“Hey,” he replied, his gray eyes dark. Angry. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

Caught off guard, I stepped back, stunned at the ferocity in his voice. “What?”

He laughed humorlessly, the fury in his expression rendering me speechless. “We are on the fucking verge of falling apart, and you come here, to my place of work, with him,” he spat. This was the little spark that finally lit the fire. “Want to rub it in my face? Or what? What are you trying to do?”

The flutter came back.

My heart broke.

“I’m busy, Evelyn. So, unless there’s something else that you came to do other than to parade your little friend around, I need to go back up there.”

My lips parted slightly, a soft gasp escaping past them. I was too shocked to be able to speak. The baby began moving more, either sensing my distress or excited to hear dad’s voice, even if he was mad.

“Evelyn, I don’t have all day.”

I smiled softly, pretending like I wasn’t dying inside. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, averting my gaze. With all the tears in my eyes, Nathan looked blurry anyway. “I didn’t realize you were busy.”

“Well, there’s an exhibition going on so…”

“I’ll just see you at home?”

“Later. I may go out for a few drinks with Thomas and Jessica.”

My eyes met his briefly, and he furrowed his brows, looking ashamed in that moment, as if finally realized the things he’d said. “Was there something you came to tell me?”

I bit my lip, shaking my head. “No. Nothing at all.” Before he could say anything else, I reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek, though it was really his lips that I wanted to feel. “I’ll see you later. Have fun.”

It wasn’t until I was out of the gallery and in a cab that I finally let the tears fall freely.

The baby never stopped moving.

Chapter 26

Nathan

Drinks with friends suck if you have problems at home. Granted, I overreacted, and this was all my fault, but still, I was livid.

When Derek just happened to walk into the same bar, I lost my shit. Especially when he began approaching us. My grip tightened around the glass I held in my hand, the drinks I’d already taken doing very little to help me relax.

“You need to breathe,” Jesse whispered, leaning into my ear. “This is a public place. He can be here if he wants.”

I snorted. “I don’t want to breathe the same fucking oxygen he’s breathing in,” I muttered, fixing my eyes on Derek.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to get kicked out because of your issues,” Lanthorn replied, swirling his whiskey around before finishing it all.

Derek got closer and closer, and my anger grew with every step he took. I knew the minute he opened his mouth I would explode.

“Can I join?”

No.

“Sure.” Jesse smiled, nudging me with her elbow.

“Actually,” Derek said, focusing his attention on me, “I would like to have a word with you.”

I shook my head. “Not happening.”

The man smiled, amused. I tried to ignore it, but when he sat next to me, it took all my self-control to not do something stupid. Breaking the glass over his head sounded like a great fucking idea.