Page 29 of JoJo

Blondie’s eyes went wide. “No, because Flint was already there. If it wasn’t his, it had to be yours.”

“And you thought I’d just believe you? I was supposed to take the word of a cheating club whore?” Steel spat the words out.

“I wasn’t ever a club whore!” Jenn yelled at him.

“Really? Did you sleep with multiple brothers from the club?” She stubbornly refused to answer. “Did you?” He asked again, louder this time.

“You know I did. It was just you, and then Flint when I got mad at you.” Jenn looked away when she said their names, not able to make eye contact. Maybe it was guilt at having to name Flint, but I didn’t think so. There were more skeletons in that girl’s closet. I’d bet money on it.

Steel dropped his face beside my ear and whispered his next words to me softly so I was the only who would be able to hear. “You all right, baby?” I hadn’t realized I’d clenched pretty much all of the muscles in my body up tight. I nodded my head. “Relax, I’ve got this.” His hands ran comfortingly up and down my arms, coaxing me to relax further into him and so I did. Jenn’s face fell even more after witnessing our interaction.

Steel blew out a deep breath. “So, you admit you’re a cheater. You’re a club whore by definition, and yet you expect me to take your word that you’re carrying my baby? Hell, let’s not even mention the fact that I was unconscious for the sex we had that was supposed to have produced that miracle.” She said nothing. Steel’s mother sat herself down in the overstuffed chair across from us. I think she knew what was coming. Hell, he hadn’t told me yet, but even I could anticipate what he was about to reveal.

“Do you have a sonogram photo?” Jenn nodded her head and reached into her purse. She pulled out the grainy black and white paper and handed it over. “See, the funny thing about these things is that they put the due date right here,” he pointed to the picture. “See it, under your name?” Jenn blanched. “I remember you telling me a specific due date, one that would coincide with the time you climbed on top of me while I was passed out. I didn’t consent to that ride, Jenn. Never, in a million years, would I have consented to going bare with you. Do you know what the law calls lack of consent where sexual acts are concerned?”

Her hand clutched her stomach then. “No worries. I’m not looking to get you locked up. But the funny thing about THIS due date, the one the doctor programmed in based on conception info, period info, and the size of the kid; it doesn’t match up with the one time you ever had me inside you bare.” I flinched at those words, and for a completely different reason than Jenn flinched. I hated the thought that she had that moment with him, even if she had stolen it. Especially because she had stolen it. I was angry on behalf of my man that he had to worry about whatever disease his cheating ex-girlfriend had been carrying, let alone a pregnancy that could have resulted from him being raped. That’s the ugly word he failed to use.

“Now, maybe you should start telling the truth, because the prospect you were fucking behind both mine and Flint’s backs already came forward. Poor kid thinks he’s the daddy. He gave up being a member of the MC in order to make sure he could openly be a daddy to his baby. From what I hear, he took a hell of a beating on the way out too.” Another visible cringe came from the blond hell-beast as Steel continued to fill her in on what he already somehow knew. “He gave up a lot to be there for you and the baby, and here you stand in my house, insulting my woman, lying to my mother, and trying to lie to me. Again.”

“Steel!” She whined. “It could still be yours.”

“You’re going to continue the lie?” Steel pulled out his phone and queued up a picture from a text message. “I received this three days ago. The same day I got a call from Flint telling me good luck because it wasn’t him. The prospect wanted me to know he was 99.8 percent sure he was the father. It says so, right here.” Steel turned the phone to show the image of the lab results. Jenn had huge tears gushing in rivers down her face.

“You lying little whore!” Steel’s mom spat out. “I only brought you here because you swore you were carrying my grandchild. You knew he wasn’t the dad.” The woman looked like she was about to blow a blood vessel.

“Calm down, mom. You’re still going to be a grandma,” Steel proclaimed. The woman’s head snapped around. She looked at me, and then at the ginge rale on the table, and then back up to me before she finally smiled. “You have some apologies to make first, after you take the trash out.”

Jenn was beaming again for some reason. Clearly missing the part where I was the one pregnant with his child. Maybe. She must have thought he meant he’d accept her and the baby. “He’s not talking about you,” I finally spoke up. “He’s talking about the fact that I might be pregnant. You were the ‘trash that needed to be taken out’ in that scenario.”

“You can’t talk to me like that, you whore!” Jenn screamed.

“My house! My rules! And since I don’t fuck around like you did, I’m going to assume you’re projecting.”

“I’m sorry,” Steel’s mom managed to say to me before she grabbed hold of Jenn’s arm. “I’ll go put her on a bus or something.”

“What? You can’t do that.”

“No worries mom. I have a prospect coming to get her out of here. He’s even giving her a lift to the airport.” Steel sneered Jenn’s way. “Oh, and Jenn, he’s been warned about you. So, don’t waste your time trying.”

J.D., the prospect in question, showed up ten minutes later and carted Jenn away, hopefully for good. Once that was taken care of, Steel pulled me upstairs, telling his mother we’d be back down in a few minutes, but that we had some family business to discuss. She did not seem to like the fact that he’d just excluded her from said “family business” one bit.

“I’m sorry I called out the pregnancy like that, babe. I shouldn’t have.”

“It didn’t even occur to me until today when you mentioned my period. Keys is supposed to be bringing me some tests later. I wasn’t trying to hide it. I just freaked out and figured I’d wait to talk to you about it until I knew for sure.”

“Shh,” Steel kissed my forehead. “I know baby. It was obvious you were clueless.” He chuckled at the glare I sent his way. “I was wondering because we’ve had sex literally every day since we got married, and no period. Then when you got sick today, I thought maybe it was true. Our wedding night, we never got to go get that pill in the morning like we discussed.”

“I’m so sorry. Everything happened all at once, and yeah, I dropped the ball and forgot.”

“We dropped the ball, babe. We’re both responsible in every way, and it’s okay. I couldn’t think of a better woman to be the mother of my kid. Plus, we’re already married, so no shotgun wedding necessary.”

That did it. I burst out laughing, and then the words slipped out amidst my laughter, “I love you!” As soon they were free from my lips, I glanced up at Steel, wide-eyed by my own admission. He just smiled, kissed my head, and pulled me closer.

“I love you too, JoJo.” And then he added the tear starters. “For better or worse, babe.” We stood there with Steel just holding me for a few minutes before I slapped a little reality back down.

“I might not be pregnant though. We really don’t know for sure.”

“When did you say Keys is showing up with the tests?”

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