Page 67 of Legacy of Deception

“I despise the bastard, so fine by me.”

“I almost want to make you a girl dad,” I wistfully said. Widening my eyes, I immediately wanted to eat my words. “Again, not that this is your kid or anything, and you certainly don’t have to feel any pressure to treat them as such. I’m well aware of the situation and the arrangement we had made. It included marriage, nothing else.” It sounded like a ramble, which I hated, but I didn’t know how to save it.

“Come on. We’re way past that, don’t you think?” The calmness in his voice settled me somehow, and I liked him admitting that. It was almost as though I needed to hear it.

My eyes grew heavy. “I think—”

I yawned.

“—I think—”

I yawned again.

“—I hope you know you’ll be nothing like your father was with you.”

Closing my eyes, I gave in to my exhaustion. It had taken a while, like Marco had to enter my life in this way, but it was here, and I was ready to succumb to it.

Before drifting off, I said in a low volume, “You’ll teach them how the game of chess doesn’t have to be about status or power. It can be about teamwork because every piece needs another to succeed.”

Chapter 26

THE PAST WAS ONE BIRD

MARCO

Brooklyn’s eyebrows pinched inward as her gaze rested on my shaking leg. Up, down, up, down, up, down. I was driving myself crazy, so I could only imagine how she felt. Changing positions, I folded my legs. Although, that wasn’t as comfortable as I thought it would be. I sat with my legs apart, my elbows on my knees.

She didn’t say anything, only dragged her eyes away from me slowly and with judgment or crankiness. I wasn’t sure which, but I didn’t like either.

It had seemed like a bright idea for me to join her at this OB/GYN appointment. Although, I could no longer pinpoint the exact reason why.

The doctor was typing something up on her report on the computer, and we were waiting for the next thing that would come out of her mouth. The wait was murderous.

Brooklyn wanted me to be more than her arranged husband, and if I was being honest, I wanted that too. I didn’t want her to feel alone in this pregnancy, which was something I may have made her feel like she was up until this point. My stomach clenched with the thought.

Maria had been a single mother for a while, but not really because she had Dom.

While I thought Brooklyn could definitely do this on her own, she shouldn’t have to. It had always been my intention to be in the baby’s life, but probably not in the way that mattered.

This baby didn’t just need another person spoiling them or watching them. They needed someone who was going to teach them things and make sure they understood things before they got hurt. The world wasn’t a perfect place. This child needed a father as much as they needed a mother.

Brooklyn had never said it, but after last night, I knew she wanted me to be a paternal figure for her baby. That she wanted me to be the father.

I didn’t want to disappoint her. Or this baby.

I didn’t want to become my father, even though, at times, it seemed inevitable.

We both tried to fight this arrangement, even after we’d agreed to it, and for what?

Maybe we should have been grateful for it. I sure as hell was.

“I can tell you the sex of the baby, if you’d like,” the doctor finally said, tearing the treacherous silence to shreds. She ran her stare over each of us in turn.

Brooklyn turned to me, her hands in her lap as she played with her fingernail. She chewed on the corner of her lip, and I wished I could have experienced all of the previous appointments with her as well. Not that it mattered because dwelling on it wouldn’t turn back time, and at the time, we hadn’t been ready. I hadn’t been ready.

Wanting to be there for her now, I reached over and grabbed her hand in mine, raising it and gently pulling it to my lips while I bent my head the rest of the way. I didn’t pay any attention to the doctor, kissing the top of her smooth hand. “I know we talked about it, but it’s whatever you want,” I reminded her, brushing a strand of hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

She swallowed, arching her back and directing her response at the doctor. “I want to know.” She nodded, as though her words weren’t enough.