Page 105 of Ruthless Commander

It was Edon who spoke this time. Edon who strode forward, grabbing his brother’s arm. “Let him go.”

But Mateo was full of pain and rage. The kind that made my belly clench and drew my focus down…to the life that was growing inside me. The life I wasn’t sure Mateo wanted and now I knew why.

Because of this…

Because ofhim.

It all made sense now.

“Brother!”Edon barked, yanking his arm away.

I shook my head, taking a step closer…and drew Mateo’s gaze. That desperation was so real now, roaring to the surface as he stared at me. He sucked in hard breaths, never once looking away as he spoke to his father. “I’d kill you myself if I thought it’d change anything.”

Those words were a punch to my gut.

My throat thickened.

Tears slowly filled my eyes.

Here it was.

The cold, hard truth of it.

This was the reason I hadn’t told him.

Therealreason.

He didn’t want to be a father. In fact, I could see now that it was the last thing on earth he wanted to think about. His own father had ruined that for him.

I stopped moving, my hand dropping to my stomach in reflex, as though I wanted to protect the little thing inside myself. Even if I was protecting it from my husband.

“Baby.” The word slipped free.

All heads turned toward me.

Edon scowled.

Mateo shook his head and took a step toward me.

Even his father finally looked at me.

“What did you say?” Edon murmured.

“She said babe.” Mateo answered. “She called me babe.”

“No.” His father murmured in his thick Albanian accent. “I heard her, she said baby.”

I was frozen under their gazes, those dark, piercing stares pinning me to the spot.

Inside, I was unraveling. My breaths raced and my pulse fluttered until the dark alley seemed to grow bright. So bright that it was blinding…and in an instant…it changed, plunging into darkness.

And took me with it.

41

Mateo

Xael blinked, staring at me for a second before her knees gave way and she crumpled toward the ground.