I’m not sure if Dagger will even believe me when I tell him, but I have to at least try. It’s not like I want anything from him,but as someone who grew up not knowing who my father was, I wouldn’t do that to my own. That’s one thing I know for certain about. I would hate that he or she didn’t know the other half of their parentage.
The prospect eyes me closely, looking me up and down, trying to decide if I’ll cause any trouble for the club. Finally, he grunts, “Hold on,” and picks up his phone, putting it to his ear.
“What’s your name?” he asks a moment later.
“Katrina Ray,” I answer a bit nervously.
I drum my fingers nervously against my steering wheel while he talks in hushed tones. My stomach does a little flip—morning sickness or nerves, I can’t tell anymore. The two seem to blend these days.
After what feels like forever, the prospect finishes on the phone and nods. “Go on through. Park over by the other cars near the clubhouse and head inside. Dagger will meet you there.”
“Thanks,” I tell him, and wait as he opens the gate for me.
Those little flips start to feel like full-on somersaults in my stomach.
I park in nearly the same spot my car had been in the last time I was here, two months ago. Turning it off, I grab the strap of my bag containing the ultrasound and get out. I take a breath and make my way up to the doors I exited in such haste.
Inside the clubhouse, it’s quiet. Unlike that night when music had been blasting and people were everywhere. There were still people, but it wasn’t as crowded. The music wasn’t blaring. In fact, there wasn’t anything coming from the speakers. On a TV off to the side were cartoons and several children sat around either watching or playing with toys on the floor.
“Katrina?”
His voice stops my spiral of thoughts. I turn to see Dagger coming toward me. He’s wearing dark jeans and a black T-shirt that stretches across his broad shoulders.
“Ugh, hey, um, sorry to stop by like this,” I say quietly and glance around, seeing people staring at me, curiosity in some, annoyance in others.
The annoyed glances were directed by women who looked like they should be wearing more clothes than they were. The others who looked at me seemed genuinely curious about what was happening.
“What are you doing here?” Dagger asks, drawing my attention back to him. Though I was very aware of how close he was standing to me.
“I, ugh, I need to talk to you about something. Can we talk in private?”
Dagger stares at me a beat, one brow cocked, those beefy arms of his crossed, making him look that much bigger. “We can talk over here.” He nods to a spot off to the side of the room.
“Okay,” I agree. It’s not exactly private, but it was farther from his brothers and the women.
Dagger guides me to the table and sits without waiting for me to sit as well. “So, what’s so important that you come back here after running off on me?”
Oh boy. He’s calling me out.
“I didn’t exactly run off.” Lie. Lie. Lie. I totally ran away.
“Bullshit.” He fake coughs, grinning. “You ran. Don’t deny it.”
I huff and plant myself in the chair across from him, clutching my bag. “Fine, I did run. I’d never done the whole sleep with a guy that I just met thing. I blame the tequila shots. It’s not my finest hour. Usually, I don’t do shots or even drink. It always goes straight to my head.”
Dagger’s grin turns cocky at my mention of the tequila I consumed. “Right, so you’re here to tell me this because . . .” he trails as he shifts in his seat, eyes taking me in like he wants to eat me for lunch.
The look alone has me clenching my thighs. The thought makes me clench harder. “Well, um, I needed to talk to you.”
“So you said,” he says, nodding.
“I want to first start off by saying, I don’t expect anything, and this wasn’t some intention of trapping.” The smile fades from Dagger’s face, and his expression grows terse as I continue. “I went to the doctor two weeks ago and found out I was pregnant. I was on birth control. I don’t know how it happened. I mean, I know what goes into getting pregnant, but I’d been on the pill for years for women’s health . . .” Why did I tell him that? “Anyway to get back on target. I didn’t want to be like my mom and not give the father of my child the chance to know their child. But please know, as I said, I don’t expect anything from you. I don’t want your money, or you to think I want you to marry me out of obligation. I can keep in touch with you throughout the pregnancy if you want, or just let you know when the baby is born.”
I reach into my bag and pull out the ultrasound. “I have two of these so you can have this one.” I slide the picture across the table. Dagger doesn’t say anything as I reach into my bag, pull out a business card, and place it with the picture. “I’ll just leave you to it for now. That’s my number if you want to reach me. I’m sorry this happened, but I just thought you should know. Not for any other reason than a child should be able to know where they came from.”
Dagger still doesn’t say anything as I get to my feet and walk to the door, then outside. Maybe that’s a good thing. It wasn’t confrontational. He didn’t accuse me of lying. He simply didn’t say a word.
He could need a little bit of time to come to terms with everything, as I did. Though I wouldn’t say I’m fully at terms with what’s happening within my body.
