“I didn’t lie to you. He is my boss, but we’ve also been dating for a few months.” The words rushed out of me once I’d started. “I was going to tell you about him, but I’ve just been too busy.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when you introduced him to me?” His voice was lethally quiet. “You introduced him as your boss just hours ago. Why?”
“I didn’t want you to get mad or upset. You’d just had a heart attack. I wanted to tell you when things had calmed down a little. Who walks into the hospital room where their big brother is recovering from a heart attack after five years of not seeing him and says, oh, by the way, this is my boss and boyfriend?”
“You didn’t seem to be worried about my recovery when I had to listen to a doctor telling you you’re pregnant,” he snapped, but then his cheeks flushed with color. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I know that wasn’t on you. I made it plenty clear that I wasn’t leaving, but I wasn’t fucking expecting that.”
I laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, you and me both. When she said she was an OB/GYN, the first thing I thought was that it had been a cyst that had exploded.”
Kyle’s brow furrowed suddenly. “What was it that caused the pain?”
“Funny thing, she said it was the stress.” I shrugged. “Looks like I was right after all, just not completely.”
“Is the baby okay?” he asked, concern deepening the pools of his eyes. “Did the doctor tell you?”
My hand went instinctively to my stomach. “She said the pain was due to the extreme stress I was under and that it wasn’t anything to worry about. We’re doing an ultrasound in less than an hour to double-check, but she’s very positive.”
He eyed the IV bag. “What’s in there then? Won’t the painkillers harm the baby?”
“It turns out they didn’t give me any. They just gave me something because I fainted.”
Kyle’s eyes closed in relief, and when he opened them again, he reached for my hand. “I’ll help you however you need me to, Addy. I think it’s time for you to move home.”
“What? No. Why?” My heart pounded in my chest, and my palms grew slick with sweat. “I don’t think that’s the right thing to do at all.”
“Just think about it, okay?” His lips formed a sad, sympathetic smile. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Marco’s not around right now. His reaction earlier was not one of excitement. Keep that in mind before you make any decisions about what the right thing to do is.”
Chapter 33
Marco
“Hey, bro, what’s up?” Aldo asked, as relaxed and cheerful as he always was. “I got your text that you were taking off. Where’d you go this time? And did you tell Mama, or are you leaving it to me to break the news again?”
“I’m in Oregon.” My voice and my accent were thick.
“What happened?” All traces of lightness disappeared as soon as he heard me. “Is it Addy? Is she okay?”
“She’s—” I cleared my throat. “She’s fine, but, um, she’s pregnant.”
There was a long minute of silence. “Are you fucking with me right now?”
“No. I wouldn’t joke about something like this.” I scratched the back of my neck, my tailored suit suddenly feeling like it was four sizes too small. It was like the thing was hellbent on choking me. The material was making me itch, too. An hour ago, it’d been soft and comfortable, but now?
God. Everything had changed from the way it had been just an hour ago.
I’d heard people say that your entire life could change in one day, one minute, even one sentence, but I’d never experienced it the way I was now. Hell, even Dad’s death hadn’t come as this much of a shock to me.
Aldo’s panicked laughter derailed my train of thought. “Oh, my fuck. I can’t believe this. What are you still doing there? Get out of Dodge, man. Come home where we can deal with this together.”
“I can’t just leave.” I closed my palm over the back of my neck as I let my head drop forward. “There’s an ultrasound scheduled in an hour. The gynecologist wants to talk to us.”
“Marco, listen to yourself,” he snapped at me. “You’re talking about ultrasounds and gynecologists from the other side of the world. What are you still doing there?”
What was I doing here? It was a very good fucking question.
I thought I’d come here to support Addy while her only family was in hospital. It had been a split-second decision made on the fly.
Now here I was, standing in the parking lot however the fuck many hours later, and I’d just found out I was going to become a father. How had that even happened?
The sun was high in the sky. I still hadn’t slept. There was less humidity in the air here than I was used to, so my lips and my nostrils were dry. And, oh, yes, I was becoming a fucking father.
I gripped the ends of my hair with my hand and released a silent scream. What is happening right now?
As if he could sense my anguish despite the thousands of miles between us, Aldo released his own scream, but he did it right into my ear. I yanked the phone away, but it was too late.
There was a faint ringing in that ear now, so I swapped it to the other side. “Are you serious? Ouch. Stop it.”
“Come home then,” he barked. “Honestly, you shouldn’t be on the other side of the goddamn world right now. Just come—”
“I can’t,” I snapped, my breathing ragged and voice hoarse. “I can’t just come home. I love her, Aldo. I don’t know when it happened, but I realized it earlier after she collapsed. I’m in fucking love with her, and she’s carrying my child. I can’t just leave her here.”
The admission had my soul feeling like someone had hung it out to dry, like it was flapping
