Page 39 of Obsessive Love (The King #1)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kaleb

M y brows furrow as I stare down at my phone, monitoring Sophia's location whilst pretending to listen to whatever it is my brother is telling me.

I got an alert that she was moving, and I assumed that she was going out with Jess and her mother, considering she'd only been gone for about an hour, but as I continue to watch the moving dot, I realise that she's heading back here.

"Are you actually paying me any attention?" Jericho asks, waving a piece of paper in front of my face.

"No," I grunt, snatching the paper off him and placing it on the desk. "I think Sophia's on her way back here."

"Okay, great. Can we get back to discussing how we're going to get Dominic to agree to marry the daughter of Brody Garcia," he huffs, shaking his head.

"She only got to her parent's house an hour ago. It doesn't make sense that she's on her way back already. I think I'm gonna call her," I tell him, standing from my seat.

"Okay, sure. You do that. I'll just figure this shit out on my own."

"Let me try and call Sophia to make sure she's okay and then I'll message Miles. He'll be able to find a way to contact the Garcias. You focus on sorting out a meeting with Dominic and somehow getting him to agree to this plan of yours."

He sighs but nods his head and I quickly exit his office and pace along the dark hallway outside as I call Sophia.

The dialling tone sounds and I listen to it for what feels like minutes before the call cuts off and I hear the voicemail message.

I hang up and call again, but this time, the call ends after only a few seconds, indicating that she blatantly ignored my call.

I pull up the tracking app again and see that they've stopped at a supermarket a few streets away from here. Frowning at my screen, I walk back into Jericho's office, retaking my seat across from him.

"Did Myra ask Sophia or Jaylen to get her anything?" I ask, trying to think of a reason as to why they might be at the supermarket.

He shrugs, and then, after a moment of contemplating my question, he shakes his head.

"I don't think she would have because we only got a food delivery yesterday and Myra didn't notify me that anything was missing."

I try calling Sophia again and when she still doesn't pick up, I decide to text her instead.

Kaleb:

Are you okay?

Sophia:

Yeah.

Are you?

Kaleb:

I would be okay if you weren't ignoring me.

What's going on?

Why are you on your way home already?

I stare at the screen, waiting for another text to appear.

Minutes pass and nothing comes up.

Worry slivers through my veins as I slide back onto the tracking app and see they're moving towards the house again.

"Something's wrong."

Jericho's head snaps up as he watches me jump out of my seat.

"What's happened?"

"I don't know, but something's wrong. I can feel it," I tell him, passing him my phone and sliding back to mine and Sophia's conversation.

He reads through the messages, swipes onto the tracking app and then hands my phone back to me as he stands from his chair and slings his jacket on.

"Come on, we'll go wait for her in the foyer."

I follow him out of the office, impatiently waiting for him to unlock the steel door leading to the main part of his house.

My eyes stay glued to my phone as I watch the moving dot come to a halt at the start of Jericho's driveway.

As we enter the foyer, the buzzer sounds through the house as someone presses the buttons on the keypad at the front gate.

"Doesn't she know the code?" Jericho asks as he walks over the intercom that's incessantly buzzing and making my anxiety spike.

"Yeah. Both her and Jaylen know it."

He presses the button on the intercom in the foyer and I hear Jess' panicked voice filter through the room.

"Can someone let me in already?" she shouts.

Jericho and I turn to each other, frowning in confusion as he presses the button to open the gates.

"Where the fuck is Jaylen?" I snap, swiping on my phone again and pulling up Jaylen's contact.

I'm about to press the call button when the front door bursts open, and Jess and Sophia stand in the doorway, glancing between me and my brother with shock evident on their faces.

"What's going on?" I ask, my attention solely on Sophia's face.

Her big, rounded, glossy eyes meet mine and her bottom lip wobbles slightly. Panic zings through my body and my brows crease. I take a step towards her, wanting to comfort her and find out why she looks so upset, but she shakes her head, stopping me in my tracks.

"I-I," she stutters, unable to form a sentence. Her eyes flick back and forth between me and my brother as tears gather in her eyes.

