Page 79 of The Breakup

Nothing Bella had just told me made any sense. Why would she and Ali be talking about pregnancy? Or Sophie? I was relieved Sophie wasn’t pregnant. I didn’t think my brother was ready for that kind of news.

As I mixed drinks and greeted customers and puzzled the conversation around in my head, I found it only got more confusing. Bella was a lousy liar and she had been hiding something from me. Her eyes darted to the floor repeatedly and her cheeks had turned pink.

I hadn’t responded to Ali’s text but now I did, curious.

Where did you see Bella?

Pharmacy. Picking up prenatal vitamins.

“Holy shit,” I said out loud as the truth hit me like a bag of bricks straight between the eyes.

Sophie wasn’t pregnant. Bella was.

That explained her glow. Her happy smile. Her deliciously full tits.

She was pregnant.

For a split second I thought I was going to actually explode. Just burst apart and scatter skin, blood, and bones across this bar. Shock and something else I couldn’t define rose up inside me. I turned and poured myself a shot of whiskey. I took it back with one swallow. Brandy saw me, her eyes going wide.

“WTF?” she mouthed to me.

I just shook my head, unable to speak. I slammed up the bar top so I could move into the restaurant and went straight to Bella, no rational thought in my head. She had just taken a customer’s order and turned, almost colliding with me.

“Oh, hello!” She gave me a smile.

“Are you pregnant?” I asked without preamble. I didn’t know what I was going to do if she said yes.

Bella looked around nervously. “Christian…”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Do you really want to do this here?” She tucked her hair behind her ear and swallowed visibly.

“That’s not an answer either.” I could hear how harsh my voice sounded. I was practically growling, but I couldn’t temper my reaction. It felt like my blood was buzzing past my ears.

Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped. But then she nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.

The bottom of my stomach fell out. Again. It had happened again. When the fuck was I ever going to learn? And again, who the hell knew who the father actually was? She had presumably been fucking her fiancé, at least until she had found out about the cheating. Hell, maybe even after.

I wasn’t sure which would be worse, me or that little prick Bradley being the father.

“Holy fuck, Bella.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Holy fucking fuck.”

“It will be okay,” she said, her hand coming out like she wanted to touch me, then changing her mind. But she lifted her chin, took my hand, and tugged. “Come outside. Now, Christian.”

Her hand felt small and warm in mine. I wanted answers now and I didn’t want to be led around, but yeah, this wasn’t the best place to do this. I didn’t hesitate when the back door slammed behind us. We were by the Dumpster and no one was around. “Who is the father?” I demanded. “Do you know?”

“I’m almost positive it’s you. I wasn’t with Bradley for the three weeks before the wedding and I had my period in that time. It was after we…after us that I missed one. Once I have an ultrasound they can pinpoint the conception date pretty accurately.”

I really thought I was going to pass out. I went down into a squat, bending my head to try to get some air. “I’m sorry,” I told her. “This is my fault.”

“It’s no one’s fault. We used condoms. It just happened.” Her hands came out and stroked my head.

Her touch was soothing. Maternal. Bella was very maternal, no question about that. Her thighs brushed against the crown of my head. It made me uncomfortable. She didn’t even seem remotely upset.

I pulled my shit together and stood up, the blood rushing to my brain. I thought about her father saying she was born to be a mother.

A very ugly thought crowded my mind. Was I being conned? Was this really Bradley’s kid and she was setting me up so she didn’t have to deal with him? It seemed stupid, because Bradley could give her a shit ton of child support, but I knew she didn’t want to talk to him ever again. I also wasn’t a big enough of a dick though to accuse her of that. I would just go to the ultrasound and see for myself. But then I realized that was an Ali move. Not a Bella move. I knew her better than that. Bella had pure motives always.

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