Page 51 of After-Party Consequences

A part of him wanted to take her back to the penthouse, to sink into her, to make her sigh and moan and shudder in his arms—so he could make this simple again.

But it had never been simple. Not with her. And that wasn’t just because of the baby. It was about so much more. His emotions weren’t his own. He’d lost control long before they’d made this baby. He had to get it back or he would never be able to find his safe space again. And forget about that little boy hiding in a corner and waiting for someone to find him, to want him, when no one ever had.

‘Cade, what’s wrong?’ Charley murmured as they walked into his penthouse.

She’d absorbed his silence in the car and tried to figure it out. But she had known something was very wrong ever since she’d come out of the dressing area at the clinic to find him waiting for her, his face ashen.

She’d been overjoyed to see him when he’d turned up for the appointment, having resigned herself to his no-show. And she’d been so happy and excited during the scan itself, especially once the doctor had declared the baby healthy. She hadn’t really been aware of Cade’s reaction—because she’d been so absorbed in the emotional hit of seeing the life they had created. But she was aware of it now, because it was impossible to ignore. He had looked stricken when she had found him in the waiting area. And now, it seemed as if he wasn’t even here.

‘I need to head to the airport,’ he said.

‘What?’ she said, shocked by the abrupt statement and the cool tone.

‘I have to be in Manhattan for Labor Day,’ he replied. ‘And I’ve got a lot to settle before then.’

‘I know, but...’

Before she could say more, he had left her to walk into their bedroom.

She raced after him. ‘Really, you have to go this evening?’ she asked, hating the tremble of anxiety, confused now as well as shocked.

‘Yeah.’ He grabbed a bag from inside the dresser, began dumping clothes into it.

‘Cade, is this about the sonogram? What’s wrong? What happened to you in there?’ she asked again, suddenly determined to face this situation head-on.

She’d thought they’d made a breakthrough this afternoon. That he was finally willing to engage with the reality of the baby instead of just the pregnancy. But why had she let him get away with his disengagement for so long? He’d wanted this baby, too. Weren’t they supposed to be in this together? What was really going on here? Something about this felt hideously familiar, reminding her of all the times she’d begged her mother to see her, to respond to her, and she never had. Or tried to get her father’s attention, only to be informed her feelings, her needs, really weren’t important in the grand scheme of things.

He headed to the bathroom and reappeared with his hands full of his toiletries. He dumped them in the bag too, then zipped it up.

‘Cade, stop!’ She pressed shaking fingers over his. ‘Look at me.’ He lifted his head, his gaze finally meeting hers. ‘What is going on? You have to tell me. You’re starting to scare me...’

‘Charlotte, I’m sorry,’ he said, his voice so grave it only scared her more. But then he cradled her cheek, and what she saw in his eyes calmed the panic, at least a little.

Yearning. Need. Connection.

But when she leant into his palm, he dragged it away.

‘You must have known,’ he said, ‘that this was only ever meant to be temporary.’

She heard it then, the finality, the dismissal. It cut her like a knife. And made her realise she had somehow convinced herself that this was more. That this was better. That thiscouldbe something. When it had always been nothing. For him, anyway.

There were so many things she could say as he slung the bag onto his shoulder.

What about the baby they shared? What about the emotions inside her which had blossomed and bloomed and grown over the past weeks every time he looked at her with such longing, such passion? Maybe even before that? Maybe right back to that night across the bay when she’d danced with him and felt truly seen for the first time in her life.

How could she have misinterpreted all of that so completely?

She felt her heart tearing and shattering, though, unable to voice any of it as he rested his hand on her abdomen and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Tears scoured her eyes as she saw the sadness in his face.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Don’t leave me. Why can’t you love me? Why can’t I be enough?

The terror returned as the questions reverberated inside her, but she couldn’t get them past the huge lump in her throat. And as he stepped back, she made herself believe she didn’t want to ask the questions, because she had always known the answers, and all she had left now was her pride.

‘My legal team will be in touch about the financial arrangements for the baby,’ he said. ‘Stay here as long as you want. The place is yours. Landry Construction will continue to pay your business expenses and all your other costs for as long as you need.’

She didn’t reply. She stood stoic and unbending as she watched him leave her.

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