Page 40 of Forbidden Desires

"I was scared, Annie," I admit, my voice cracking. "I was scared they'd change their minds, or that I'd never be enough, or... I don't know. And now they're gone, and I'll have to raise this baby by myself!"

My declaration is met with a heavy silence.

For a moment I think the call might have dropped, but then Annie's voice comes back, filled with surprise and something softer.

"Oh Suzie, baby." Her voice is soft, filled with sympathy and only brings more tears to my eyes. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"I don't know," I admit, my voice trembling. "I haven't told them. I was scared and wanted to be sure that they were here for me, and not a baby. And now they're gone and I can't tell them!" I wail.

Annie sighs, and I can practically hear her thinking. "You're dealing with a lot, so I'm going to try to keep things chill. But babe, you need to tell them. It's not fair to them not to know. I'm assuming that you're keeping the baby, from the way you're talking?"

A hiccup escapes and I sniffle, trying to wipe away the mess of tears. "Of course I am."

"Do you want your baby to grow up without its fathers?"

There's no censure in her words, no judgement. But I feel an overwhelming amount of guilt regardless.

She interprets my silence as an answer. "So then you need to tell them."

"I know," I whine. "But not yet, okay? And you can't tell my dads. They'll either fly down here to kill me or hunt down Pete and Dexter to castrate them."

Annie sighs before responding. "Fine. But I don't like keeping a secret this big so you've only got a week tops before I tell them."

With her promise to keep her silence and another urgent plea for me to reach out to Pete and Dexter again, we say our goodbyes.

It wasn't the friendly cuddle I'd have liked, but it was close enough. I tug the sheet tighter around me and pull a pillow to me, cuddling it as I let more tears fall.

Tears for my broken heart.

Tears for my little secret.

Tears for a future I'm not at all sure I can have.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Dexter

The door clicks shut behind us, and the sound feels like a physical blow. I stand there for a moment, staring at the dull, lifeless wood as if it holds answers to the questions running rampant in my head.

"What the fuck just happened?" Pete's voice is a low rumble, barely audible over the sound of my own heartbeat. He looks just as stunned as I feel, his shirt and shoes clutched in one hand, his other dragging through his messy hair.

We both take the time to put on the rest of our clothes. We'd only hastily donned our trousers after Suzie kicked us out.

I don't have an answer to Pete's question. My chest is too tight, my throat too raw, and my mind is still replaying Suzie's voice—the tremble, the pain, the fury.

She kicked us out. Chased us away.

It's impossible to ignore or forget the terror on her face.

She's terrified. Of us. Hurting her.

And I... I think I'm in love with her.

The realization knocks me off balance. I knew Suzie was the kind of woman you could fall in love with, the kind of womanwho burrows under your skin and makes a permanent home there. But I didn't realize how quickly it had happened. How deeply I'd already fallen. And the thought of walking away? The thought of leaving her behind? It feels impossible.

"Dexter." Pete's voice is sharper now, his hand gripping my shoulder and shaking me out of my spiraling thoughts. "Talk to me. What the heck did we miss? What just happened?"

"She's scared. Terrified," I say finally, my voice hoarse.

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