All Chapters of BEAUTY AND THE BODYGUARD: DANGEROUS DESIRE BOOK 2: Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

NANCY'S POVHe offered his hand. I stared at it for several seconds before I took it. His palm was warm and rough with old calluses. The simple contact sent a complicated jolt through me—comfort and anger tangled so tightly I could not separate them. He steadied me as I stood. The room tilted once, mildly, and his other hand settled lightly at my elbow until the dizziness passed.I changed in the small bathroom with the door closed. The ordinary clothes felt strange after the hospital gown. When I came back out, Zade was holding my bag. He did not comment on the tear tracks that still marked my face. He simply waited until I was ready, then walked beside me out of the room and down the hallway.The hospital corridors smelled of disinfectant and floor wax. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead. Neither of us spoke as we rode the elevator down and stepped out into the late-afternoon air. The sky was still that same pale gray. A light breeze moved along the street, carrying the scent of rai

NANCY'S POVFor a second I did not remember where I was. Then the events of the day returned, and with them the knowledge that Zade was in my apartment. I pushed myself up onto my elbows. “Come in,” I said. My voice was rough from sleep. The door opened wider. Zade stepped inside carrying a wooden tray. The smell of warm food followed him—something simple and savory that made my stomach tighten with sudden, sharp hunger. He had found what little I kept in the kitchen and turned it into an actual meal. He stopped a few feet from the bed, as if waiting to see whether I would tell him to leave again. “You need to eat,” he said. His voice was low and even. “You haven’t had anything all day. The doctor said you fainted from exhaustion and low blood sugar. I’m not going to let that happen again tonight.” I sat up fully and leaned back against the headboard. He came closer and set the tray carefully across my lap. There was a bowl of soup that still steamed faintly, a piece of buttered

Nancy’s POVA very small, dry note in his voice almost pulled a smile from me. Almost. We finished the meal more slowly after that. The silence had changed. It was still careful and still fragile, but it no longer felt hollow. Something true had been set down between the plates, and neither of us tried to pick it back up and hide it. When the food was gone he stood and collected the dishes without comment. I remained at the table for a long while, one hand resting over my stomach, turning the name Alexei Sokolov over in my mind the way a person turns a new key. My child would carry pieces of both of us whether I felt ready or not. A Sokolov. A Valentino. Or something that had not been decided yet. From the kitchen came the soft sound of running water and the quiet placement of plates in the rack. He did not return to the table to press for more conversation. He simply finished the work and left me with the new knowledge, giving me the room to sit inside it. I stayed there unti

Nancy’s POVThere was a short pause. I could almost see him standing in his office, or maybe in the study at the mansion, the same worry lines around his eyes.“I worry about you being all alone there,” he said. “France is far. If anything happened—”“Nothing’s going to happen,” I cut in gently. “I’m fine. Really. You don’t have to worry.”The lie sat bitter on my tongue. I wanted so badly to tell him about the baby. The words pressed against the back of my teeth. *I’m pregnant. The father is the man you want dead.* But if I said it, he would be on the next flight. He would arrive with men and questions and guns, and it would not take him long to find Zade. I was not ready for the war that would follow. Not yet.“How are you?” I asked instead.“Surviving.” A quiet breath. “I miss you.”“I miss you too.”We talked for a few more minutes—about the weather in both places, about a business deal he was closing, about nothing that mattered. When we finally said goodbye, I stayed on the edge

NANCY'S POVThe rain filled the quiet between us. Slowly, my breathing evened. The shaking in my shoulders eased. The worst of the panic loosened its grip, leaving behind the raw, emptied-out feeling that always followed a dream like that.Zade noticed the change before I said anything. His hand stilled on my back. He did not let go immediately, but he loosened his hold, giving me the choice to stay or pull away.I sat back a little.He looked at my face as if he was checking for the last of the fear, then he let me go completely. The sudden absence of his warmth made the room feel colder.“Thank you,” he said quietly. “For letting me do that. For not sending me out of the room.”I wiped at my cheeks with the heel of my hand. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”“Yes, I do.” He stood, slow, careful not to startle me. “You didn’t owe me your trust tonight. You gave it anyway. That matters.”He turned toward the door.The sight of his back, of him leaving the room after I had just bee