Page 112 of Rival Hearts

CHARLOTTE

Ihad to talk to Alex. I’d thought long and hard about what was going to happen—about my future and about the baby growing inside me.

The doctor had said I had options, but to me it was simple.

I was keeping the baby.

How could I do anything different when my mom had walked out on me, forcing me to live a life in a broken family without someone to look up to and someone to lean on?

I would never do that to a child who hadn’t been asked to be born into this kind of situation. I might have made mistakes, and life might not have gone in the direction I wanted it to go, but that didn’t mean I would ruin the life of another human being just because I wasn’t happy with it. I knew all too well what kind of pain that brought, and I refused to do that to another person.

Which meant that no matter which way things went with Alex today, I was going to raise this child.

I just hoped Alex would be on board with it because I was terrified of doing this alone.

I stopped in front of his office building. I looked up at the tall glass high-rise with its mirror finish and its stunning view of the ocean, and my stomach twisted into a knot of nerves.

Every time I’d stopped here in the past something else had happened. From us being enemies to us being lovers, not one meeting had been the same as the one before it.

And now, it was going to change my world yet again.

But everything about Alex was like that.

When Maya had come over, I’d told her everything. About the baby, about my choice to keep the child, about how I would have to change things so I could raise a baby. I’d told her about Alex and what he’d confessed to me in the lighthouse together, about how he was scared of being a father and that I was worried he wouldn’t want to get involved in the baby’s life.

Maya had said that if he was a real man, he would step up and do the right thing.

But it wasn’t that simple. I understood Alex. I knew the pain he was going through, and I knew this baby wasn’t something we’d planned to do together. Sure, we’d said we wanted to talk to my brother and see where things went, but… God, we hadn’t even talked to Gabe yet.

Well, this was all the more reason to talk to Alex so that we knew exactly where we stood with each other.

If I knew what the future held, I could prepare for it.

My brother would be pissed, though. There was no doubt about it. If he wasn’t angry about Alex—which I was still pretty sure he would be—then he’d be furious that I’d gotten pregnant.

Gabe had practically raised me. He’d done so much to keep me safe, and he’d always been protective. When he found out that I’d gotten pregnant, he would tell me I’d thrown my life away.

Even though I’d worked hard for as long as I could remember, I’d studied hard, and I was being mentored by one of the most recognized biologists in the country. I’d made it so far.

But Gabe wouldn’t see it that way.

“Just one step at a time, Charlotte,” I told myself, giving myself a pep talk. “Let’s just focus on that first step.”

I checked my hair and makeup in the mirror before getting out of the car, and I walked to the reception desk.

I was sent up to Alex’s floor, and then his secretary announced me. She told me I could go into the office, and I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Alex,” I said when I saw him standing behind his desk. “Hi. I’m so sorry to bother you.”

“You’re not bothering me.” He walked around the desk, coming to me. He planted a kiss on my lips but it was chaste, distant. “I’m glad you’re here. I need to talk to you about something.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. “Sure. I mean, I need to talk to you, too.”

“Okay, well, I’ll go first because this is a big thing to me, and I need to get it off my chest.”

I nodded, and Alex gestured for me to sit down in one of the armchairs that faced his desk.

It felt very formal. I frowned, unsure now. I didn’t know what was going on or what to expect. I’d come here to talk to him, not the other way around, but he seemed so serious.