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“Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is … well…”
He shoots me a sideways look while squeezing my knee again.
“What is it honey?” he encourages. “Tell me.”
I take another deep breath and then the words come rushing out.
“Well, I’m pregnant with your baby, Barry. You’re going to be a father.”
At that, he jerks forward while blinking rapidly. His breathing begins to come in gasps, and then Barry takes the car off the highway and veers onto a quiet street before turning off the engine.
“What?” he demands.
Suddenly, I know this has been a mistake, yet I couldn’t hide it anymore. He’s going to find out sooner or later, but maybe I’ve miscalculated. What if he doesn’t want me? What if he doesn’t want the baby? My stomach twists as my dreams begin to falter.
“Yes,” I say in a terrified voice. “I found out about six weeks ago. You know we were making love all the time before we broke up, and I’m a fertile young woman and you’re a very virile man. Plus, you know there are a few times when we didn’t use protection,” I add, my voice trailing off. Oh no, oh no. The CEO’s eyes are bulging as his hands grip the steering wheel with white knuckles. He’s going to reject me and the child, and then what will I do?
But I have to make my position clear, so I take a deep breath and speak again.
“I’m keeping the child, Barry. If you don’t want to be part of the baby’s life, I understand. But I’m keeping the child and I’ll raise him or her on my own.”
My stomach is on a trampoline that won’t stop shaking, and I feel vaguely nauseous. Yet the sick feeling has nothing to do with the life in my belly, and everything to do with the man next to me. Is Barry hyperventilating? He certainly looks like it, given the rapid rise and fall of his chest and the pallor underlying his usually tan skin. A few seconds pass, and then a full minute.
“Barry?” I whisper tentatively. “Are you alright?”
Finally, the handsome man turns to me and there’s a blazing light in those blue eyes that makes me gasp.
“Prim, tell me this,” he says in a low, trembling voice. “Were you going to pass my child off as Samuel’s? Besides deceiving me about the video, were you going to tell my child that his father was another man?”
I stammer and my throat closes. Oh god, what do I say? But I summon my courage and speak quietly.
“After you broke up with me, I was depressed and became a shut in. I did nothing but cry. There were two weeks when I didn’t leave my bedroom – my sister had to bring me my meals, and when I finally realized I was pregnant, I didn’t know what to do. You were totally silent, and I was confused and upset. It seemed as if life had taken a left turn, and that I had no control over its direction. I was merely a twig floating down a set of rapids, and so yes. I was going to raise this child with another man. I’m not sure what I would have said with respect to his paternity, but yes. I was getting married to Samuel and likely everyone was going to think that he was the baby’s father.”
I start sobbing again even as Barry grips the steering wheel, a harsh flush on those cheekbones as his breathing accelerates. With a vengeful cry, he pounds on the wheel a few times, so hard that the vehicle’s shaking, and I get scared. Is he going to throw me out? Is my magical escape nothing but a mirage? This is turning into a crash-and-burn scenario.
But then the billionaire turns to me, those blue eyes fierce.
“You never, ever do that again,” he snarls. “You and the baby are mine and you belong to me. I don’t care what happened in the past, but this is my child, and you are my woman.”
My heart starts beating again.
“Yes, Barry,” I say in a low voice. “I understand.”
Then the big man lets out another anguished cry before grabbing my face and slamming his mouth down on mine. His lips are harsh and intense, and our teeth clack together as his tongue invades my mouth. But I understand what he’s doing. The man is marking me and making sure that I know he’s my alpha.
“Yes,” I whisper breathlessly beneath his touch. “Yes, I want this, Mr. Childers.”
He pulls back then, still raging.
“We love each other,” he rasps. “Starting right now, we tell each other everything, especially as it pertains to my child. Our lives together have been a shitshow so far, Prim, but we can fix it. We can make this work, and we’re going to make it work because there’s a child now. You’re carrying my baby,” he says while snaking one big hand over my belly. “My son.”
