Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
When he finishes, he collapses next to me, pulling me against him in a vise grip. He doesn’t want me to run this time. He wants me to still be there when he wakes up. The strangest part is, so do I.
His breathing deepens quickly, and I know he’s asleep.
I let myself relax against him and feel my eyes grow heavy, drifting off to a surprisingly restful slumber.
When I wake up a few hours later, he’s still passed out. It’s not quite light outside yet, so I know it’s early. I find my phone on the floor, where it must have fallen out of my pocket last night, and text Nico.
Can we grab breakfast?
He texts back not long after, surprising me. It’s early, even for him.
Of course. Birdy’s at 8?
I send a heart and get up, showering and dressing while trying to be quiet enough not to wake the man in my bed. By the time I leave, he hasn’t even stirred. It’s almost cute how deeply he sleeps.
An hour later, I’m sitting across from my brother at a quiet café in Beverly Hills with a latte I don’t really want and a knot in my stomach.
“You’ve been friends with Sebastian a really long time, right?” I ask without preamble.
He narrows his eyes at me over his coffee. “A decade now. Why?”
“I’m having his baby, Nico. I need to know what kind of person he is.”
He leans back in his chair, exhaling slowly.
“There’s a lot I could tell you,” he says.
“I’m guessing you know about the less-than-legal side of his life,” he says carefully. “I’ve had a strictly don’t-ask, don’t-tell relationship with him where that’s concerned.”
“That’s okay,” I tell him. “I don’t need to know the nitty-gritty. I just need to know if he’s someone I can trust.”
“Without a doubt, he’s one of the most trustworthy people I’ve ever met. If nothing else, he’s a really good man. He would never hurt you the way Adrian did. He’s not like that.”
I bristle at my ex’s name but let out a sigh of relief. Sebastian isn’t perfect by any stretch, but at least I can trust that he isn’t going to hurt me or our baby.
For now, that’s enough.
20
SEBASTIAN
Getting Valentina to agree to let me come to her first ultrasound takes the better part of two days and a supernatural amount of patience. Even after our second night together, she still won’t drop her guard completely.
The first time she says no, she says it’s because she doesn’t want to bother me with it.
“But I want to be there,” I point out. “So I’d really appreciate it if you let me.”
“It’s only the first ultrasound,” she deflects. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Of course it’s a big deal,” I groan. “I want to be there the first time we see our baby.”
“I’ll think about it,” she tells me.
The second time I ask, she tells me she doesn’t need an escort to the doctor’s office. By the third, she’s flat-out annoyed.
“You do realize you’re making me less inclined to agree every time you ask about it, right?”
“I hope our baby doesn’t inherit your stubbornness,” I tell her. “Kid’ll be hell to live with.”
She says nothing to that, but I can tell she isn’t thinking generous thoughts about me.
We both know it’s not stubbornness, though. Not exactly. I still don’t know the full extent of what she went through with Adrian, but I know she clawed her way back from the brink on her own. Built a new life and a new name for herself without anyone’s help. She seems stubborn because there was a time when she had no say in what happened to her.
Even knowing that, it’s hard not to be frustrated that she won’t let me in. The child growing inside her shares half my DNA. This baby is important to me.
So important that I’ve grown wary of every small threat around us. I never thought I’d be afraid, but the moment I found out about my child, everything in LA started carrying an extra weight of anxiety. First things first, I have to find Adrian. Then I have to figure out how the hell to protect my kid from literally everything else.
Nico is no help. He comes to my office for lunch the day before the ultrasound and refuses to take sides.
“It’s not my place. I get that you want to be there, but it’s her choice at the end of the day. And I’m not trying to sway Val about something again. I’m still dangling on the end of her shit list, and I’d really like to get off it.”
“For the record, I would never ask you to intervene,” I tell him truthfully. “This relationship doesn’t need any more external factors.”
“Oh, is it a relationship now?” he asks, sarcasm lacing every word. “I just thought it was a one-night thing.”