Page 120 of Vicious Heir

We both stop, turning back. Ronan is still standing where we left him, his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.

"Take care of her," he says quietly. "Or I will kill you. Slowly."

Elio nods. "I will. I promise."

And then we're outside, the cold air hitting my face like a slap. I take a deep, shuddering breath, trying to process everything that just happened. Trying to believe that it's really over.

"Come on," Elio says softly, guiding me toward a waiting car. "Let's get you home."

Home. The word sounds strange, foreign. I don't even know where home is anymore. The safe house? My mansion that I haven’t seen in what feels like forever now? Elio’s penthouse?

But as Elio helps me into the back seat of the car and slides in beside me, I realize it doesn't matter. Home isn't a place. It's him. It's always been him.

The car starts moving, and I lean against Elio's shoulder, exhaustion crashing over me in waves. I should feel relieved. Triumphant, even. We survived. We're together. Ronan gave us his blessing, however reluctant.

But all I feel is tired. So, so tired.

"Annie." Elio's voice is soft, hesitant. "There's something I need to tell you."

I lift my head to look at him, and what I see in his eyes makes my breath catch. There's joy there, mixed with fear and wonder and something else I can't quite name.

"What is it?" I ask.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something thin and white. It takes me a moment to recognize it.

The pregnancy test.

Mypregnancy test.

"Ronan found this at the penthouse," Elio says quietly. "He showed it to me when he was interrogating me. Before I escaped to come find you."

My heart stutters in my chest. “So you knew even before Desmond said something,” I whisper.”

"Yes." Elio's hand comes up to cup my face, his thumb brushing away the tears that are welling up in my eyes, suddenly streaming down my cheeks. "You're pregnant. With my baby."

The way he says it in almost a whisper makes my chest ache. "Are you—" I have to stop and swallow hard. "Are you okay with that?"

"Okay with it?" Elio laughs, and the sound is so full of happiness it makes my heart soar. "Annie, I'm more than okay with it. I'm—" He stops, shaking his head. "I'm overjoyed. Terrified, but overjoyed."

"Terrified?" I echo.

"Of course I'm terrified." He pulls me closer until I'm practically in his lap. "I'm going to be a father. I'm going to be responsible for a tiny human being. For our child. That's terrifying."

"But you're happy?" I need to hear him say it. I need to know that this is what he wants. That this unexpected thing isn’t something he’ll regret. That it’s not too soon. That he won’t wish this had all happened differently, so long as he has me.Us.

"I'm so happy I can barely breathe," Elio says, his voice rough with emotion. "Annie, you're carrying my baby. I have you. We're going to have a family together. How could I be anything but happy?"

The tears are coming faster now, but they're good tears. Happy tears. "I love you," I whisper. "I love you so much, Elio."

"I love you too,cuore mio." He leans down and kisses me, soft and sweet and lingering. "And I'm going to spend the restof my life proving to you—and to Ronan—that I'm worthy of you both."

I kiss him back, pouring everything I feel into it. All my love, all my hope, all my dreams for our future. When we finally break apart, we're both breathing hard, our foreheads pressed together.

"We're going to be okay," I whisper. "Aren't we?"

"We're going to be better than okay," Elio promises. "We're going to be happy. All three of us." He pulls back, brushing his fingers against my cheek. “We waited too long for this, Annie. I’m not going to let another second pass where we’re anything but happy. Where I’m anything but yours, utterly and completely.”

I close my eyes and let myself believe it. Let myself imagine a future where Elio and I are together, where we have our baby, where Ronan has forgiven us, and we're all one big, complicated, beautiful family. It seems impossible. After everything we've been through, after all the lies and betrayals, and near-death experiences, it seems impossible that we could have a happy ending.