Page 30 of Wired Fear

“Skin a cat? That sounds terrible!Son of a water buffalo! Foul stench of rats’ entrails!” Sophie wrapped her hands around her cup as if trying to warm them. “He threatened my mother with Guantánamo!”

“I told you the CIA did not have your best interests at heart,” Connor said. “I have been waiting for them to play dirty pool, and it looks like McDonald just made his opening move.” He reached over and covered Sophie’s hand with his. “I know you don’t want to go to the Yam Khûmk?n temple, but it would be a fascinating recon. I could help keep you safe.”

Sophie pulled away and stood up. “Keep me safe? Like you did when we were almost shot out of the sky in your helicopter?” She pressed a hand to her stomach, her fingers spread. “No, thank you.”

Connor had never seen her make that gesture before. “What’s going on, Sophie? Tell me.”

Her eyes met his. “There’s a very good reason why I don’t want to go to the Yam Khûmk?n stronghold. I don’t want to endanger my baby.”

“Your what?” The meaning of her words refused to penetrate. “What baby?”

Sophie just stared at him, and the tiny circles her hand made against her abdomen drew his gaze. Realization burst over his brain in a heat wave of some deep emotion he could not put a name to. “You’re pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“How far along?” Dizzying hope that she might be pregnant from their time together, that the child might be his, washed over him—but a second later reality swept that away. She would be well along in the pregnancy if that were true, and her belly still looked completely flat.

“I’m not sure. Eight weeks, perhaps.” Sophie’s cheeks had gone pink. Her tawny-brown eyes seemed to glow. “It is early yet, but I have to make lifestyle changes.”

“You’re happy about this?” Connor sounded incredulous, even to his own ears. It seemed impossible, but Sophie did appear happy about a circumstance that might be disastrous to her personally and professionally.

“It is not the best situation, and I was upset last night…but the longer I know about it, the better I feel about what’s happened.” Sophie sat back down, poured a little more tea. “I thought I could not have children. It was careless of me not to take enough precautions, but I find that I am indeed happy.”

“And Jake? What does Jake think of becoming a father right now?” Connor’s mouth tasted bitter as he forced the name out.Jake.He wished he could hate that guy, but the man was likeable, good at his job, and clearly besotted with Sophie.

A shadow crossed Sophie’s face. She picked up her cup and took a sip of the tea. “He is adjusting to the news.”

“Is that why you were crying last night?” Devastated as he was, the thought of Jake rejecting the woman he loved and her child enraged Connor. “I’ll kill him if he doesn’t do right by you.”

“You may not kill Jake, Connor. For any reason.”Always so literal. But in this instance, Connor heard the command Sophie was issuing the Ghost. She got up, walked to the galley, and dumped the remaining liquid into the small steel sink. “This whole situation is not your business, really. I only told you so that you would understand why I am so adamant about not going to the stronghold. I didn’t want to go before, but now I am certain it would be a dangerous move. I don’t trust my mother, or why she wants me there. She might even have some new marriage alliance planned for me. There’s nothing I would put past her.”

“You are right not to trust Pim Wat. And how will she respond to knowing you’re pregnant?” Connor frowned. He didn’t have a good feeling—Pim Wat was unpredictable. She might hate the idea of being a grandmother, or love it. Either option could be threatening to Sophie.

Sophie turned to face him, hands supporting her on either side of the sink. “I don’t want Pim Wat to find out. Ever. I don’t want her around any child of mine.” She blew out a breath. “I might as well tell you everything. Alika and I slept together during the time frame that might have led to the pregnancy. He also could be the father.”

Jealousy stole his breath like a blow to the chest. Connor clicked his tongue sarcastically. “My, my. Sophie and her lovers. Quite a daytime reality show.”

“Your judgment regarding my sex life is hypocrisy,” Sophie said evenly. “How many women have you had in your bed? How many meaningless liaisons?”

“More than a few. None that I didn’t take precautions with.” Connor regretted what he’d said.Women faced a double standard, and he’d succumbed to a crude inference. Unresolvable misery made every word feel heavy, every movement slow. “I’m sorry, Sophie. You should know…I haven’t been with anyone since you, so it’s hard for me to hear this.” Connor turned away, looking out the window of the jet to get his emotions under control. “What’s going to happen next?”

Sophie took his question literally. “I have a therapy appointment with Dr. Wilson scheduled for this afternoon. I also have to look for an obstetrics and gynecology physician and arrange for the paternity test and my own maternity checkup. Then I will make arrangements to go to Kaua`i and talk with Alika.” She sighed. “I can only take one step at a time. The way forward seems uncertain and difficult.”

A long silence passed as Connor struggled within himself.

Sophie needed a friend, someone to count on through all of this.

He’d told her once that love was wanting the beloved to have what they needed—even if that was someone else. Could he be that friend to her, continue to support her, even as she carried another man’s child? It would certainly be easier for him if both Alika and Jake rejected her.

Connor allowed himself a moment of giddy hope: she would let him take care of her through this crisis. He would be by her side every step of the way. She’d not only forgive him, but fall in love with him again. He would adopt her baby and be her life partner. They would be a family.

But that dream wasn’t likely to happen.

Alika and Jake loved her too, and whatever pique Jake might be feeling was likely to be short-lived, unless the child was Alika’s.But what if it was?And she’d said she was done with Alika, regardless, that their lifestyles were incompatible…

There was no way to know what any of them would do.

He had to decide about his role with Sophie for himself, no one else, and not dependent on any other choice she made, either.

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