Page 63 of His Wife

“What are you talking about?” She grabs my arm, but I jerk free from her grasp.

“I was sure it was you when I read his letter.”

“What letter? Alexius, slow down. You’re scaring me.”

“I need to get you home. Make sure you’re safe.”

“Driving like this won’t get me or you home safely. Please slow down.”

I ignore her plea, fueled by the adrenaline flooding my system and the need to get Leandra to safety. There’s no time to explain, no time to slow down. Mira is gone, and we have no fucking idea where even to start looking.

“What did Mira say, exactly?” I ask without looking at Leandra.

“I don’t…I can’t…”

“Leandra, think!” Jesus fucking Christ, my head is spinning, and I can’t stop it. It’s so loud, the angry rush of blood thumping in my ears. Everything is a mess, and I’m trying to figure a way out of it with little to zero clues. Nothing this fucker wrote in that letter makes sense.

“Mira, what did she say?” I quickly glance at Leandra before focusing my attention back on the road, the street lights blurred with the heavy rain coming down as if the Heavens had been torn open. “Where did she go to? Why weren’t you together?”

“We were at the doctor’s office, and I threw up, so Mira told me she’d go buy me some gum and that she’d wait for me in the—”

“Wait for you where?” My voice ricochets in the tiny space. My anger isn’t helping the situation, but we’re racing against time. “Wait for you where, Leandra?” I try to lower my tone this time.

“The foyer. She told me she’d wait for me in the foyer.” There’s panic in her voice. She’s nervous and breathing erratically. With a glance, I notice her shaking, tears running down her face. Fuck.

“Wait.” I narrow my eyes, my gaze flicking between her and the road. “Why were you at the doctor’s office? Are you sick?”

“No.” She shakes her head and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “I’m fine.”

“Then why were you throwing up? What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing is going—”

“What are you not telling me?” I take the last turn, and we’re finally on the long-ass road that leads straight to the estate.

“It’s nothing, okay? Let’s just find Mira. Then we can talk.”

“Leandra!” I snap, and she visibly jolts in her seat. “What the fuck is going on? What are you not telling me?”

“I’m pregnant!” she yells, and every thought in my head screeches to a fucking halt.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, Alexius. Yes.” Her brows curve, and tears drip from her lashes. “I’m pregnant. That’s why Mira took me to the doctor, to make one-hundred-percent certain before I tell you.” She turns in her seat to face me, her cheeks flushed and lips curled as she whimpers. “I’m so sorry, Alexius. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’ve taken my birth control every goddamn day. You know that. And I…I don’t know how this happened. I’m so sorry.”

I stomp on the brakes, the stench of burnt rubber instantly filling the air. The sudden silence between us is heavy enough to make me hold my breath, and the only sound is the pitter-patter of raindrops on the windshield, my secret betrayal ringing in the back of my head as my mind replays the words she just said.

A tear slips onto her cheek, and it’s like a goddamn slap in the face, jerking me out of the panicked haze I’ve been in ever since I read that goddamn letter, going fucking crazy trying to find Leandra while I had the image Melanie’s mutilated body fresh in my head.

I reach out and catch the tear as it laps from her cheek, the skin of my finger absorbing the moisture. My heart breaks a little witnessing the guilt she has no right feeling. “Get out of the car.”

Her dark brows arch in confusion. “What?”

“Get out of the car,” I order and open my door, slipping out into the rain. My expensive suit is being ruined one raindrop at a time, but I don’t give a flying fuck because there is only one thing that matters to me—one thing I care about, and that’s her. My wife. The woman who made me realize Idohave a heart capable of loving, a heart that bleeds only for her.

Rain splashes around my feet as I rush around the front of the car, reaching her before she even manages to stand straight.

I cup her face as I step up close. Her beautiful face is a stunning sight as rain rivulets mix with her tears. “You listen to me, and listen good. You don’t apologize for this,” I say, brushing my thumb across her wet lips. “I told you right at the beginning, a Del Rossa never apologizes. Jesus, Leandra, especially not for this.” I lower a hand to her belly, still keeping her gaze captive with mine as I press my lips together to get rid of the rain that lingers there. “You did nothing wrong. Why, in the name of everything holy, would you feel you need to apologize for being pregnant?”

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