Did they suspect anything? No, no way. They have no idea.

Panic was welling in my gut as I bolted out the back door and through the building, up the fire stairs toward my loft.

I had kept the pregnancy a secret for three weeks. How could it all come crashing down on me in one night?

How had Evelyn figured it out?

I had to ask her.

As I unlocked the door to my apartment, I slammed the sliding unit behind me, hurrying to the fridge to get a glass of water.

I felt like an asshole for thinking I could keep it a secret. On some level I had known that of course it was going to come out, but I had also sort of hoped that I could keep it hidden for at least three or four months.

Dammit! What am I going to do?

The door to her loft slid open and Silas stormed inside, his face ablaze with confusion.

“You’re pregnant?” he demanded. “And you didn’t tell me?”

Well, I guess the cat is officially out of the bag. Not only does Silas know but the entire Billionaire brat club. Just fucking perfect.

I hung my head, wrestling with the right words to say but I couldn’t think of one thing which would make this awful situation better.

I have given him shit our whole married lives because he’s not honest and now I’ve done the same thing to him.

But I was not married to him, not anymore. And I hadn’t lied; I had withheld information.

“You have to talk to me, Maggie!” he roared, striding toward me. “You can’t shut me out now!”

That was all I wanted to do. I wanted to kick his ass out the door, lock it and hide out in my loft until…until…Christ, I don’t know. Until I had thought everything through.

“Maggie!”

“What?” I snapped, suddenly defensive. “What do you want me to say?”

“How far along are you?” he asked, and I realized it was his way of asking if the baby was his.

For a perverse minute, I contemplated telling him it was not his child, about lying about how far along I was.

But that was not my style. A baby needs to know its parents and I would not keep Silas away from his child…if he could keep his shit together.

And no matter what, I was keeping this baby.

The dream of having children had been long forgotten.

After all, my entire life had been about babysitting the biggest child of all. God forbid I had one who took after Silas.

But now, with Silas off ruining his own life, I could raise a baby on my own. I certainly made enough money, had enough stability…

“Maggie, will you please talk to me?” he begged. “Is he mine?”

“Who says it’s a he?” I quipped. “And yes, of course he’s yours, you dumb ass.”

A combination of relief and panic passed over his face and I almost laughed.

He has no idea if he’s happy or devastated by this.

I knew a bit how he felt.

“Oh, Maggie, this is wonderful news,” he finally managed to choke out, but I could see he was still trying to process it all.

“Thank you,” I replied flatly. “Now can you leave so I can get dressed?”

He stared at me, dumbfounded.

“No,” he said firmly. “We need to discuss our future, the future of – “

“Whoa, stop right there,” I interrupted. “First of all, we have no future. Secondly, I’m not so sure you should be involved in this baby’s life.”

I don’t think I had ever seen a man look so crushed in all my memory. My heart cracked slightly, and I wished I could take the words back.

Even if they were true.

Hurting Silas was not on my agenda. It was not who I was. I didn’t seek vengeance or retribution.

But I had a baby to worry about now and I would be damned if Silas’ old ways seeped like venom into this child.

“Maggie,” he gasped. “How can you say something like that?”

I met his gaze evenly and our eyes locked.

The pain in his soul was almost palpable and suddenly, I heard how cruel I sounded.

This baby is as much his as it is mine. I have no right to even speak to him like that.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, my face growing hot. “Of course, you should be involved in your baby’s life.”

But the look of hurt on his face did not lessen. I had struck a nerve that was not going to be easily unstruck. Tentatively, I smiled at him.

“I’m hormonal as hell,” I offered. “I’ve been saying shit I don’t mean and forgetting shit I would never forget.”

Not to mention horny as all fuck, all the time.

I didn’t add that part. I just wanted to get the stricken look from his face.

He nodded slowly, his shoulders relaxing as he extended his arms for me to embrace.

Slowly, I allowed him to hug me, and he pressed his body to mine so I could feel every crevice of his body.

“We are going to make this work,” he promised me gruffly, kissing the top of my head affectionately.

Warning bells started sounding in my head.

“What do you need, sweetheart?”

I shook my head, pulling back slightly to stare up at him.

“Nothing,” I replied quickly. “I have an ultrasound next week. Then tests. I’ll keep you updated as to what’s going on.”

“I’ll go with you to your appointments,” he replied.

I bit on my lower lips, sensing what was coming.

“Everything is going to be great, Mags,” he assured me again and I could hear the mounting excitement in his voice. “We’re going to be a real family. My son is going to grow up with a real father and mom in the same house. He’ll have everything we didn’t.”

There it was.

I inhaled a long breath.

“No, Silas,” I told him softly. “He won’t.”

His brow creased in confusion.

“He won’t what?”

“He won’t have a father and mother in the same house. At least not unless one of us remarries.”

I watched as his face contorted back into the mask of pain I had seen before but this time there was nothing I could do to alleviate his anguish.

“Maggie – “

“No,” I told him flatly. “You and I can co-parent this baby as the best fucking co-parents in the world, but you and I will never be together again. You need to understand that, Silas.”

“Maggie – “

“I’m serious. You must understand that I’m not getting back together with you no matter what happens. This baby doesn’t change the fact that I don’t trust you.”

He looked like I had stabbed him a million times and somehow, I suspect that my words felt worse than any physical damage could.

“I’ve changed,” he told me, his voice a strangled whisper.

“So have I,” I said shortly. “I’m not the same naïve fool you married out of high school. That woman died the minute you pissed away our future.”