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“Oh my God, Katie,” I said, looking around for signs pointing me to the maternity wing. “How is she? Is everything going okay?”
“Last update, she was still in labor,” Lev told me. “Might be a while still, so why don’t—”
“No way,” I told him. “I’m not leaving until she has the baby, and I know everything is okay.” Tears began to well up, spilling down my cheeks, and he once again pulled me into an undeserved hug. “This is all my fault, making her so upset she went into labor. If anything happens…”
“Stop that,” he said in a deep rumble, leaning down to press a kiss onto the top of my head. “None of this is your fault.”
The tears were threatening to really start flowing, and I pushed away, bereft at the loss of his comforting warmth. “No, it is,” I said.
Taking his hand, I led him to a quiet corner with some ancient chairs and a table with a coffee machine on it. He started rattling around, trying to find a water source to make a fresh pot, but I stopped him.
“This is important,” I said, unable to meet his eyes.
It was cowardly, but if I had seen that same distant look as when we drove over here, I might have chickened out. It was better he heard it all from me rather than get it from one of his many informants. It was possible he knew already and was waiting to see what I’d do. As much as I craved a bracing hit of caffeine, it was probably better for the baby if I cut back.
Oh, God, the baby. How I wished this was the only news I had to give him, and let myself imagine him sweeping me into his arms and shouting with happiness so loudly that the staff would come running to see what was up. But no, I couldn’t tell him about that yet. Not until he knew everything and could make his choice. I wasn’t about to hang the baby over his head now that I decided I wanted to stay married to him and build a life together.
“I really don’t want to do this in a hospital,” I said, buying myself a few more precious seconds before it was all out in the open.
“Then let’s go back to the resort. Katie has the best care, and Aleks is here,” he said, sitting on the chair next to me and taking my hand.
I slid it away before he had a chance to. The odds were against him still wanting to touch me after I got my confession out.
“No,” I said, trying to clear the huge lump out of my throat. “I have to tell you something. Please just listen.” My voice cracked, and I swallowed until the tears were held at bay.
“Tell me, Jenna,” he said, in a soft voice I’d never heard before. “I’m ready to hear whatever you have to say.”
At that moment, I knew he’d already been told, and my heart sank to my churning stomach. He knew and was waiting for me to confess so he could pass down his judgment. I looked up at him, and his face was unreadable, completely devoid of emotion.
But he did care about me, because he’d been waiting for the test results. He’d come to rescue me and was here by my side right now. This was all I had to cling to.
“I was in on it with Hardy.” I finally just spat it out, the words leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
“Damn it,” he hissed, then lower, “I was hoping it wasn’t so.”
“He reached out to me first, and I kept messaging him because I was angry,” I said, not expecting any forgiveness but needing to defend myself somewhat. “I was so pissed off in thebeginning because I wanted revenge, and I wanted out of the marriage—”
He sucked in a breath and straightened up, leaning away from me. I couldn’t face his eyes, and kept mine downcast, hurrying to explain the rest. “I thought he had something on you that would put you in jail.”
“Good fucking luck,” Lev said with a bitter laugh.
“Yeah, I know it was stupid now. I regret it, not just because it all went to hell the way it did. I was out the second I realized how dirty they were. The very second I knew they wanted you dead, I tried to get out, but then he just went crazy, and that’s when…”
“He bashed you in the head and kidnapped you,” he finished listlessly.
I couldn’t stop crying, the tears rolling out faster than I could blink them away. At least now I understood all this bawling I’d been doing the past couple of weeks was because I was hormonal and not turning into a massive, blithering wimp.
“I’m so sorry,” I cried, salty tears running into my mouth. I tried to wipe them away and reached for one of the stiff paper napkins on the table to blow my nose. “I don’t want revenge anymore, and everything about my thinking has changed. I get it if you want to divorce me after what I did, though, and I won’t blame you.”
I pressed my hand against my stomach to keep it from turning inside out, silently apologizing to the baby for not begging more, for not fighting harder. I still had a shred of pride and would have hated it if Lev only stayed with me out of his strong sense of responsibility.
I got my crying dialed back enough to look up at him. His brow was furrowed, and those lips that I would never get to kiss again were pressed into a tight line. After a long moment of stony silence, it looked like he might finally say something.
If it was something I wanted to hear, I wouldn’t find out, because Aleks came skidding around the corner to our little alcove. He had hospital scrubs over his jeans and a harried look on his face that relaxed into relief when he spotted me.
I brushed away the last remnants of my tears before he noticed, but he was in no state to care about whether or not I’d been crying.
“It’s time,” he said breathlessly, face red. “It’s time to push, and Katie wants you to be there.”
