Page 18 of Almost Paradise

“When you saw him? When was that, and why do you sound so cryptic? Did you go seeking this whore out?”

I take a step closer to her, take her elbow, and spin her around. “Don’t you ever call her that. She’s nothing like that, do you hear me?” Her eyes widen in shock, and I drop her arm. I don’t know if her shock is from my defense of Nia or from grabbing her. From Scarlett’s point of view, neither is a good choice,

“Don’t ever grab me and don’t you defend this greedy whore to me!” she yells.

“I said don’t call her that!” Scarlett takes a step back at my rebuke. “She’s neither of those things.” If she wanted money, she could have gone public with this. Three thousand a month is less than nothing. It’s a slap in the face, and I wonder what the hell my father was thinking when he gave her that pittance.Ifhe’s behind this. “No, I didn’t seek her out. It was fate.” She takes another step away from me. “It happened when we went to your nephew’s birthday party.”

“You’re kidding me! The party I had to drag you to kicking and screaming?” She throws her head back and lets out a loud humorless laugh. She laughs so hard and for so long that she sounds maniacal. “If that’s not the biggest fucking irony of all,” she whispers almost to herself. I cringe. I hate the F-word, and she knows it. “That was over two weeks ago, Drake. You’ve been dealing with this for over two weeks, and you never said a word? Am I in this relationship or am I just an accessory for your arm? Do you need a wife, or do you only need me when it’s time for a charity or social event? A fucking child of all things.” I reach for her but she swats my hand away. She comes closer and pounds her fists on my chest. I take it until she tires herself out. “Go to hell.”

She makes for the door, but I snatch her wrist and pull her to me. “This changes nothing between us,” I tell her.

“Are you delusional? Everything changes. Every goddamn thing. You have a child. You’ll have to have a relationship with his mother. You’ll expect me to be a stepmother.”

“Yes, that’s true. Is that too much for you? If it is—”

“I’m not going to play the role of stepmother while I’m just a live-in girlfriend. You want me to take this on?” I nod at her. Of course I do. I asked her to marry me. I want to spend my life with her. “Fine. I will, but we need to set a date. Today. I want the first Saturday of September. That gives us less than five months, but I can get it done. That’s what I want. You can’t expect me to play the role of wife when I’m not your wife. I will not be your laughingstock, Drake.”

It’s me who drops her wrist as if it burns my hand to touch her. I take two big steps back, unsure of what I’m hearing. “You’re using this as leverage to set a wedding date?”

“No. I’m asking my fiancé, the man who got on one knee and asked me to marry him, to set a wedding date. The man who is supposed to love me.” She points at herself. “You gave me this ring a year ago. I wanted to set a date then. I want to set it now. It’s not too much to ask. After all, you proposed to me, not the other way around.”

It’snottoo much to ask. She’s been patient. Beyond understanding. She’s stood by me through everything, and now I drop this on her lap. How can I ask her to be a stepmother if I won’t marry her?

“Okay,” I capitulate. “Set whatever date you want.” I thought she would be happy and fly into my arms, but she shakes her head in disbelief. I reach for her, but she doesn’t come. “It happened before us—”

“I don’t need a timeline. You kept this from me for two and a half weeks. Now you tell me you have an illegitimate child as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. How much time have you spent with her and this child? How much shit have you done behind my back?” She says the world child with venom, and that surprises me. Scarlett has always loved children. I’m the one who has always kept them at a distance. Until I set eyes on my son.

“I saw her twice. I saw her this morning, and she’s agreed to let me meet him on Sunday. And illegitimate? What is this? A Bridgerton episode? Don’t call him that again.”

“Sunday? My father’s birthday is on Sunday. We’re supposed to go skiing in Vermont this weekend.” I run a hand over my face. I had forgotten all about that, and even if I had remembered, meeting my son trumps everything. “It’s fine,” she says before I can answer. “I won’t go. He’ll understand. I’ll throw a dinner party here for him next week.”

I grab both her hands and she doesn’t pull away. “I want you to go. I want to do this alone. At least the first meeting. He’s only three, and I don’t want to overwhelm him with too many people.”

She yanks her hands away. “Too many people? I’m your damn fiancée. I’m not people. Go to hell.” She storms out of the office and slams the door behind her. I stand there, not ready to go after her yet. She’s not wrong, but I still don’t want her there. I want to bond with Carter. I don’t want to have to worry about Scarlett too. I also don’t want her to meet Nia yet, especially not after the names she called her.

After about twenty minutes, I go to look for her. She’s not on the first floor, so I go upstairs toward the master bedroom. I hear her on the phone. “I’m so glad you can come on board as my wedding planner. The date is September second. Can we meet tomorrow to discuss?” And just like that, her anger is gone. At least for the moment. I’m sure she’s only putting up a brave face for the person on the phone.

I open the door and lean against the wall. She gives me her back when she sees me. When she ends the call, she says, “I’m going back to the office.”

I block the door and say, “Are we okay?” I already know that we are judging from the phone call. I expected her anger, but I didn’t expect her to use this as an opportunity to get me to do what she wants.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course, you have a choice, Scar.”

“Really? What are my choices here?” She crosses her arms. I look away and remain quiet. “Either accept this or lose you. I don’t want to lose you. As angry as I am with you for fathering a child and keeping it from me for as long as you did, I still love you. I always have. So, no. I don’t have a choice.”

I look back into her eyes and some of the fire that I’ve gotten used to is there. There’s nothing I can say. She has always loved me, or so she says. I’ve known her all her life. We grew up together. She’s only two years younger than me, and she’s always wanted me, but I never felt the same way. At least not until a couple of years ago when she was the distraction I needed to move on from Nia. She was here, and she was familiar. She was safe, and my heart was in no danger of being broken by her.

“I never meant for this to happen,” I tell her.

“Then maybe you should have used a condom. Please move.” I step out of the way. She storms out and slams the door behind her.

Chapter 13

Drake

I’ve barely slept since I left her house yesterday. I know I’m not going to sleep tonight. In less than ten hours, I’m going to meet my son. In a way, it was good luck that Scarlett had plans for the weekend. Things have been tense since I told her the news, so maybe the time apart will be good for us both. I need this time to focus on Carter as he’s become the most important thing in my life.

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