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Thankfully, my champagne glass has been refilled, so I take a smug sip as I consider how my plans are all slipping into place. Life is good. Very good.

So why the hell do I have this ball of dread welling inside me? Telling me everything is about to go horribly wrong.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

GIA

Last night,Reed didn’t come over after work and said he had to work late. I’ve also not heard from him this morning, which is unusual, and I can’t help the gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me there’s something wrong and there’s something he’s not telling me. He’s hiding something. Something vital that’s going to break my heart.

If it was only mine in question, it wouldn’t feel quite as bad, but there’s Bryce to consider, and the baby too.

I’m putting a lot of trust in Reed, maybe too much too soon, but I’m so desperate for this to work. I refuse to acknowledge how quickly things are moving, despite those around me warning me otherwise.

“Mrs. Mathers,” Alejo says, pointing his pen in my direction, “you seem happier lately.”

I shuffle under his scrutiny.

“But not today,” he asserts. “Can I help you with anything?”

My tongue thickens, and my eyes fill with tears at his kind words. This is what the community is, what my work is all about. We support one another above all else.

“No. But thank you, Alejo.” I pat his hand. “That means a lot.” I take a sip of my water.

He beams back at me. “Well, if you need anything, let me know. I know people who can rough him up, if you need that.”

I splutter on my drink in a panic. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Well. Just so you know.”

A shadow crosses behind me, making me turn my head to face it, and Reed’s eyes bore down on me and his jaw tics with the force of his glare.

“H-hi,” I squeak, and shift in my chair.

“I came to take you to dinner.” His stern voice cuts through the air, but his eyes lock onto Alejo, as if he’s speaking to him, and I can’t help the way my pulse picks up at the thought of him jealous.

Clearing my throat, I push back in my chair, quick to dismiss the growing tension. Reed takes a hold of my arm and pulls my back against this chest, then his tight shoulders relax when he bands his arm around my waist and rests it on bump, before nuzzling into my hair. “I missed you,” he whispers, and all my previous anxieties drift away at his admittance.

“Mrs. Mathers? Do you want me to finish the files for you?” Alejo asks, and Reed bristles on his words, and I feel the change in the air once again. The tension is now tenfold.

Heat radiates from Reed, and his free hand moves to grip my hip with a bruising force. What the hell is happening?

I clear my throat and smile tightly back at him. “Please.”

Alejo nods, then moves quickly to gather up the files we were working on while I turn in Reed’s arms, and finally, his body softens.

“You’re being a dick.”

He licks his lips and smirks. “Just marking my territory.”

I wrinkle my nose at his explanation.

“I’m not a dog, Reed.”

He throws his head back to look up at the ceiling, then slams his eyes shut as if pained. “Ugh, don’t even talk to me about dogs.”

A laugh bubbles out of me at his dramatics. “Come on, then, take me to dinner.” I pat his chest, and when his gaze comes back down to mine, the heat of his stare surrounds me, and every cell comes alive at the intensity behind it.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN