"Maybe someday, some woman will prove to you that she loves you for you."
His body tensed and then he let out a long sigh. He released me and sat on the edge of the bed. "Why are we talking about this?" His head turned, looking at me over his shoulder. "You know the deal, Reyna."
Feeling vulnerable, I reached for the sheet and pulled it up over my naked body. "Yes, I know our agreement. But—"
He stood, grabbing his boxer briefs and shoving them on. "There's no but, Reyna. I can't give you or anyone else what they want or deserve."
I nodded. "I know."
He stared down at me, his eyes probing. "Then what the hell is this about?"
I sat up and pulled the sheet tighter around me. "I'm pregnant."
For a moment, he stared at me like I'd been speaking Greek. Like he didn't understand what I said. But I knew the moment my words had registered in his brain because his eyes darkened. "You trapped me?"
He could stab me in the chest and it wouldn’t have hurt as much as those words. I shook my head. "No."
"You told me you were on the pill. What is this? Five thousand a month and five million in a year wasn't enough? You needed something to continue to siphon money from me for the next eighteen years?"
I didn't want to cry. I wanted to be stronger than that. But I loved this man, and he despised me. There was no hiding that kind of hurt.
"I was on the pill. But it's not a hundred percent effective." All the Google searches I had done regarding getting pregnant on the pill kept saying the pill was ninety-nine percent effective, except for in real-life use, where the percentage dropped significantly based on a variety of factors.
"Bullshit. This wasn’t part of our deal." His words made it clear that I needed to assure him that I didn't want anything from him.
"It's okay, James. I won’t ask you for anything. Your focus is on the business, and you're right, that's what we agreed to. So that’s what we’ll do. You don't have to worry about the baby." It broke my heart, but it was for the best. If he didn’t want the child, I wasn’t going to force it on him. It wouldn’t be good for the child.
He stared at me for a long moment. "Don't make me the bad guy here. I'm not the one who got knocked up."
Anger boiled fast and furious, and I was glad for it because I didn't like looking weak in front of him.
I stood up, yanking the sheet from the bed, pulling it over my shoulders and around me, hiding everything but my face. "You're the one who couldn't help yourself. You’re the one who could have worn a condom but didn't. Maybe you don't like it, but it takes two to tango and two to make a baby. But you don't have to worry, James. You’ve made it clear that you don't want me or the baby, and I knew that going into this. So, I will continue to honor our original deal. Or maybe we can screw the deal. I’ll leave now, and you won't have to deal with me or this baby."
I wished I were dressed so I could leave right then and there. Since I couldn't, I gathered my clothes and made my way to the bathroom.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm getting dressed, and then I'm going home." Of course, I didn’t have a home. Not a real one. If I left like this, I wouldn’t even have a pretend one.
"You're not leaving me. We have a deal, Reyna. And if you think I'm going to abandon my child, you’ve got another thing coming."
I stepped into the bathroom, starting to shut the door but peering at him through the crack. "I can't wait to see how our child turns out knowing that his father only pretends to love him so his board will think he’s a stable, settled man. So potential clients will think he's a good, loving, family man." Then I shut the door in his face.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
James
Jesus fucking Christ. I should have known that my life was too good to be true. There really was no having your cake and eating it too.
Angry beyond belief, I grabbed my clothes, throwing them on and exiting the bedroom. I started toward the minibar, but I was too agitated to stick around. I left the suite, walking along a path through the resort.
I couldn't wrap my brain around the idea that in an instant, my entire world had tilted on its axis. Everything had changed for the rest of my life. I knew I was acting like an asshole, but I couldn't be a father. I didn't have that kind of love inside me. My focus was on the business. And I knew what it did to a child to have a father who only cared about business. Reyna was right, I would be a disappointment to a child. Worse, I'd probably fuck him up.
But what was done was done. There was no sense in crying over spilled milk, so to speak. The thing I needed to figure out was what I was going to do.
You're going to be a father, that's what you're going to do.
The news of a baby didn't have to derail the plan that Reyna and I had. We still had about nine and a half months to go, and it seemed likely that pregnancy would make it even harder for the board to question why I got married.