The Contract by Marsh, Nicola (read aloud books .txt) 📕

For a man used to being in control, he didn’t like feeling this helpless.

“That makes two of us.” The tears gleamed in her eyes, highlighting the golden flecks. “I’ll never forgive you for this. Ever.”

Her words pierced him as he struggled to grasp where they had come from. “What have I done?”

As she shook her head from side to side, tears trickled down her cheeks, making him feel like a bastard, though for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why. “Tell me!”

“Don’t shout at me like I’m a child.” Her hands slid around her belly and suddenly, he knew.

She’s pregnant.

He leaned against the wall for support, the realisation flooring him as a surge of paternal joy swept through him, swift and sharp. Was that what was behind her irrational behaviour? Fear of the unknown? Or dare he say it, hormones?

“Amber, why didn’t you tell me?”

She glared at him, clasping her arms firmer around her belly. “Tell you what?”

“You’re carrying my child.” He allowed his face to dissolve into a semblance of a smile, hoping it would reassure her of his feelings about the pregnancy. It didn’t.

She tilted her head up, the familiar defiant gesture he’d grown to be wary of. “You’re wrong. This is my child and you, your twisted mother and your sick grandmother aren’t going to get your hands on him or her.”

Blood drained from his head and for a second he thought he would faint for the first time in his life. Dammit, she knew. His mother must have told Amber about her suspicions and his wife believed her.

Thankfully, his lightening-quick thinking processes kicked in; it wasn’t as bad as he first thought. All he had to do was deny his mother’s accusations and profess his love for her. Who would she believe? His mother, who she couldn’t stand, or him?

“I don’t know what Mother told you but it’s a pack of lies. I’m rapt that you’re pregnant and I can’t wait to welcome our child into the world.” He paused, the growing look of horror on her face not inspiring him much. “There’s something else I need to tell you. I love you.”

To his amazement, she threw her head back and laughed, a haunting, hysterical sound that raised the hairs on the back of his neck, before she clapped. “Great performance. Shame about the delivery.”

She walked towards him, tottering on high heels. “Words are cheap, Hotshot.” She punctuated each word with a jab at his chest. “Love? You wouldn’t know the meaning of the word, even if it bit you on your filthy rich ass. As for wanting this baby, I bet you do. After all, what better way to add to your millions than by producing an heir to inherit granny’s fortune?”

He sank into the nearest chair, floundering for something, anything, to allay her fears. “It’s not what you think.”

“Don’t lie to me!” She yelled, a bright crimson flushing her cheeks. “I know. I heard you.”

Hell. She’d been at the Convention Centre, that’s why she was dressed up. And she’d probably heard every damning word of his conversation with his mother.

“Don’t do this, Amber. I can explain...” He trailed off at the revulsion in her face, a deep-seated fear clutching at his heart at the thought of losing the most important thing that had ever happened to him.

“Save it for someone who cares.”

She didn’t look back as she picked up her battered cases, walked out the door and slammed it behind her.

Steve dropped his head in his hands, wishing he could run after her. However, his wife was right; words were cheap. And how she must be feeling right now, nothing he could say would convince her of the truth.

Hell, he loved her and the life-changing revelation had hit him at a time like this.

He had to show her how much she meant to him, with actions rather than words.

Nine

Amber couldn’t return to the carnival and the sanctity of her caravan, despite every self-preservation mechanism she possessed screaming for her to do just that. She had a business to run and there was no way she’d give her soon-to-be ex-husband any ammunition to use against her, like saying she couldn’t look after a newly-opened shop so how could she care for a baby?

A baby. For the first time in two hours, she smiled and hugged her stomach. It didn’t matter her life was crumbling around her ears, she still had the one thing she’d always wanted and no one could take it away from her.

A flicker of doubt flashed through her brain. The Rockwell’s were richer than rich and Steve was a top lawyer. What if they tried to take this baby away from her by dragging her through the courts? They could afford a long and lengthy legal battle, she couldn’t. They had the connections to make anything happen, she didn’t. And what if Steve reneged on the financing for Harmony, depriving her of an income to support her child?

The questions she didn’t want to acknowledge, let alone answer, whirled through her mind as she collapsed onto the hotel bed and closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out her husband’s image.

He’d said he loved her. Jerk.

After months of waiting and hoping, he’d said the three little words she’d longed to hear yet it meant nothing. She knew he would’ve said anything to get his hands on their baby and his grandmother’s fortune. What sort of a sicko was he anyway, to use another human being to further his own ends?

Trying to blot out the pain that threatened to shatter her heart into a million pieces, Amber turned onto her side, curled into a foetal position and hugged her belly tight.