Helen laughed softly, her nose brushing his ear. It sent a shiver down his spine and a half-dozen regrets through his mind for every day he'd gone without this.
“I waited yesterday,” she murmured. “I must have missed you.”
“Eric didn’t excuse us until after nine,” Uriah grumbled nearby, ruffling Dolly’s ears.
“I’ll see you at home,” Nic said, waving his brother on. Tired or not, he wasn’t giving up a few quiet minutes with Helen—not when she looked like that, soft-eyed and uncertain. He looped an arm around her shoulders and gently turned them toward the square, whistling for Dolly to follow.
“How have you been?” she asked. There was a dulled lilt to her voice, like she was dimmed from the inside.
“Still breathing. Still eating like royalty. But you—” he turned, gave her a teasing sidelong glance, “—look like a goddess painted in starlight.”
Helen flushed but didn’t lean into the compliment like she usually would. She smiled, yes, but her grip on his arm tightened. Something wasn’t right.
Nic slowed beneath a vine-wrapped trellis and dropped onto the stone bench, tugging her beside him. The view stretched wide, lake and villas gilded by starlight. Peaceful, romantic—the kind of setting where a man could forget he was dragging a thousand aches behind him.
He caressed her cheek and kissed her, slow and searching, hungry for the warmth he’d missed.
She kissed him back—but it was quieter, tinged with restraint. When she didn’t respond to his second attempt, he pulled back, frowning.
“What’s wrong?”
Helen looked away, toying with Dolly’s ear. She took a breath that caught halfway. “I need to tell you something.”
Ice slid down his spine.
Please not goodbye. Not an arranged match. Don’t say Jacob found her someone richer.
Then—soft as falling ash, she said, “I’m pregnant.”
The words fell like a punch to his gut. For a heartbeat, he simply blinked at her. Then the world lurched. The rising moonblurred. His vision tunneled around Helen’s face as his stomach did something deeply unhelpful.
“You’re... sure?” he asked, faintly horrified by how hoarse he sounded. “How late?”
“Six weeks, maybe more.”
“Six—?!” His voice cracked hard enough to startle a woman sweeping her shopfront. He clamped his jaw and shoved a hand through his hair. “But I got you that book. I thought... I mean, you were careful, right?”
Tears welled in Helen’s eyes before he could backpedal.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, dabbing her cheeks with a handkerchief. “It said this could still happen. I tried—I never meant—”
“God, no.” Nic gathered her in his arms, pulling her tight against his chest. “I didn’t mean it like that. Helen, love, I’m not blaming you. I read that part too. I just... chose to pretend it didn’t apply to us. Very mature of me.”
She sniffled into his chest. “What am I going to do?”
He cupped her face and gently tipped it up until their eyes met. “We’ll figure it out. We got into this as a pair—we’ll get through it the same way.”
Helen sagged into him, her shoulders trembling. He held her, wrapped her in the safety of his arms even as his own heart galloped. The fear was enormous. The possibilities, overwhelming. But she was here. And so was he.
They weren’t just two people in love anymore.
They were two people in love with a future they hadn’t planned.
“Can you meet me tomorrow evening?” Nic asked. “We’ll talk more when we’ve both had a chance to breathe.”
Helen nodded, wiping her nose. “I’ve been staying at the villa on the hill. My father opened it for me while I work late on the Daughters’ performance.”
“Then I’ll meet you there tomorrow night. After training.”
