Page 97 of Clear Shot

He leans against the counter instead. “Talk to me, Hana.”

I pour out the story as calmly as I can.

“He thinks you cheated?” he demands. “What the fuck is wrong with him? I’m going to—” He pulls out his phone but I jump to my feet, grabbing his hand.

“Please don’t. Nothing is going to convince him of the truth until we can get a paternity test.”

“Then do it,” he says. “They can be done during pregnancy.”

I frown.

I didn’t realize that.

“Without danger to the baby?” I ask.

He nods. “I think it’s just a blood test and cheek swab or something.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t understand,” he says after a moment. “Didn’t you explain that you didn’t cheat? Why didn’t he at least go to a doctor to check his sperm count? His vasectomy obviously failed, and he needs to find out what’s what.”

These are details I haven’t allowed myself to consider after the way things went down. If he’d simply been willing to sit down and have a rational conversation with me, to discuss how this happened, it would be different. But his knee-jerk reaction was to put the blame on me and then accuse me of something I’m not capable of. The fact that he believes that I could cheat on him means everything I thought we were building was a lie—and I refuse to live it another moment.

“I’m going back to Slovakia,” I say. “I have a plan and can afford to?—”

“Wait. Stop.” He scowls at me. “You never wanted to go back. And this is fixable.”

“It’s not.” I shake my head. “Even when he finds out I didn’t cheat and the baby is his, there’s no coming back from this. We’re over and I’m not going to stay with him knowing what he thinks of me.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Sloane interjects softly. “I’m sure this was just him trying to protect himself. He went about it badly, but you know this isn’t a reflection of how he really feels.”

“I don’t know any such thing. No matter what he said initially, he resents being put in a situation where he felt forced to marry me. Whether it was because of his friendship with Johan or something else, it’s obvious he’s looking for an out. And I just gave him one.”

“That doesn’t sound like Aiden,” Anders murmurs.

“I just want to walk away from this with as much dignity as I can manage,” I admit. "Everyone involved with the team is going to find out we separated, and probably that I had a baby. I don’t expect Johan to hide the fact that he has a new niece or nephew. And Aidenisthis baby’s father, no matter what anyone says or believes.”

“No onehereis doubting that,” Sloane says gently.

“You don’t have to go back to Slovakia,” Johan says. “You can live with us and?—”

“I can’t. I’m divorcing him as soon as possible and I’ll lose my visa. It’s very unlikely I’ll get hired while pregnant so going home is really the only option.”

“Make him stay married to you until the baby’s born!” Johan says in frustration, throwing up his hands.

“I don’t want to force him to do anything more than he’s already done,” I reply firmly.

“Well, according to a report from the sports writers this morning, he’s looking to get traded,” Anders says, staring at something on his phone.

“What?!” Johan and I speak in unison.

“Dammit.” I sigh. “I didn’t want any of this to happen. I’m so sorry.” I bury my face in my hands.

“What are you sorry for?” Johan demands. “You didn’t get pregnant by yourself. Despite what you think, no one forced Aiden to marry you! And he’s being completely irresponsible. He and I are going to have a conversation, whether you like it or not.”

I suppose that’s inevitable.

I hate it, but Aiden does bear a level of responsibility for all of this.