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JESSA

“When was your last period?” Anton asks.

I look down at my flat stomach like the answers to all the questions swirling in my head might be written there. But there’s nothing. No outward sign of what’s going on inside my body.

“The doctor asked me that, too.” It makes sense now. At the time, I didn’t even consider the possibility. I might not be that smart after all. “I should have had a period two weeks after the wedding. Or the almost-wedding, I guess.”

He leans forward. “And did you?”

I can’t be more than two months along, which is incidentally the exact length of time since I was on The Medusa.

With Anton.

“No.” I shake my head. “I don’t… I don’t think so. So much has happened since then. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m not sure…”

I look up and Anton is watching me. His dark gray eyes are a familiar landmark, an anchor in the storm. Whatever power he has over me, I’m thankful for it in this moment.

“Jessa.”

He says my name like it’s the whole damn sentence. There’s so much meaning there. So much emotion.

“Say it again,” I hear myself plead.

“Say what again?”

I grab his hand, his calloused fingers rough against my skin. “My name.”

His expression softens. He presses a kiss to my temple and breathes. “Jessa."

The pressure in my chest eases slightly and I close my eyes. “How did this happen?”

“We had sex,” he says. There’s a hint of amusement in his voice.

I peek up at him. “How can you be so calm?”

Anton lifts his chin, his body straightening. “I’m not sure how my answer will make you feel.”

Oh God.He’s going to tell me that he’s calm because he knows how to control the situation. He’ll ask me to get an abortion. Because of course he will. Why would he want a child with me, a woman he barely knows?

I put on my bravest face. “Tell me anyway.”

His thumb brushes over my knuckles. “I’m calm because it was always meant to happen this way.”

I’m so shocked that I spin towards him, forehead creased. “What?”

“This baby, you and me… in some ways, it was inevitable.”

I shake my head. "How can you say that? I didn't even know you a few weeks ago. I was about to marry another man.”

"Exactly," he says. “We were on two entirely different paths. And then I saw you marooned in the middle of a lonely beach in a fucking tearstained wedding dress, Jessa."

“I remember.” The memory is bittersweet. I remember how it felt, sitting there in shock and then looking up into the face of the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. It felt like a dream. A hallucination.

“I should have kept walking," he says. "But I felt compelled to stop. I was drawn to you from the moment I saw you. And I can't regret that decision or anything that came after it."

“What about after I stole your cell phone?”

He smirks. “If you hadn’t stolen it, I would have found another reason to see you again.”


Tags: Nicole Fox Stepanov Bratva Erotic