Page 32 of Married for His Secret Heir

“How could you not know who he is?”

“He gave me a fictitious name, and quite frankly, I don’t read the finance section of the paper. And he didn’t give me any reason to doubt him.” She worried her bottom lip as she internally berated herself. “I was such a fool.”

“But smart enough not to sleep with him.”

“Thank goodness.”

There was one real reason why that wasn’t an option for her. Steven didn’t stack up to Luca. And though she tried not to, she couldn’t help but compare everyone to Luca. Did that make her pathetic? She hoped not.

“And what will happen when they find out you’re pregnant?” Luca looked worried. “The paparazzi is going to jump to conclusions, just like they did with that photo. They are going to tell the world that jerk is the father of my baby!”

There was so much emotion in that statement that Elena was caught off guard. Perhaps she’d been telling herself that he wouldn’t care about the baby because he didn’t care about her romantically—to soften his rejection. So where exactly did that leave them besides in a mess?

CHAPTER NINE

A BABY.

My baby.

Luca was having problems processing it all. A rush of emotions hit him like a tsunami. They swept away his breath and left him feeling unsteady.

I’m going to be a father.

Those were words he never thought he’d say. A tiny human was counting on him to get this right. Luca’s gaze moved to Elena’s still-flat midsection. It was so hard to believe there was a little human growing in there.

Luca raked a shaky hand through his hair. “Wow! This is a lot to take in.”

“I know it is. Maybe I should go so you can think. Just know that I don’t expect anything of you.” She started to turn away.

“Wait. What?” Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly.

“This mess with Steven, it’s not your problem. I’ll figure something out.”

“Like what?”

She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll just let the press have their say and ignore them. Eventually they’ll catch on to a new story—a bigger story.”

Luca shook his head. “No way. I refuse to let that scum be linked to our child.”

“Like you can stop that from happening.”

This was his moment to step up—to do the right thing. He’d never had anyone count on him so completely. The responsibility was enormous. He had no idea how to be a parent.

But he did know that no other man was going to take credit for fathering his child. No way! He refused to let that happen. He needed to head off the ensuing scandal. And there was only one way he could think of.

“We’ll get married.”

Elena shook her head in confusion. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

“Yes, you did. You and I, we’re getting married.”

“No.”

“Yes. We have to. It’s the only way.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Did you just demand that I marry you?”

Had he? He supposed it might have sounded that way. Surely she had to see the logic of such a move. “This is what’s best.”

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