The Russian's Pregnant Mistress by Elizabeth Lennox

It wasn’t even like any of the relationships he’d had in the past. What it was, he couldn’t figure out but he was going to have her in his life. Out of everything else, that was the one takeaway.
    He looked down at her angry face, still amazed at how beautiful she looked with her cute little red nose and weepy, furious eyes glaring up at him.
    With a deep breath, he looked up at the sky, then back down at her. “I apologize. My only excuse is that I didn’t know you well. I thought you would like this house and it would be a good option for both of us to see each other whenever possible. I don’t want you to be a kept woman which is why I had Donna set up the second office for you across the hallway from mine. I don’t want you to quit your job unless you want to. I just thought it would be easier for both of us.”
    When she didn’t say anything, and he even spied a bit of her anger seeping away when her shoulders relaxed somewhat, he continued although he knew this comment might backfire on him. “This house will be better for the baby,” he said, his muscles tensing because she probably didn’t care about the baby at all. “I get a lot of death threats in my line of work. My guards have already surveyed this property and they know how to set up adequate security. I’ll try and keep the news of the baby a secret for as long as possible, but the journalists are bound to figure it out sooner or later. Most likely sooner since they follow me around like rats,” he said with disgust. “As soon as they discover that you are pregnant, you and the baby will be in danger. I can protect you here.”
    He waited while she absorbed those words, bracing for her assertion that they should terminate the pregnancy if it put her in danger. Her eyes were round with worry and she stepped forward. His stomach clenched in anticipation of her argument but she surprised him once again.
    “You’re in danger?” she whispered, her hand touching him gently. “Who would want to kill you?” She hated the idea of anyone trying to harm him. All her anger and humiliation completely dissipated with the possibility that she could lose this man before she even really knew him.
    “I’m pretty brutal in business, Gabriella,” he said softly, more affected by her gentle touch and her worried eyes than he wanted to admit. Why wasn’t she yelling about her own protection? Why wasn’t she demanding that they abort the baby so that she wasn’t in danger? It threw him off that her first reaction was for his safety and not her own.
    “How many?” she asked, her hand rubbing down his chest to his stomach.
    Damon clenched his stomach muscles, willing his body to ignore the lust pouring through him with that simple, caring touch. “I get about four or five.”
    She sighed, nodding her head as she took in the realization that four or five people each year thought about killing this magnificent man. She might think it, but only in the abstract he’s-driving-me-crazy kind of thought. Actually writing down her intentions and coming up with a plan or a specific way of accomplishing that thought wouldn’t ever occur to her. “Four or five a year doesn’t seem so horrible. I know lots of people who might be irritated with me. Probably more than four or five.”
    He hesitated, but he didn’t want to lie to her, even if it was by omission. Something inside of him wanted their relationship to be honest. And she needed to understand the danger before she committed to this relationship. He’d care for his child no matter what, and he’d always protect her. But if she decided to live away from him, he would accept that. He wouldn’t like it, but he could understand if a person didn’t want to live their life in fear. “Four or five a month, Gabriella. Sometimes more depending on what’s happening in my business or where I am in the world.”
    She gasped and shook her head. “That’s crazy!”
    He nodded, agreeing with her assessment