Page 158 of Bleed with Me

“Speak.”

I gulped. I had one chance to say this right. The urge to keep Nina and Aryna under my roof was overwhelming, and my stomach knotted.

“I’m adopting Aryna,” I revealed, my arms falling at my sides. “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you. So much was going on, and…”

“Forgot?” Nina repeated, her face contorting with sadness. “How can you forget that? We were in the hospital every day. I sat beside her outside the conference room! How could you forget?”

“My brother was dying.” My voice trembled as that terrible memory crashed into reality. “I wasn’t thinking—”

“You really weren’t,” she cut me off, raising her hand to stop my protests, but I wouldn’t let her shut me up.

“You can’t possibly fathom what I went through,” I ground out, trying to avoid confrontation. We could talk it out. Fuck, I really forgot!

“No?” Her lower lip quivered. “I was there, remember? Holding you until you fell asleep in your office. Hugging you when you trembled like you couldn’t take the pain any longer. For days, I was by your side and not once,” she lifted her index finger angrily, “not one fucking time did you mention that girl is special to you!”

“Nina, I’m sorry.”

“For what, huh?” she spat. “You’re sorry that you forgot to tell me, or—” She flinched, pulling her arm away when I tried to touch her. “You’re sorry that you decided our future without me?”

“Excuse me?” Disbelief filled my chest, mixing with pain and fear of losing her. “A few weeks ago, we didn’t have a future. And don’t forget, you little hypocrite, that you’re the one who kidnapped me! You forced me to marry you! So, who decided our future without me?”

“But I didn’t bring a child to your doorstep and announce you’ll be a daddy,” she snapped, stomping to the closet.

“I wouldn’t have minded!” I yelled, panic clouding my judgment when she put on her jeans.

“But I do mind!” She tossed her tiny satin robe on the bed before wiping a lone angry tear that fell on her cheek. “I do mind that you’re throwing a huge responsibility at me without having the decency to ask.”

“What decency?” My arms flew helplessly in the air. “I forgot. I swear, ma vilaine. I forgot.”

She momentarily closed her eyes and shook her head as if what I was saying was complete bullshit. I understood she was angry. Yes, I made a mistake, but fuck, it wasn’t intentional.

“Nina, please.” I closed the distance between us, brushing my fingers against her forearm. I was desperate for contact, for reassurance that we would work it out somehow. But instead…

“Don’t touch me.” She pushed past me and left the bedroom without another word.

I stared at the door, my whole body shaking. The demon in my head went ballistic, screaming at me to do something, yet I couldn’t make myself do anything.

Slowly, I dragged myself into the hall and collapsed at the top of the stairs. My forehead pressed against the wooden railing, the voice shattering my sanity echoing everywhere around me like a curse. My breathing was heavy, and bile rose in my throat.

Don’t touch me!

The words brought to light memories buried deep in my psyche. The tendrils of despair wrapped around my heart, slashing my soul to pieces like a thousand knives.

Don’t touch me!

The voice resonated in my head, chasing away every happy memory and everything good I had ever done, leaving only the destruction I had brought to her.

It was your fault then, the demon yelled in my head. And it’s your fault now!

I pressed my hands against the sides of my head, wanting to scream and cry and tear my hair out just to make him disappear. But he was rooted deep within me.

You’re a fucking…

“Daddy?”

I flinched, the shrieks instantly vanishing when Aryna’s thin voice cut through the fog.

“Daddy?” Her small hand touched mine as she stared at me with pure fright. “Are you okay?”