Page 21 of Power Games

"Have you listened to you drunk? Anyway, I don't want to keep you. I just figured I'd ask if your thoughts were along the same lines as mine: I'm stuck."

She sighed deeply.

"You are. I'm so, so sorry, Charles...and also, I hate to be the one to point it out, but are you any good at spotting it when your wife lies to you?"

He stopped in the busy New York street.

He'd left the house and started to walk aimlessly down Madison.

"Well, the timing is pretty convenient. You see your lawyer, and the same day, she tells you she's pregnant? Some peoplearethat unlucky, but well, shecouldhave figured out where your head was at, and told you she was pregnant so you'd stop thinking about getting rid of her. Some peopleareassholes."

And he hadn't even told Vanessa that he'd mentioned a divorce to Izzy before she'd blurted out her game changer.

He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it sounded like something Izzy would do. Shit, he should have demanded proof, told her they'd go to the doctor together or something.

"Thanks, Vanessa. I definitely should check."

"You do that."

"I'll let you get back to what you were doing, then."

"Likewise. Have a good night."

It occurred to him that they were both delaying hanging up, like teenagers who wanted to stay on the line until the last possible second.

Charles prayed Izzy had invented the whole thing.

* * *

Charles watchedthe black-and-white picture in his hand, numb, conflicted, and confused.

"Hello, little one,"he found himself whispering at the ultrasound.

There was a child inside his wife's belly right now. A child who wasn't his, from a wife he didn't love. It didn't matter. The little thing was just a small smudge in a picture. It hadn't asked for their drama, their mess. It was vulnerable, and needed someone solid in its corner. That wouldn't be Isabella. She wasn't even remotely equipped, prepared, or inclined to be a mother. He needed an adult, and that was Charles. His father. Or her father.

Charles loved kids. He'd never doubted that he'd be a father someday, until he'd walked in on Izzy. His desire to have children with her disappeared then. Adding an innocent bystander to their dysfunctional relationship held no appeal. But now that the kid was there, Charles embraced the thought of raising it as his own.

Reluctantly, he took a few steps to stand next to Izzy, and took her hands.

"Let's get the paperwork done."

She rolled her eyes.

"You could be a little more enthusiastic, you know."

No. He sincerely couldn't.

9

Not a Date

Vanessa wasn’t one to work out if it could be helped. She’d been very, very fit in her teens, but now she took dance lessons, and sometimes cycled instead of driving. That was about it.

Rob didn’t have a choice; he had to maintain the six-pack and all the sexiness to keep his job, so he spent two hours a day in his home gym at the very least. He practically choked on his water when she asked if she could join him.

“Well,” she said, “you do have a punching bag. I figured that might help.”

So there she was, gloves on her hands, sweating, kicking and punching the poor innocent leather bag full of grain that Rob was holding in place for her.

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