After a moment, her gaze settles on me. A tear drops onto her cheek and her chin quivers.

She moves towards me as more tears spill from her eyes and when she reaches the spot right in front of me, I can't stop myself from pulling her into my arms as she sobs against my chest.

I glance at Jess, wondering what the hell is going on.

Sophia pulls away from me slightly, and I cup her jaw with my hands, looking down at her as she peers up at me with those teary blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask quietly.

"I might be pregnant," she wails, burying her head against my chest again as she cries uncontrollably.

My brows raise in surprise and my heart plummets into my stomach at her admission. I curl my arms around her, holding her shaking body against mine as I stare at the marble floor, replaying her words in my mind over and over again.

Hope swells in my chest as I think about Sophia carrying my baby. Images of her walking around with a swollen stomach assault my mind and I find myself feeling joyful and excited by the news. Warmth spreads through my body as I picture us cuddling whilst I hold her stomach, waiting to feel the kicks from my unborn child.

"Hey, it's okay," I whisper, stroking my hand through her golden locks as I try to soothe her. "We'll figure this out."

I turn to look at my brother and find him standing across the room, openly gaping at us with wide, panicked eyes.

"This is going to cause so much trouble," Sophia cries, wiping her hands across her wet cheeks as she pulls away from my chest. "This can't happen."

"We all need to calm down," Jess says, stepping further into the house and closing the door I hadn't even realised was still open. "Let's save the panic for after she's taken a test and we know the result."

"So you don't know for sure yet?" Jericho asks, staring at Sophia who's still tucked into my chest as I stroke my hand against her trembling back.

She shakes her head and then Jess holds up a carrier bag, giving it a shake.

"We stopped off to get this on the way back. She still needs to take one before we can be sure."

Sophia takes a few shakey, deep breaths before she steps away from me and takes the bag from Jess.

"Is it okay to use the bathroom down here?"

Jericho nods in answer to her question, and she glances back at me, giving me a scared smile. She walks away, Jess following closely behind her.

I watch her retreating figure until they're out of the foyer and then I turn to my brother, finally letting the smile on my face break free.

"I'm going to be having a baby," I tell him.

He looks at me in horror and walks over to me to slap the back of my head.

"Stop with the crazy thoughts for a minute and use the logical part of your brain," he hisses. "If she's pregnant, this is going to cause hell!"

I scowl at him, already knowing I'm not going to like what he's going to say.

"If she's pregnant with your child, we're either going to have to get divorced, or we're going to have to pretend that the baby is mine until we figure out a way to get rid of Dad. I'm not happy with either of those options because one would cause a war between the families and likely end in a whole heap of death and misery, and the other option would drive you insane and you'd end up losing your shit, creating a war between you and I."

I frown at him and shake my head.

"I don't like thinking about this logically."

"Yeah, I know," he says, clapping his hand against my shoulder. "I can see that you're excited at the thought of her having your baby, but you need to think outside the box. Not to add more salt to the wound, but think about her reaction as well, Kaleb. She's clearly not over the moon at the possibility of being pregnant."

Pain slices across my chest as I think about her reaction.

"You think she doesn't want to have a baby with me?"

He shrugs.

"I'm not sure if she had such a bad reaction to the possibility because of the fact that it's your child she might be pregnant with. You need to talk to her and find out why her reaction to this news is so bad, but all I'm saying is that this is obviously something she's not happy with. So if that test comes back positive, you've got to keep your own thoughts and feelings to yourself and think about her."

"You say that like I don't think about her twenty-four-seven. I'd never put my feelings above hers," I scoff, pushing his hand off my shoulder and walking past him in the direction that Sophia and Jess went.

I round the corner, walk down the hallway, and find Jess sitting in the kitchen.

"Where is she?"

Jess whips around to stare at me, watching me enter the room.

"She's in the bathroom. She'll be out in a minute and then we can set the timer."

Jericho follows me into the kitchen, glancing between me and Jess, and then walks over to the fridge, pulling out four water bottles and placing them on the kitchen island.