“There you are.” Tris rushed to her as she stepped into the hall, he gripped her shoulders, his worried gaze scanning her face. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
His gaze lowered to her belly.
“Oh, right. Um…”
“Come on.” He let her go. “The chief said we could use his office to talk.”
Nodding, she took the hand he offered and let him lead her down the hall.
“I can’t believe you drove all the way from Miami in that junker of yours. How long did it take you to get here?” Tris asked, as he ushered her into a meticulously neat office.
She’d left early Monday morning and today was early Wednesday evening. “Three days?”
“Three days!” He stared at her in disbelief. “You did the trip non-stop?”
“I didn’t want to waste time—”
“Why didn’t you fly?”
“I—”
“Shit. Don’t worry about that now. Where’s Dirk?”
“Dirk?”
“Yeah, your fiancé, why isn’t he with you?”
“We broke up months ago.” How could he forget that not so insignificant detail? The bust-up of her engagement was the reason they were in this predicament in the first place.
“He knocked you up and left!”
What?He thought Dirk was the baby daddy? “Ah, no.” Didn’t he think it was strange she was here if Dirk was the father? Did he think she’d driven all this way to tell him she was pregnant with Dirk’s kid? “Dirk isn’t the father.”
“What the fuck Covington?” He stepped closer, anger flaring in his eyes. “Tell me who it is and I’ll kick the bastard’s fucking ass.”
He was such an honorable guy. He’d never dream of leaving a woman if he’d gotten her pregnant. If heknewhe’d gotten her pregnant.
Tears stung her eyes, tingled in the back of her nose. God. It shouldn’t be this hard to get the words out.
All she had to say was ‘you’re the father’ but her throat had closed up and her chest felt like a band of steel had wrapped around it.
“Aw, Cov.” He pulled her into his arms, tucked her head beneath his chin. “It’s okay. I promise you, everything will be all right.”
He had no idea what he was committing to. “I—” A sob choked off her words.
Rubbing his hands up and down her back, he made soothing sounds under his breath and it took every last bit of her remaining energy not to give in to the emotions overwhelming her and completely lose her composure.
It wouldn’t be the first time she’d succumbed to a crying jag in the last few months. It wasn’t a normal week without her emptying at least one box of tissues.
“It’s okay. You’re here now. I’ll take care of you,” Tris continued to reassure her.
She needed to tell him.
“First thing you need is rest. It couldn’t have been easy driving all that way on your own with no break.”
Being cradled in Tris’s arms felt wonderful but the idea of lying down, of closing her eyes and sleeping…
