Shock
Alex stared at Zoey, trying to take in what she’d just said. He had to have misheard her. He had to have. It couldn’t be true. It felt like a punch in the gut.
But the tears shining in her eyes and the fearful expression told him he hadn’t heard wrong.
He finally found his voice. “He raped you?”
She nodded and wiped her eyes.
Alex’s mind raced with more questions than he could spit out. He settled on one. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Zoey buried her face against his chest and mumbled something he couldn’t understand.
He clung to her. “Are you okay? Did you at least tell the doctors when you were in the hospital?”
She nodded. “They know. I’m going to have to testify about it when he goes to trial.”
He kissed the top of her head. Again and again. A range of emotions swirled around—everything from heartbreak to anger. “I’m so sorry. So, so sorry. I should’ve been there to protect you!”
Zoey sat back and stared at him with a tear-streaked face. “There’s more.”
Alex reached for her hand but missed. His own hands were shaking out of control. His entire body was cold. Rage was building inside. He wanted to find a way into the county jail and beat the life out of that man. Even if it meant Alex would spend the rest of his days behind bars.
“Alex?”
He turned back to Zoey.
“There’s something else I need to tell you.”
“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “What is it?”
Silence rested between them for a few minutes before she spoke. Tears spilled onto her face. “I’m pregnant.”
He just stared at her. He tried to process the news. “You’re…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. “And it’s his?”
Zoey blinked, spilling more tears. Then she nodded. “I wish with everything in me that it wasn’t. All I’ve wanted was to have more children with you. I hate him for stealing that from us! I hate him!”
Alex clenched his fists. “And I hate him for what he did to you! If I could get my hands on him…” He imagined himself torturing Dave slowly until he begged for death. Then denying him.
“Alex?”
He pushed the image from his mind and focused on his beautiful, hurting fiancée. “We’ll get through this together. I’m not letting you deal with this alone for a moment longer. I only wish I’d insisted on finding out what was bothering you. I just chalked it up to dealing with the abduction.”
Zoey frowned. “I doubt I would’ve told you before. I’ve been trying to ignore it, but it isn’t something that can be ignored.” She rubbed her belly.
He reached for her. “May I?”
She nodded.
Alex couldn’t hide his surprise at how round her stomach was.
“I’m definitely growing faster this time around.”
“When was the last time you saw a doctor?”
“At the hospital.”
He gave her a double-take. “That long? We need to get you in. Make sure you’re doing okay.”
“I am. Just tired. I’ve been taking all the supplements I’m supposed to and eating as best I can—when I can.”
“I can’t believe you’ve been dealing with all this on your own, Zo.” He pulled her close and held onto her, trying to calm the storm raging inside of him. “No more of that, okay? We’re a team. I’m here for you. There’s nothing you have to face alone anymore. Not this, not anything.”
She clung to him, shaking. “You don’t hate me?”
“Hate you?” Alex exclaimed. “How could I ever hate you?”
Zoey mumbled something, but he couldn’t understand with her face pressed against his chest.
“One thing you need to understand,” he said. “I could never hate you. Not ever. I’m the luckiest man on earth to be marrying you.”
She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Even with this? I’m damaged goods. I’m carrying another man’s baby.”
“It’s not your fault—and no, you’re not damaged goods. Don’t say it, don’t think it, and don’t believe it. It’s not true. We’ll work through all of this.”
“How?”
If his mind spun any faster, he’d fall off the bench. “I don’t know yet. We’ve already been through so much. We’ll figure this out, too. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”
She threw her arms around him and sobbed. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. Tears of his own threatened, and a lump in his throat was growing by the moment. It was all so much to take in, but more than anything, he wanted to take care of Zoey.
He couldn’t think about what Dave had done to her. Not yet. She’d kept this to herself the entire time since it had happened, and that had to have been a horrible burden on top of everything she was going through with the pregnancy.
Zoey pulled away again and wiped away tears. “What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to take care of you. What do you need? Rest? Food? Something else?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Alex studied her. She looked beyond exhausted. More than him, actually. Dark circles under her eyes. Pale. Stress lines around her eyes. She looked like she was carrying an impossible weight.
He took her hand in his. “How about this? I take you home, then you get into your most comfortable clothes and pick out a movie while I run to the store for some lunch and ridiculous amounts of ice cream and pickles.”
“Are you for real?”
Alex leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Of course. What else do you need? Those pregnancy vitamins? Something else I haven’t thought of?”
He strained to think of other things she’d needed when pregnant with Ariana, but it was hard to remember. It felt like a lifetime ago—he’d only been fourteen and fifteen during her pregnancy, and besides that, her parents had been taking care of her then.
“You mean prenatal vitamins. Yeah, I’m taking those. Other supplements, too. I think I just need rest and you. You don’t have to go to the store.”
Alex kissed her again. “Do you have ice cream, pickles, and food for lunch?”
“I have plenty of food, but no ice cream or pickles.”
“Then I’m going to the store. Let’s go inside and let Ari know you aren’t feeling good, then we’ll get you home.”
“I can drive. My car’s over there.”
“You can leave it here. I’ll bring you back here later to get it.”
She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “It’s okay. I’ll drive myself, Alex. I’m not helpless.”
“Believe me, I know that.” He gave her another kiss. “I just want to take away as much of that burden you’ve been carrying by yourself all this time.”