Page 49 of The Billionaire's One-Night Baby

‘No.’

Micah grimaced. ‘What happened?’

Jago released a long sigh. ‘I messed up. The morning after the storm, I arranged, without talking to her, for her to move in here, with me.’

Micah scratched his chin. ‘Sorry, but I’m not seeing the problem here.’

‘What you don’t know is that Dodi has a deep-seated, understandable hatred of having her life arranged without her input. She was furious that I didn’t consult her before sending Jabu over to pack up her stuff. She told me that it would never work between us and basically, dumped me.’

Micah’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Really?’

No, he was making things up as he went along... ‘Yeah,really.’

Micah held up a placating hand. ‘So your controlling behaviour finally came back to bite you?’ he asked, amusement coating his words.

‘I’m not controlling...’ Jago’s words trailed off and he dropped his head. ‘Of course I am, but I don’t do it to be a jerk. I just wanted what I thought was best for her. I’m crazy in love with her and I genuinely believe that living here, with me, would be the best thing for her and the baby.’

‘Did you tell her that?’

‘No.’

‘So what did you say to her?’ Micah asked.

Jago looked away. ‘Nothing. I couldn’t find the words. I just let her walk away.’

Micah released a low, pained groan and buried his head in his hands. ‘Jago, seriously? What is wrong with you?’

‘I tried to do the right thing with the best intentions, but it backfired. Maybe it’s the wrong time, she’s the wrong person. Maybe I’m just really, really bad at this.’

‘I only agree with your last statement,’ Micah informed him.

Jago shrugged. ‘The more it means, the harder it is to say. Dad was a master of words, but he treated people terribly, especially those he was supposed to love. I never wanted to be like him, so I hold my words in, and it’s become a habit.’

‘What do you want to do, Jago? What doyouwant fromher?’

Time to get real, he thought. Jago lifted his beer bottle and took a long sip. ‘I want the emotional connection, to be able to love her, for her to be my wife in every way, good, bad and ugly. I want to spend my life talking to her, loving her, protecting her and our child, and the other kids I want to have with her!’

His voice was climbing higher and higher, and by the end of his sentence he was practically shouting.

‘Don’t you think Dodi needs to hear this, not me?’ Micah nudged him with his shoulder. ‘Let me put it another way... She can’t read your mind, Jago, and even I find it difficult to read your feelings and we rented a womb together! Trust me, she has no idea that you love her. And by not consulting her about moving in, it looks like you don’t give a damn about her past and that her feelings aren’t valid or important. You are such a useless communicator, twin,’ Micah added.

He was. And by not being brave enough to tell her the truth, the whole truth, to be vulnerable, he’d not only hurt her but also disrespected her. And that was utterly unacceptable.

‘I need to talk to her,’ Jago told Micah, sounding a little stunned.

‘I think that’s a damn good idea,’ Micah replied. Then he lifted his empty beer bottle. ‘But before you rush off, can you get me another beer?’

Where are you right now?

Dodi, about to get in her car after dinner at Thadie’s house, looked at the message from Jago. She’d been trying to find her courage to contact him for days but kept finding excuses not to. She was tired, she was busy, she wasn’t ready.

But what she was, was a complete coward. She was still terrified of love, still scared of making a mistake, of being hurt.

But he’d reached out first. Why?

Dodi’s heart lurched when her phone rang and his number popped up on her screen. She’d just been thinking about him...okay, in fairness, she was nevernotthinking about him. Waving at Thadie through the window, she pulled away, her phone tucked between her ear and shoulder.

‘Jago?’

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