When I was done emptying the drawers, I ripped off her linen and pillowcases. Something fell out of one of the pillows, rolling under the bed. I crouched down to the floor to retrieve it, examining it in my hand.
A pregnancy test.
A positive pregnancy test.
I plopped on the edge of the bed, clutching it in my fist. Francesca was pregnant. We’d only slept together without protection in Lake Michigan.
Francesca was pregnant with my baby.
Jesus Christ.
I heard the door pushing open downstairs, and Sterling humming to herself.
“Lovebirds? Are you around?” Her voice echoed in the vast foyer. I dropped my head, trying to keep my jaw from snapping out of my mouth, I clenched it so hard. Sterling appeared at the doorway to Francesca’s room a couple minutes later, scrunching her nose and looking at the havoc I’d caused.
“It looks like this place has been raided by the FBI.”
No, but close.
I lifted the positive pregnancy test in my hand, still sitting down and staring at the floor.
“Did you know about this?”
In my periphery, I saw her eyes widening, her throat bobbing with a swallow. She looked older than ever. Like the scene she’d walked into had aged her.
“I had a feeling, yes.” She walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and sitting down beside me. “Did you really have no idea? The girl developed a sweet tooth overnight, clung onto you every time you walked through the door, and has been frightened to go to the OB-GYN. She knows you don’t want any children, doesn’t she?”
I looked out the window, dragging my hand across my face. She did. She knew.
“Is that why she left?” Sterling gasped. “Please don’t tell me that you kicked her out because you found out…”
“No.” I cut into her words, standing up and pacing the room again. A room I was beginning to hate and love at the very same time. It still held her scent and personality, but too many bad things had happened between these walls.
“Francesca cheated on me.”
“I don’t believe it.” Sterling tilted her chin high, locking her jaw to prevent it from quivering. “She’s in love with you.”
“She kissed Angelo.” They probably did a lot more in the hotel room.
I felt like a teenager confiding in his mother for the first time about a crush. It was the first time I’d showed vulnerability since the age of thirteen. Even at my parents’ funeral, I didn’t shed a tear.
“You hurt her,” Sterling whispered, standing up and walking over to me. She pressed her hand to my arm in a maternal gesture and squeezed. “You hurt her all the time, and she is highly emotional right now. Her hormones are running wild. You’re unwilling to admit your feelings for her, not even allowing her to bring her clothes into your room, let alone tell her why she’s here. Why you took her from her parents and ripped her out of her life.”
“There’s nothing to admit. I’m not in love with her.”
“Really?” She folded her arms over her chest. “Can you live without her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you all those years before she came along?” she wondered, a thin white eyebrow curving high on her forehead. “Why did you merely exist until she walked into this house?”
“I haven’t changed.” I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair. Figured. The minute I said anything remotely emotional, Sterling went full-blown Dawson’s Creek on my ass.
“In that case, stay here, and give her the time she obviously needs. Do not try and chase her around.”
“Is this one of those times you tell me not to do something just to see me do it and prove to me that I care?” I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes.
She shrugged.
“Yes.”
“Then prepare to be underwhelmed, Sterling. If Francesca is carrying my child, I will be there for both of them, but I will not beg for forgiveness.”
“Good.” Sterling patted my arm. “Because frankly, I’m not sure she’ll give it to you.”
Three days had passed since I packed my bags and left.
I didn’t leave my room at my parents’ house, not even to go to school, dreading the moment I’d come face to face with Angelo, not to mention my father.
When Angelo and I went to a hotel together, it was mainly to do what we needed to do all those months ago and never had the chance—talked about what we were and weren’t.
He tried to persuade me to take off and leave.
“We could raise the baby together. I’ve got savings.”
“Angelo, I’m not going to mess up your life so you can save mine.”
“You’re not messing up anything. We will have children of our own. We’ll create a life for ourselves.”
“If I run away with you, both Wolfe and The Outfit will look for us. They will find us. And while Wolfe might be happy to divorce and discard me, my father would never let us live it down.”