Page 89 of Forbidden Boss (Manhattan Billionaires)

I put a hand against my bare stomach, a rejection screaming through me. I wouldn’t let him do that. Icouldn’t.

Meeting my own gaze in the mirror, I realized what that meant.

Iwantedthis child.

But—that was crazy. I couldn’t?—

Points of pain peppered my scalp as I pulled at my hair, letting out a noise of frustration. It was better that I’d told Rome not to come; I didn’t want anyone seeing me like this.

My phone ringing made me jump. I turned it over to look at the screen, heart sinking at the sight of my mother’s name.

Two deep breaths later, I was reasonably sure my voice would come out okay. “Hi, Mom.”

“Honey! How’s my favorite girl?”

I leaned a hip against the bathroom vanity, arching my brows. Typically we sent each other holiday and birthday texts, and then let the guilt push us into a bi-yearly phone call that both of us hated. There was no favorite about it.

“I’m good,” I lied. “What’s up? Is everything okay?” I didn’t add,because it’s weird that you’re calling me, but based on my mother’s answering snort, I guessed she heard it anyway.

“Everything is great. I just made plans with the Williamses for the holidays. We’re going on a cruise!”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. “Right.”

“I assumed you’d be doing something fancy with those girlfriends of yours, which is why I didn’t ask if you were coming home for the holidays this year.”

“Yeah,” I said noncommittally. My girlfriends were all shopping ’til they dropped in Paris without me, so I most definitely wasnotspending the holidays with them.

And Rome…

God. I needed to tell him about the baby. Would he be able to tell something was wrong with me if I delayed?

“Listen, honey, I wanted to ask you something.”

I blinked, shifting my attention back to the call. “Okay…”

“Do you think you could talk to Penny about talking to her husband about a job? The Williamses’ son is graduating college, and he’s looking to start his career, so…”

My bathroom walls were painted a soft shade of blue. I stared at the paint, frowning, as my mother’s words sank in. “Isthatwhy you’ve been calling me lately?”

“What? I can’t call my daughter? I need a reason?”

“Well, based on the fact that we barely speak to each other, yes,” I snapped.

“You have a lot of nerve speaking to me like that, Nikita. After everything I did for you. After everything yourfatherdid! All I ask is a tiny favor for a friend’s son, and this is how you react?”

Her tirade continued, and I pulled the phone away from my ear.

It shouldn’t have hurt so much. It shouldn’t even have been a surprise. I barely had a relationship with my mother, and Iknewher calling me wasn’t just because she wanted to chat. We had nothing in common. Our bond had been severed when my father died, when she’d drowned in grief and left me to fend for myself.

But…

God, I wanted my mom. I wantedsomeoneto turn to right now. Someone I could ask about what the hell I was supposed to do.

My mother was more concerned with impressing her neighbors and helping their kid get ahead. She would’ve never dreamed to ask anyone for a job onmybehalf, her actual biological child. I was a reminder of the husband she’d lost. I was tainted.

But now I was a useful stepping stone for her to impress her friends. I wasn’t a daughter or even an actual person with feelings. I was just someone who knew Marcus Walsh. Someone who might make her look good when she went on that cruise with the neighbors.

My name echoed through the phone speakers, and I just tapped the screen to hang up the call. Then I set my phone down, turned on the shower, and stripped off the rest of my clothes. I sat on the shower floor and cried until the tears stopped, then dried myself off and went to bed. Alone.

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