“You’re not breaking up with him?”
“No.” That single word was filled with such sorrow. “I can’t.”
Anger and rage burned inside of me. “He doesn’t love you, Melissa. If he’s doing that with Mia, who knows how many other girls he’s been with? You need to understand that—”
She slammed her hand against the bar, making me stop mid-sentence. “You need to understand that the situation is more complicated than you think it is. I can’t just leave him.” Her voice fell with every word, and all I could feel was fear.
This wasn’t Melissa. Something was keeping her there, and I didn’t know if it was Mason or something more.
“Dad, I have something to tell you,” she said, fear laced in every one of her words. “Please don’t get mad at me.”
There wasn’t much more I could get angry at Melissa for. We had both done so much these past few months. I wanted to forgive her. Get her better, sleeping, healthy again. She looked so tired and sick.
“What is it, Melissa?” I asked. “I won’t get angry with you.”
“Promise me?”
“I promise you.”
She took a deep breath, gulped, and then said the one thing I’d never expected from her in a million fucking years. “Dad, I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER26
MICHAEL
Everything seemed to freeze. I thought I’d misheard her. Melissa couldn’t be pregnant, especially not with that asshole’s kid. She might’ve been adventurous, but she had always been safe. I couldn’t believe what I had heard.
“You’re pregnant?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I looked up at her face. “Melissa … pregnant?”
She gnawed on the inside of her lips. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I parted my lips and pressed them back together. All I could think about was how I had been in her position twenty-two years ago. I’d felt so alone, especially after my father kicked me out and told me to figure shit out for myself. I couldn’t let the same thing happen to Melissa.
“No, I’m sorry for kicking you out.”
“You’re not angry?”
“No, I’m not angry,” I said quietly. Yet I felt a pain in my heart because I had hurt Melissa by throwing her out. Maybe if I’d spent more time with her or paid more attention to her, she would’ve been safer when with Mason.
She gulped, and I knew there was more to the story.
I grabbed her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “What is it, Melissa?”
Sadness and anguish washed over her face, and she frowned deeply. She shook her head, as if she didn’t want to talk about it, yet I could see the tears building in her eyes. I knew she wasn’t about to tell me. I knew that begging for her to come home was hopeless.
“If you’re not going to tell me, please come home,” I begged.
“I can’t.”
“I can help you with the pregnancy, Melissa. You need to be eating healthy, getting sleep, and making changes to your life. You can’t do that with Mason. I know guys like him. He’s probably out at parties every weekend, telling you to come with him, throwing himself and his future away.”
She pushed her shoulders back and wiped a tear from her cheek with her thumb.
When she didn’t say anything, my eyes widened. “He doesn’t know, does he?”
“I’m going to tell him tonight.”
I rubbed my forehead and swore under my breath. “Are you sure it’s his and not Victor’s?”
