Page 147 of For Wrath and Redemption
I huff a laugh. “Why? You don’t believe me?” I march toward him and slap the ultrasound pictures on his chest. “I’m nine weeks. Madrid resulted in a pregnancy. Surprise, asshole. Now I have a souvenir to go with that pleasant memory.”
His hand covers mine, holding my palm to his chest, but I pull away from him. Slowly, he drags his eyes from my face to the strip of ultrasound pictures. He blinks, and as his face softens, so does mine.
“How long have you known?”
My brows furrow as I’m hit with a wave of guilt. “Since Cardiff.”
“The hospital,” he says quietly, almost as an afterthought.
When he finally brings his eyes back to mine, they’re hard again. Emotionless. Giving nothing away. It just makes me more agitated.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
My guilt morphs into anger. I grow defensive. I think I hear a hint of accusation in his tone. He has no right.
“Gee, I don’t know, Jonah. When do you think I should have told you? When you were buying drugs from the roadie? When you told me you were glad you didn’t have kids? Oh, I know, how about when both youandyour father said I would get knocked up on purpose and take all your money? You said you needed a break, sent me back to New York, and haven’t returned a call or text since. When the fuck should I have told you?”
His eyes bounce between mine as I seethe. My heart is pounding, and my chest is heaving, and he’s just...cold. Again.
“So it was an accident?”
“Jesus Christ.” Angry tears surge to my eyes. “I sure as fuck didn’t do it on purpose. Rest assured, Jonah, I don’t want anything from you. No money. No commitments. Nothing. You can leave now.”
I turn and walk quickly into my bedroom, but when I try to shut the door, his boot stops it.
“Go away.”
“No.”
“I don’t want you here, Jonah! I don’t need you here. You’re absolved of any responsibility, and you never have to see me again.”
He grabs my wrist and pulls it to his chest again. I flex my fingers into the fabric of his cotton T-shirt. His heart is beating so fast.
“Don’t say that, Claire. That’s not what I want.”
“Well, it’s what I want.”
“It’s not.”
“It is.”
“It’s not!” He takes a step closer and cups my neck with his other hand. “You don’t want me to leave. You don’t want to do this alone.”
“You think I want to do it with you? You think I would trap you. Youasked me if I got pregnant on purpose. Fuck, you thought I was lying that it was even yours! I don’t want to do anything with you.”
I pull away from him and put as much distance between us as possible.
“God, I’m such an idiot. You’ve showed me time and time again what you think of me, and I just ignored it. I ignored it when I should have sprinted in the opposite direction, and now...”
I press my fingers to my temples and tilt my face to the ceiling.
Now I’m fucked.
“I want to do this with you.”
“We’re notdoinganything.”
“What do you mean? You’re pregnant. You’re having my kid.”
