“No.”
That hurt, and I couldn’t explain why. I’d known for less than twenty-four hours, and yet, the baby was mine, and I wanted the world to know it.
Sloane’s face softened. “I want to tell my parents and Knox that you’re the father at the same time. With you there. If Knox was back from New York City, then maybe I’d do it today.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry I’m angry, Tackle.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“Okay, we’re both sorry. You made me promise I’d tell you the truth. Is it really too much for me to expect the same of you?”
“Of course it isn’t.”
“If you want me to ‘keep an open mind,’ then you need to be honest with me. That includes telling me things I should know or that relate to me, in real time.”
The fact that my mind was racing with what I hadn’t yet told her that I should’ve, drove home how right she was.
“I want to turn the smaller bedroom on the second floor into a nursery for the baby,” I blurted.
She walked over and handed me the other sandwich. We both sat on the sofa. When she put her plate on the coffee table, so did I.
“I love that idea,” she said, turning her body to face mine.
“Does that mean—”
“It means I love the idea.”
“Got it.”
“I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the truth.”
“Shoot.”
“Swear to me there isn’t any kind of relationship whatsoever between you and Nick.”
“There isn’t.” I said the word, but that didn’t change the fact that Nick wanted there to be, no matter how much I didn’t. What she wanted wouldn’t sway me; I didn’t want any other woman in my life other than Sloane, my mom, and our baby, if it was a girl.
“Was there one?”
“Not since high school. You asked me to swear, and I did.”
I hated that Sloane looked like she didn’t believe me, but I loved that she didn’t tell me to leave again.
Two days later, Ranger called.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Nick is making noise about needing you to come back out here.”
“Why?”
“You know why, Tackle.”
“Tell her I said no.”
“Already tried that.”
“No means no, man. I’m not coming every time she calls. In fact, I’m never coming again. She needs to accept that.”
“She’s threatening to come there.”
“Stop her.”
“It isn’t that simple. K19 arranged for a place for her to live and supplied her with a new identity, but she isn’t under house arrest, Tackle. She isn’t a prisoner. We’ve even cut back on surveillance.”
“Tell her it’s for her own safety that she not return to Massachusetts, at least until her husband goes to trial.”
“Ex-husband now.”
That in itself was a relief. It was pretty easy to get a divorce in Massachusetts. All one spouse had to do was cite irreconcilable differences. Even if Caruso had tried to contest it, unless Nick filed based on fault, the courts wouldn’t allow it. The only holdup was the ninety-day waiting period.
“Ex or not, he could still have people on the lookout for her.”
Ranger didn’t reply.
“Listen, I’m involved with someone else now. It’s serious, and I won’t jeopardize that relationship because Nick believes I’m, somehow, her knight in shining armor.”
“That news would be better coming straight from you.”
Ranger was probably right. As much as I detested confrontation, I had to shut Nick down once and for all. I had to make her understand that there was no chance she and I would ever be together.
“All right. I’ll talk to her.” I’d blocked her from contacting me, even from the new phone K19 had supplied her with, so I didn’t want to call her directly. “When will you be back at her place?”
“I’m sitting out front.”
“All right, let’s get this over with. Go inside and put me on speaker.”
25
Sloane
“Where are you?” my brother asked when I answered his call.
“At the office. Where are you?”
“Just landed at Logan. Got time for lunch?”
It was almost two in the afternoon. I’d eaten lunch at eleven, but I was already hungry again, so I said yes. When Knox asked where we should meet, I gave him the name of the Mediterranean place where Tackle and I had eaten. Since it was at the public market, if my brother wanted something different, he had plenty of choices.
“Wow, look at you,” he said when he saw me. “How long was I gone?”
“I know,” I murmured, rubbing my belly. “Since it popped, it just keeps growing.”
“Mom told me that you told her and Dad you were pregnant.”
“I figured she would.” It ended up not being a big deal when I sat the two of them down to tell them. My mom insisted she already knew, which I doubted. If she really had, she would’ve been fussing over me as much as she had been over the last week. My dad’s face broke into a knowing smile, making me think he had truly suspected.
Knox went to get our food when they called our number.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked when he sat back down.
He smiled, and his cheeks flushed. “Guessed it wasn’t just lunch, then, huh?”
“Yep.”
He took a bite of his food. “Damn, this place is really good. How’d you find it?”
“A friend and I came here.”
Knox ate a few more bites and set his napkin on the table. “Mom is hounding me to tell her who the father is. She doesn’t believe I don’t know.”
“She’s hounding me too, but I doubt that’s why you wanted to meet for lunch.”
“You’re right. Here goes. I want to move to New York City to live with Tara.”
I jumped up and threw my arms around his neck. “That’s such wonderful news. I’m so happy for you, Knox.” I sat back down.
“I made the decision to talk to you about it after Mom called. I was hoping that, since they knew, you wouldn’t be as uncomfortable with me being so far away.”
“You did so much for me in the last several weeks; how could I deny you
