I shake my head with a wistful smile. “My doctor has ordered bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy, so I think that means you’ll be searching for a new waitress, after all.”
Arturo exhales and sits heavily in the chair beside my bed. “So, if you shouldn’t have kissed me and I should have told you the woman in my apartment was my sister earlier, where does that leave us?”
“It leaves me married and that kiss a mistake.”
His handsome face twists with a rueful smile. “I never thought I could hate an English word quite so much, but I think if I had to choose a word I would detest, ‘mistake’ would be it.”
“I-It brings me no joy to say it.”
“Then we just won’t apply it to that night.”
“Art—”
“Tell me something, mi amor. If my sister hadn’t been there that night, would you have come inside, let me touch you, let me love you?”
“Don’t ... please. This is hard enough.”
“Why should it be hard for you?”
“Because it is. I care about you—”
“You don’t just care about me, mi corazón. You love me too. You’re just afraid to admit it.”
“I’m married to the love of my life. I’m having his kid for god’s sake!” Tears choke my words and I shake my head and look away so he won’t see how fucking pathetic I am.
“That doesn’t negate what you feel for me.”
“Well ... it should.”
“Maybe,” Arturo says and sits on the bed beside me. “But if it did, you wouldn’t be crying right now.” He leans in and slides his thumb across my cheek, collecting the saltwater from my skin.
The door to my room opens and Gabe walks in, but one look at Arturo sitting on the edge of my bed and his eyes hood with rage. “What the fuck?”
Arturo stands and thrusts a hand toward my husband. “Hello, Gabriel.”
“You’ve got some fucking nerve.” Gabe rushes Arturo and I scream as the first punch is thrown by my darling husband. Arturo doesn’t miss a beat, but he tears his suit jacket as his fist lands a blow on Gabe’s jaw. The two go down in a heap, and Gabe rolls them so he’s on top, slamming fist after fist into Arturo’s face and ribs.
“Stop it! Gabe, get the fuck off him!” I jump out of bed, yanking at the wires and sensors attached to me. The machines beep incessantly, and I double over in pain as a bolt of white-hot pain shoots through my womb. I cry out as the sickening crunchof them trading blows fills the room, but neither of them notice me on the floor.
A nurse rushes in and hits a button by the bed. A beat later, two burly security guards rush in and break up the fight. Tears stream down my face and the baby gives a hard kick to my abdomen. I clutch at my belly and double over, crying out in pain.
“Lo?” Gabe tries to throw off the security guard, but they forcibly escort Arturo and Gabe from the room. “Let me go. That’s my wife and my baby in there.”
“Then you shouldn’t have beat another man in her room. You need to leave.”
The nurse gently grabs my shoulders and helps me to my feet. Then she ushers me toward the bed. I don’t bother fighting, because this room has seen enough of that. “Come on, honey. This stress isn’t good for the baby.”
“You can’t let them outside together, they’ll kill one another.”
“Then let them. Your main priority right now needs to be this baby, not whatever mess is going on out there, got it?”
I nod and lay back against the pillows. She’s right. They can sort out their machismo bullshit somewhere else. Arturo should never have come here. I should never have kissed him. God.I’ve made such a fucking mess of everything. How the hell am I supposed to take care of a baby when I can’t keep the stupid decisions I made on my wedding night from biting me in the ass?
A short time later, Clem enters my room with snacks and piles of sudoku books. “So I just saw Gabe and Arturo being removed from the hospital on my way in, how did that go?”
“About as well as you might expect. Why did you tell him I was in here?”
“Because I figured you’d want your boss to know that you weren’t flaking on him after your honeymoon.”