Xavier Cold (Hard Knocks #2)(58)

“Wow. The champ? Impressive, Anna.”

“Not really,” I mumble. “He’s an *. I can’t wait until Xavier comes back and kicks his butt and takes the belt away from him. I’ll be cheering like this—” I pump my arms in the air as if I’m lifting the roof.

Jorge chuckles. “Not a fan, huh?”

“Definitely no—” I can’t even get the words out because his driver’s door flies open and two large hands reach inside.

“Xavier, no!” I shout, but it doesn’t seem to faze him as he curls his finger into the fabric of Jorge’s once perfectly pressed polo shirt.

Xavier leans down in the car so he can get face to face with Jorge, who is pinned to his seat by both his seatbelt and fear. “What the f*ck are you doing with my girl?”

Jorge’s eyes widen as he holds his hands up defensively and his voice shakes as he says, “We’re friends.”

Xavier pulls him up and then slams him back on the seat. “Don’t lie to me. I know there’s more than that going on. You f*cking her?”

“Xavier! Stop it! You’ll hurt him.” My plea for him to end this before it gets any further out of control seems to fall on deaf ears. It’s as if he’s lost in a rage haze—unable to recognize anything outside of the focus of his anger. I need to do something drastic—something to snap him out of it. “I’m pregnant!”

That does the trick because Xavier’s eyes snap to me. “What did you just say?”

Tears stream down my face as I lock my gaze on his. “I’m pregnant.”

“No, you’re not.”

My mouth drifts open as his words feel like a slap in the face, but I refuse to let him make me feel bad about this. He may not want this baby, but I do.

“I am,” I whisper. “And it’s yours. And . . . I’m keeping it. You can either be a part of it’s life or not—up to you—but I’m going to be a mother.”

Xavier releases Jorge’s shirt from his grasp and his eyes soften. “Anna . . . I. I can’t. I’m sorry.”

He steps back, and I realize he’s running from me yet again because things are hard, but I refuse to let him walk away from me so easily this time. I jump out of the car and chase him down to the edge of the gated lot where I grab his arm.

“You can’t keep walking away from me,” I tell him.

“You don’t understand, Anna. This changes everything. I came here to beg you to come back to me because I’m selfish bastard who can’t stand the thought of losing you, but now, I know I was doing the right thing to let you go. It’s one thing for me to ruin your life because you can leave me any time you want, but a baby—if it’s stuck with me, it has no choice. I won’t ruin my kid’s life. I’m too much of a f*ck up to be a father.”

“No, you’re not. This baby deserves to have you in its life.”

I can clearly see the struggle in Xavier’s eyes and as he takes a step back from me, I know I’m losing the battle to make him see he’s a good man.

“Don’t,” I whisper. “Don’t leave me again. It’s now or never time, Xavier. I won’t keep playing this game with you. Either you want to be with me or not. Choose.”

Tears streak down his face as he takes another step back. “I’m sorry, Anna. I can’t.”

He walks away from me, and I drop to my knees on the asphalt of the parking lot. No air gets to my lungs as I gasp for breath between sobs.

He’s gone.

And this time, I feel like I’ve really lost him.

I’m not sure how long I stay kneeling in the parking lot, but Jorge is soon there, putting his hands around my shoulders and urging me to get up. “Come on, Anna. The bouncer guy says he’ll cover for you. I’ll take you to the hotel so you can check in and get yourself together.”

I nod and then stand up on my feet. My legs still feel like they’re made of Jell-O as Jorge leads me back to his car.

Freddy is standing there by the car with a deep-set frown. The pity he feels for me is clear, and I’m sure I look like a pathetic mess because that’s exactly how I feel. “I’ll let the bosses know you are sick, and I sent you home because you were puking all over the place.”

I stare up at the big teddy bear of a man who has always been so kind to me. “Thank you.”

“Come on.” Jorge nudges me to get inside the car.

As soon as I’m inside the car, the sobs start again and I don’t see them stopping anytime soon.

Later that evening, I’m still crying while I lie on the bed. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop the tears from falling. Jorge has begun pacing the floor nonstop over the last couple of hours. He’s never been through something like this, so I’m sure he has no idea how to handle a heartbroken woman.

A knock at the door causes me to gasp. I’m not ready to see Xavier again right now if that’s him.

Jorge releases a relieved sigh as he hustles to the door and I hear him mutter, “Finally.”

The door creaks open and the distinct sound of Mother’s voice wafts into the room. “Where is she?”

“In here. But—” Jorge tells her, and the door hits the side of the wall like she’s forced her way past Jorge.