Page 54 of Owned

“Atlas—”

“No, I haven’t finished.” I put the piece of bread down and took that stubborn little chin of hers between my fingers, holding her still. “What I want is for you to move in with me. You’ll let me take care of you and handle Cait as well as this bullshit with Charlotte.”

Shock rippled over her face. “Move in with you? What? Are you insane?”

“No. You were right up in the bathroom, I didn’t wear a condom. Which means you could be pregnant right now. And if you are, in nine months Charlotte will be knocking on your door wanting that baby.”

She blinked rapidly. “Yes, and you essentially told me to suck it up.”

“Yeah, well, I was wrong. Because if you are pregnant and Charlotte comes here thinking she can take that kid away, I’m not going to let her.”

.

19

Rowan

Atlas’s gaze was mesmerizing and it didn’t help that I was sitting in his lap yet again, his body beneath mine, the strength of him so incredibly apparent. After initially being weirded out at sitting on him, he’d been so calmly insistent and yet reassuring at the same time, that all I wanted was to relax against him, enjoy teasing him while he handed me little bites of food, and to forget about the rest of the world pressing in.

Except now he was talking about me moving in with him and handling Mom and Charlotte, letting him take care of me, and the part of me that was used to doing everything myself stiffened in instinctive denial.

Yet even as that part of me wanted to protest, the rest of me was…tired. I’d been handling myself and Mom for years and I was weary of it. I wanted someone else to take the burden of responsibility from my shoulders. I wanted to rest, let myself be taken care of without the constant pressure having to do it all on my own. I wanted someone to lean on, to depend on, who would be there for me whenever I needed them.

But it was dangerous to think that way, because people weren’t reliable. They walked away right when you needed them, and I knew that because I’d watched them walk away from Mom time and time again, and then had to clear up the mess those people left behind them.

It was also a worry that no matter what Atlas said about not being like my mother, I could feel in myself the same need, the same desperation, the same hunger to be loved and wanted and seen. And I knew where that would leave me if I gave into it, and I wanted no part of it.

Then again, he wasn’t wrong about the possibility of me already being pregnant, and if I was….

Fear flickered through me and I wasn’t sure whether it was fear of actually being a mother or fear that I wouldn’t even get a chance to be one because Charlotte would take the child away as soon as it was born.

“I won’t let her,” Atlas said, somehow knowing exactly what I was thinking, his deep voice heavy with conviction. “If she wants to take the child away from you, she’ll have to go through me first.” Ferocity gleamed bright in his eyes, and all my stupid, primitive female hormones could think about was what an excellent protector and father he’d be.

But I wasn’t only hormones. I had self-respect and pride, and what he was talking about, me moving in with him and letting him handle everything, went against both of those things. I wasn’t his property or his ‘fuck toy’. Yes, I’d knelt before him, but that didn’t change anything, no matter what he said. I wasn’t anyone’s property and he couldn’t treat me as such.

I stared up at him, forcing my brain to start thinking again. “Stop her?” I echoed. “Why? You actually want kids?”

“I didn’t.” His gaze was unblinking “But things have changed. You might be pregnant already in which case, that baby is mine too.”

That was not what he’d said before.

“Since when did you care?” I asked. “You seemed fine with giving Charlotte your ‘donation’ before, so why is it suddenly your baby?”

“Since I took your virginity without a condom.” A growl had entered his voice. “I didn’t think it would matter, but it does. So no, I’m not giving Charlotte fucking Hamilton any kid of mine.”

I hadn’t thought about what I’d do if Atlas didn’t want to give the child up. I’d actually tried not to think about it at all, but even when I had, I’d expected to be the person who had issues with it, not him.

So…what if I really was pregnant already? I’d have to tell Charlotte and then?—

I forced my thoughts away from that particular subject, not liking where it was heading. “I signed a contract.” I tried to sound level and measured, and failed. “I can’t back out of it now.”

Atlas’s grip on my chin firmed, tilting my head back even further so all I could see what his fierce gaze boring into mine. “So you’d give up your child just because you signed a fucking contract?” he demanded. “You’d give up my child?”

“You didn’t seem to care about that two seconds ago,” I shot back, nettled at his sudden display of possessive temper.

He didn’t even blink. “You’re afraid,” he said and it wasn’t a question. “Why?”

God, what was the point hiding anything from this man? He always seemed to know when I was bluffing. “Okay, yes, I’m afraid,” I admitted tightly. “I signed that contract for the money, not because I was desperate for a baby, and now you’re saying you want to keep the child? Do you know what that’s going to mean for me? I’ll be a mother and I’m….” I faltered.

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