The Baby Contract

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX

Anne

I gripped the edge of the countertop until I heard the door shut behind Bran. Then my already shaking knees gave way. I swiveled around and sank down onto the floor, leaning against the cupboard letting the tears flow.

"Did he hurt you?" Dax rushed to me squatting down on the floor in front of me.

I shook my head.

"Then why are you sitting on the floor crying?" He helped me up and guided me to the chair at the kitchen table. He got my teacup, bringing it over and setting it in front of me.

Then he pulled out the chair from across from me and sat. "I'll go and kick his ass if I need to. I don’t care if he's a client or if I lose my job. Bran Erickson is an asshole who deserves to have his ass whipped."

"He doesn't deserve to have his ass whipped just because he doesn't love me."

Dax arched a brow. "What?"

“It doesn't matter."

I picked up my tea and sipped it, hoping it would calm my nerves even though what I really needed was something to soothe the pain in my heart.

"It doesn't matter. What did he say?”

I stared down into my tea as if it might hold the answers, but I knew there were none. "He gave me everything he thought I wanted."

Dax glared at me. "Stop speaking in tongues. What did he say?"

“He said it was important for the baby to be safe and that our deal was that I lived in his house. He would go live somewhere else so I didn't have to be around him anymore."

Dax leaned back in his chair; his brow furrowed as he studied me.

"And what he was supposed to say was that he loved you?"

I felt like such an idiot. "Never mind." I stood leaving my tea deciding I would go to bed.

I'd made it to my living area when Dax said, "He does love you."

I stopped in my tracks but didn't turn to him. "No, he doesn't. He loves the baby."

"I'm telling you that he loves you. You've been living in the house like a couple, all giddy and playful having sex everywhere —"

My cheeks flushed. How did he know that?

"How you can't tell that he's in love with you is beyond me. I couldn’t understand why you want his love since he can be such a jerk, but there’s no doubt that he loves you."

Incensed, I whirled around, putting my hands on my hips. "Then why doesn't he tell me?"

Dax mimicked me, putting his hands on his hips. "Why don't you tell him that you love him?"

My bravado faltered and the tears came again. "Because I can't bear to hear him tell me that love wasn't part of our deal. Our deal was this baby and some side benefits along the way. When this baby is born, I'm supposed to leave."

I looked down at my belly, my hands caressing the soft curve where our baby grew. "I don't know how I'm going to leave."

Dax came toward me putting his arm around me and guiding me to the couch where he sat me down.

He sat on the coffee table in front of me. "You seem pretty sure that's what he's going to tell you, even though what I see is a man who's in love with the woman carrying his child. What makes you so sure that he doesn't love you?"

"Because our discussions are always around the baby. When there's talk about the future, I'm not included. Tonight, he told me he wanted me back in the house because it was safer for the baby. Because there were servants that would take care of me and, in turn, the baby."