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“Are you all right?” he asked.

He had been solicitous for the rest of the honeymoon, though they hadn’t talked quite as intimately as they had that first night. About the fighting.

She had been turning that over and over all the days since. She couldn’t understand why he had kept that from them. And her heart felt sore about it.

But of course she didn’t judge him for taking that opportunity. The way that they had been living, you had to take a chance to claim income wherever you could.

It wasn’t easy. They all knew that.

Nobody would’ve been angry at him. Well, that wasn’t true. She would’ve been worried. She wouldn’t have liked the idea that he was putting himself in danger like that.

And then, very shamefully, part of her wanted to know more because she found it desperately sexy. That he was a weapon. That he was so capable of fighting and defending her, their baby. It made her feel proud in the strangest way, and she was uncomfortable with that feeling. It was some primal part of her that valued that high testosterone. That male violence that could be so dangerous for women, but also could keep them safe when it was directed the right way.

“Yes,” she said, realizing she hadn’t answered him right away. Realizing that she was lost in the tangle of her thoughts.

He smiled at her, and if she didn’t know him quite so well, she would have thought that it was a pleasant expression. But there was something strange about it. Especially knowing what she did about the man. He was dangerous. Hard-edged and beautiful. And not one who smiled benignly at any given moment. She ignored that. And she accepted the smile. Touching his hand as they approached the gate, and he pushed the button in his car that opened it.

“I’m doing good,” she said. “Overwhelmed by the moment, I guess.”

“I can understand that. It’s definitely not a moment either of us ever thought we would have.”

That was true. That was probably why everything felt a little bit weird. Why she wanted to cling to him so desperately.

All of her abandonment issues. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t going to vanish overnight. That was impossible.

They were just all lingering, understandable issues.

The gate closed behind them, and he parked right in front of the house. “Wait here,” he said. He got out of the car, and rounded to her side, opening the door for her. She unbuckled, as he extended his hand and helped her from the car.

“This is a little over-the-top,” she said.

“I’m just getting started.”

He lifted her up off the ground then, and she squeaked. “I’m heavy!”

“And I’m strong,” he said, smiling again. Her heart was about to explode.

He carried her over the threshold into their new house. Just like the movies. Just like every fairy tale that she had ever hoped to be part of.

Every fairy tale that she had ever thought she would be excluded from, because she simply wasn’t born to be a princess.

He made her feel like one.

I love you.

The words hovered on the edge of her lips, but she didn’t want to do anything to change this. To jinx it.

She just wanted everything to be beautiful, like this. All the time.

Hadn’t they been through enough?

“Should we tell Alex we’re back?” she asked.

“Not just yet,” he said.

He smiled at her. A smile that could only be deemed wicked. And it thrilled her. “Take me upstairs,” she said.

And like a very good husband, he did.