Page 92 of Greed

My emotions have been colliding since I said goodbye to Kalina after she told me she is pregnant.

The only protection she used was Llura brand condoms. Still, even though the condoms passed every test imaginable during the development phase, including the crucial air test, she’s about to be a mom.

My hand drops to my flat stomach as a silent sob shakes my frame.

“You’re only two days late,” I tell myself for the third time since I got on the subway to make my way home to Brooklyn. “You take the pill. You’re not pregnant.”

My weak self-directed pep talk doesn’t help. Tears stream down my cheeks.

I didn’t realize my period was late until Kalina mentioned the condom fail. Even though I know I should take one of the tests right now, I scoop up both and shove them in the top drawer of my nightstand.

“Tomorrow,” I whisper, tugging on the belt on my dress to loosen it. “Tomorrow is the day you’ll deal with all of this.”

CHAPTERFORTY-NINE

Declan

“I thoughtI wouldn’t see you for weeks.” Rook laughs. “Why aren’t you at your brother’s apartment holding your new niece?”

“He threw me out,” I confess. “I stopped by there on my way to work this morning. It looked like he hadn’t slept all night, so I offered to watch over Hailey so he could take a nap since Callie was already doing that.”

“I remember those first few days of being a dad.” He adjusts the dark blue tie he’s wearing. “I would have appreciated it if you’d done that for me.”

“I did,” I remind him, reaching forward to straighten the knot on his tie. “You were so sleep deprived that it must have slipped your mind.”

“Probably,” he says, buttoning his suit jacket. “So I take it Sean didn’t want to trade in baby time for sleep?”

“Nope.” I laugh. “He told me to get my ass to work because he was taking paternity leave for the foreseeable future.”

Rook tosses his head back in laughter. “Sounds just like Sean to me.”

I glance over his shoulder toward his desk. “What’s with the flowers?”

With a lingering chuckle, he shakes his head. “My daughter gave me those this morning before I left for work. She told me they’d brighten my day.”

I move around him to get a better look at the three daisies in a mason jar filled with water. “Kirby is a sweetheart.”

“And a thief,” he says as he rounds his desk. “She grabbed them out of a bouquet that was on the security desk in the lobby of our building.”

“She’s too short to reach that high on her own.”

“Holden.” That one word says it all. “He had a hand in this. He watched her for a few hours yesterday, right before the flowers magically appeared.”

“Who knew Holden could be a badass?”

Rook laughs again. “I sure as hell didn’t.”

I turn to look at his closed office door. “I’m looking for Abby.”

His gaze drops to a file folder on his desk. “She’s not here.”

I’m not surprised. It’s been three days since I saw her at Tin Anchor, and she saw me drunk. I’m not ashamed of that since I was in party mode, but I am surprised she’s been avoiding me since.

I’ve reached out via text, and I’ve tried to call her a few times. Her only response was a short text saying she was buried in work but would give me a call soon. I have no idea how she defines “soon,” but it obviously differs from my definition.

“Where is she?”

That catches his attention enough that he looks me in the eye. “With a client.”

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