Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
“Have you lost your mind?” I stand there gob smacked, my phone still clutched in my hand.
“Have you?” He steps closer, his chest heaving as if he’s run a marathon. “New York? You think you can just pack up your things, accept some job offer, and cross the country without a single word to me? You think you can erase the best months of my life and run away to another city? You’re not doing it, Romy. I’ll double whatever the company offered you. You’re staying here. With me.”
My brain grinds to a screeching halt. New York? Job offer? A sudden flash of clarity hits me when I realize what happened. Alex’s cover story. My brilliant friend mentioned she’d feed Vik the massive lie to buy me time, but instead of him backing off, the lie made him completely unhinged. It drove him straight to my doorstep in a state I’ve never seen before.
“Vik, listen to me...” I start, stepping forward to try and calm him down. Only as I move, my eyes instinctively flicker past his broad shoulder and to the kitchen counter. Fuck. My entire body seizes. There, sitting right next to my keys and the notepad from yesterday, is the glossy, black-and-white printout from my OB appointment. The ultrasound pictures, the tiny, unmistakable peanut-shaped shadow with the medical text printed across the top with my name, the date, due date, and name of the doctor. God, please don’t look, I say the mantra in my head, eyes darting back to his face. Please, just look at me.
Of course, Vik is either too astute, or he caught the sudden, terrified shift in my gaze. He is, after all, a man trained to notice the slightest hesitation in a negotiation, the briefest flicker of weakness in an opponent’s eyes. He follows my line of sight, his head snapping toward the kitchen counter.
“What is that?” he mutters, his pacing grinding to a halt.
“What’s what?” My voice cracks as I lunge forward to block his path. “Vik, don’t.” But it’s too late. He brushes past me with ease, his long legs eating up the distance to the counter. There, he reaches out, his large, tanned, masculine hand picking up the thermal paper.
He stares down at the printout, and I watch as the furious energy completely drains from his posture, replaced with a rigid stillness. His dark eyes scan the image, tracing the tiny, flickering life caught on the grainy ink and traveling to the bold letters typed across the top.
The paper trembles slightly in his fingers. He doesn’t speak for what feels like an eternity. The clock on the wall ticks loudly, counting the seconds as the truth finally unravels. Vik turns his head, gaze lifting from the paper to meet mine. The fierce angry billionaire who moments ago barged into my apartment is gone. In his place is a man looking at me with a profound mix of awe, shock, and vulnerability.
“Romy, you’re pregnant.” He swallows hard, voice dropping into a rough, barely audible whisper in the quiet of the room.
CHAPTER EIGHT
vik
The sonogram picture slips from my fingers, fluttering to the kitchen counter with a soft whisper. Harbor View Obstetrics & Gynecology. Patient: Rosemary Laurent. 8 weeks. I close my eyes, my chest tightens, and the breath leaves my lungs. In the sudden darkness behind my lids, the world tilts on its axis. Everything clicks, every agonizing question that’s kept me awake, every bitter sip of vodka, every ounce of resentment I’ve been harboring against her silence disappears. The reason she ended things. The reason she packed her bags, figuratively and literally, staying away from Sterling Capital. It wasn’t because she didn’t want me in her life. It was because of me and my stupid fucking rules, rigid boundaries, and my own damn mouth. The whole time we were together, I told her how my life is perfectly compartmentalized, how I’m a man of logic, and how having a family is something I have zero interest in ever entertaining. I’ve built an empire to protect myself from the chaos of the world, and in doing so, I built a cage that drove the only woman I’ve ever wanted right out of the door when she needed me the most.
The silence stretches between us, and a kaleidoscope of images suddenly explodes through my mind, blinding me with a vividness of beauty. All I see is Romy, not exhausted like the woman standing in front of me right now, but a version of her months from now, her beautiful body becoming rounder, heavier, and bursting with the life we created together. I see her face flushed with sweat and agony, pushing through childbirth, her fingers digging into my hand until she nearly breaks it. I see her quiet, peaceful, holding a tiny bundle of joy against her bare chest in a dimly lit room, looking down at our baby. A soft, fierce maternal love coming from Romy, gifting it to our child.