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I can’t change what happened. I’m carrying his baby, and even if this was never a part of our agreement, I’m keeping this child.
Liam isn’t the father type. He’s made that obvious.
Anything that restricts his freedom has to be annihilated.
He’s the sort of man that would rather run away than risk getting tethered in one place, even if it means turning his back on his family.
Only he’s caught in this war and there’s no way he could escape now.
Which means he’s going to force me to make the most horrible decision imaginable.
And when I refuse? I’m terrified of what he’s going to do.
He continues to pace. I can’t handle this silence anymore. I feel like I’m going to explode, like I’m going to crack into a thousand pieces.
“Say something.”
He still doesn’t look over. “When were you going to tell me?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Will you just stop it and talk to me?”
“Like you talked to your father behind my back?”
“Yes, Liam, I talked to my father. Mostly I grilled him about Liliya, and I found out that he owes Rustik money. That’s why my sister married that asshole to being with.”
Liam pauses. “Interesting,” he says, looking thoughtful for half a second, then restarts his pacing. “But that doesn’t change anything.”
“What do you think was going on in that I?”
“I don’t know, but your father is the enemy now. I assumed you understood that.”
“I’m desperate, okay?” I throw up my hands. “You acting like a caged freaking animal isn’t helping anything.”
He lets out an annoyed breath, but at least he stops moving. “What would you prefer?”
“I don’t know, maybe a civil conversation? You are a human being in there, aren’t you?”
“Mostly.”
“Then act like one. Talk to me.” I’m pleading with him. I hate it, but I need him to tell me what he’s thinking.
“You’re pregnant.” He finally meets my gaze. His gray-blue eyes are striking, how cool they are, how frozen. “When did you find out?”
“This morning.”
“Why did you reach out to your father?”
“I was panicking. I got the positive pregnancy tests and I needed to talk to someone. Papa’s the only person already involved in this mess, so I figured I couldn’t make things worse for him by telling him.”
“Does he know?” Liam steps forward. His sudden intensity scares me, and I move back.
“No,” I say quickly. “I didn’t end up saying anything. We got into talking about my sister and I just—I didn’t want to tell him anymore.”
He deflates slightly. “Good. That’s good.”
“I didn’t want this,” I say as if he could possibly understand how I’m feeling. “You and me? I didn’t want any of it. And this baby—” I stop, choking the words back.
His head shakes slowly. “It doesn’t matter what you wanted. All that matters is the truth.”
“Okay, you want the truth? I’m pregnant. It’s your baby. And I’m scared. How’s that? I’m scared of my fucking husband because he’s acting like a freak instead of a sympathetic person.”
Liam’s jaw twitches. “If you wanted sympathetic, you never should have married me.”
“God, you’re unbelievable. I’m outright telling you that I need some basic human decency from you and instead you’re just telling me to fuck off?”
“I am what I am,” he says, his voice a low growl. “I am not going to change.”
“Then what do I do? This baby is happening. I can’t stop it any more than you can.”
He doesn’t speak for a moment. I want to start crying, but I refuse to give him that satisfaction. I keep my chin up, meeting his stare with my own hard gaze, summoning every bit of strength I have at my reserve. I’m strong, or at least I’m stubborn as hell, and I will fight him tooth and nail before I let him bully me into getting rid of my child.
“Who said I wanted to stop it?”
I open my mouth to tell him off—but stop. “Excuse me, what?”
“I never said I wanted to stop this baby from coming.” His heads cocks like a predatory bird. “Did you think I was going to ask you to have an abortion?”
“I don’t—I figured you might—” I shake my head, at a loss. “You mean, you’re not?”
He takes a long, visibly rage-filled breath, and slowly lets it out. His eyes pinch shut, and he rubs the spot between his eyes for a few seconds before gathering himself.
“You must have the lowest opinion possible of me.”
“I just—you don’t want this baby. I mean, we’re not really together, and you do realize what a child’s going to mean? It’s late-night feedings, it’s spit-ups, changing diapers, all that stuff. It’s a lifelong responsibility. You don’t strike me as the kind of man that wants anything resembling a traditional family.”
“Nobody said anything about traditional. I’m a Crowley, princess. We’ll have a fleet of nannies, night nurses, pediatricians, and whatever else we need.”
