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)
I feel like I’ve been slapped, so I take a step back. It dawns on me how little we actually know about each other, and I remember Nico’s words. A bad breakup. He wasn’t a good guy. Jesus Christ, he must have been a monster if this is how defensive she gets over a few simple questions.
I put my hands up in surrender and take another step back, giving her space.
“Can we start this conversation over?” I ask carefully. “You tell me what you want me to say, and I’ll say it.”
She looks at me like she can’t decide whether I’m being insulting or sincere.
“This was a mistake,” she repeats in a kind of whisper. “I never should have come here. I never should have slept with you in the first place.”
That stings.
“Val, slow down,” I say gently, hoping my tone doesn’t come off condescending. “Let’s just talk this out. You’re pregnant. It’s my baby. Like it or not, we’re in this together, so let’s make a plan.”
“No,” she yelps like she’s been stung. “I don’t want to plan anything with you! That’s not why I came here.”
I groan in frustration. “Then why come at all?” I bark. “What’s the point of this? It could have been a text.”
“Would you really want this news over text?”
“No, Val. I would want you to not ghost me for over a month. I would want you to pretend, even for a second, that that night actually meant something to you. This shouldn’t be our first communication in six weeks, but that was your decision. I’m just along for the ride.”
“That’s not fair,” she accuses. “You knew how I felt. You knew I didn’t want anything serious to come from that night.”
“Great job, Val,” I answer sarcastically. “Looks like you really fucked that up.”
“It wasn’t my decision not to wear a condom!” she shouts.
“Don’t do that. Don’t act like I had some master plan. We were both caught up that night. You didn’t tell me you weren’t on birth control.”
“I am on birth control!” she nearly screeches. “That’s what makes this all so much more fucked up.”
Nico steps in mid-sentence, tablet in hand, his face even paler than his sister’s. No need to ask what he’s heard, because it’s clear he heard enough.
His eyes move from me to Valentina and back. They narrow at me, and I can almost see the pieces clicking into place. His gaze flashes with anger.
“Please tell me you two aren’t that goddamn stupid,” he says tightly.
Val turns on him, not realizing he’d walked in, and her whole body goes still. No matter how she wanted this to go with me, she definitely wasn’t ready for him to be part of it, and that’s obvious in her posture.
“Nico—” she starts, but he puts his hand up.
“No way,” he says sharply. “No way you two slept together other behind my back. You wouldn’t do that to me.”
Val looks between us, and the tears that threatened to fall earlier finally break the surface.
“It was one time,” she says weakly.
“I don’t care how many times it was,” he seethes. “Once was enough. I trusted you,” he says to me. “I told you to be careful with her, and you did exactly what I told you not to do.”
“Hold on,” Val says, and I can already hear her ramping up for another fight. “What makes you think you have the right to dictate who I do and don’t sleep with?”
Nico goes completely still, and he has the good grace to look sheepish. “I wasn’t…” he stutters. “That’s not…”
“Jesus Christ, you’re both the biggest assholes I’ve ever met,” she growls in frustration.
“This is a thing he does,” Nico deflects. “He always sleeps with the event planners before the gala. It’s why he never uses the same person twice.”
Fuck. Val turns back to me with hatred in her eyes, and there’s not enough time in the world to explain that it wasn’t like that. She’s not just another notch on my belt. But she’ll never give me the time of day again.
“You’re un-fucking-believable,” she hisses. “Here you are, trying to make me feel bad for never calling you back, and this is just your fucking move. Have the life you deserve.”
At this, she finally does storm out. I’d follow her if Nico weren’t there, blocking my way.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he asks, challenging me in a way he never has before. I deserve it, and that’s why I let him.
“It wasn’t like that,” I say honestly. “I like her, Nico. I fought it for your sake, but—”
“But nothing,” he spits, curling his upper lip. I’ve never seen him this angry. “You didn’t just fuck my sister behind my back, you ruined her life. Fix this.”
“I want to!” I fire back. “You saw how she reacted. She’s not exactly making it easy.”