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Chloe looks through the peephole and opens the door when she sees Bria standing in the corridor outside. ‘What took you so long?’
Bria locks the door behind her and shrugs out of her coat. ‘The hotel isn’t exactly in the middle of a town. I had to go to the next town over.’
‘Did anyone see you?’
Bria takes the paper bag out of her purse and shakes her head. ‘It’s all good. The guys are getting wasted. Doubt they even noticed I’d left. Oh no, I don’t mean Tate too,’ she adds quickly when Chloe’s face drops. ‘He’s on the orange juice. I promise. And Gregg is keeping an eye on him.’
Chloe doesn’t feel put at ease by that. She trusts the guys won’t let him do anything he shouldn’t, but the last few days have been tough on him. All this stuff with Bria, Gregg, and Angel had knocked him. He’ll never say it to either Gregg or Bria, but the fact his sister felt she couldn’t call him when she was in trouble had affected him deeply. He’d been quieter than usual, more subdued.
But it was the nightmare last night that troubled her the most. It was a particularly bad one. He’d only told her a little about it, but it was enough. The memories of his father’s abuse which haunted his dreams were graphic and painful. She doubts he got more than two hours sleep which was more than she got. Most of the night had been spent trying to convince him to come back to bed instead of wandering around the house or working out. The four cups of coffee he had before leaving this morning were keeping him going but he can’t depend on caffeine to survive.
Chloe would be lying if she said she wasn’t deeply worried about him. She thought he had turned a corner. Since Christmas he’d been in a good place. The holiday in Canada was absolutely needed and had done wonders for him. For them both. But since coming home he’s taken a step back. A small step, but she hadn’t expected it and she’s scared for him. For them.
Maybe being home and spending time with Bria will help. Of all the relationships that were impacted negatively by his overdose, that was the one he had never forgiven himself for damaging.
‘Are you okay?’
Chloe smiles and nods. She wants to talk to Bria about it, but she can’t do that to her. There’s too much guilt going around the family as it is without Bria thinking she’d driven Tate a little further into the dark by trying to do the exact opposite. And Tate would never forgive her if she said anything. She has no doubts about that.
‘I’m just scared about this.’
Bria hands her the box then squeezes her arm. ‘I know it’s scary, but you have to know for sure.’
Chloe looks at the box in her hand and has second thoughts about it. ‘Maybe here and now isn’t a good time.’
‘Is there ever going to be a good time? Everyone is occupied with Luke and Pippa. I’ve locked the door, so no one is going to interrupt. Putting it off is only going to stress you out more.’
Chloe takes a deep breath then goes into the bathroom and closes the door behind her. She does the deed then sits on the edge of the bath while she waits for the results of the pregnancy test.
Deep down she knows the chances of a positive result are high. They’d both been so careful every time they had sex. Tate always wore a condom, well, apart from that one time. But that’s all it takes.
When he arrived back in Dublin after his last tour before Christmas, they’d both been so excited to see each other, neither had thought of using protection. They’d had incredible sex in his dressing room before he went on stage. A mind-blowing reunion they’d both so looked forward to. One lapse and now she’s here.
That was six weeks ago. It didn’t take a genius to do the math.
They hadn’t discussed children. They hadn’t discussed much about their future. She only met him in May of last year. Less than ten months together. And those ten months had been anything but normal, even for someone in the public eye.
Between Tate dealing with his recovery and then his cousin tormenting, kidnapping, and drugging him, they’d barely had any time without some drama interrupting.
Would Tate even want to be a father?
Would asking him to be a father while he’s still trying to deal with what happened to him with his own father even be fair?
Chloe glances over at the test and sees the results. She stares at the words on the screen for a long time then picks up the test and unlocks the door. Bria stands up and hurries over to her. ‘Well? What does it say?’
Chloe turns the test around and Bria’s mouth drops open.
‘I’m pregnant.’
Thank you for reading Fractured Rock.
I hope you enjoyed Gregg and Bria’s story. There’s plenty more to come from the band!
The next book, Split Rock, is coming soon.
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K.A. Finn
Coming next...
Broken Rock
Broken Chords # 1
A dark history. An uncertain future. With the press, rumours, and saboteurs against them, will these lovers ever find their melody?
Irish rockstar Tate Archer thought his ugly past was behind him. So when an anonymous tormentor sends him cryptic messages about his forgotten childhood, the haunted frontman turns to hard drugs to cope with the residual trauma. But after his release from rehab, he can’t help but wonder if the perfect prescription is the beautiful stranger he meets on the beach.
Chloe Quinn prefers things uncomplicated. So she isn’t looking for anything serious when she draws close to a handsome guy who helps fix her car. But just as she’s falling for her new seaside squeeze, she feels betrayed when she learns he’s actually a troubled famous singer.
As the messages draw him deeper into his past, Tate finds the siren call of booze and narcotics nearly impossible to resist. And with his reputation spiraling downward, Chloe fears she’ll lose him to old habits as someone seems intent on not only destroying his career, but his life too.
Will Tate and Chloe hit their harmony, or is this duet just not meant to be?