Page 88 of High Stakes

She sighs, “We haven’t said we’re back together, Aiden. I said we’ll take it slow. Cal wasn’t the father of my baby.”

I take a second to process her words, “What?”

“He only said it because he could see I was upset when you and Laurie turned up. He was trying to rescue me, and it got out of hand.”

I get out of bed, staring in disbelief. “We said no more lies,” I snap.

“We did, and that’s why I went to check with Cal that he was okay for me to tell the truth.”

My brows pinch together. “Hold on, you wanted to check with Cal to see if you could expose the fucking lie?”

“I knew you’d get angry,” she mutters, shaking her head.

“So, who’s the father?” I demand.

“No one you know,” she says, her eyes pleading with me to calm down.

“I want his name, Bella. How many have there been since me?”

“We don’t need to do this. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

I glare, anger pulsing through me. “How many?” I yell.

“One,” she cries.

“So you and Cal?” She shakes her head. “I fucking punched him,” I shout. “I thought he’d cheated on you.”

“If you’d have just told me about Laurie, I wouldn’t have been so shocked.”

“Don’t put this on me. I didn’t have to tell you shit,” I snap, “We weren’t together. I didn’t owe you an explanation.”

Her eyes widen, “Likewise.”

“This is different, Bella. You could have told me the second we started talking again. You’ve had loads of opportunities.”

She buries her face in her hands. “I know I should have.”

I scoff, “but you needed Cal’s permission, right?”

“I didn’t want this war to continue between you both,” she explains. “It was getting too much.”

I grab my jeans and pull them on. She watches in silence whilst I dress. “I need some time,” I mutter. The last twenty-four hours have been amazing, and I’m hurt she didn’t tell me everything.

“What about us?” she whispers.

“Like you’ve already pointed out, you want to take it slow.” And I storm out.

I find Raff in my office. He looks up in surprise. “Thought you weren’t coming in until late?”

“Yeah well, change of plan.”

He gets out of my chair, and I sit in his place. “Bella drama?” he guesses.

“That obvious?”

“Well, lately, it’s always Bella or Laurie.”

“Cal wasn’t the father of her baby.”

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