“You can try.” Kieran’s voice goes low as he pulls back his jacket to reveal the gun tucked into his waistband.
It’s not a threat but a reminder of exactly who he is and what he’s capable of.
“Please,” I choke out, looking back at Dr. Rogers. “Just do the scan. I need to know if the baby is okay.”
“If?” Kieran snaps, making me flinch. “What do you mean,if?”
Dr. Rogers hesitates, clearly unsettled by the tension sparking between us. His eyes dart between my tear-streaked face and Kieran’s furious glare.
“Are you comfortable with me discussing the details of your care with your husband?” he asks carefully.
I nod, because what choice do I have?
Despite the secrecy and the distance I’ve put between us, Kieranisthe father, and no matter how much he hates me right now, he deserves to know the truth.
Maybe part of me even hopes that knowing the truth will make him understand why I did what I did.
“Your baby has a slightly slower heartbeat than I would have liked to see at your wife’s previous scan,” Dr. Rogers says gently.
The blood drains from my face as realization dawns on Kieran’s face.
His eyes go wide, then narrow into slits as anger flashes behind them. “Previousscan?”
“Yes,” Dr. Rogers replies cautiously. “Normally, I wouldn’t perform scans so close together, but given the high risk of miscarriage, I wanted to keep Riley under closer supervision.”
The silence that follows is suffocating.
Kieran’s jaw locks as his knuckles turn white from where he’s clenching his hands into fists.
If he was angry before, this is something else entirely—a darker, deeper rage I’ve never seen before.
“There was a risk of miscarriage, and you didn’t think I needed to know?”
My mouth opens, but no words come out because, what can I say? That I didn’t want him to worry? That I wanted to spare him the pain I was barely holding together myself? It all sounds hollow now.
“Do the scan.” His voice is terrifyingly calm, and Dr. Rogers nods quickly, adjusting the ultrasound machine with slightly trembling hands.
The air in the room feels heavy, pressing down on my chest until every breath hurts.
Lying back on the table, my pulse hammering in my ears, I stare up at the ceiling because I can’t bring myself to look at Kieran.
All I can do now is hope there’s still a heartbeat, that the baby inside me is still fighting.
Because if there isn’t, if this ends here, then so do we.
Chapter Twenty-Six
KIERAN
Riley is pregnant.
Now that I know, it’s so obvious it makes me sick. The faint glow to her skin, the way she’s been overly tired these past few weeks—all of it was right there in front of me, and I missed it.
Or maybe I chose not to notice because the thought of becoming a father scares the crap out of me.
Everything suddenly makes a lot more sense, but instead of making me feel relieved, it only makes me angrier.
Is this why she’s been pulling away from me? Because of the baby? Maybe she saw my lack of father potential and decided to do the baby a solid and walk away.
