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I lift my hand slowly and rest it against her upper arm.

“I meant what I said before,” I tell her. “You do not owe me anything because of the penthouse. And you do not owe me anything because of this either.”

Her eyes hold mine.

“But this baby is mine too, and I want to be involved.”

She nods.

I feel the words settle deep into me as I say them, almost shocking me.

I want to be involved.

There is no panic attached to that particular realization.

Underneath the shock, something else is already taking root—a strange, fierce certainty.

I am going to have a child.

The thought should terrify me more than it does.

Maybe that’ll come later.

Right now, all I can see is Blair standing in front of me, looking exhausted from carrying a secret that belonged to both of us.

I slide my hand down her arm and take hers.

“You said you went to an appointment already?”

She nods. “I had to be sure.”

“Do you have another one scheduled?”

“Not yet.”

“When you do, tell me.”

Her gaze drops to our joined hands.

“You want to come?”

“Yes.”

Blair looks at me again. She’s still overwhelmed and uncertain, but realizing slowly that I meant it when I said she wasn’t alone.

I squeeze her hand gently.

The thought comes a little easier this time:

My baby.

Chapter Twenty Four

Blair

The Conti sale has changed things faster than I expected.

Two months ago, I was the new broker Randall seemed determined to keep at the bottom of the office hierarchy. Now my name is being attached to one of the largest residential transactions Meridian has closed this year, and clients who would never have known I existed before are now asking for me specifically.