Page 3 of Vegas Baby!

“You know, I don’t think I will. Ava, do you want to stay with him?”

I shook my head. Part of medidwant to, because Andrew was the only thing I had known for so long, and I was carrying his child, but how could we ever work through something like this? Did his wife know about me? I could only assume she didn’t.

What the hell was I going to do? I had never considered that I would be doing this as a single parent. Andrew had assured me a hundred times that he would be there to take care of me duringthis process and that we would raise the baby together in New York.

All of it was lies.

“Ava, please,” Andrew begged. “I can explain.”

“I’m sure you can. But I don’t want to hear it right now.”

“Ava.” His voice was firm, filled with so much command it almost made me sink to the ground. “Talk to me.”

“No.” I’d spent our entire relationship deferring to him, and this was one time I simply couldn’t. I needed time to figure out what I was going to do and whether I would ever be able to look at him again.

Andrew sighed, heaving his shoulders. “Fine. I’ll be at the hotel when you’re ready to talk to me.”

My instincts nearly tore me in two, wanting to go after Lawson and pummel him into the pavement, and wanting to stay right where I was to protect Ava. She was more important than all the satisfaction I would get from punching him in the face. Once Lawson walked away, I poured all of my attention onto Ava. “Shit. I’m so sorry. I had no idea I was going to whistleblow on a whole secret life.”

“It’s not—” She let out a hiccupping sob. Her delicate dark blonde hair hung in loose, styled curls, her hazel eyes wide and shiny from tears. “It’s not your fault. I feel so stupid. No wonder he didn’t want to get engaged.”

Fucking hell. How could Lawson have pulled this level of shit? Poor Charlotte. Poor Ava. Fuck. I’d heard of men having a secret second family, but I never thought I’d actually see it in action.

A wail of despair flew out of her and I dropped to my knees in front of her, all of my instincts screaming at me to stop that sound and help her. “Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not!”

Fix it. Fix it. Fix it!

Beneath Ava’s distress scent was the most delicious, nutty sweetness and it wove through every molecule of my being, tossing itself over my heart in a snare I hoped to never be free from.

Of all the fucking times to find a scent match. I had never hoped or dreamed that I would find one, and now that I had, I didn’t know what to do with her, how to help her. A recently traumatized and pregnant stranger was not what I’d have ever expected. I would rip Lawson a new asshole later. Right now I needed to take care of this beautiful woman that fate had decided was meant to be mine.

“Ava, what can I do? Have you eaten?”

She shook her head.

I asked a question that I was terrified to know the answer to. “Was Andrew a scent match?”

“No,” she said quietly.

Thank fucking god for small miracles. The last thing I needed was for her to have some kind of fate bond to that asshole. It would be hard enough to navigate him with just the baby.

“Do you have somewhere you can go?”

Ava shook her head. “Only back to the hotel room with him.”

That wasnotgoing to happen.

“Okay.” I took a deep breath, looking up at her with concern. “I can ask one of my coworkers if I can bunk with them and you can have my room for tonight.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Sweetheart, you’re not asking. I’m offering.”

Ava sniffled. “You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t,” I agreed. “But I do know the asshole who hurt you, and there’s no way in hell I’m not going out of my way to help out a pregnant, distressed omega. Let me take care of you, at least for tonight. I’ll order you some dinner, and you can rest. Come back to my room with me?”

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