Page 89 of Always Red (Chasing Red 2)

He nodded, picked up his coffee cup, and drank again.

“I already proposed,” I blurted out.

Ben choked, placing his cup back on the saucer as he cleared his throat. “What?”

I grinned at him. “Several days ago.”

“Goddamn, you horny bast

ard. Is she pregnant?”

I thought about that heated, wild moment with Red when I didn’t use a condom. Had it just been a few hours ago?

I’d never been so careless. I’d never not worn one when I needed it.

“Today she might be. But I hope not, because she’s going to be absolutely pissed at me. Although I wouldn’t mind if she is…pregnant, I mean.”

A picture of a little girl with dark hair and gleaming cat eyes flitted into my mind. And then a little boy with the same features. No, I thought, I wouldn’t mind at all.

“What did you do to my brother, and where did you put his carcass?” Ben asked, looking confused and shocked.

I laughed. I couldn’t blame him. I was a very different person before Red came into my life.

“You’ll meet Red—Veronica,” I corrected, “on Sunday. I’m surprised Mom hasn’t told you.”

“I’ve been busy. I took over Mom’s meetings in Europe this month. I came back from Paris a week ago, actually. The last time I spoke with Mom, she told me Beatrice-Rose had come to visit her at home to speak about you.”

I let out an expletive. “You mean she bad-mouthed my fiancée to Mom.”

I could feel the anger trapped in my hands as they turned into fists. I had never hit a girl in my entire life, and I wasn’t about to start now, but the thought of Beatrice-Rose spreading lies about Red made me want to hit something.

Why wouldn’t she leave Red alone? I could put up with Beatrice-Rose making trouble for me, but I would not tolerate her making trouble for my girl.

Ben narrowed his eyes. “Why would she bad-mouth your fiancée?”

A dull ache started to throb at the base of my neck—the threat of a headache coming on. I cupped my neck with my palm and tried to massage it out.

“Is your fiancée a terrorist, a dog thief, or a stripper?” Ben teased.

It was supposed to be a joke, but it only fueled my anger, reminding me of the poster Justin had put up in the basketball team’s locker room. Lucky for him, we hadn’t found one anywhere else.

The dull ache climbed up to my temples.

“I was joking, Cal. Calm the hell down.”

I realized I was gripping my glass hard enough to crack it. I loosened my grip and took a deep, calming breath. “Sorry. It’s not you. Beatrice-Rose has fucked with my life in more ways than I care to count.”

“Explain it to me.”

Usually he would have known this by now because I always told him everything, but all these things had happened so fast and we’d both been busy. So I told Ben everything. He listened without interrupting, but I noted that his gray eyes flashed with incredulity when I spoke about what had happened in Beatrice-Rose’s house and why Red had left me. They darkened with anger when I told him about Justin putting up that infuriating poster of Red in the basketball team’s locker room. And finally, they conveyed cool, deadly calm when I told him about the drugs that were planted in my car.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the server walk toward us, but Ben held his finger up, signaling her not to interrupt. She nodded and left.

When I finished, I reached for my drink. Even though Red and I were back together, recalling the time we were separated brought an ache to my chest.

“So you hired a PI?”

I nodded. I knew Ben was going to ask about that first. He had protected me since we were kids.

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