My ex laughed and asked "what happened to you?" pointing at my body—unaware I was six months pregnant with the mafia boss's son.

Once the door clicked shut, the silence returned, thick and intimate.

Roman stood up, removing his tuxedo jacket and tossing it carelessly over an armchair. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his black dress shirt and sat down beside Tessa on the broad leather sofa, pulling her against his chest without hesitation.

Tessa didn't resist. She tucked her head beneath his chin, inhaling the familiar scent of cedarwood, rain, and the faint, metallic tang that always clung to him. For six months, this chest had been her fortress.

When she had discovered she was pregnant—the result of a passionate, chaotic week in Milan after she had treated his gunshot wound in an underground safehouse—she had expected Roman Vale to write a check and disappear. Or worse, to demand custody and erase her.

Instead, he had arrived at her tiny apartment with an entire security convoy, dropped to one knee, and told her that she and the child were the only things on earth that mattered to him. He hadn't forced her into a cage; he had built a fortress around her.

"He's moving again," Roman whispered, his palm resting flat against the curve of her belly.

Tessa smiled against his throat. "He knows your voice."

Roman pressed his face into her hair, his breath warm against her temple. "I should have been downstairs sooner. You shouldn't have had to listen to that scum speak to you like that."

"I needed to see it, Roman," Tessa said quietly. "For months, a small part of me wondered if Caleb was right. If I had failed. If I had thrown away my life because I couldn't stomach the politics of the hospital. But seeing him tonight... he looked so small. So pathetic."

"He is small," Roman growled, his hand tightening slightly over her hip. "A flea trying to roar at a lioness."

He shifted, turning to face her fully, his dark eyes searching hers. "The press will have the pictures by tomorrow morning. Every paper in the state will know you're carrying the Vale heir. There will be no more hiding in the private villas, Tessa. My enemies will know your face."

"Let them look," Tessa said, her voice steady and resolute. She placed her hand over his, pressing his palm deeper against the life growing inside her. "I'm not the scared resident Caleb left on the street. I'm your wife."

Roman’s gaze softened into pure reverence. He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers in a slow, deep kiss that tasted of ownership, survival, and fierce devotion.