Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 404(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“Then why don’t you want to be with me?” I choke out, hating how vulnerable I sound.
“I do,” he argues. “I want more than anything to be with you, baby. But you’ve been forced into doing shit your entire life, and I knew that if I forced you to stay in this marriage, you would never truly love me the way I love you.”
He drops his head against my chest, and without thinking, I delve my fingers into the soft strands of his hair.
When he glances back up at me, his whiskey-colored eyes are glassy. “You deserve to have a choice, Bri. So, I drew up the divorce papers so you could finally have a choice.” His hands go to my hips, and his fingers dig into my flesh. “I never should’ve taken your choices away from you. So, the decision is yours. If you stay married to me, I promise I’ll love you for the rest of our lives. But …” He swallows thickly, his features turning pained. “If you sign the divorce papers, I’ll let you go, no matter how hard it’ll be.”
He’s giving me a choice.
He doesn’t want a divorce.
And then I remember a crucial detail that he isn’t aware of.
“I’m pregnant.”
“What?” he breathes out.
“I’m pregnant. Looks like your placebo worked. I took a home test … well, several actually … and they all say the same thing—I’m pregnant. Still okay with giving me a choice?”
“Holy shit.” His eyes descend to my still-flat stomach.
Though I can already feel my body changing. Since I don’t know how long he’s been messing with my birth control, I can only go by my missed period, putting me at roughly eight weeks along.
“You’re pregnant?” His hand goes to my belly, and butterflies erupt in my chest.
“Because you switched out my birth control!”
Needing space, I push his hand away and climb off his lap.
“No, I didn’t,” he says, standing as well. “I put them under the sink and then moved them to my desk. I didn’t know you’d found and taken them.”
He smirks and then quickly reins it in. “I’d like to say I’m sorry, but I will never regret you being pregnant with my baby.”
He steps toward me, and I shake my head, silently halting him, knowing if I let him touch me, I’ll give in.
“This doesn’t change anything,” he says. “I won’t force you to be with me. If you want to be with me, then I would love nothing more than to raise this baby together. I never imagined having a wife, let alone a baby. But I want it with you.”
“And if I decide I want a divorce?” I quirk a brow, trying to remain strong.
“Then we’ll figure it out,” Kane says. “I will never force you to do anything again.”
The thought of raising this baby without Kane by my side makes me sick to my stomach. And not because I’m incapable of doing it on my own, but because I’ve always wanted to have a family, and if we divorce, I’ll be a single mom, and every dream I’ve had of having a family will be shot to hell.
“I love you, Brielle. And I have no doubt that the life we could have together would be fucking beautiful. But you have to want it too.”
It would be so easy to go to him, to let him back in, and agree to stay married to him so that we could be a family. But a part of me would always wonder if I did it because I loved him or if I loved the idea of having a family with him.
“I need time,” I blurt out. “This isn’t how I envisioned my life,” I say honestly. “I know I care about you, but I need to make sure that if I stay married to you, it’s for the right reasons.”
“Okay,” he agrees. “I’ll give you as much time as you need. But, please, consider coming home with me. If you want to live somewhere else, I’ll understand—even though I’ll fucking hate it. But I don’t want to miss your pregnancy. If you don’t come home, I’ll have to move here, which will make running my company hard, but I’ll do it because—”
“Breathe.” I laugh softly. “I’ll come home.”
He releases a harsh breath and closes the space between us. “I know I’m not the husband you dreamed of, but I hope, one day, I’ll be the man you can fall in love with because I’ve fallen so fucking in love with you, Princess, and I’ll spend every day proving it to you.”
I nod in understanding, unable to speak due to the lump of emotion caught in my throat. Because the truth is, I’ve already fallen in love with Kane.
Now, I just need to find out if I can forgive him.