Page 16 of The Partner Predicament

I hold my hand up cutting short whatever he was going to say.

“Listen to me carefully. I will close this House. I will close all the Houses across the fucking country if you don’t bring her to me immediately. Nod if you understand.”

He nods before walking out of his office. I hear him speaking to another man before he comes back inside.

“Mr. Meyer, please be reasonable,” he implores.

“How many?” I ask. “How many girls have been sent to the wrong place?”

“Just Aspen and Sierra,” he says softly. “Somehow their files got mixed up.”

“I don’t give a shit!” I roar. “Did you bring the other girl back as well?”

“She is en route.”

“Can’t trust anyone to do a damn thing,” I mumble. “I’ll sort this out myself.”

The door to the office opens and a man ushers Aspen inside, a hand on her elbow.

“If you want to keep that hand you might want to take it off our woman,” Jaxon threatens.

When Aspen sees me, she starts crying so hard that she collapses. Luckily Jaxon is close enough to catch her, but she doesn’t allow him to hold her, instead pushing him away.

“Don’t touch me!” she screams.

“Little one?” I see the confusion and hurt scrolled over his face and seeing the two of them in pain is more than I can handle.

“Everyone out!” I roar and the other two men exit quickly. Taking a deep breath, I focus on her. “Sweetness—” I start but she cuts me off.

“Don’t call me that,” she says, her voice broken. “I know you sent me back here. That I wasn’t good enough, so you can stop lying to me.”

She sits down on the ground with her back against the wall before pulling her knees up beneath her chin and sobbing softly. I think back to when she just moved in with me and remember this was her greatest fear, that I would send her back. I thought she knew the truth, that we both loved her. It seems she still has doubt about our true feelings.

“Aspen,” I say as I pick her up and carry her over to the couch. Sitting down I tilt her head so I know she has no choice but to look at me. “I … we … didn’t send you back, sweetness. They took you from us.”

Shock scrolls across her features as Jaxon sits beside us. “Little one,” he says and sighs. “Do you not know how much we love you? That we would do anything for you?”

Hiding her face in her hands she continues to cry. “Why?” she sobs.

“Because you weren’t supposed to be ours.” I tell her the truth. “They fucked up and sent the wrong person to the wrong place. We aren’t your ideal matches.”

“What?” She gazes at me with watery eyes.

“Baby…” I sigh, my heart already breaking for her. “That means if you stay with us, you’ll most probably never have a baby. We aren’t good enough matches.”

“But,” she starts just as Jaxon interrupts.

“But nothing,” he says adamantly. “We love you with or without a baby.”

“Will you—”

I silence her with a deep kiss. “It doesn’t matter.” I cradle her face as I pull away.

“But I’m already pregnant.”

Epilogue

Aspen

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