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“Pregnant?” Dex stumbled from the door of the motel where he and Sonjay had enjoyed many rendezvous.
“I couldn’t tell you on the phone.” Sonjay stood against the dresser with her hands in the pockets of her black, denim jacket. “I’m handling it, Dex.”
He sat on the bed, staring in space.
“This is the first and last time we’re gonna discuss the baby. You hear me?” She approached him, body writhing with the ache of needing to touch him. “From this moment on, we go on with our lives and pretend none of this ever happened.”
He gripped his head. “Fuck me.”
“What?”
“Here I was thinking you invited me here to make love. Because you missed me as much as I missed you—”
“Dex, you broke it off with me, remember? You left me at the Saffron Hotel and said you wanted nothing else to do with me.”
“And I was wrong. I love you and I want you.”
“Stop.” She stuck her palm in his face. “I’m stopping this before everything implodes.”
He raised his head, breathing through his nostrils. “Is it mine?”
She turned away from him.
“Sonny,” he growled. “Is the baby mine?”
She couldn’t look at him. “No.”
He slapped the bed, and he stood. “Liar. I know it’s mine. I feel it.” He grabbed her, forcing her to face him. “Tell me the truth.”
“Maybe.”
He let her go. “What the fuck kind of answer is that?”
“Yes, it’s yours,” she yelled. “I haven’t been with Klein in weeks.”
“My baby,” he whispered, looking toward the ceiling. “My baby!” He scooped her up, twirling her. “Oh, I’m so happy!” He kissed her. “I love you so much, Sonjay.”
“Put me down, Dex.” She kicked. “Put me down.”
He did, giving her a juicy smack on the lips.
“What the fuck is this? You’re happy?”
“Course I’m happy!” He jumped in place. “We’ll be a family.”
“No, Dex.” She waved her hands in his face. “I’m raising this baby with Klein.”
He threw his head back, chuckling. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. We need to let go of this craziness and stop fooling ourselves.” She held back tears. “Stop tearing our hearts out thinking we can be together. I’m marrying Klein and this will be his child.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do?” He grabbed his head, yelling. “Let you walk out my life with my kid and be with another man?”
“Yes. That’s the best thing for all of us.”
“How the hell do you think you can make this decision?”
“Because of how Klein acted when I told him I was pregnant. Dex, he was so happy he cried.”
Dex swallowed.
“He wants to be a father and I won’t take that away from him.”
“What about me? You don’t think I want to be a father?”
“Come on, Dex.” She grimaced. “You don’t want kids. You never have.”
“You’re not erasing me from your life and you are not passing my kid off as Klein’s.”
“I’m not hurting him.” She backed up to the bed. “Why do you have to make everything so hard? Dex, this is the only way no one gets hurt.”
“What about my feelings? You’re so damn selfish, Sonjay.” He walked in a circle and stopped, facing the dresser. “All you’ve put me through, I’d never deal with it from another woman.”
Sonjay sat on the bed in tears.
“What about the baby? You’re gonna lie to it its whole life? What are you going to do when it’s eighteen and finds out I’m its daddy?”
“This is killing me.”
“That’s because you’re tortured because you want to be with me.” He knelt in front of her, rubbing her thighs. “All you have to do is tell Klein the truth and this nightmare will be over.”
“I can’t hurt him.”
“He’s a grown ass man, Sonny. Yeah, he’ll hate us for a while but he’ll get over it. He’d rather know the truth than you string him along. You think he’ll be glad if you lie about this baby being his and down the line he finds out it’s not? Why can’t you tell him the truth?” He moved her hands from her eyes. “Look at me. What’s going on? It’s more than you wanting to protect Klein.”
She avoided eye contact, embarrassed to say it.
“I get it.” He moistened his lips. “You’re afraid I’ll leave you. That’s it.”
She lifted her head, tears trickling.
He touched her shivering face. “Honey, I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’ve never settled down with a woman. It’s not your style.”
“It wasn’t my style before you.” He kissed her, caressing her cheek. “I’m not leaving now or ever. If I stuck around through the hell you’ve put me through, doesn’t that prove it?”
“But I know Klein would never, ever leave me. I can’t be sure of that concerning you.” She wiped her eyes. “That’s scarier for me than anything.”
He stood, his stare burrowing into her. “I’m telling Klein the truth.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“I should’ve done it a long time ago. Look, I love Klein. I’d do anything for him but I’m not letting him have you. No way. You’re mine and he needs to know so we can move on.” He turned toward the door.
“No.” She jumped in front of him. “You stay away from Klein. I swear to God, Dex. If you tell him I’ll never forgive you.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
“He’ll never recover from this betrayal. Please, Dex.” She took his hand. “He’s not strong like you are. You’ll survive without me. You could have any woman in the world.”
“I only want one.”
“Please. Don’t do this.”
“I’m not letting you go.” He kissed her, his craving for her scorching Sonjay’s soul. “Tell him and we can get married and raise our baby together. Fuck what anyone thinks.”
She laid her head against his. “I can’t.”
“Ah, fuck!” He punched the wall. “Why does he get everything, huh? He has you and he gets the baby too? What do I get? I get to stand around like an idiot for eighteen years wishing my kid knew me? No way, Sonny.” He shook her. “Come on, baby. Don’t do this.”
“I love you.” She kissed him, shivering. “You’re the man I want and you always will be but this is best.”
“Klein Osgood is not raising my kid.” He shook his head as he reached the door. “It ain’t happening, sweetheart. Not in this or any other lifetime.”