Page 103 of Forbidden Boss (Manhattan Billionaires)

I nodded, opening the door. “Sure. Can I get you something? Water? Uh—actually, I only have water.” I let out an awkward laugh that died on my lips when I saw the look on Rome’s face.

He looked…distraught.

“Nikki,” he said, stretching his hands out toward me and quickly pulling them back. “I—I wanted to apologize. The way I treated you… You deserve so much better. I’m sorry.”

I blinked. “Oh. I—thank you.”

“I’ve realized a lot of things over the past twenty-four hours, and one of them is how precious you are to me. Is there any way—could you ever forgive me? I’d like…” He shoved a hand through his hair and released a sharp breath. “I’d like to just erase everything I said to you and tell you that yes, I want everything you offered, but I know I messed up.”

His gaze skimmed down my body and back up again, and I felt a strange sense of detachment. Here was a man that I’d loved, standing in front of me telling me everything I’d wanted to hear.

But if he knew about the baby, then he was only doing this because of his future child. Not because of me. He’d left me wallowing on my own, humiliated, broke, and isolated. He’d turned his back on me when I told him I wanted a real relationship with him. That hadn’t been enough. All the time we’d spent together, the secrets we’d shared, the promises we’d made—they meant nothing. They weren’t enough.

Now that I was carrying his baby, I was enough?

My jaw hardened. “You did mess up, Rome. I’m not sure I can give you what you’re asking.”

His shoulders slumped, despair entering his gaze. “I—I understand. I thought…”

“I know,” I said, when he didn’t continue. “Listen, I appreciate you coming here. I was planning on calling you this week. I’m sure we can come up with a coparenting arrangement that works for both of us. I’ll be looking for full custody, especially when the baby is an infant, but?—”

I clamped my lips shut at the look Rome gave me. His frown had deepened with every word, and now he was staring at my stomach like he’d suddenly turned into a human ultrasound machine.

His gaze lifted up to meet my own. “You’repregnant?”

I blinked. Frowned. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“You’re pregnant?” He repeated the question as a whisper.

Suddenly, I realized that I might have made a mistake in my assumptions. I opened my mouth then closed it again. All my carefully planned speeches vanished. I forgot everything I’d written in the journal and everything my girlfriends had encouraged me to say.

Because the look on Rome’s face transformed from shock to joy to…toagony. He dropped his gaze to the ground and covered his face with his hands, drawing in a long, shuddering breath. My own emotions were running riot through me. My eyes watered and my heart still hadn’t returned to its normal rhythm. It was hard to breathe.

“You didn’t know?” I croaked.

He shook his head, swallowing thickly. “No.”

I blinked back my tears. “So everything you just said…you said it because you really want me? Not just because I’m pregnant with your baby?”

The silence that stretched between us was taut. It vibrated with the tension of all our unsaid words. It held us apart and kept us together, so we were both frozen a few feet apart, trembling, watching each other for the slightest sign.

Rome was the first to move. He stumbled forward, and then I was closing the distance and our arms were around each other. His lips dragged over my jaw as he placed kisses over every bit of skin he could find. When he finally reached my lips, Rome kissed me like a man starved. He held my face with both hands and kissed me until we both had to stop for breath.

One of his hands slid down my side and came to rest on the side of my stomach. His eyes were full of unshed tears when he met my gaze, his lips glistening from our kiss. “Is this real?” he whispered. “Is this happening?”

“I’m not sure.”

His gaze flicked between my eyes, and that sharp agony returned to his expression. “You thought I was only here because I wanted the baby. You thought I was apologizing because I found out you were pregnant.”

A boulder had lodged itself in my throat, so all I could do was nod.

Rome closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine. He kept a hand on the side of my bump as his body trembled, our breaths mingling near our lips.

When Rome pulled away, he didn’t go far—only a couple of inches, far enough that he could meet my gaze. “I love you, Nikki. I didn’t even know what love was until you came into my life. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to realize the bone-deep fear I felt was just one facet of my love for you. I’m nothing without you. Ihavenothing without you. I came here ready to get on my knees and beg you to forgive me, because the way I treated you was selfish and wrong and cruel. You are the light of my life, Nikki. You’re the one who makes me want to wake up in the morning, who makes me reach for the other side of the bed before I’ve even opened my eyes.”

“Rome—”

“Let me finish,” he interrupted softly. “Let me apologize properly, because I know you were offering me the kind of relationship that I didn’t even know existed, and I threw it back in your face. I’m sorry I pushed you away. I’m sorry I let my fears of abandonment and rejection get in the way. I’m sorry I let you stand in my office and strip off your armor to show me your vulnerability without doing the same thing. I’m doing it now. You’re the air that I breathe and the food that I eat. You’re what I need to live, Nikki, and I’m sorry I ever made you feel differently. I know—” He took in a shuddering breath, a tear escaping from the corner of his eye. “I know it’s a lot to ask for you to accept my apology, especially because I haven’t even been here for this”—he stroked my side—“but please. Please, I’m begging you, baby?—”

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