No sound answered him, except her rapid breaths. Then a sniffle. And another.
“It’s not fair,” she cried. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t want to be pregnant.”
“The test won’t hurt,” he elaborated. “It uses a blood sample from the pregnant mother and a cheek swab from the father.”
“And I’m stuck being a single mom with a baby I never wanted.” She sniffed and took a shuddery breath. “That’s what’s going to happen.”
His chest clenched. What if this is truly my son or daughter?
“I’ll take the baby,” he blurted out. “I’ll be the primary caregiver, and you can go back to your normal life. I’ll take custody.”
“No, you won’t,” she sobbed. “It’s not even yours. I wish it was, but it isn’t.”
“You’re positive I’m not the father?” His heart flew about, beating against his ribcage.
“I’m only twelve weeks along.”
I’m not the baby’s father. An incredible feeling spread throughout his system—elation. He was free. Free to be with Stephanie. Free to love her and be loved by her. He couldn’t wait to get Carina out of the room so he could call Steph. Nothing else mattered. Not the Parker-Aston stocks or his father or the attempted takeover of his own company. Nothing mattered except being married to Stephanie.
“I’m sorry this happened to you,” he said, incredulous to find he meant it. Now that he was free of her, he had no desire to hold her sins against her.
“You’re a good man,” she said, her voice cracking. “If the baby was yours, I’d give you custody. I know you’d be a good father.”
“Maybe the baby’s real father will marry you,” he suggested. Perhaps, if Mark was the father, Bran could put pressure on him to marry her. The man might be on the take from Bran’s father, but he still ought to take responsibility for his actions. “Have I met this man?”
“You could say that.” She gave a bitter laugh. “He said he loved me. He made me feel special. You never did that.”
“Neither one of us was in love.”
“I think…” Her voice dropped to a low murmur. “I think I could’ve loved you. I tried not to, because… you know… my pride was hurt. You rejected me, Bran. I pretended not to care, but I did. Guess that made me vulnerable when someone came along and said the words I wanted to hear. Only, he was lying.”
“I’m sorry, Carina.” How could he have been so thoughtless? He prided himself on being hyper aware of people’s emotions, interpreting the slightest change in tone. “I’ve tried to be honest.”
“Yes, I know,” she admitted. “But it’s too late, now. I suppose I could get an abortion, but I don’t feel good about it.”
A repulsive thought occurred. She’d mentioned Stephanie’s ex-husband one time, speaking as if she’d heard personal testimony from him. And someone had told Jeff where he could find Stephanie. If Carina believed Bran had been sleeping with Steph all this time, she might’ve slept with Jeff in retribution.
He swallowed, steeling himself against the answer before he asked the question. “Jeff Caldwell? Was it him?”
“No. He’s attractive, but I knew he wasn’t going anywhere. No goals. No aspirations.”
Good. He let out the breath he was holding. “Then… was it Mark Johnson?”
She didn’t respond.
“I promise it won’t make any difference to me if Mark’s the father,” he assured her. “I’ve already decided to do business with a different law firm.”
“It’s not him.”
Then who? From her attitude about Jeff’s future, Bran knew it wasn’t one of his employees. Obviously, it must be someone he didn’t know well.
“That’s okay. I don’t need to know.”
“I’m so alone,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be a single mother. Who’s going to marry me when I have a kid?”
“If someone loves you, it won’t matter to him that you have a kid.” Bran thought of Ellie. He barely knew the child but already loved her, simply because she belonged to Steph.
“That’s not how it works in our social circle. You should know that. People are so judgmental.”