I’d find my heart swelling with affection as I watched him pray for our departed loved ones. The man I’d once found cold and unapproachable was now my safe place, and the life we were building together was exactly where I belonged.

The following day when I stepped into the cool interior of the estate after lunch with K at Olympus Motors, I was intercepted by Domna. “Kayla, there you are! Come with me, please.”

“Is everything all right?” I asked, following my mother-in-law up the grand staircase.

“Everything is perfect, agapi mou. I have something to show you.” She led me through the corridors to her private suite.

There, laid carefully across her antique settee, was a delicate gown of impossibly fine lace, its ivory fabric yellowed with age. Beside it lay a matching cap and tiny booties, all preserved with obvious care.

“This,” Domna said, “is what all Christakis babies have been christened in for generations. Konstantin wore it, as did his father before him, and his father’s father.”

I approached slowly, almost afraid to touch something so precious.

“I know it’s quite dated,” Domna continued, watching me carefully, “and you might have your own ideas or traditions. But I wanted you to have it as an option.”

My throat tightened as I traced the delicate embroidery, thinking of the secret growing inside me. Our eyes met, and I suspected she somehow sensed what K and I had yet to announce to the family.

Emboldened by this moment, I couldn’t stop myself from asking the question eating at me since day one. “Why are you so nice to me? I mean, I’m basically a stranger who showed up married to your son, plus I’m the daughter of the man who broke your sister-in-law’s heart.”

Domna’s expression grew thoughtful, her fingers smoothing an invisible wrinkle from her impeccable linen pants. “Life is rarely simple, is it?” She gave a dismissive little wave as if brushing away the very notion.

She reached forward and took both of my hands in hers.

“My late husband, Periklis, lost years with his brother, Stavros, after he married an American woman Periklis disapproved of. That rift never healed.” Her voice carried the weight of decades-old regret.

“The bad blood between our families continues, even now they’re both gone.

I remain estranged from my American nephews, and my sons from their cousins. I deeply regret this.”

She fixed me with those penetrating eyes—so like K’s it was almost unnerving—and said, “I refuse to repeat these mistakes with my sons.”

“I appreciate that more than you know,” I replied, unable to hide my smile. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” She squeezed my hands. “I’ve watched my son transform since you arrived.

He’s becoming whole in ways I feared might never happen after the attack.

You’ve restored the light and laughter to his life that deplorable Stella stole away.

How could I not welcome the woman who accomplished what none of us could? ”

I blinked rapidly, fighting back the sudden emotion threatening to spill over. “Well, when you put it that way, I sound pretty amazing,” I joked, before adding more seriously, “He’s done the same for me, you know. I guess we both got lucky.”

For the first time since arriving at this estate, I felt like I belonged here.