Page 30 of Devil's Den

“You nearly fall and break something, and you’re irritated?”

She growled. “First, I didn’t fall.”

Both of his brows rose up.

“Paul caught me, so…” She didn’t have a clue where she was going with this argument as it felt like she had already lost it before she began.

“Okay, you got dizzy on the ladder, it happened quite quick, and if it hadn’t been for Paul, you’d have fallen and injured yourself. It’s only my guy having great reflexes that saved you.”

She pursed her lips. “Yes.”

“And you don’t think that warrants a hospital visit?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Damn it, Beth, I thought you were a lot smarter than this. I don’t know why we’re arguing about me taking care of you.”

“Because … I don’t like what I think it might be.” She pressed her lips together, and right there she had blurted it out.

Rome frowned and folded his arms across his chest.

She sighed and closed her eyes, not wanting to see him right now.

“What?” he asked.

“Come on, Rome, I know you’re a lot older than me, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what we’ve done.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I … think … I’m pregnant.”

There, she had finally said the words she hadn’t dared to speak, and now she felt terrified. What the fuck?

She didn’t like this. Getting pregnant was supposed to happen when her life was in order, she had fallen in love with a guy, and everything was perfect. She knew she was falling for Rome. How could she not? Regardless of the bad stuff he’d done, his reputation, and pretty much everything she could think of, he wasn’t a bad guy. Yes, he was a bad guy and yet, he wasn’t at the same time.

Ugh, it was so confusing.

He was a bad guy to everyone else, including her brother, but to her, other than their first time, he’d been this sweet, caring, guy. She loved spending time with him. He made her laugh, and she found herself doing odd things during the day,that made her think about spending time with him. It was crazy.

All they had together was a month, only this month had kind of ran into a second month. They hadn’t talked about what that could mean. But this was a big deal.

“I know,” Rome said.

She looked at him. “You know?”

“Yeah, I had an idea you might end up pregnant. I’ve never used protection with you. I didn’t want to, and I never saw you use contraception either. I knew it was only a matter of time before you were.” He sat down beside her on the bed.

She didn’t expect him to reach out and touch her, but she was a little grateful when he finally did. Beth didn’t even realize she needed that support.

Resting her head on his shoulders, she took a deep breath. “What are we going to do?”

“We’ll handle it.”

She didn’t like that. Handling something—did that mean he was going to expect her to get an abortion? Beth was about to ask him, but of course the doctor came in, and much to her surprise, he also carried the blood work in his hand.

And yes, of course she was pregnant.

****

Rome had never considered the possibility of becoming a father. The whole concept was foreign to him.

He was going to be a father. Beth would be the mother of his child.

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