Page 221 of Modern Romance Collection February 2025, 5-8

‘You’re very quiet,’ he said, as he followed the GPS directions through the busy streets.

She looked around the car, hoping for a distraction so she didn’t have to explain why she might be quiet. And there on the back seat sat an envelope. She reached back for it. ‘These are the divorce papers? Maybe I should just sign them now and you can drop me off and you can go home. That’s why you came, right?’

He snatched the envelope from her hand before she could open it, and flung it to the back, where it landed on the back parcel shelf.

‘I thought you wanted me to sign those.’

‘First of all, we need to talk.’

‘Oh, we do, do we?’

‘We do.’

‘So right, what would you like to talk about?’

He pulled into the car park of the address he had plugged into his GPS navigation.

‘What is this place?’ he said, frowning as he looked at the signs.

‘It’s a clinic where they do all kinds of testing. Ultrasounds. MRIs. X-rays.’

‘Why are you here? Is there something wrong with you?’

‘I hope not.’

‘Then why are you here?’

‘I’m here for an ultrasound, Dom.’

‘What for?’

‘Because I’m pregnant.’ She let that sink in for a moment. Watched the reactions flicker across his face—the shock, the disbelief, the inevitable questions that swirled around his eyes. ‘And before you ask, it’s your baby I’m carrying.’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

‘WHEN WERE YOUgoing to tell me?’

He was opening the door to the clinic for her. To give Dom credit, he’d recovered more quickly than she had when she’d learned the news.

‘After the scan. After I learned everything was all right.’

‘You say that now.’

‘You know differently? How insightful of you,’ she said, and brushed past him, giving her name at Reception and taking a seat in the waiting room. What she really wanted to do was head to the bathroom, her bladder was filled to bursting, but the main cause for her aggravation had just sat down alongside her.

He put his elbows down on his spread legs, his hands clutched under his chin. ‘And you’re sure it’s mine?’

She rolled her eyes, sent him a blistering look and angled herself away. Tried to cross her legs and then gave up when it only put more pressure on her bladder.

‘If you’re trying to convince me not to sign those divorce papers,’ she hissed, ‘you’re barking up the wrong tree.’

‘I don’t know who you’ve been with.’

‘Likewise. Has the beautiful Isabela managed to weasel her way into your bed yet?’

He cocked an eyebrow. ‘You care?’

‘No,’ she said, cursing herself for giving herself away. ‘I left, didn’t I? Would I have left if I’d cared? If I’d given a damn?’

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