Page 111 of Irreplaceable

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

“Harper? Hello?” I said into the phone, but she didn’t answer.

I stared at the screen in disbelief. Did she just hang up on me?

I’d poured my heart out to her, and she was leaving? Without giving me a chance to explain? She’d lectured me about love and trust, and yet she wasn’t willing to do the same for me.

I hung up and called back again, but it went straight to voice mail. I left a message, anger vibrating through my words. Even so, concern twisted my insides. It wasn’t like Harper to back down from a fight. If she’d hung up on me, she was really pissed.

Before I could try Harper again, there was a knock at the door, and then Val let herself in. She took one look at me and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

I furrowed my brow. “Harper won’t answer my calls. She says she’s moving home.”

“She saw the story about Giada, I take it?” When I nodded, she rolled her eyes and took a seat on the couch in the hotel suite. “Harper should know better than to believe the tabloids. But I can’t say I blame her. You and Giada looked very cozy.”

“It wasn’t—” I huffed.

“Yeah, I know. But for now, you need to focus on the tournament. The team leaves for Abu Dhabi in a few hours, and you’re so close to achieving everything you’ve ever wanted. You just need to get your head in the game.”

Easier said than done. I’d been a mess since leaving LA. I felt bad about my fight with Harper, and I hated that I had to miss the baby shower. I didn’t like the way we’d left things, and now I felt even worse. Did she truly intend to leave LA?

I’d always known there’d be sacrifices with my career. You didn’t get to this level and stay there without giving up something. But lately, I’d wondered if it was worth it. Was this what I really wanted?

My phone rang. I scrambled to answer it. “Harper?”

“No, um, this is Dr. Fulton. Is this Lorenzo Mancini?”

“Yes.” I frowned. Why was Dr. Fulton calling me? “Is everything okay?”

“Are you on your way to the hospital?”

“No.” I jerked my head back. “Why? Should I be?”

“Harper’s had a seizure, and we have to operate immediately.” Panic gripped me so tightly I thought I might burst. The baby wasn’t due for… Well, the baby was very early. I couldn’t think straight, and the math really didn’t matter at this point.

“We’ll do our best to help both Harper and the baby,” Dr. Fulton said. “But if we can only save one of them, who should we…”

The rest of her words blurred, as did my vision. It was an impossible choice. The woman I loved or our child?

Harper would be devastated if anything happened to Aiden, but I couldn’t live without her. The pain of losing him might kill her, but losing Harper would wreck me.

It was as if my entire universe shrank down to that one moment. Everything hung in the balance. Everything that mattered to me.

“Please don’t make me choose,” I pleaded to Dr. Fulton, the universe, whoever would listen. I was struck with fear, spearing my fingers through my hair. I’d never felt so helpless.

I was a world away from Harper at a time when she needed me most. And I needed her.

“What’s wrong?” Val asked. “What’s going on?”

I shook her question away, focusing on Dr. Fulton. “Both of them.”

“I’ll do everything I can, but that may not…”

“Harper,” I finally said, my shoulders slumping. “Harper.”

“I’ll call as soon as I have an update.”

I dropped my head into my hands, the enormity of the situation bearing down on me.

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