“So he’s coercing you, at a minimum. Holding your job over your head. You can’t let him do this, honey.”
Beatrice pushes her hands into her hair and tugs, messing up the curled strands as she grunts her frustration. “Ugggh! I don’t need more pressure from you, Phoenix. I’ve made my decision.”
“Without discussing it with me at all. The move. The adoption. All of it is your decision, and I’m just… what? An accessory you can drag along?”
“You knew how I was when we got together. I’m ambitious, and my career will always come first,” she says, resting her hand over my heart like that will help hold the thudding organ in place.
“So that puts me in third. Or do I even rank that high? Because your father is firmly in second place since you told him about the pregnancy before, you know…” I gesture toward her flat stomach, the pain of this situation becoming more real by the second. “The actual father of the baby?”
“I needed advice,” she says, lifting her chin defiantly, which turns a bit of my hurt into raw anger. “So I went to Father.”
“And that’s the problem, Beatrice. You went to him instead of me, your partner, the man who’s going to be your husband in a few hours.” My voice is rising, but I can’t help it. Flashes of my future play inside my mind, and I’m not sure I like what I see. “Will it always be like this? Where you and old Barty make all the decisions and then inform me as an afterthought?”
“It’s not like that. I’m telling you now.”
“After you’ve already made decisions about my life… my job… my child. Because that is my child, Beatrice,” I say, pointing to her belly. “He or she is half mine.”
“Fine, then you can raise the fucking kid, Phoenix,” she shouts.
God, she is pissing me off right now, and I toss my hands in the air and stalk away a few steps, inhaling and exhaling a few times before whirling back to face my fiancée.
“That’s exactly what the fuck I said a few minutes ago. I said I will raise this baby.”
Beatrice fists her hands on her hips, jutting her chin out. “And I told you I don’t want to be a part of that. No matter our arrangement, I will be judged for not being involved.” She puts on a mocking tone. “Poor little Junior’s mommy never comes to his award programs. Why can’t she ever show up to anything? What a piece of shit Phoenix’s wife must be.” She glares at me like I personally said those things.
I’m confused, feeling like she’s talking in circles. “So why did you say I could raise the kid and then say the opposite two seconds later?”
She glares at me. “If I’m in the picture, I will be the bad guy, and you’ll eventually come to resent me, so I guess I’m saying you have a choice to make, Phoenix. Me or the baby.”
I storm into the penthouse room with my heart in my throat.
“Hey, man,” Helix says, handing me a glass of champagne as I pass. “What did Bea want?”
Remi walks in from the bedroom while I’m shotgunning the bubbly liquid. “Your tux is all ready. I just…”
His eyes widen when I rip the suit from him and sling it across the room. Then I throw the empty champagne flute against the wall, shattering it into a million pieces, which matches the state of my heart.
“Bro,” Helix says, guiding me to the couch, which is the same style as the one in Beatrice’s suite. The same couch I sat on while she blew up my entire life. My twin’s voice goes soft as our older brother sits on the other side of me. “What’s going on?”
“The wedding is off,” I inform them flatly, looking from Helix’s blue eyes to Remi’s brown ones. Then the tiniest of smiles crests my lips. “And I’m going to be a daddy.”
CHAPTER THREE
A hell of a lot less trouble than men
Jordie
SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL
“Morning, Pops,” I say, kissing my stepfather’s smooth, brown cheek as I enter the kitchen the next morning.
“Morning, Jordie girl. Sleep well?”
“Fine,” I say, grabbing the orange juice from the fridge. When I turn back around, Pops is right behind me, his narrowed gaze on my face.
“Your eyes are puffy.”
Dang it. I’d held a cool cloth over them for fifteen minutes in the shower, hoping to eliminate any evidence of my previous night’s cry-fest. Luckily, I’d waited until I was inside the house before the tears came.
