Page 92 of The Voicemail

“I basically have been.”

I let it land. His face shifts from confusion to guilt.

“I know you came for me,” I say. “I know you saved me. I know Tomaso could have killed me, and Bianchi probably would have once he got what he wanted. I’m grateful. But gratitude doesn’t erase everything else.”

“No,” he says. “It doesn’t.”

“I won’t be your secret.”

His eyes come back to mine.

“And I won’t let this baby be one either,” I continue. “I’m not saying the whole world needs to know tomorrow. I know what your life is. I know people will use us against you if they can.”

“They will.”

“Can you handle that without locking us in your ivory tower?”

His jaw tightens, but he nods.

“You have to mean it,” I say. “If you want me and this baby, you have to make room for us as people in your life. Not liabilities. Not fragile heirlooms you lock away so no one can chip the glass. People.”

The words leave me shaking. Alex looks at me for a long time. This is the man who killed Tomaso right in front of me. The man who can shut down streets and officials and entire buildings with a few calls. The man I thought would answer fear by building walls around it. Right now, he just looks wounded.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

That’s not what I expected.

“I thought if I controlled enough of the danger, I could keep it from touching you,” he says. “I was wrong.”

“You were.”

He accepts that without flinching.

“I won’t promise there’ll be no guards.”

“I know.”

“I can’t promise no danger.”

“I know that, too.”

“But I can promise you’ll know what’s happening always. I can promise I’ll ask and we’ll decide together about anything that belongs to you. Your body. Your doctor. Your life. The baby.”

My eyes burn.

He takes one step closer, then stops. “And if I forget,” he says, “you can remind me as harshly as you need to.”

A broken laugh slips out of me. “That sounds dangerous.”

“For me, probably.”

I look down at my hands. “I’m still scared.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know what happens next.”

“Neither do I. But we’ll figure it out together.”