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Chapter Thirty-Two

Roman

S he stares up at me, and all I see are the questions in her eyes. She doesn’t believe me. She doesn’t trust me. I can feel it.

I can’t blame her. What have I done to prove to her that I’m committed to her? Nothing. I’ll need to work for her trust. I can do that.

“What the fuck do you mean, you love her? What baby?” Walker’s voice hits me like a ton of bricks.

He’s standing at the entrance of the room, looking like he wants to murder someone. Me.

“Walker,” Eva gasps. “What are you doing here?”

“I called him,” I tell her, not taking my eyes off Walker.

She inhales, eyes wide. “You what?”

“Eva, I had to call him. I didn’t know what was happening, if you were going to be okay.”

“Eva, are you pregnant?” Walker storms in, approaching at an intimidating speed.

Eva is already under enough stress. Our baby needs her to be strong, and judging by the look on her face, she is anything but.

“Hey,” I bark at him. “Let’s you and I take this outside. Eva needs to rest. Putting more stress on her body is the last thing that she needs.”

The war that’s waging inside of him is evident. The betrayal, the fury, the absolute disbelief. He wants to react, but he looks at his sister, who’s pale and hurting. With monitors beeping like distant warning signs.

I see the rage and loyalty. Fury and fear. The need to defend his sister and the instinct not to make it worse.

He runs his hands through his hair like it’s the only way to keep himself from exploding. Without a word, he turns on his heel and storms out of the room.

I look down at Eva, who looks helpless and distraught. “I’ll go talk to him. You just stay here and relax. I promise everything will be okay. He’ll calm down.”

I walk out of that room, knowing I promised something I might not be able to deliver on. Walker might not calm down. He is hot with fury, and he blames me.

I step out of the room and look left. No sign of him. When I turn my head to the right, something comes in contact with my cheek, hard and fast.

I hit the floor as the pain immediately radiates throughout my face, hot and sharp.

“Son of a—” I clench my jaw in pain and taste blood.

“You fucking lied to me,” he grits. “My sister. You know she’s the one thing in my life I care about. And you went behind my back.”

I swallow down the blood and stand back up, trying to steady myself on the cart outside of the room.

Walker knows how to throw a punch. My cheek is throbbing with its own heartbeat. But I can’t focus on that right now. I owe my friend an explanation.

“I’m sorry,” I croak through the pain. “I tried so hard to stay away. I knew it was wrong, and I did it anyway. But one thing I need to make clear, if you cause her any more pain than she is in right now, your face will meet my fist.”

His eyebrows turn down at me. “Are you threatening me over my own sister? That’s my job, asshole.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. She is carrying my baby. Eva and our baby are mine. I love them with my whole heart, and no one—I mean, no one —will hurt them.”

A sinister laugh escapes him. “Love? You love her? Roman, the number of times you’ve fucked and left women in front of me, telling me love was for fools, would prove that to be false.”

I flinch, struck by the truth. He’s not wrong. I know it doesn’t make me look good. The truth is, I still haven’t resolved those feelings. Love is not something I am particularly comfortable with.

Here I am, pretending like I’m the type of man who deserves the woman in there. All it took is one punch to the face and a few words to put the doubt back in my head.

He stands in front of me, seething. “You know it. I see the doubt on your face. This is what I’m talking about. You fucked with my sister, knowing full well you can’t love her the way that she deserves.”

A nurse appears in front of us. “I’m sorry, but this is not the time or place for this conversation. If you do not take it outside, I will call security.”

Eva’s doctor walks past me and into her room. “I’m sorry.” I turn to the nurse. “You’re right. We apologize. I assure you there will be no more disturbances.”

Jessie comes running toward us with tears in her eyes. “Where is she? Is she okay? Kylie texted me and told me. I don’t know how she tracked down my information but thank god she did.”

“I need to go in there. The doctor just walked in.”

“The fuck you do. That’s my sister. I’ll go in.”

I put a hand up, stopping him from moving an inch. “What did I tell you? That’s my baby. Know your place.”

I turn around and walk into the room, hearing Jessie yelling at Walker to follow her. I join Eva at her side as the doctor is talking about her blood work.

I grab her hand.

“Your hCG levels are where we would expect them to be at this stage of your pregnancy. We will test it again tomorrow. If we see the numbers increase, that’s a good indicator that the pregnancy is progressing.”

Eva looks up at me. Her worry is apparent. I squeeze her hand.

“As for what’s going on,” the doctor continues, “the pain is coming from the rupture of what we call a corpus luteum that formed on your ovary.”

Rupture. I don’t quite understand the words coming out of his mouth, but a rupture doesn’t sound good.

“The rupture can cause internal bleeding. In most cases, surgery is not needed. Most of these ruptures heal with rest and monitoring.”

“Does this affect the baby?” I ask as my thumb rubs soothing circles over her hand.

“Most of the time, this has no effect on the baby. We are going to keep you here for a couple of days to monitor you and the baby, but we are hopeful that all will be fine, and we can send you home.”

Relief doesn’t hit me; it crashes into me like a tidal wave.

The doctor excuses himself, telling us that he will be back to check on her later. I keep her hand in mine. We both smile at each other, able to take a deep breath for the first time in hours.

“I’m so sorry, Roman,” she says, taking me by surprise.

“What are you sorry about?” I ask.

“All of this. I should have told you the second I found out. I was just so scared to tell you …” she cries. “What if the stress of all of it is what did this?”

“Hey.” I sit down on her bed. “None of this is your fault. It’s mine. I’m the one who made you feel like you had to hide it. I’m so sorry, Eva. I promise I’m going to be better.”

“Oh my God,” a woman I slightly recognize cries as she runs into the room. “Eva, are you okay?”

Walker follows behind her with his mom and dad right behind him.

I stand up and let go of Eva’s hand.

“Mother, you promised you wouldn’t be dramatic,” Walker says through clenched teeth.

“It’s fine,” Eva sighs.

Her mother falls on top of her like it’s a scene from a movie. I know Eva and Walker don’t have the best relationship with their parents, but her mother is acting like that isn’t the case.

Walker appears annoyed.

“Mother, please.” Eva winces.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Eva needs space,” I cut in angrily.

She looks up at me, and her eyes open wide. “Roman. Are you the … father?”

I nod my head, ready to defend my honor.

“Oh, that’s so wonderful.” She beams. “Oh, Eva, this is such great news.”

I risk a glance at Walker, who is clutching his hands into tight fists. This is his worst nightmare. Though I must admit, I’m not sure why she is suddenly so excited that her daughter is knocked up and lying in a hospital bed.

It dawns on me that she might know exactly what my net worth is. Walker has always said money and status matter to his parents.

“Mother, enough,” Walker grits. He looks at me for the first time since he walked in. “Roman, our family would like some time alone with Eva. Leave.”

“Walker,” Eva gasps in horror.

“No. Not now, Eva,” he responds. “If you only knew him. He’s not the guy he pretends to be. He’ll hurt you and the baby. It’s what he does.”

I take a step back from Eva as I feel my cheeks heat. Shame hits me hard. Whether or not she has the best relationship with her parents, her brother speaking of me like that in front of them is a punch to the gut.

“I should go. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Roman, no,” Eva calls, but I don’t answer.

I rush to the elevator until I get outside. As I pace back and forth, panic ensues as I think about the responsibility I have to her and the baby. I feel like I’m already failing.