Page 33 of By the Letter

“It happened before I came to GoldMed. We didn’t know who the other was, and the condom broke,” I explained. “It’s complicated with how everything went down, but we’re going to make it work.”

“How?” Adrian asked bluntly. “You don’t even like the woman. Didn’t you just recently refer to her as ‘the gold digger’?”

Ben shook his head. “I knew she was cool. I tried to tell Rome, but he was all wrapped up in his mission…”

“Should’ve wrapped up his dick better,” Nate muttered.

Without turning my head, I backhanded him in the gut. “Shut the hell up.”

He rolled away, chuckling. “You gotta laugh, man. This situation is so beyond ridiculous. You sent that woman to the hospital—oh, wait, she passed out because of the pregnancy?”

Remorse struck me hard and fast, leaving me winded. “Yeah.”

Ben tsked. “Wow. You have a lot to make up for, man.”

“He doesn’t have anything to make up for,” Adrian intoned. “He was working with the information he had when he made his decisions. Now he’ll move forward with the current state of things.”

Ben’s eyebrow winged. “Okay, sure, IceMan. Ro, I’m gonna suggest you not take advice from the man who has the emotional capacity of a corpse.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” I dragged my hand along the scruff on my jaw. “I’ve discovered I was wrong about a few things. It makes me wonder what else I could have misjudged.”

“Like what?” Nate had retaken his seat beside me so he could share my screen.

“Like Francesca lying through her teeth about being allowed in the house. She cleaned the place out. It’s like…a tomb in there. Nothing on the walls, barely any furniture.” My fingers curled into my palm as anger rose in my gut. “I can’t figure Shira out. She’s got it all locked down—”

“Like Adrian,” Ben chimed in.

I chuffed. “Sort of, but not really, unless Ade’s hiding a debilitating shyness.”

Adrian rolled his eyes. “I’m the owner of a sex club. There’s no room for shyness. And I’m not hiding a thing. This is who I am.”

“Cool, cool.” Ben made jazz hands. “I, for one, am excited as hell to be an uncle. If I weren’t in New Zealand, I’d be on my way over there to give you the biggest hug you’ve ever been given.”

Adrian grimaced. “Do you actually believe this woman will allow us to be part of the baby’s life?”

“Will she?” Nate asked.

“She will,” I replied. “Shira didn’t have to tell me about the baby. She chose to. I don’t know what coparenting will look like yet, but it’ll happen. Which means you three are going to have to figure out how to be uncles to this kid.”

“I’m in.” Nate clapped me on the shoulder. “Anything you need, Ro.”

Adrian did not look convinced, but he inclined his chin. “Of course.”

Ben fist-pumped. “Yes. I’m all about it. I cannot wait to confuse the hell out of your baby with my sparkling personality while having its boring dad’s face.”

“It’s a human, not a toy,” Adrian reminded him.

As they bickered back and forth, Nate squeezed my shoulder. “You okay?”

I thought about it for a beat before nodding. “I think I will be.”

As long as I didn’t keep making Shira cry.

The next morning, I woke up to a picture of cat shit.

Shira:Mary doesn’t like the robot.

Shira:She let this be known by going to the bathroom right next to it.

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