Without a word, she glanced over her shoulder at me, then went back to staring out the window.
Frustration nearly bubbled out of me. "I don't know what to say."
After a moment, she replied with, "There's nothing else to say. I moved on, made a life for myself. I couldn't put my baby at risk of your father's plans."
"I don't blame you at all, I really don't. I feel—"
"Blindsided," she finished for me.
"Exactly." Running my hands through my hair didn't dispel the tension, and neither did deep breathing.
"We've been here for four months. Danny and Brenda have jobs, we have a two-bedroom apartment, and they support me more than just financially. We're friends. Family. I tried to help them with everything around the house to repay their generosity, but they insisted I shouldn't try to get a job until after the baby came. Danny made me a crib, and Brenda and I shopped for baby clothes."
It pissed me off to hear the defensiveness in her voice, as though she had to prove what kind of progress she'd made without my help. None of that mattered now that I knew about the baby. It was mine. She was mine. What part of that didn’t she understand?
"I'm sure you did the best you could, but don't you understand that you don't have to worry anymore? I can provide for you; I can buy anything the baby needs. You can live in my house, and we'll devote an entire room to the nursery."
In all his words since he'd set eyes on her, he'd never asked about her well-being. Never mentioned that he was happy to see her, that he'd missed her or cared about her. Nothing he said made her think he wanted her at all, just the heir to his empire. Package deal as they were, she had to come along. Five days together in Chester hadn't been long enough to prove she didn't need things, just him.
"I don't want your money," she protested. "I don't need stuff."
"The baby does." Sensing her impending capitulation, I moved forward, but then stopped as a thought occurred to me. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
Kinsley dropped her head to hide a fresh wave of tears, watching the traffic far below creep down the street. "It's a boy."
13
Burke
Even to an oblivious asshole like me, it was obvious Kinsley wasn't happy about moving in. After my close call with the bomb, though, nothing could stop me from embracing the life I led. A male heir to the Gallagher Family business was the most important thing I could leave behind when I was gone.
Step one, get Kinsley settled into the house. Step two . . . well, I wasn't looking forward to that step at all.
Not that the first step was going well. Kinsley cried a lot, sending twinges of guilt radiating through me. Nothing I did or said helped her mood, but I assumed it was pregnancy hormones. I offered to share my room with her, but she declined, instead choosing to reside in the room two doors down from mine. We'd agreed the nursery would be in the middle. Admittedly, it disappointed me that Kinsley didn't want to share my bed. In fact, she seemed apprehensive about allowing me to touch her at all, and I would give almost anything at that point to caress the place my child currently called home. If I thought a sense of possessiveness ran through me each time I saw Kinsley, it was nothing compared to how I felt about my son.
I didn't have any female staff to help Kinsley settle in, so I showed her to her room. After I set her suitcase by the closet, we both took a look around.
Needlessly, I pointed to the open door on the far side of the room. "There's your bathroom."
She nodded.
"There's plenty of space, and you can change anything you want."
Caden had suggested Maddie could help Kinsley redecorate. According to him, she loved to paint and shop, and her presence would give me a chance to meet her. Anna planned to come as well, but my mother was not invited. Forgiveness for such an enormous insult did not come quickly. "I'm having a credit card sent with your name on it, but Anna has one in the meantime. You two can buy out all the stores if you want."
Stop rambling, Gallagher. Unfortunately, Kinsley still hadn't spoken, and I felt the need to fill the silence.
"As promised, your things will be delivered by this afternoon."
"Including the crib?" she whispered.
Sighing, I shoveled one hand through my hair. "Including the crib."
Her insistence on keeping the crib her male friend made by hand grated on my nerves. My son deserved the best money could buy.
Certainly, my feelings had nothing at all to do with jealousy.
Finally, she sank down on the edge of the mattress and rubbed her belly. The bed was high enough that her feet dangled inches from the floor, making her appear child-like.
