Unexpected Fate (29 page)

“They’ve been watching my woman, Dad. Watching her close enough that this was a clear threat. You read that first letter. We’re dealing with a fucking lunatic. Someone who views her as theirs. What do you think is going to happen now that I’m home? Just by being with her, I’m placing her and my unborn child in danger.”

He studies my face for a beat. “But your being gone is killing her. Plain and simple, Cohen. It’s not been easy, despite the brave face she’s kept. You can protect her. You
will
protect her. Don’t let some stupid thought that she’s better off without you even enter your brain, son. I raised you better than that shit.”

I shouldn’t be surprised that he so clearly read me.

“I need to go to her.” I state.

“You need to go to her,” he agrees.

I give him a quick hug and all but rush out the door.

With a renewed sense of confidence and the feelings of overwhelming fear for her and our child, I speed through the streets and make my way to the woman who I, just hours before, wronged.

I have a lot to make up for, but my parents are right. When you feel something as powerful as what Dani and I share, you don’t ever stop fighting for that. I’ll be damned if I let some crazy fuck threaten the future I will have with Danielle Reid.

I DIDN’T EVEN CRY WHEN Cohen stormed out of the apartment. The shock from the day still held my tears at bay. I wanted to. God, how I wanted to. But I managed to keep my shit together. When that door slammed shut, I stepped away from Chance and, without a word, locked myself in Cohen’s bedroom.

I should be angry. I should be so mad that I leave and never look back. I should be a lot of things, but what I am is numb.

Never did I think I would have that kind of reception from Cohen when he returned. I had envisioned it in my head over and over. The homecoming I would give him. How happy I would feel when I was able to tell him about our child. The love I would feel from him.

I don’t know why I didn’t even stop to consider that he would look at me with distrust and accusations. I guess I just believed him to be better than that.

I sigh and turn to my side, my nose burning with emotion but my eyes still dry. My hand carelessly rubs against the light kicking coming from my belly. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the memories of this afternoon out of my head when I once again think about the terrible image that met me from the lunch sack.

When I open my eyes again, I realize that I must have fallen asleep. The sun, which was been dropping when I laid my head down, is long gone, and through the window, the moon is casting a soft glow around the room. I can hear Chance moving around outside of the room. I should go talk to him. Ask him to at least take me home. But even with the earlier events, I don’t want to leave the one place where I’ve felt close to Cohen.

I hear the doorknob shake, and it’s followed by some scratches. And then the light from the hall filters into the otherwise dark room.

Looks like Chance got sick of waiting for me emerge.

I keep my body still, waiting to see what he’ll do next. Chance isn’t exactly a man of many words, so I’m guessing I’ll get a quick, “Let’s go.”

I almost jump out of my skin when I feel the bed depress. I move to leap out of the bed when two steel bands carefully wrap themselves around my body and I’m pulled back against a hard, warm body. I struggle, panicking with the thoughts of Chance being in Cohen’s bed with me. That is, until the familiar scent of Cohen invades my senses and my body instantly deflates. The tears I was doing such a damn good job at holding off rush to the surface when I feel his body—a body I’ve missed for so damn long—hold me even closer.

“Dani-girl,” he groans.

His head drops to my neck, and I feel his lips against my skin before his arms let up slightly. But only long enough to travel from my chest and for his warm palms to stretch out against the small bump that holds our child within.

“God, Dani,” he breaths out with a slight tremor.

That right there is all it takes for me to hiccup once, twice, and a third time before a huge sob vibrates through my body.

“Baby,” he exhales. “I’m so fucking sorry, Dani. More sorry than you could ever imagine.”

It takes me a second to calm down, but when I do, I shift and turn in his arms, instantly missing the feeling of his hands against my belly.

“You thought that I . . . that Chance and I . . . Cohen, you believed the worst in seconds. I haven’t set eyes on you in months, and the second I do, you actually believed that I had been with another man—Chance of all people.”

He drops his forehead to mine and doesn’t speak for the longest time. He runs his fingertips through my hair, down my face, and over my lips. His eyes follow every movement his hand makes. He doesn’t stop until his fingers are pushed into my hair and he’s holding my head in his hand. I wait until he locks eyes with me, unwilling to back down about how his reaction made me feel.

“You have no idea what it’s been like to be without you this long, Cohen. My heart felt like it was only beating half beats. I felt like I was missing a part of myself for so long. I craved the day that you would return and I would feel whole again. I had that feeling for one night—
one night, Cohen!
I knew within hours of being with you that I would stop Heaven and Earth if it meant that I could just have one more second. I didn’t doubt in the power of that . . . the power of us. So please tell me how in the world you could take one look at me after all of that and think what you did.”

His eyes close tight before he opens them and looks at me, his lids filling with unshed tears.

My mouth drops in shock. I have never seen him cry. Never. He’s always been someone who holds his emotions close, but not in a way that keeps him closed off. It’s just how he’s wired. So seeing him let me in so effortlessly and letting me physically see how much this is costing him is huge.

