30. Gio

30

GIO

I brought Tatiana back to my penthouse after the blowout with her brothers and the pregnancy revelation just an hour before.

The bedroom was quiet, with the only sound coming from my girl as she breathed softly while tending to me. I couldn't keep my eyes off her as I traced the long fall of her dark-brown hair, with the strands falling over her shoulder. Her locks were wavy from being wet under the spray of the shower as she sucked my cock.

The scent of her hair nearly had me groaning. It was sweet and slightly floral, and I had to curl my fingers into my palms until my hands were tight fists, just to stop myself from reaching out and gripping it.

I sat on the edge of the bed, shirtless, the minor cuts and bruiseson my face and chest a physical reminder of the fight with Dmitry and Nikolai. I still felt the rush of adrenaline from what happened in the shower, my male aggression still raging inside me.

But at the forefront of my mind was the revelation that Tatiana was pregnant with my baby.

The storm of emotions swirled inside me, and just as I was about to reach out and pull her in close, Tatiana stood and went into the bathroom to grab more first aid items. When she came back, I kept my hands to myself as she took care of me. Her hands were gentle as she cleaned the cut on my bottom lip.

Her touch was soft, the softest thing I'd ever felt. God, she was so careful, like she thought I'd break or that she'd cause me more pain.

The sting of her cleaning my wounds was there, but it was so minimal compared to how mesmerized I was. "I've never had anyone take care of me before," I said under my breath, not meaning to say the words out loud at all.

She glanced up, and I could see the worry etched in her eyes, the lingering tension from everything that happened earlier reflected at me.

"My mother never tended to me like that," I admitted. "And I never let Claudia and Amara see my wounds after a fight… or when my father got done beating the shit out of me." Although my sisters knew what had gone down and that I fought back, I refused to let them see the brutality that covered my body and that was now hidden under my tattoos.

I'd never uttered those words out loud, never admitted what I perceived as a weakness.

She glanced at me again, the sadness and empathy in her expression so strong I couldn't stop myself from leaning in and resting my forehead against hers. For long seconds, we stayed in that position, neither one of us moving or speaking.

We just lived in that moment, and it was fucking perfect.

"I'll always take care of you," she whispered, and then she let out a shaky breath. And just as quickly as she said it, the moment was broken, and she went back to cleaning my cuts.

I stayed silent as I let her do her thing, but I couldn't stop myself from staring at her and realizing I was the luckiest fucking bastard alive. The way she focused on me, so intent on mending my broken body, made something deep inside me stir. There was this feeling I'd never known before, one that I felt growing from the moment I killed that motherfucker for her.

I hadn't known what it was, this feeling that had multiplied within me to the point I was consumed. I was obsessed. Tatiana, my little Russian doll, was ingrained in every single part of me. There was no going back. I couldn't live without her.

My sisters had been the only things that mattered to me in my fucked-up world. They were the only ones I loved. But this… what I felt with Tatiana… was different.

She was everything.

She ran her fingers lightly over a bruise forming on my side, hidden amongst the dark lines of ink. She looked up, her gaze meeting mine since I was already staring at her. My world seemed to stop. Nothing else mattered because the only thing that existed was her.

I knew what this was. This feeling. And I wanted her to know and realize it meant everything.

"I've never known love like this, Tatiana," I confessed, never having uttered these words in my life. Even though I loved my sisters, telling them was a rare occurrence. I showed them how I felt rather than using words that didn't embody my commitment to taking care of them .

I heard her breath catch after I admitted how I felt.

"Aside from my sisters, I never thought I needed anyone else. But then you came along, and everything changed." I reached out and cupped her cheek. "Because when I look at you, nothing else means more to me. When I stare into your blue eyes, the entire fucking world just stops."

My gaze drifted down to her abdomen that was still flat but would grow big and swollen with my baby over the coming months.

"All I know is that I want you."

Her eyes were wide, but she didn't speak. Maybe she didn't know what to say. I knew I had found myself speechless more times than I cared to count when she was around.

"Gio," she finally said, just that one word—my name—sliding from her perfect, pink lips.

"I'd do anything for you," I continued, my voice getting rough with emotion I never allowed myself to feel, let alone display. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Tatiana?"

She exhaled and licked her lips, but I did my best not to be transfixed by how beautiful she was. I wanted her to know without a doubt that she was mine, and I wasn't letting her go .

"No one will ever hurt you or our baby. I swear it. I vow it, sweet girl. I'll protect you both with everything inside me that is dark and dangerous and deadly."

"Oh, Gio," she said, her voice choked-up. Her eyes glistened, and I knew my girl was so full of emotion that she was going to cry. And even if they were happy tears, it broke my fucking heart to see them.

She was the one to reach out now and place her tiny hand on the side of my neck. Could she feel how fast my pulse was racing? She moved closer, her little body dwarfed by my own. And when my girl brushed her lips against mine, her kiss spoke volumes.

It was a kiss that told me she knew what I wanted, what I demanded, and she accepted. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in tight, curling my body around hers because I craved to have her as close as possible.

I needed to know this was real.

"I love you, Gio," she finally told me—the words I realized I'd desperately needed to hear.

I pulled back and cupped both sides of her face.

"I've wanted to tell you since the beginning. I've wanted to tell you when you were deep inside me that first time and all the times after. I wanted to tell you there was nothing else in the whole world that mattered except you and me," she confessed, and I nodded.

"It's only ever going to be you and me… and this little one." I placed my hand on her belly and felt this surge of happiness slam into me. God, it felt good knowing she carried my child and that she loved me.

This was heaven.

She was heaven.

"Amore mio. Tu e il nostro bambino siete tutto per me." My love. You and our baby mean everything to me.

I lifted her and took her to bed—our bed—because this was where she belonged from this point on. Right next to me.

Who knew the devil could find happiness when he'd only ever known hell?