Undeniable (Undeniable, #1)(50)

Her voice grew shrill. “I can’t let you take the only person in the world besides Evie that has ever meant anything to me!”

Eva burst into a fresh bout of tears. Sighing, convinced he was the only sane person left in the world, Deuce pulled her to him and started rubbing her back.

Cox turned away from Kami. “Shit,” he muttered. “Shit. Shit. Fuckin’ shit.”

He turned back around and took Kami’s hand in his. “Woman, I wouldn’t have taken him from you; we woulda worked somethin’ out, back-and-forth bullshit. I’d never take my boy from his mama.”

Kami burst into tears, and her knees buckled. Cox caught her before she crumpled to the floor, scooped her up in his arms, and took off down the hall. Deuce watched him lean down and kiss Kami’s forehead before he made a left, and they were out of sight.

He decided to start back up where he left off. “Where’s your room, Eva?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

His nostrils flared. Jesus Christ, all he wanted to do was get this bitch to her room and take care of her.

“For f*ck’s sake, what the f*ck are you sorry for?”

“The motel,” she whispered. “I wasn’t thinking, and I didn’t put a condom on you before I…and you didn’t pull out…” she trailed off.

He stared at her.

“You tellin’ me that’s my kid inside you? Not that f*ckin’ pretty boy’s?”

“No,” she said, dropping her eyes. “I’m telling you I’m sorry because I don’t know whose kid is inside me.”

? ? ?

I had never planned to tell Deuce I was pregnant, therefore, I had never envisioned what his reaction was going to be. Whatever reactions I had dreamed up during the three seconds it took me to tell him that the baby might be his, the reaction he had was not one I would have ever dreamed up.

“Can you walk?”

Huh?

“What?”

“Can you walk?” he repeated. “Or do you need me to carry you?”

I blinked. “Carry me?”

“Yeah, babe. Carry you to the shower.”

Oh God, he was trying to take care of me. How could a man be so perfect for me and yet so wrong for me all at the same time?

“I’m disgusting,” I whispered.

His eyebrow rose. “Yeah, babe, that’s why I’m tryin’ to get you in the shower.”

“No!” I cried. “I mean I’m disgusting! I’m a whore!”

Deuce’s face went rock hard. “Fuckin’ listen to me. Up until you started askin’ favors usin’ your * as payment, you’d been with only two men. Me and Frankie. You’re not a f*ckin’ whore. You’re a f*ckin’ idiot.”

I gaped at him.

“Yeah, babe, an idiot. You’ve been takin’ care of that crazy f*ckwad so damn long you think it’s your f*ckin’ destiny. Chase knew that; he saw an opening, and he f*ckin’ took it. And because he took it, he’s gonna f*ckin’ die. But, babe, you’re not a whore—farthest thing from it.”

I swallowed hard. “I’m still disgusting,” I whispered.

His eyes flashed with anger. “Goddammit, Eva! What the f*ck did I just—”

“I liked it!” I blurted out. “I don’t even like Chase all that much, but I liked f*cking him and stuff…because I’m disgusting! I did things with him…” My voice cracked, and I swallowed hard.

“Disgusting things…and I liked them, and I liked that it was him doing them,” I finished in a small voice.

Deuce took a deep breath, and then blew it out slowly. This was it. In about two seconds, he was going to tell me exactly how disgusting I was, and then I would never see him again.

“Eva,” he growled. I braced myself.

“You’re bein’ an idiot again.”

“Excuse me?” I whispered.

“You heard me. You’re bein’ an idiot. But I get why you’re bein’ an idiot. You’d never f*cked someone just to f*ck ’em. So I’m gonna lay this out for you, babe. You don’t gotta like someone to like f*ckin’ ’em. You can even hate their f*ckin’ guts and still like f*ckin’ ’em. Sometimes that’s the best kinda f*ckin’. Angry, crazy, f*cked-up f*ckin’. You got nothin’ to be ashamed of, darlin’.

“That said, it don’t mean I’m not f*ckin’ pissed as hell that you’ve been in another man’s bed and enjoyin’ it, that you might got a kid inside you that ain’t mine, and that you’ve been runnin’ from me for eight f*ckin’ years now. I know I’m a f*ckin’ bastard with a bad temper, and I don’t f*ckin’ deserve you, but shit, Eva, if you woulda stayed put, I woulda done better by you than you’ve had. You feel me?”

I stared at him. And fell in love with him all over again.

“I feel you,” I whispered.

His eyes went soft. “Babe,” he said gently, “I know that f*ckin’ look. Can’t f*ckin’ tell me you might have my kid inside you, then look at me the way you’re lookin’ at me, and expect me to keep it reeled in.”

I shook my head. “I can’t do this anymore.”