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Her question hangs in the air, making my heart race and my stomach flip again. God, when I was going through all of the early pregnancy stuff, I never thought about this part. I never considered that not only would I be held accountable for my actions by Diego but also by his family. And they might not like what they’re going to hear.

“I found out about three weeks ago.”

“Why?” she whispers. Blood rushes to my cheeks and a wave of nausea washes over me as my mind flicks through all of the stupid decisions I made at the start of this journey. God, if I had just come to Diego to begin with, then none of the crap with Luca would have happened and he wouldn’t have to explain to his mother that I’m a horrid bitch.

“I think she was scared and had to find a way to accept it on her own before she told me.”

Jesus.

The man gives me more grace than I deserve.

“So, this was a surprise?”

Diego nods, his smile returning. “It was but a good one. Izzy didn’t even think she could have kids anymore until she got pregnant.”

“Then it was meant to be and sounds like a wonderful blessing for both of you,” she answers and I shake my head in disbelief. The woman is a freaking saint and it’s clear to me that Diego takes after her and not his father. Rubbing my hand over my belly, I look down at my bump and tears sting my eyes at all the love that is going to be in my son’s life. The questions return to me and Diego tells her what little he knows about me, his smile never fading as he describes me to his mother and as I watch him, my breath gets caught in my throat because I can see it now - his feelings for me - and I don’t know what to do. Normally, I would run but that urge isn’t there this time. I also don’t want to rush over there and tell him I’ll give things a chance between us but it is different than before.

“Mijo…” she whispers once her questions die off. “You sound like you love this girl.”

Okay.

We’re going there, I guess.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, it occurs to me that I should be nervous or losing my shit over how Diego is going to answer this question but I’m not. And I think it’s because I already know.

“I do, Mom. She’s absolutely incredible and I would be lucky as hell to get to spend the rest of my life with her.”

His mother laughs, the sound full of a pure kind of joy that I’ve rarely heard in my life. “That’s wonderful, Diego.”

“So, you’re marrying her then?” his father cuts in. The word marriage sends a spike of cold hard fear piercing through my body and my heart races in my chest as Diego grimaces, shaking his head.

“It’s complicated.”

Another tsk of disappointment drifts through the phone. “Just when I think you can’t embarrass me any further, you go and knock up some girl.”

The way he snarls the word girl sends a wave of unease rushing through me and I wince, cradling my belly like somehow I can protect myself and my baby from this man. I’ve never been ashamed of who I am or how I chose to live my life but hearing Diego’s father cast judgement on me makes my skin crawl. A band squeezes my ribs and for the second time in the last twelve hours, I hate the choices I’ve made up until this point. How in the hell did someone as amazing as Diego come from this angry, rude, unreasonable man?

“Hey,” Diego growls, leaning forward in his chair. “You say whatever the fuck you want about me but you will not treat Izzy with anything other than respect.”

“What are you going to do, son? You going to come hit your old man for calling your whore a whore?”

“You’re goddamn right…”

“Daniel!” Diego’s mom screams, drowning out any other ugliness from her husband and cutting her son off in an instant. “You’re done here. Go away.”

Something crashes in the background. “You don’t tell me what to do, Carmen.”

“Leave now or I swear to God, I will call my brothers to throw you out on your miserable ass,” she hisses, her voice dripping with venom and I want to cheer for her. I don’t know their situation, at all, but I’ve met men like Daniel before and it’s better for everyone to just steer clear. Silence stretches between us and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as I wait for his response but it never comes. Finally, Carmen sighs. “I’m so sorry about that, baby.”

“I’m used to it, Mom, but I won’t let him do that shit to Izzy.”

She sighs again. “You shouldn’t be used to it. I fear… I think I’ve failed you as a mother.”

“That’s not true,” Diego replies, his voice soft and so incredibly kind that tears sting my eyes and my chest aches. “You’re an incredible mother but you, unfortunately, have shit taste in men.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” she answers, laughing, but it doesn’t sound genuine and I can imagine the pain she’s feeling. Couldn’t the same be said for me? I had shit taste in men and it led to me to shutting the world out for the last fourteen years. Until my weekend with Diego.

“Leave him, Mom. What are you waiting for?”