Page 15 of Fire Dragon Lover

Gretchen tried to slap her hand down on the page, but Jessica caught her wrist and pulled the paper up to read it.

"Holy shit, Gretch! Are you—yep. That's your name and, wow. You're pregnant. Oh, my god! Is Logan the father?"

Gretchen looked at the carpet as she sobbed out, "Yes."

"Oh, no." Jessica dropped the paper, and it floated onto the edge of the coffee table before it slipped to the floor. She sat next to Gretchen and hugged her. Gretchen was starting to calm down when Jessica said, "Have you told him?"

Gretchen jerked away. "God, no. Why would I do something like that?"

"Um, because he's the father. He's a shifter Gretchen. You're human. My sister, she told me that these pregnancies are rare and can be very dangerous. She's a nurse in a maternity ward. I can ask her—"

"No!" Gretchen's voice came out slightly louder than she intended. "You can't tell anyone. Promise me you won't say a word."

"I—"

"Promise me."

"Okay. But what are you going to do?" Jessica asked.

"I'm going to raise this baby by myself."

"Are you fucking nuts? Gretchen, you'd be giving birth to a fucking dragon. I don't even know when they start shifting. You have to tell Logan at least so he can help."

"No, I don't have to tell him shit. I'm going to quit tomorrow, and that way, he won't find out. God, Jess, if he finds out, he'd probably take the baby."

Gretchen had her plan. She still had her previous resignation letter on her computer. All she'd have to do is change the date, sign it, and she'd be done. It was that easy. She'd resign and move or leave or something and then never have to worry about Logan ever again. She'd raise her baby, and everything would be fine.

"Gretchen! Listen to me. Did you not hear the part where this could be dangerous. And you shouldn't worry about him taking the baby away. You're the mother. Why would he take the baby? You're acting crazy. It's just hormones. Calm down."

"Don't you fucking dare tell me to calm down. You're not the one who's pregnant."

Jessica opened her mouth to say something else, but Gretchen turned and walked away.

Twenty-Four

Logan

Logan looked up as Melissa put an envelope on his desk. He picked it up and saw that it had his name on it in Gretchen's handwriting. It seemed rather formal. It was also out of the ordinary to have one of the other secretaries bring him something like this. He wondered if he'd finally hurt her enough that she was done being able to look at him.

Mission accomplished, he thought to himself. It was a bitter pill, but it was what he needed to do. He opened it.

Dear Mr. Logan ...

"Resign?! Is this some kind of joke?" he asked Melissa.

All she did was shake her head no. Logan held the letter in his hand and looked at it again as if he could have been mistaken. Maybe he misread it. But no, the language was clear. Gretchen was quitting, effective immediately. It stung in ways Logan didn't know could hurt. He rose from his chair but didn't move any farther.

Melissa stood there and looked at him, she waited for him to tell her something to do or dismiss her.

He was torn between two conflicting needs. He had to be near Gretchen. The dragon in him screamed for it. It wanted her. The man knew that couldn't be if he was going to keep her safe. If he cut ties with her that would mean his enemies had no reason to go after her. She'd be safe. Far away from him, and he'd never see her again, but she'd be safe.

He'd done it. He'd finally been cruel enough to her to drive her away from him. It's what he needed, but it was the farthest thing from what he wanted. What he wanted was Gretchen, and it tore the heart out of him not to have her.

"Is everything okay, Mr. Slade?" Melissa asked.

He didn't say a word, just rushed past her for the door. He looked at Gretchen's desk and saw it had been cleared out. Every personal item she'd had, pictures of friends and family, the little bits and bobs that had decorated her space that made it hers, all of it was gone. It would have taken her a while to gather it all. She'd planned this and never told him.

He ran to the stairs and took them three at a time to the rooftop. He ran to the edge of the building and leaped off it.

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