Page 180 of Made in Love and Blood

He did. The moment she said so.

Dropping down to dot kisses across her closed eyelids and along the bridge of her nose, he murmured, “I’ve got you—you’re mine. That baby’s mine. I meant what I said when you woke up, I’m just trying to figure out if the woman who screamed at me that she would marry me is still the same one here with me right now. That’s all I care about.”

“Your dad won’t react like mine,” she whispered back, keeping her eyes closed. She didn’t want to see his face after saying that.

“Until I’m told otherwise, I’m not bringing the news to my father.”

So much for closed eyes. Frankie opened wide. “What?”

“I’m not telling him.”

“Ever?”

Nico shrugged. “I mean, eventually. But right now, there’s no need, your father told me not to, and I don’t really mind. One less thing to deal with, honestly.”

“Oh.”

He peered down at her, curious.

“Why’d you say it like that? All sad and...sad.”

She chewed on her lip, trying to make sense of her own thoughts and feelings. “I just thought...”

“What?”

“It’s stupid.”

“Nothing you think is stupid to me, Frankie. When are you gonna figure that out?”

“Probably the same time I learn how to control my anger.”

Which was never, considering the way she handled everything recently.

He gave her a look. “Yeah, that’s another thing you forgot when I asked what we agreed on last night. Did you actually forget, or just—”

“I need to respect you like you respect me. I can’t be throwing shit at you or hitting you for any reason. If I do it again, we’re going to reevaluate what we want together.”

She didn’t know what reevaluating anything meant. But it scared her to death that it would end up with them not together. Which was fair—he had every right to make that call.

“I don’t want my kid to grow up knowing parents who yell and hit, not them or one another, and throw shit because they can’t deal,” he muttered thickly.

“I’m sorry.”

“They’re never going to know that between us. You promised.”

She nodded. “I do; I meant it.”

“I’m fucking holding you to it. I swear to God, I will hold you to that, Frankie.”

She couldn’t even ask what would happen if she failed. She couldn’t bear to hear him say it, whatever it would be. She just wouldn’t fail. That was the deal, one she made to herself, for him. For their baby.

“So, if you’re not telling your dad, does that mean I have to keep hiding it?” she asked quietly. “Because...that stupid thing I meant earlier...when do we get married?”

“Ah,” Nico vocalized.

It held the same confusion she felt.

“I think we need to have another conversation with your father to know about that side of things. This is bigger than us; it changes a lot, and I think he’s already got a lot going on. He just isn’t ready, or he can’t, share it yet.”