Page 31 of By the Letter

“Like I said, I’ve never had a cat and don’t know how they work. If you trust Mary, I believe you.” He blew out a heavy breath and shoved his fingers through his hair. “The last couple days have been a lot, and I’ve done nothing but ingest information about pregnancy. I think I’m overloaded now…and quite possibly freaking out.”

I couldn’t stop the laugh from bubbling out. “I can’t imagine anything freaks you out.”

The corner of his mouth hitched. “Some things do. You’re right, though. It takes a lot to rile me.” He nodded toward me—toward my belly, to be precise. “This did it. Something huge is happening, and it’s completely out of my control. I’m not used to letting go of the reins, but I have to. It’s…more difficult than I expected.”

I nodded. “That’s understandable.”

And it was. I didn’t know Roman well, but his reputation preceded him. He’d grown up with a well-known family name behind him. Wealth had given him an innate power and the ability to control his world in many ways. For the next six months, his child would be living in my body, and he had to trust the woman he’d hated and mistreated to take care of his baby. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t trust him. Then again, he’d given me reason not to.

He glanced at the door then back to me. “I think I’ve done enough damage for the day. Do you need anything before I go? I can have groceries delivered or dinner…”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. Eating is still hit or miss, but Bea made me soup that Beanie seems to love, so I’m stickingwith that for now.” Remembering something, I raised a finger. “Before I forget…”

I grabbed the packet of papers my ob-gyn had sent to me and handed them to him. “These are instructions for the paternity test. You go to this lab—”

“Paternity test?” Roman echoed.

“Yes. It’s a simple blood draw. You can go—”

“You want me to take a paternity test?”

Frowning in confusion, I answered, “Yes…don’t you?”

“Is there a question of paternity?” he pressed, his rough tone shooting alarm up my spine.

“No. Not for me. But I assumed you’d want to be sure. You know, since we barely know each other, and…well—” I cut myself off, biting down on my lip.

“Well, what?” he gruffed. “Just say it, Shira.”

I peeked at him from beneath my lashes then looked away. It seemed he wasn’t leaving until I replied, and since I really did want him to go, I acquiesced.

“Considering your low opinion of me, I didn’t think you’d take my word that this is your baby.”

Roman’s exhale was harsh and sharp as the papers crinkled in his hand. “I earned that.” He lowered his hand, clutching the papers at his side. “I was there. I saw the broken condom. I know the baby’s mine. We’ll do the test to make things official, but I don’t doubt you.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” he echoed. “Text or call if you need anything at all. Big or small, whatever it is, I’ll make sure you have it.”

It was nice he believed me, but it would take a lot more than lovely words for me to trust Roman Wells. I guessed it was good we had six months before we had to coparent. By then, hopefully he’d figure out I wasn’t the conniving gold digger he’d made meout to be, and I would be able to be in the same room as him without flinching.

Chapter Thirteen

Roman

I’d decided I’d messedthings up enough on my own over the last forty-eight hours. It was time to bring in more people to be on my side. My brothers weren’t experts on women, pregnancy, or babies, but they could be a sounding board for my choices, so I didn’t barrel into Shira’s house and make her cry again.

I sent the ultrasound to our group chat with the caption: “Mine.”

It took less than thirty seconds to get a response.

Ben:WTF?

Adrian:Not funny.

Nate didn’t bother texting. Perks of living in the condo next to mine, my older brother let himself in and stalked up to me, bending down so we were almost nose to nose.

“Are you fucking with us?” he growled.

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