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“Tell me what happened. Was it that Johnnie guy?”
I give him the full story, from my outburst at HR, to this morning’s pregnancy tests. When I’m done, he walks around his desk, grabs a bottle and a glass from his drawer, pours a drink, and throws it back. “Fuck,” he says. “That piece of shit got you fired.”
“I completely expected it. In some ways, I made it all a little bit worse.”
“Don’t you dare blame yourself,” he snaps at me. “You did nothing wrong.”
Again with that angry tone mixed with oddly kind words.
“Look, I’m not here to ruin your life, okay? I just thought you needed to know. I’m pregnant with your baby and I plan on keeping it. And I was hoping—” I stop, unable to get it out.
His eyebrows raise. “Hoping… for what?”
How am I supposed to say this?
Hoping you’d pony up and pay for my lifestyle? Hoping you’d buy me everything I need? Hoping you’d step up and be a man?I don’t even know what I want from him, much less what I washopingfor.
But I have to say something.
“I was hoping… you’d be involved. Somehow.”
I sink slightly back into my chair. God, why can’t I have a spine for once and just tell him what I need?
His head cocks, considering. All the warmth I saw in his gaze when we first met eyes back in the main club room is gone.
For a second, back in the other room, there was real excitement in his expression, like he was overjoyed to see me.
He looked at me like he did that night. With need, with lust.
That look is very much gone now.
He clears his throat. “Fortunately for you, since you announced your pregnancy in front of my brothers, I have no choice but to do the right thing.”
My stomach does flips. This is what I wanted—but why does he look like he’s going to sink into the floor?
“What does that mean, exactly?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he admits. “This is… I didn’t expect this. But you’re pregnant with my child. You’re carrying my heir.”
“Your heir?” My eyebrows shoot up. “Uh, that’s a little bit intense.”
“I told you, my family is complicated.” He runs a hand through his wavy hair. “Shit, Dara. I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“You weren’t listening to me, and I was panicking, and do you have any clue how hard it was for me to come find you tonight?”
“No, I don’t, but it doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. Now we’ll deal with the fallout.”
“Fallout? I don’t understand.”
He rubs his temples. “Right now, my brothers are already scheming. They’re talking about how they’re going to use this information against me. I told you, my family is—”
“Complicated, yeah, I know.” I sit up straight, glaring right back. “Look, I came here to ask for help, okay? I don’t want to uproot your life. I just need you to pay your fair share. Not even forever, just for a little while, until I’m back on my feet. Just so yourheirisn’t homeless.”
His face hardens. Something comes over him like a wave, and I’m afraid of the change in him. Like something dangerous crawls up from the depths of his guts.
“Tonight, you’re coming home with me, and I don’t want to hear you argue.”
Chapter12
