Page 90 of Love or Tequila in Unexpected Places

“Answers. Now, Allison,” Frederick demanded, his voice sharp enough to slice through her moment of bliss.

For holy shitballs’ sake, Freddie!

Couldn’t he at least wait until her muffin was half-eaten?

She huffed, puffed, and reluctantly set her drink down, trying to muster the energy to deal with this mess. This was going to require her full, undivided attention.

Here goes nothing, I guess,she thought, mentally bracing herself.

“So, I know this is out of the blue, and you’re both very confused, and let me just say I’m sorry in advance because you will not be happy or calm after I say—”

“Allison.”

She froze.

There was something about the way Angelo said her name. It was a command, a plea, and a grounding force all in one. It made her feel like he knew her mind was spiraling and was trying to bring her back to earth.

It wasn’t exactly the time for her hormones to go haywire, but apparently, they didn’t get the memo. She cleared her throat and pushed on, ignoring her brothers’ curious glances.

“Right. Well, as you both know, I am pregnant. Twenty weeks along, to be precise, which means I’m past the halfway mark,” she said, her voice steadier now as she focused on her breathing.

“Not exactly breaking news, Ali,” Frederick muttered, and she silently cursed Angelo’s coffee for not calming her brother’s nerves.

It was my good coffee too,she thought with a touch of bitterness.

“Would you let me finish?” she snapped, giving Frederick a look that could curdle milk. “So, as I was saying, I’m past the halfway mark.”

Frederick narrowed his eyes. “This better not be another ‘I’m secretly dating a vampire’ prank.”

“God, Freddie!” Allison groaned, rubbing her temples. “This is serious. I… well, he is…” She hesitated, glancing at Angelo, who offered her a reassuring nod.

“The baby is mine,” Angelo finally said, his deep voice slicing through the tension like a knife.

Well, fuck me in the ass and call me Judy.

Frederick’s jaw dropped, and Leopold’s usually calm expression froze as his eyes narrowed, processing the bombshell that had just detonated in the room.

“You… You what?” Frederick stammered, his voice rising an octave.

Allison winced, bracing herself. “You heard him. Angelo’s the father. We didn’t plan for it to happen like this, but it did, and we’re—”

Before she could finish her sentence could, Leopold—cool, calm, collected Leopold—darted across the room and lunged at Angelo.

Literally lunged at him.

He flew across the space, arms outstretched like a pissed-off vampire, and tackled Angelo with surprising force.

“Leo!” she gasped, but her brother was already raining down punches, while Frederick stood by, shouting a colorful array of profanities. Strangely, the curses weren’t directed at Leopold for the unprovoked attack, but at Angelo for ‘defiling his sister.’

Hey, God? Why?

Allison mentally called out to the universe, hoping for some divine intervention.

She watched as Leopold landed another punch. She sighed.

Angelo tried to push him off, but didn’t seem too keen on hurting her brother. She closed her eyes, wishing for this mess to magically resolve itself.

Frederick kept shouting, escalating the chaos. She sighed again, louder this time.

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