slid the knife through the mango. “No. I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“Then what are you doing?”
Graham swallowed, deciding now was as good a time as any to come clean. “We’re having a baby.”
The explosion of cussing had Graham dropping the knife to the counter and taking the phone off speaker. “Calm the hell down,” he barked.
“How long have you known and how could you keep something like this from me?” Brooks demanded.
“We kept our personal lives from everyone,” Graham explained, leaning against the counter. “Between you, Carson and her family, we just wanted—”
“What? To mess around and not get caught?”
Basically.
“How’d that work out for you?”
Graham raked a hand through his bed head. “Listen, we’re figuring things out and we needed to get away from the city.”
“Sutton is not going to like this.”
“No, he’s not, but there’s nothing that can change the fact.” Graham stared at the stairs to the second floor, wondering how long she would sleep in. “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
“Are you a complete moron?” Brooks yelled. “Can you just slow down and think this through?”
“I have.” Graham turned around and checked the casserole in the oven. “This baby is a Newport and will be raised as such. I’ll do anything to make sure my child has my last name.”
“So you love her?”
Graham shut the oven door again. “Love has nothing to do with it. The baby is what I’m concerned with.”
When he turned back around, he froze. Eve stood on the other side of the kitchen island. All color had drained from her face as she clutched her silk robe together. The hurt in her eyes gutted him. He’d promised her no more pain, but he’d delivered a hell of a punch.
“I’ll call you later,” he told Brooks, ending the call without waiting for his brother’s reply.
“Don’t make excuses for what I wasn’t supposed to hear,” she told him, tipping her chin. “I’m flattered you want to marry me, but I think I’ll decline. You see, I already made a fool of myself for one man I conceived a child with. I don’t intend to do so again.”
Graham started to step forward, but when she held up a hand and squared her shoulders, he stopped. The sheen in her eyes, the fact that she was fighting back tears, told him he’d completely ruined everything.
But he wasn’t going down without a fight.
“Marriage isn’t a terrible idea, Eve.”
“For us? It’s a terrible idea.”
“Why?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she pursed her lips as if choosing her next words carefully. Damn, she looked beautiful this morning. With her tousled hair, bright eyes, face devoid of any makeup, Eve was stunning. And she was pulling away. He couldn’t let her end what he’d worked so hard to complete.
“I told you I loved you,” she started, blinking away the tears. “I meant it. I didn’t expect the words in return if you weren’t feeling the same way. I understand. But to know you only want to marry me because of our baby, it’s just so archaic. Did you think I’d keep your child from you?”
Graham didn’t care what she wanted. He took a step toward her. “I didn’t know what would happen, Eve. All I know is I’m going to be a father and I can’t miss that. I can’t.”
Emotions he hadn’t fully grasped came rushing at him. “I grew up without a father,” he went on, still slowly closing the gap between them. “I’ve wondered for the past thirty-two years who my dad is, if he wanted me, if he even knows I exist. It’s an empty void that I may never fill.”
He stood so close now, Eve tipped her head back to look up into his eyes. The need for her understanding was so great, he had to find the right words. Any charm or wit he normally used to get his way wasn’t possible here. All he could do was hope for the best when he opened up with complete and total honesty.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” he asked. “I can’t let my child grow up without me. I don’t want another man raising what’s mine.”
Eve’s jaw clenched as she closed her eyes and pulled in a breath. “Do I look like I have men lined up outside my door?” she finally asked, glaring back at him. “Apparently you don’t know me at all. And all I hear is how you want to give this child a name and treat him or her like your property. That’s not how this works and that sure as hell isn’t how a marriage should work.”
“Eve—”
“No.”
She backed away and held out both hands. Just as she did, she started to sway. Graham reached for her, but she pushed him away. She held her stomach with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. Alarmed, he waited to make sure she wasn’t going to get sick or pass out. He was a complete ass for...well, everything. He remained close, though, in case she needed him. Not that she’d take his help now.
Moments later she pulled herself together and smoothed her hair from her face. “I’m going back to Chicago as soon as I call my pilot to come get me. Elite has a private helicopter at our disposal.”
“I’ll take you.”
She was going. There was no stopping her. She’d erected walls he couldn’t penetrate, not when she was so angry, so hurt. But he’d continue to chip away because he wasn’t lying. There was no way he’d let his child grow up without a father.
“I’d rather call my pilot,” she told him.
Eve turned on her heel and headed toward the stairs. Graham couldn’t take his eyes off her. He silently pleaded for her to understand where he was coming from, why he was so adamant about marriage.
With her hand on the post, she turned to look over her shoulder. “You know what’s sad? I thought you brought me here because you cared about me. I was naive enough to think you might have stronger feelings for me, that you wanted to get closer to me. Not because I was pregnant, but because of me.”
Graham couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move.
Eve dropped her head between her shoulders, her grip tightening on the post. “You were using me all this time. I should’ve listened to my family when they first told me to stay away from you. But I defended you.”
Now she turned to face him, her cheeks pink from tears, from anger. Graham hated himself at that moment. He hated the way he’d portrayed himself, the way he’d let her down when he’d promised that no one would hurt her again. He’d destroyed her. Destroyed the light in her eyes, the smile she so freely gave.
“I won’t keep you from your child.” Her voice shook, her chin quivered. “But I won’t marry you, and from here on
