Chapter 95
The pregnancy test landed on Luca’s desk with a soft thud, the small padded envelope looking innocuous enough.
Until he opened it. Normally his secretary would have opened all his mail before he got it, but this package had been marked personal and confidencat Or Sally would hadn’t opened it just leaving it on his desk. He wished she hadn’t.
Two bold pink lines stared back at him, mocking him with their undeniable truth, making his blood run cold.
“Fucking bitch,” he muttered, tossing the test in the bin like it was contaminated. She’d lied. Played him for a fool. Tried to trap him with some other
力
guy’s kid. She’d probably been screwing this asshole behind his back the whole time. It explained why she’d never left her modeling career. Never come away with him when he had asked. Now he understood her tears.
Some women were nothing but manipulative whores. He tossed the padded envelope in the bin with the test for good measure. Audrey was clearly another one of them.
He turned back to his work, trying to bury the anger. The hurt. The betrayal. He scrubbed a hand down his face, trying to wipe away the image of her shock. Her fake tears. Because now he understood them perfectly–not tears of sadness, but of calculation. She’d wanted to palm some dickhead’s baby off as his. Was he the richer catch? Was that her game?
It didn’t matter how she had played it, all innocent and seductive. He’d thought she at least respected him more than to pull that type of crap. But now his world seemed… wrong somehow. The trust that had been so easily given to her–now broken. It would be a very long time before he ever trusted a woman again.
The thing he didn’t get was why she had sent the test to him in the first place. It didn’t make sense. He had caught her out–so why send him physical proof of her lies? She had to know he wouldn’t be happy for her. Not if the baby wasn’t even his. If anything, it made him sick with the thoughts of her with another man… or men. How the hell would he know if this was the first bastard she’d been with?
He hadn’t given her much time to defend herself. He had just needed to get out of the apartment. Get away from her.
He looked at his bin. His gut twisted.
What if… what if it actually was his?
But no. That wasn’t right. Because she’d had her period a few days before he’d flown out of the country.
Hadn’t she?
No fucking way. It wasn’t his.
He stared at the door. His gut felt heavy now. That sick, gnawing pressure of needing to be sure. He couldn’t shake the nagging twist in his brain.
The thought of her carrying another man’s child–it was more than his ego could take. It was enough to make his blood boil all over again.
Which was stupid. He had been at her apartment to end things with her.
He retrieved the test from the bin.
What if…
He grabbed for his phone. He needed an expert.
“Hey, Alessandro,” he said the moment his cousin picked up. “It’s Luca.”
“Luca,” his cousin, a gynecologist, replied. “What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine. I just… I have a question. About biology.”
Chapter 95
Alessandro chuckled. “You calling me to ank about the birds and the bees?
**UNo, asshole, Thin is serious. Can a woman still bleed… like, have a period, and he pregnant?”
The line went quiet.
“Luca,” Alessandro said finally, “who is this about?”
Just answer the question.”
“Yes. It’s not common, but it happens.”
Luca swore so violently Alessandro flinched on the other end of the line.
“How far along would she be before she’d realize?” Luca asked quietly, dreading the answer.
“Two, maybe three months–sometimes later. Luca, is this something I should know?”
Luca’s hand tightened around the pregnancy test. “Fuck. Thanks. I need to go.” He hung up before Alessandro could ask any more questions.
He stared at the test again. The two pink lines were still very visible.
He had to be sure. One hundred percent bloody sure.
Luca dialed Audrey’s number, heart thudding against his ribs.
It barely rang.
“The number you have dialed is no longer in service…”
His stomach dropped.
Why had she done that? She had only called him yesterday on this number. Calls and voicemails he had ignored–not sure what he would say to her.
But now… Luca’s blood turned to ice.
She’d been telling the truth. That he was sure of.
And he’d… he’d accused her of lying. Of cheating. He’d called her names he couldn’t take back.
She hadn’t been sleeping around on him.
Their last words to each other kept playing over in his head.
Nicole leaned against the doorframe of Luca’s office, watching him pace back and forth across the carpet. She’d left the door slightly ajar, just enough to hear his phone call without being obvious.
She wasn’t proud of eavesdropping–but it was part of how she survived at De Santis Enterprises.
She liked to know what was going on. Including what slut he was sleeping with.
Knowledge was power, and she knew exactly how to acquire it. And how to use it.
Luca had been acting strangely since his return from Italy–distant, agitated, quieter than she had ever seen him. Nicole wasn’t sure if it was the engagement. It shouldn’t have been. That arrangement was about family legacy, not feelings. Not love.
But now?
Now it made sense.
12.24 Sat, 21 Jun G G
Chapter 95
So Luca had gotten some little slut pregnant.
That was a problem.
Then when he discarded the test, she thought everything was going to be ok… until she saw Luca retrieve the discarded pregnancy test.
Then the phone call. To his doctor cousin.
Biology, he’d said.
Yeah, right.
It was about her. This mystery woman.
That little slut–Nicole didn’t know her name, and it
matter–was a problem. A big one.
Nicole had been fine with the engagement. She understood the deal with Bella. It was just business. Not like she was jealous. She was good at business. It made sense.
But this woman–this nobody–this slut with a baby?
That was something else.
Luca was hers. Always had been. He just didn’t know it yet.
Nicole hadn’t wanted to be the one to get in the way of his business marriage. Luca would never love his child bride.
But a baby? From someone else?
That was a threat.
And if that baby was his… well, it was just another little problem she’d have to deal with.
She pressed her lips together.
Hard.
Nicole straightened her skirt, grabbed a stack of files, and walked into his office, all smiles and fake sweetness.
“Nicole, I’m leaving. I’ll be back in the morning.” His voice was clipped. Angry.
“But I have your calendar full for the afternoon. There are also the reports due to be signed at-”
“I don’t care. Deal with it.”
“But Luça-”
“You are my second in charge, Nicole. Fucking deal with it,” he snapped, before storming past her and out the door.
She didn’t flinch.
She just watched him go.
