Page 240 of Show Me

“I don’t know how to separate you from all of it right now.”

His eyes close. Like the words physically hit him. “I understand.”

The pain in his voice nearly doubles me over, but what’s the point? He didn’t even correct me when I said that Lindsey thought we were together. Not that we were together.

A lump rises painfully in my throat because I feel wrecked. Completely wrecked. My fingers curl tighter against the blanket. “She almost killed me. And she almost hurt the baby.”

Emotion cracks through the last word.

Xavier’s head drops. Like he can’t even bear hearing it out loud. Silence stretches between us again. Heavy. Exhausted. Raw.

This was not how I wanted him to find out about the baby, but I’m too rung-out to discuss how we co-parent once the baby is born. I know he’ll be a good father. This might not have been what he wanted, but he won’t back down from an obligation. Ever.

“I know you came for me.” His gaze meets mine. “And I know you saved me.” The words matter. I need him to know they matter. “But I’m scared.”

“I know. You have every right to be. She….” He shakes his head and rakes his hand down his face. “You’ve been violated, and you did nothing to deserve it.”

My throat tightens hard. “Right now, every part of this feels tangled together in my head.”

Xavier nods once. Small. Like he already understands where this is going.

I swallow hard before forcing the next words out. “I need some space before we discuss anything.”

Because I know he feels guilty. I know he feels obligated to protect me. To be a father to our baby. But I don’t know if he wants that because it’s what he wants or because everything is a mess.

The pain that crosses his face is immediate. Sharp enough that my chest aches with it. But he doesn’t argue. Doesn’t push. Doesn’t try to convince me otherwise.

And that hurts too.

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-One

Xavier

The hallway is too bright. Too clean. Like it has no business existing after what just happened. I don’t remember walking out of Ruby’s room. Just her voice.

I don’t know how to separate you from all of it right now.

And then—

I need some space before we discuss anything.

My hand braces against the wall beside the nurses’ station. I got to her. Jake got there. We stopped it. And it doesn’t feel like enough.

Because Lindsey didn’t come into Ruby’s life on her own. Two years ago, I treated something casually because that’s what I did back then. I never imagined Lindsey was capable of this, but I’m the reason she knew Ruby at all.

“Xavier.”

Dad’s voice cuts through my thoughts. He’s standing near the window at the end of the hallway, watching me. “You look like hell.”

“Feel like it.”

He nods toward the chairs. “Sit down before you fall down.”

I’m too tired to argue. I drop into one, elbows on my knees. Dad takes the chair across from me.

After a minute, he clears his throat. “You upset about the baby?”

I look up. “What?”