Chapter 50

50

Zara

"You didn’t trust me enough to tell me about this before you broke it to the media?" Hunter glares at me from across his office.

After I’d ripped open my past and shared it with the press, we were bombarded by questions. Hunter, however, shouldered his way through the throng with me in tow. His security pulled up in a car, and we made a speedy getaway. All through the trip, we neither looked nor spoke to each other. Our phones vibrating off the hook, but by mutual, unspoken consent, neither of us checked our devices. He also did not let go of my hand.

We drew up to his office, and he led me through a path between desks occupied by his team. Most of them were hard at work, regardless of the fact that it was a weekend. That’s the nature of an election campaign. There are no ‘off’ days, not until the poll results are declared—and not even after that, when the real work begins. Most of them, however, fell silent in our wake. No doubt, seeing their leader pull me along with his fingers threaded through mine was enough to make them realize things had changed.

He barked at his assistant to not let anyone in, then he ushered me inside his office, shut the door, and locked it for good measure. Only then, did he let go of my hand. I avoided his table and the chairs around it and walked over to the sofa pushed up against the wall. I sank into it, placed my bag on the seat next to me, and folded my hands in my lap. Now, I watch as he paces back-forth-back on the carpet.

"I thought you already knew," I finally offer.

He turns on me. "Is that the best you can do?"

"It’s a reasonable assumption. You had me investigated. You know everything about me, right down to my hot beverage of choice. Of course, I assumed you knew about my past."

“Apparently, my investigators failed to discover the sibling who died was not your sibling but your son.”

I wince, then squeezes my eyes shut. “I suppose I should be grateful that the people I hired to wipe out that particular detail of my past came through.” I rub my chest. “My son. I gave birth to him, then watched as he was buried. Then wiped out his connection to me. I am a terrible mother.”

“You’re not, Zara. You are the strongest, bravest person I have ever met.”

Heat flushes my cheeks. I lower my hands to my sides then tip up my chin. “You forgot to say I’m a fixer; it’s what I do best. What better use of my talent than to fix my past. I covered up the fact that Olly was my child like it was a dirty secret.” My heart squeezes in my chest. My guts churn. “I am a terrible person. I wiped out all existence of my own son. What mother does that?”

“You did what you thought was right. You did what it took to survive. You loved your son. It’s evident in how you talk about him. You tried your best to take care of him. You’re not to blame for what happened to him.”

I chuckle. “Don’t go making me out to be something I’m not. Have you forgotten that I didn’t tell you about Olly? That I broke the news of him to the press without doing you the courtesy of telling you first?”

“Olly was your secret to tell, when you thought it was the right time. And you did it before you lost your nerve.” His gaze softens.

There’s so much understanding on his face. So much love. So much everything. The pressure behind my eyes builds. My heart feels like it’s going to burst. "I... I could have told you first, when we were on our own.” I choke out, “I’m a bad person. You deserve better, Hunter.”

He leans forward on the balls of his feet. His blue-green eyes turn that stormy shade of green I now know means he’s pissed off. And he has reason to be. If I were in his shoes, I’d break off all relations with me right now. I tip up my chin, and the groove between his eyebrows deepens.

He finally says, "I know what you’re doing here."

"Oh?"

He nods. "You think because you sprang that surprise on me, and in front of the media, I’m going to call off our relationship. But you’re wrong."

I blink. "I… I am?"

He walks over, then squats down in front of me. "You forget how tenacious I am, Fire. I didn’t come this far, only to walk away from you over something that happened in your past."

I jut out my chin. "I kept a lot of things from you, Hunter. I didn’t tell you I had a child, that I was a teenage mother of a special needs boy who died because I couldn’t care for him."

"You did your best."

A tear squeezes out from the corner of my eye. "You have no idea what I did or didn’t do."

He leans forward and scoops up the trail of moisture from my cheek. "In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never—not once—shirked your responsibilities." He brings his moist finger to his lips and sucks on his digit, and my heart feels like it’s going to burst.

"You take time out to volunteer with children." He holds my gaze.

"It’s nothing."

"You give them your time. It’s not like you write a check and forget about it. That means something." He takes my hand in his. I try to pull away, but he tightens his hold on me. "You’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty. I know how you’ve supported your friends when they’ve needed you, how you’ve given your best to each of your clients and helped them through situations which would have caused anyone else to lose their nerve. But not you, Zara. You face each challenge head on and come out on top. I’m proud of you."

The hot sensation behind my eyes intensifies. "I didn’t tell you I was pregnant."

"I knew."

My jaw drops, again. The number of times this man has taken me by surprise is almost as many times as I have tried to pull the rug out from under him…and failed. "You mean?—?"

"You refused champagne the last two times. Also?—"

"The bug in my mobile phone." I slump into the sofa. "Of course, you knew."

"I’m sorry I spoiled your surprise." He quirks his beautiful lips and a slow fire ignites low in my belly.

"I should be the one saying I’m sorry. I should have told you everything—about being pregnant, about Olly. All of it. It’s just" —I glance away, then back at him— "it was all too much for me to process. It was such a shock to find out I was pregnant.”

He rises to his feet, then sits down next to me. "You should have let me be there for you."

"I’ve been having morning sickness the last few weeks, so I had a strong suspicion I was pregnant. The test was merely a formality, but seeing that pink line—for the second time in my life—I’m afraid it brought back memories."

He wraps his arm about my shoulders and pulls me close. "I’m sorry you had to go through it alone."

I allow myself to relax against him, muscle by muscle. "I wanted to do it at my own pace. I kept putting off taking a pregnancy test, until I couldn’t put it off anymore. And when I saw the positive test this morning, I needed some time to get my head around it all. That’s why I knew I had to go to the school and spend time with some of my favorite people."

"The kids."

"The kids," I agree.

We sit quietly for a few more seconds, then I look up at him. "Guess I’m going to marry you after all, huh?"

"Do you want to marry me, Zara?"

"Do you want me to marry you, Hunter?"

He chuckles. "So damn stubborn, but I’m going to wear you down yet." He slides down onto his knee for the second time in our lives, then pulls a ring from his pocket. He holds out his palm, and I place my hand in his. He slips the ring onto my left ring finger. The yellow-gold stone in the center is surrounded by tiny diamonds. I tilt my palm and the light from the window picks up the golden sparks at the heart of the sapphire.

"Fire for my Fire."

"Hunter," I breathe. I’d expected a ring, but this…is beautiful. It’s unique, and very much the kind of ring I’d have chosen for myself.

"It’s an antique." He rubs his thumb over the shining, golden ball of fire on my finger. "It belonged to my grandmother. She was the one person in my life who truly loved me. She left it for me with instructions to give it to the woman of my dreams. The woman who’s my dream, my wish, my fantasy. The woman who’s everything I need. You’re my hope, my love, my beginning and my end. You’re everything I need. I love you more with every breath. You’re my reason for living. You give my life meaning. And I want to spend the rest of it giving you and our children" —he places his other palm on my belly— "everything you’ll need."

"Hunter." I swallow. There’s so much I want to say, but my brain cells seem unable to bridge the connections needed to form the words. "Hunter." Another tear slides down my cheek, and this time, he leans in and kisses it away.

"Marry me, Zara. Marry me, and I’ll stand beside you through the years. Although I’ll make mistakes, I’ll never break your heart. I promise to make you so happy that the only tears you cry will be happy ones. Marry me because I’d rather have one kiss from your lips, one touch of your fingers on mine, one brush of your hair on my skin, hear your heartbeat against mine, than spend any time away from you. Marry me?—"

"Yes." I press my lips to his. "Yes."