“I can’t justify how I felt away with excuses, Dani. That is all it would be—one giant, fucking stupid excuse. I’ve been running on fumes since I got word that there was trouble brewing at home. Running on fumes that would bring me home to you, baby. I lived the knowledge that, if I just hurried up and finished my shit, you would be in my arms—where I could keep you safe. It’s been the only thing I could see for months. Months. The second I got back, I did what I needed to do so that I could get home to you. Drove through the night and into the day with one thought on my mind. You. When I walked in and saw you in Chance’s arms, I didn’t even see anything other than someone other than myself touching you when I haven’t been able to for fucking months. My jealousy got the best of me, and I can’t apologize enough for that.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I saw your face, Cohen. You looked at me and saw my belly and thought the worst. Don’t even deny it. I got the same look from my own father, so trust me when I say that I know exactly what that looks like. I didn’t even dream that I would get that from you.”

His eyes flash, and I see the remorse dancing behind his sorrow. “I’m not proud of it, Dani. I’m fucking ashamed that I even let the thought, however brief, cross my mind. Nothing I say can make that up to you. Nothing. But I promise, baby, that I don’t think that you were unfaithful to me.”

“Yeah, Cohen, you do. Somewhere deep inside of you, you felt that.”

He shakes his head. “No, baby. I don’t. I promise you that. What I did feel was every single emotion and helpless feeling I’ve had crash into me at once. The pain of being away from you when I knew you needed me. The worry that I wouldn’t be here when you needed me. Everything that has haunted me day to day and week to week. That and the crash of adrenaline I had been riding high on since I got back stateside just got the best of me. My jealousy got the best of me and turned me into someone I’m not proud of. I’ve never felt this way towards someone, Dani. It’s all new to me, and I guarantee you I’ll fuck up again, but I’ll spend my life making it up to you. God, Dani . . . please fucking tell me that I didn’t let my temper get the best of me and ruin us.”

One tear escapes his eye, which is followed by another, and another. His breathing is picking up, and his chest is rising rapidly under where my palms are resting.

“You hurt me.”

“I know, baby. I know,” he sighs.

“I’ve been dreaming of the day you would return to me and I would feel whole again. Dreamed of it, Cohen. Every night that you’ve been away from me, I’ve pleaded with God to bring you home in one piece.”

“Fuck, Dani-girl,” he chokes out, his eyes closing and again tears leaking down his handsome face until they disappear in his stubble.

“It’s been the only thing that’s kept me from falling apart with the shit life has thrown at me. You and your love.”

He doesn’t look up, but his arms lock even tighter around me and he pulls me closer to his warmth.

“Even though you hurt me—and, God, did you hurt me—the only thing I craved since seeing your face again was this feeling right here. This feeling of your arms around me, your heart beating strong and healthy against my palm, and the life we created moving between us. Through all that pain, the only thing I wanted was the one person who’d caused it.”

“Stop, please, Dani,” he begs.

“I’ve loved you for a lifetime, Cohen. A lifetime doesn’t just give up when the other part of me makes a mistake. A lifetime takes that mistake and turns it into a building block for an even stronger foundation.”

His eyes snap open and his hopeful gaze locks with mine. “Baby?”

“I love you, Cohen. That will never change. But don’t ever hurt me like that again. I’m strong, baby, and I’ll make as many building blocks as we need until the day my last breath leaves my body, but don’t make me build them out of pain.”

His eyes flash, and in seconds, his lips are against mine.

Hard and demanding.

He takes my mouth in a bruising need that steals the breath right out of my lungs.

“I love you,
my
Dani-girl. I promise you that I will never doubt what we have. Never again, baby,” he mumbles against my swollen lips before he takes control of my mouth once again.

His hands trail down my back, grasping my hips, as he rolls onto his back while taking me with him. My skirt rides up instantly when my legs are spread to make room for his hips. I use my hands against his chest to push up so I’m straddling his lap and looking down at his brown eyes, which are so full of love.

I sit up straight and let out a slight moan when I feel his erection press against my panties. His eyes flash when I take his hands, which were resting on my hips, and move them around to the front of my belly.

“This,” I stress, pressing his hands against the thumping our child is making against my belly. “This is our child, Cohen. One that was made with a love so powerful even I struggle to understand it. A love that was formed over a lifetime and solidified with one night that I will forever remember as one of the best of my life. We’ve been fated for this moment since before we were even born, baby, and I’m beyond fortunate with this unexpected fate that’s been given to us.”

His eyes darken with each word I speak. I notice the second that my words register and he realizes the words I used.

The same words he used in the letter he left me all those months ago.

“I love you, Cohen.”

“And I love you, Dani-girl. And I you.”

I drop my head and take his lips in a slow, deep kiss. Our tongues move together as our breaths mingle. We take the kiss as deep as we can without physically fusing together.

He flips us so that he’s on top, and his hips rock gently against my core. He’s careful not to put his full weight on my stomach, but he makes sure every inch that can touch is touching.

“Wrap your legs around me, baby,” he demands, breaking from the kiss for just seconds until I do what he’s asked. “Just like that,” he says, and I feel him grow even harder against me.

He moves against me until I’m seconds away from coming undone. My whole body is feeling as if it’s burning as my climax slowly starts to crawl up my spine. Right when I pull my lips from his to cry out in what promises to be a powerful climax, he stops.