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“He won’t,” I argue. “Plus, we aren’t together. We’re going to co-parent.”

Bedside me, I feel Jensen tense up. It’s the first time he’s shown a modicum of unease.

“Oh, this just gets better and better and better, Violet.” Henry scrubs a hand over his face. “Get out of my house, the pair of you.”

“What?” Panic races through me.

“Get out of my house! You come here, insult us, and then drag our family name through the mud with this scandal.”

“Scandal?!” Jensen inches forward on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’re telling me you view your daughter’s pregnancy and the fact that I am standing by her, wanting these babies with all my heart, as a fucking scandal? You’re telling me you view your unborn grandchildren as a scandal?”

“Get out!” Violet spits.

Jensen doesn’t move, and I stay rooted to the spot when he looks Violet dead in the eyes. “Did you view Ava as ascandal,too?”

“How dare you!”

“Or is that cool just because it’s Easton and he’s a guy?”

Violet ignores Jensen and looks at me. “Your career is over, Katherine. Congratulations. I shouldn’t be surprised, though; I always knew you would fuck up.”

“You’re a hypocrite. You had me.” Felicity’s words play back in my memory.

“I had you with your father in a supportive home, and once we owned our own business, built it up from the ground andcould call the shots. No one was waiting in the wings to replace me when I went off to have children.”

“I’ve never heard such crap in my life,” Jensen laughs. “This shit’s hilarious.”

Violet looks at Jensen and then at me, poison pouring from her. “But I should’ve stopped at one.”

Jensen stops laughing. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I said—” Violet stands from the couch again, and Henry joins her, clearly in support. “We should’ve stopped at Easton.”

The roar I hear from Jensen is enough to shake the entire house at its foundations. He lurches forward, but I can tell he won’t touch my parents, even if the look on his face suggests exactly that. “You make me fucking sick,” he snarls, his lips curling with rage. “Take a good long look at your stunning daughter and marvel at how you birthed her. I know I am. In fact, I’m starting to question if creatures like you are even capable of creating such perfection.”

I place my hand on his arm to try to calm him. My walls are up, and I am in freeze mode, firmly holding in my feelings so the pain of Violet’s words doesn’t penetrate my heart. “Let’s just get out of here, please.”

JENSEN

I’ve done next to zero packing for the flight I absolutely have to take back to Alberta tomorrow morning.

But I can’t leave her tonight.

I won’t leave her.

I don’twantto leave her.

What I want to do is haul her into me, have her arms wrapped around me for solace instead of her comforter. I’ve wanted to hold her all day, but she’s refused to let me in, retreating further into her shell.

Who the fuck says that to their kids? Who the fuck treats anyone like that, let alone their own offspring.

The boiling blood pumping through my veins surges faster. I need to go to her. But she wouldn’t let me hold her, comfort her in all ways I know she needs and craves.

“Fuck!” Sitting up on the air mattress I blew up ten minutes earlier, I pull out my phone.

“You know what time it is?” Jessie groans.

“She’s not letting me in.”