“Your cervix is unskilled?”
“Now is not the time to make jokes.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make a joke. I don’t understand what you mean.”
“It means I can’t carry this pregnancy to term.” I place my hand over my stomach, already feeling protective of the tiny human being growing there. Damn. I want to keep her. Or him. I’d love a little boy who looks exactly like Luke. How adorable would a boy with Luke’s green eyes be? I’d spoil him rotten. Give him everything his little heart desires.
“Like never? You can never have a baby?”
“The chance I miscarry again is high.”
“Then there’s a chance you don’t miscarry?”
I have no answer. I don’t actually know. After I lost Rose, I became determined to never get pregnant again because there is no way I can survive the pain of losing a baby a second time. Then, when Luke turned on me, it became a moot point. I learned my lesson. Do not open your heart to a man. He’ll stomp all over it when you need him most.
“What am I going to do?” I sniff and my eyes begin to swell with tears. “It’s Luke’s baby. I want to keep her.”
Bailey grabs my hands and squeezes. “Then, that’s what’s going to happen. You will keep this baby.”
“But how?”
“We’ll figure it out together. We’ll research. We’ll talk to specialists. And whatever we need to do, we’ll do.”
“You make it sound like you and I are in this together. What about Luke?”
“What about me?”
I scream and nearly fall off the sofa at Luke’s voice. “What are you doing here?” I ask with my hand over my chest. My heart is galloping away determined to shoot straight out of my chest. “Geez. You scared me. Why are you here?”
“Roman called me.” He tilts his head towards the man in question.
I glare at Roman. “How dare you?”
“Sorry, Violet, but I heard what you said, and he needs to know.”
“I need to know what?” Luke’s questioning gaze ping-pongs back and forth between me and Roman.
“I was planning on telling him, you know.” How dare Roman take it upon himself to tell Luke? Does he honestly believe I wouldn’t tell the father of my child about his child? What must he think of me?
“I know. I didn’t tell him about you know.” He smiles at Luke. “If you want to talk here, the guest suite is made up.”
Luke grabs my hand and pulls me from the sofa. “Let’s go check out the billionaire’s guest suite. Do you think his sheets are literally made of gold? Or is the gold reserved for the master suite?”
And despite the shit show my life currently is, I giggle.
Chapter 22
The city is a forty-five-minute drive? Challenge accepted. ~ Luke’s Secret Thoughts
I squeeze Violet’s hand as we walk through the penthouse to the guest suite. I shove my free hand in my pocket to hide how much I’m shaking. Roman scared the absolute shit out of me when he called and told me to get my ass to his place. He only needed to mention Violet’s name and I was out the door and on the road.
“Damn,” I say when I open the door to the guest suite. “Roman wasn’t kidding about it being a guest suite.” I was expecting a large bedroom with an attached bathroom, not a freaking apartment. Sure, there’s a humongous bed. But there are also two fireplaces. One of which has two chairs and a loveseat gathered around it. There’s also a desk and bookshelf in another corner.
“Come on.” I settle Violet in the loveseat in front of the fireplace and go in search of the bathroom. The first door I open is for a walk-in closet. It’s seriously larger than my bedroom. I hit the jackpot with the next door. Naturally, the bathroom is opulent with a soaking tub and a shower big enough for a football team. I quickly find a washcloth and wet it with warm water.
I return to Violet and kneel in front of her to clean her face. She’s no longer crying but her eyes are puffy, and her cheeks are streaked with mascara. “There,” I say when I finish. “Beautiful as ever.”
To my horror, she starts crying. “Stop being sweet to me.”
“You want me to be mean?” Women are the most confusing creatures on earth.
“And stop being funny.”
Obviously, anything I say now is going to be wrong. I settle myself on the loveseat next to Violet and pull her close. She buries her head in my shoulder and it isn’t long before my sweater is soaked through with her tears. What the hell happened? Whoever hurt her is dead because she is mine to protect.
“You’re breaking my heart here, Petal. What can I do to make it better?”
“Nothing.” She hiccups and lifts her head. “You can’t change what’s happened.”
Maybe I can’t change what happened, but I will help her deal with the consequences. She has to know I’d burn down the world for her. “Can you tell me what’s happened?” I ask and hope my question doesn’t piss her off.
“I have to tell you. Otherwise, Roman will come smashing in here and blab.”
I growl. “Let him try.”
She rolls her eyes. “Stop being jealous. Roman’s in love with my best friend.”
“I’m not jealous,” I lie. “But he’s not telling me anything until you’re ready for me to hear it.” Although it may kill me knowing Roman knows why my girl is crying when I haven’t a clue.
“Don’t be mad.”
I cradle her face with my hands and pull her close. “I won’t be mad. Promise.” Not at her at least. Whoever or whatever has made her cry however is free game.
“I’m pregnant.”
I scratch my ear. I couldn’t have possibly heard her say she’s pregnant. “Um. What?”
“You promised not to get mad!”
I raise my hands in surrender. “I’m not mad. I’m confused. I know I screwed up and didn’t use a condom when we had sex, but I thought you were on birth control.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I didn’t think I could get pregnant.”
“Because of …” I gulp. I may not have known Violet was carrying my child, but the loss of Rose is still devasting.
“Yeah.” She nods. “I thought my uterus was broken. Guess not.”
I take a deep breath and wait for the panic to overcome me. A child? I’m not ready for a child. Violet and I are just starting over with our second chance. Our relationship is fragile. Can we survive being parents together? To my surprise, none of those thoughts cause me to panic. Instead, I feel a certainty and determination take over me. I will do everything in my power to ensure Violet forgives me and this child is born to two parents with a rock-solid relationship.
What if she doesn’t want the child? What if that’s the reason she’s crying her eyes out? It will kill me, but I have to let her make the decision.
“What do you want to do? Do you want to keep the baby?” I can taste bile in my mouth at those questions, but I need to know.
Violet pulls as far away from me as she can on the loveseat and glares at me. “Of course, I’m keeping Baby Bud.”