Page 110 of Discretion at Its Finest

“Because why would I?” he asked gently. “You were mine. You weresupposed to be mine.I was good to you. I gave you everything. The name, the house, the life.” He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could smell the whiskey on his breath. “And the whole time…” He let out a broken laugh. “You were pregnant by my bastard brother?”

The words landed like a slap to the face. My lips parted but nothing came out. No defense, no explanation, nothing that would’ve made any of it better.

So I said the one thing I’d been waiting to say since Reid came back into my life.

I swallowed hard. “I’m leaving you.”

The words came out before the fear could catch them. His eyebrows lifted just slightly in amusement.

“You’re leaving me?” he repeated softly, testing the taste of the words on his tongue.

“I can’t—I can’t stay here anymore.” My voice was shaking. “None of this is safe. For me. For the kids. I’ll figure something out, I’ll—”

“With who?” His tone sharpened. “Who exactly are you going to run to, Genevieve? The man sitting in a cell?” A humorless laugh left him. “He can’t even save himself right now.”

His jaw tensed as my breath stilled.

“You have nowhere to go. No accounts. No access. Nothing in your name that isn’t tied to mine.” His voice dropped lower. “You think I didn’t plan for this? You think you’re taking my children?” His voice was deadly as I was trapped between him and the wall behind me. “You think I’m letting you walk out of this house with them?”

I forced the words out. “They’re not your children.”

He paused for a moment, scoffing as he glanced down at my stomach. When he looked at me again, his eyes were darker than anything I’d seen from him.

“For your sake,” he said quietly, “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”

“You can’t keep me or them trapped here, Gregory.”

“You’re going to drag my kids out of their home,” he whispered, taking another step until my back hit the wall, “to chase a man who can’t even walk outside? A man who, for all anyone knows, may never see the light of day again?”

My throat closed. “You don’t understand,” I breathed. “You don’t—”

“Oh, I understand perfectly,” he cut me off. “Wherever they take him, whatever hole they drop him into, you think that’s a life? Visiting rooms and glass partitions and a man who can’t even walk outside. You think you’re taking my children into that? We’ll see what the court says about that when I file for custody.”

“We’re—we’re not married. And you hold no legal rights over them.”

“I don’t need a marriage certificate to prove you’re unstable,” he snapped, his hand hitting the wall beside me, my body flinching in response. “A federal investigation, a collapsed company, a fiancée sneaking into prisons, a pregnancy you can’t explain?” I shied away from his penetrating gaze, his voice growing with fake sympathy. “You thinkanyjudge is putting children in your care?”

My knees nearly buckled.

Finally he stepped back. “You want to leave?” His voice softened. “Fine. Leave.” He tilted his head. “But you go alone. You walk out that door…you walk out without Eugene, without that baby, and without the last shred of your reputation and dignity… because I will fucking ruin you. By the time I’m done? You might as well be in hiding too.”

A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.

A dangerous smile graced his lips. “You do that? You go to him?” His eyes darkened completely. “And you give the judge all the proof they need to take them from you permanently.” My chest caved. “And Reid?” he added softly. “He won’t be able to protect you this time.”

I entered Eugene’s bedroom, closing the door behind me gently, watching him sprawled across his bed, cheek squished into the pillow, breathing soft. My hand drifted to my stomach protectively, my back pressing against the door as I slid down, my legs bent underneath me as tears escaped.

I didn’t know where else to go… who to call, what to do, how to fix any of this. But somehow I’d called the only person I could think of, the only other person besides Reid I could trust.

He picked up on the second ring.“Genevieve?”

Alexander sounded half-asleep, half-alert. Probably knowing no good news came from me at this hour.

My breath shook, voice coming out in a low whimper. “Alex… I—I don’t know what to do.”

Immediately, the sleepy rustling on his end stopped. “What happened?”

I pressed a hand to my mouth, tears streaming down my face no matter how hard I tried to blink them back.