Page 10 of Texas-Sized Scandal

He wasn’t the marrying kind. He had a lot of dark baggage inside of him. Still, what else could he do?

Panic washed over him like waves and he didn’t like it. He hadn’t allowed himself to be in a situation he couldn’t control since he’d been fourteen. He was always in command of himself and the events around him.

Though nothing about this situation was normal.

He put his hands in the pockets of his trousers and stood there, trying to project a calm, in-control facade. But he was wigging out.

Ababy?

A BABY!

He’d never wanted children, had always been careful until Melinda and now he was faced with a situation that he had to get out ahead of. He did it all the time at Conti Enterprises, he reminded himself. And he would use those same winning techniques here. The one area of his life that he had always had complete control over was his role as CEO at Conti. It was the one time when he walked into a room and people talked about his reputation as an executive and not a rumored mobster’s son.

He could do this.

Melinda needed him to be that man. To show her that he wasn’t going to cut and run. They’d do this together, he told himself, even though he felt a tingle of fear run down his spine. What did he know about staying in a relationship?

And raising a child?

What did he know about being a father?

His pulse raced faster and harder than it had the one time he’d been sitting in the back of his dad’s car when his father had gone to “take care of some business.” That night had changed Slade forever and he had never been able to look at his father the same way again. It had cemented in Slade’s mind that the life his father lived wasn’t for him.

This was another big change. The kind that he had to take seriously. His child... A Bartelli. He needed to ensure that the child was safe from rivals and from his father’s gang.

An engagement—a temporary engagement—seemed to be the best solution.

He told her so.

He saw the expression that flashed on her face before she spoke. A combination of confusion and disappointment. “A temporary engagement? How is that a solution?”

“I know it sounds crazy but hear me out,” he said. He’d always been famed for being quick on his feet, which was why he’d had so much success courting the media and driving the Conti business. Now he wasn’t sure that winging it was the right thing to do. But there was no time for careful planning.

She shook her head. “I’m listening, Slade, but honestly, this is the craziest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I agree,” he admitted. “But this baby changes everything. You have enough to deal with already without having the media hounding you. I’m not throwing shade, but your family has been a hot mess lately. If we were engaged, our relationship will seem legit and it’s a positive thing. It won’t stop the speculation when you start showing a baby bump, but it will make it easier for me to be the point of contact. Trust me, I can frame it so they think we’re head over heels for each other.”

He knew he should throw out the wordlove, but he couldn’t say that, not even to convince her. He didn’t know if he loved her or if he would ever love her. Right now, he was focused on step one. Convince her to be his temporary fiancée and then they could move on to... Oh, my, the pregnancy.

For the first time, he looked at her belly and she seemed the exact same to him. He would never have guessed she was pregnant from looking at her, but he’d seen the tests; he knew she was. He also knew she had to be losing her shit over it. Neither of them had expected this.

He’d used condoms every time except that one night...when once hadn’t been enough and he’d been too into her to even think of reaching for one.

He expected her to come with more excuses, more reasons this was not a viable plan. Instead, she surprised him.

“How would it work?” she asked, moving over to the padded bench at the end of her bed and sitting down delicately on it. She crossed her legs as she looked over at him and he had to take a moment to gather his thoughts because she looked so pretty and unconsciously sexy. He knew she was in her serious mode so he couldn’t make a pass at her, but he wanted to.

“I’m thinking we both go to dinner at my grandmother’s tonight. Nonna already told me to bring you, so she’s expecting us. I ask you to marry me, you say yes and we make an announcement to the media tomorrow.”

“Why are we doing it now?” she asked.

He smiled. She was working through questions that some of the more persistent reporters might level at them. He liked this about her. She was a rule follower by nature, but she wasn’t used to dealing with a world that liked to dwell in the gray area. But the problems with her father were making her more aware of it. So she knew the speed bumps they’d encounter.

“The photo in theChronicleforced our hand,” he said without needing much time to think. “We wanted to keep our relationship secret for a bit longer, but now that the cat’s out of the bag, so to speak, we decided to go public.”

She stood up and walked over to the window that afforded her a view of downtown and stood there with the September sunlight cascading over her, making her blond hair seem even brighter and giving her an ethereal glow. She looked down at the city and he wished he knew what she was thinking.

If she said no to this, he was sort of out of options. He couldn’t stand to walk away from her and he certainly couldn’t leave her on her own. He didn’t know what his father might do if he found out about the grandchild. Slade kept calm because he knew that he would do whatever he had to in order to protect Melinda and their baby and keep them safe from everything and everyone.

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