And then the bigger thought crashes through me like a truck.
“I’m pregnant,” I say again, slower now, more horrified, “with Knox’s baby.”
Maya winces. “Yikes. Yeah. That one wild night of yours really does keep giving, doesn’t it? That part complicates things a bit.”
Complicates?
Understatement of the century.
Because what the hell do I do now?
March into the kitchen like,Hey, Boss, guess what? You’re going to be a dad! Surprise!
“I don’t know how to tell him,” I whisper, throat tight.
“You don’t have to know anything yet,” Maya says, resting a hand over mine. “But this is step one.”
I nod, slowly. My fingers tighten around the test, and I feel the ground shift beneath me again.
Step one.
Someone help me.
What the hell does step two even look like?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Knox
Jace leansagainst the stainless steel counter, laughing like hestillcan’t quite believe my life. Despite being here for... well, what feels likeforever.
“You’re a billionaire,” he says, for the fourth time in five minutes. “You could be on a yacht. In Italy. With a drink in one hand and a tanned stranger feeding you grapes in the other.”
“I don’t like grapes,” I mutter, cracking an egg into the bowl.
He throws his hands in the air. “That’s your takeaway?”
“I also hate yachts.”
“You’re insane.”
I glance up long enough to give him a look. “Then stop wasting your breath.”
The whisk hits the side of the bowl with a steady rhythm, and the kitchen hums with the comforting noise of prep: pans heating, knives working, soft conversation floating in from the front.
Normally, Josie would be here by now, singing something ridiculous, reorganizing the spice rack for no reason, slipping me a taste of whatever new thing she’s testing.
But she’s not.
And that’sfine.
I told her to take time off. She’s been exhausted, run ragged, burning herself out working so hard for me. I don’t want her to get sick.
But I also don’t like it when she isn’t here.
The place feels off. Too quiet. Too still. Like the center of gravity is missing.
Jace watches me like he’s waiting for something to crack. “What is going on with you right now? You are not the party animal you used to be. I know you retired and everything, and I know you said you wanted to cook, but damn.”
