Page 228 of Maddening Fixation

I didn’t wait for his response.

I walked toward the house.

Because he couldn’t know.

Not yet. Not ever.

The truth growing inside me was the only thing I had left that belonged completely to me.

I still didn’t understand how it had happened.

I had taken the pill Keegan gave me after that sex.

I had trusted that it would protect me.

Maybe it failed.

Maybe the timing had been wrong.

Maybe my body had betrayed me.

I didn’t know.

All I knew was that there was a life inside me now.

And Romeo Flynn did not deserve to know about it.

Not after everything.

I entered the bungalow without another word.

The moment I reached my room, I shut the door behind me and locked it.

The click of the lock echoed through the silence.

For a moment, I remained against the door, my hand instinctively covering my stomach.

Eventually, I pushed myself away and walked to the bed.

I curled onto my side, drawing my knees toward my chest and holding a pillow against my stomach while the small television played softly in the corner.

I wasn’t watching it.

The noise was only there to fill the silence.

Because silence had become my enemy.

A knock sounded at the door.

My heart reacted before my mind did.

Romeo.

The door swung open before I could even call out for whoever was outside to come in.

But it wasn’t Romeo.

My entire body went rigid.