Belong (Seven Year Itch #3)(45)

"Let's not fool ourselves here. Whether I had an affair or not, you and I both know you would have slept with Rachel. My god, it only took you two a matter of days before you jumped in the sack. You think I'm a horrible person. Maybe you should pick up a mirror. You're nothing but a hypocrite."

?She was a wreck, breaking down before she could finish her statement.

"Are you pregnant?" I was through with being patient.

She peered down, avoiding my ability to be able to judge what she was thinking. "Yes."

"What?" I needed her to repeat it, because I had to be hearing wrong. “It’s not possible. No."

"Remember that night after the Protégé shoot? We were in Rio. We danced and had too much to drink."

It was all coming back to me; the celebratory dinner, the music, the alcohol. We'd had sex for hours that night. I closed my eyes and turned my head away. This was worse than I imagined. "I remember."

"I took a test last week. The night you confronted me about Shelly, I was planning on telling you. ?I made your favorite dinner, and wore something sexy, hoping that it could be a new start for us. I never expected you'd discovered my affair."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "You could have said something.?"

She sobbed harder. "No. Once you said we were done I knew I couldn't tell you. Your mind was made up. Then you got the call about your grandfather. You came here, and it got more complicated. The second you saw her again you knew you wanted her, didn't you? You asked me if I ever loved you, but I can ask you the same damn question. Did you love me or was I just someone to fill a void until you could return to your life here again?"

"It's not like that."

"Oh really?" She didn't believe me. "It's exactly how I see it."

"I was good to you. You chose to stray from our marriage. What happened afterwards is all your fault."

“We can’t keep at it like this, Chad. I’m sick of it already. If we’re done then we need to do the right thing with this baby.”

“The right thing?” She better not have been thinking what I thought she was. “Don’t you dare even say it.”

“Chad, you and I both know the timing is all wrong. You don’t want to be with me, and I’m not even sure what I want anymore. Let’s face it, we’re not in any position to have a new baby.”

“You’re not getting an abortion, Veronica.” I was adamant. “Over my dead body.”

“It’s not up to you. I’ve already made the appointment.”

“You told our daughter she was going to be a big sister. How will you explain this?”

She was bawling. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll tell her the baby went to heaven.”

I stood up and walked to her side of the desk, crouching down to be on her level. “Please don’t do this. You’re a mother. You’ll never be able to live with your choice.”

She nodded while scrunching up her face and finally falling down into my shoulder. “I don’t know what to do. It’s too much. I know I’m at fault, but you didn’t have to run right to her, Chad. You didn’t have to give up so quickly.”

I took her hand. “You can’t abort this baby, Veronica. I won’t let you. That’s our baby. It’s Harper’s brother or sister. You may have cheated, but you’ve never been a selfish mother. I know you want this baby.”

She nodded. “I do. I want it so much.” I watched her palm go across her stomach. “This is killing me.”

Holding her hand seemed natural. I knew what it implied, and unfortunately I didn’t have any other choice. This was my child she was carrying. I wasn’t going to let her terminate the pregnancy just because she and I weren’t on the same page. “You’re keeping this child.”

“I don’t want to be a single parent.”

I cringed, but managed to get the words out, even though I knew they were going to destroy me later. “You won’t be. We don’t have a choice, Veronica. We need to stay together for our children. No matter how hard it gets, I won’t let you down.” There was a constant burning in my throat. I recognized it as pain, agony and regret. I knew this was going to destroy me, but it was out of my control. I refused to give up on my unborn child. Rachel would have never forgave me if I tried to. As much as I wished it wasn’t true, I was about to be a father for the second time around, and I had no idea how in the hell I was going to break it to Rachel that we weren’t going to have a future together.

Veronica’s arms wrapped around my shoulders. She wept quietly, overcome with gratefulness, while I wanted to cry out in disappointment. Why, when we’d come so close to having a life together, did something like this happen to us? Why couldn’t we have our chance?

It made no sense. I’d been a good person, and I knew Rachel was the same. We didn’t lie or steal. We worked hard and gave back to those in need.

I needed Rachel. I needed her more than I’d ever needed anything in my life, but I couldn’t have her. It was enough to make me want to run away before I had to break her heart all over again.





Chapter 24


I still couldn’t believe it. In the blink of an eye my life was taking a turn in the opposite direction of what I’d assumed. As much as I’d hoped to be able to start over with Rachel, I knew it was becoming impossible.