Page 19 of Risk (Gods #3)

I ’ve been here for an hour and a half. My ass is starting to go numb, and I’m beginning to think waiting for him was one of my stupider ideas.

And I’ve had plenty of those lately.

And then Kaden walks through the main door.

And I want to make myself invisible. Disappear into this chair.

Anything so I don’t have to have this conversation with him.

You know, the whole reason why I’ve been sitting here, and now, I’m absolutely shitting myself because he’s here and I actually have to do this.

He spots me immediately. A myriad of expressions crosses his face. Surprise, confusion, unease, and concern.

His long legs eat up the space between us as I stand on my shaky legs, shouldering my bag.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey.”

“Everything okay?”

“Um, yeah.” I tuck some stray strands of my hair behind my ear. “Can we, um…talk? I was hoping we could talk.”

“Sure.”

He stands there, like he’s expecting me to just start talking right now.

Yeah, not a conversation for here, buddy.

“In private,” I add.

“Oh. Yeah, of course. We can go up to my apartment, if that works?”

“It works.”

I follow him to the elevator. He presses the button, and one opens up immediately. I walk inside and watch as he pulls a key card from his pocket. Slots it into the elevator panel, then presses the button for the penthouse.

Fancy.

We ride the elevator in silence.

My stomach is rioting with nerves, and I’m afraid I’m gonna be sick at any moment.

“Have you been waiting long?” he asks, breaking the quiet tension between us.

“An hour or so.”

“You should have texted or called. I would have come back earlier or met you somewhere.”

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t think.”

“It’s fine.”

The elevator doors slide open onto a wide hallway. I follow Kaden down the hall, seeing a huge living room off to my right, but he keeps walking, straight into the most gorgeous kitchen I’ve ever seen. Cooking is not my forte, but I’d definitely start if I had a kitchen this nice.

“Can I get you anything? A drink?” he asks, walking over to his refrigerator.

“Water would be good.” Unsurprisingly, my mouth is as dry as my humor is these days.

He takes two water bottles from the fridge and hands one to me.

I uncap it and take a sip. “Your apartment is gorgeous.”

“Thanks.”

He takes a seat on one of the barstools. I stay standing.

“I hope it’s okay, me coming here?”

“Of course.” He doesn’t seem okay, based on the tense line of his shoulders and his tightened jaw.

“I just needed to talk to you, so I asked Cam for your address, and she gave it to me. I hope that was all right?”

“It’s fine.”

I take another sip of my water, screw the cap back on, and put it on the counter. Then pick it back up and hold it to my chest.

Kaden’s brow rises slightly. “So, you said you needed to talk to me.”

“I did. I do.” I swallow down the rock in my throat, and it sits heavy in my stomach. Right next to the baby I’m carrying.

Just say it, Missy. Just say the words I’m pregnant .

“Missy, you’re starting to freak me out a bit now. Is everything okay?”

No. I’m pregnant.

I risk a glance at him. His brow is furrowed, and there are fine lines of concern around his eyes.

“I’m sorry…I just…I don’t know how to say this.”

“Say what?”

“That I’m pregnant.”

Oh, guess I did know how to say it.

“And I’m keeping the baby.”

He looks stunned. Like I just hit him.

I guess I have, metaphorically speaking.

“You’re pregnant?” His voice sounds scraped raw.

“Yes.”

“Is it mine?”

It’s my turn to feel like I was just hit. In the worst possible way.

“No, it’s your doorman’s. I just thought I’d come up here and tell you before I told him the news.”

“Fuck. Sorry. I…it’s just…you were with that guy at Zeus’s party, and I know you said you were just friends, but…”

This second hit is a sucker punch to the stomach.

My body freezes cold. “The baby is yours. I haven’t had sex with anyone since you. But we can do a paternity test. I just came here to tell you that I was pregnant. Which I’ve done, so, yeah, I’m out of here.”

Water bottle still clutched to my chest, I stomp my way to the waiting elevator and stab at the button to take me to the lobby and out of this fucking building and far away from him.

And yet again, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t try to stop me.