Page 58 of Bossy Ex's Brother

JANE

The minute Luca left, and I made sure everyone was alright, I went back upstairs. While I still felt significantly better than I did earlier today, I wasn’t a hundred percent back to myself. Plus, I felt inexplicably tired, either from the news I received today or from incessant nausea. Or just from being pregnant.

Every time I thought about it, it hit me like it did the first time. And I went into shock all over again.

It should have been so simple,I thought as I crawled into bed, bringing the covers over my body. Mistakes happened, and luckily, I’d caught it early enough that I could still do something about it. I knew I wasn’t ready to be a mother, and Luca definitely wasn’t ready to be a father. So the easiest option was a no-brainer—get rid of it.

So why did the very thought of it send devastation flying through me? Why was I already seeing the thing inside me that probably wasn’t even formed yet, as a child? As mine.

It changed nothing, though. I couldn’t keep it.

I brushed it out of my mind, trying to take deep breaths to prevent the panic attack that rose at the thought of doing what I had to do.I didn’t want to be like my mother,I reminded myself. I never wanted to be a single mother like her and never eventhought about having kids anywhere near now. While I loved my siblings very much, they were a handful most of the time, and I was already exhausted from taking care of them. I wanted to be able to see all of them graduate and have a little alone time to myself before possibly getting married and having a baby.

And now everything was completely backward, if not ruined, all because of my mistake.

I heard the door click open, and I didn’t turn around. I suspected it was Felix coming to interrogate me once more about Luca’s presence. To be frank, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with my little brother’s questioning, so I hoped he would think I was asleep and simply walk away.

But instead, a soft feminine voice rang out, “Sis?”

I glanced back, almost sure I had misheard. But no. It was Bethany, although the words weren’t said with her usual sarcastic bite. Also, she was carrying Angel on her hip, and the little girl was biting her lip in worry.

“Angel wanted to come up and check on you,” Beth said, even though she looked worried as well. “Luca said you felt like crap after eating some bad fish at the restaurant. Is that true?”

I guessed that was the story Luca told them. I was grateful that was all he revealed. I nodded in response.

She came closer, resting Angel on the bed. Angel crawled up to me instantly, and I opened my arms, allowing her to move in and cuddle up to me.

Beth sat tentatively on the edge of the bed, eyeing me for a few seconds before she asked, “What’s wrong with you? Really?”

I shook my head at her. “Nothing. I just ate something bad, as Luca said. I threw up a couple of times and had to rest. That’s it.” I didn’t want to explain everything to them quite yet, especially since I wasn’t sure I understood it myself.

I got the feeling Bethany didn’t believe me, but she didn’t push the issue.

“Have you taken some medicine?” she asked.

I nodded. The hospital had prescribed some anti-nausea pills, but I’d yet to take the evening dose. I would take it once Beth was gone.

She cocked her head to one side, then asked hesitantly, “Is there anything I can do?”

I felt my eyebrows raise at the tone and her expression. Was my little sister being thoughtful right now? Beth hadn’t shown behavior like that since she was a little girl who’d been attached at my hip. That Beth had hung onto every single word that I said. She was always so thoughtful and lively and could be a little hot-tempered at times but was overall a great sister. That was the Beth I looked forward to maybe seeing a glimpse of again, not the sulking teenager she’d turned into.

I smiled back at her. “You can get me some of the soup Luca made.”

She grimaced a little. “Um…we kind of ate it all.”

“You did?” Disappointment curled within me. Luca’s soup was super good and very soothing. It was the only thing that helped with the sick feeling in my stomach. I was looking forward to storing the leftovers in my fridge and having it for breakfast every morning until it was finished.

But now it was all eaten.

“Yeah, sorry, but it was really good.” Beth held up her hands placatingly. “But don’t worry. Luca said he’d come over and make some tomorrow. And we can whip up something for now if you want soup that much.”

It was my turn to wince. Neither Beth nor I got any kind of cooking skills whatsoever. At least I’d managed to pick up the basics and make some easy meals well enough. But Beth could barely boil water. The last time she tried to boil an egg, she nearly set our entire kitchen on fire.

“Don’t worry,” I said, smiling to cover the grimace. “I’m not that hungry.”

Bethany smirked at me. “You know, by ‘we,’ I meant I was just going to bully Felix into making it for you.”

“Oh,” I said, relieved. My younger brother, on the other hand, was a complete whizz in the kitchen, as with most other things in his life. He called it ‘simple chemistry.’

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