Chapter 5: Say It

“There is nothing to tell,” I said, backing up until my shoulder blades touched the glass door.

“Then explain why you are holding your stomach like that,” Kade said.

I looked down, and my hands were pressed flat against my sweater, exactly where I had told them not to be.

“I have a stomach ache, I skipped breakfast,” I said.

“Hale, I have been lied to by professionals, politicians, and a man who sold me a fake watch in Paris, and you are the worst liar I have ever met,” Kade said.

“Then why are you asking me?” I asked.

“Because I want to hear it from you and not from a camera, you walked out of my hotel room, and three weeks later you are standing in my boardroom with the twin of my earring in your pocket, and you did not say one word,” Kade said.

“You did not say a word either, you left before sunrise, you told me you would,” I said.

“I was honest about that,” he said.

“You were, and I was honest too, I said no promises and I meant it, so you do not owe me anything,” I said.

“What would I owe you, Mina?” he asked softly.

“You called me Mina,” I said.

“It is on your file, it was the first thing I read when I could not sleep,” Kade said.

I opened my mouth and closed it, and I tried again, and the words would not come.

“Take your time,” Kade said, folding his arms and leaning against his desk. “I am not going anywhere, this time.”

“I am pregnant,” I said.

The room went so quiet that I could hear the air conditioner.

Kade did not move, and his face did not change, and then his arms slowly came down to his sides.

“Say that again,” he said.

“I am pregnant, I found out three days ago, I took five tests and they all said the same thing,” I said.

“Is it mine?” he asked.

My hand moved before my head did, and the slap cracked across the quiet room, and my palm burned.

Kade did not flinch, he only turned his face back slowly and touched his cheek.

“I deserved that,” he said.

“You deserved more, yes, it is yours, I counted the days three times, there is nobody else it could be,” I said, and my eyes were burning.

“Mina,” he said.

“Do not Mina me, you asked if it was yours like I am one of your girls of the week, like I walked in here to trick you,” I said, my voice shaking.

“That is not what I meant,” Kade said.

“It is exactly what you meant, I know what they say about you, Dean told me at dinner every night, you change girls like suits and never remember their names, and I did not come here for your money, I did not even know your name until I read it on a card,” I said.

“Then why did you not call?” Kade asked.

“Because you left, because you told me you were bad at staying and I believed you, and because I did not want to be one more name you forgot,” I said.

Kade looked at me for a long time, and something in his face cracked, just slightly, like a window with a hairline split.

“I remembered,” he said quietly.

“What?” I asked.

“Not your name, the other one, Red, I have said it to myself for three weeks, I could not remember your face because you walked out of my life in a dress and came back in a sweater, but I remembered the name,” Kade said.

“Please do not say sweet things, I will not be able to stay angry,” I said, wiping my face with my sleeve.

“Then I will say a practical thing, that is what I do when I am afraid,” Kade said.

“You are afraid?” I asked.

“Hale, I am twenty nine years old and I just learned I am going to be a father, I am terrified, I am just very good at looking bored,” Kade said, running a hand through his hair.

I laughed, a wet, surprised laugh, and he almost smiled.

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

“Nothing, that is the problem, I have no plan, I have never kept anything that could not be replaced,” Kade said. “But I know what I will not do, I will not let my child grow up as a headline.”

“What headline?” I asked.

“The one Dean will write, I saw his face when I picked up that earring, and whatever he has on you, he is going to use it,” Kade said.

I swallowed. “He wants fifty thousand dollars by Friday and a job at my company, or he sends a photo of us leaving the club to the newspapers and to you,” I said.

Kade went very still, the way a man goes still just before something breaks.

“He works for me, he has been in my office for three years, he has my calendar, my keys, my schedule, he is the one person in this building I would have trusted with my phone,” Kade said.

“He is a snake,” I said.

“He is a snake who just made a very expensive mistake, and I will deal with him, but first I need to think about the baby,” Kade said.

“The baby does not need you to think, the baby needs a doctor, a quiet life, and a mother who is not a headline,” I said.

“A quiet life,” Kade said, and he walked to the window and stood there with his hands in his pockets.

“Is that so hard to give?” I asked.

“It is impossible while Dean has a photograph, and my mother keeps a list of women she wants me to marry, and your father has just handed me a bleeding company with your name on it,” Kade said.

“I am not asking you for anything, I will raise this baby myself, I have the money, I have Zola, I have a company,” I said.

“I know you can, that is what makes this so hard,” he said, turning around. “You do not need me, and I have never wanted to be needed, and I still cannot stand the thought of you doing this alone.”

“Then what are you saying?” I asked.

“I am saying I want to know my child, I am saying I will not be the man my father was, and I am saying the fastest way to shut Dean’s mouth, protect your name, and keep my mother off both our backs is for a Voss to marry a Hale,” Kade said.

“Married?” I said.

“A contract, one year, no feelings, my name on your baby, my lawyers on your ex, and when it is over you walk away with everything you came with and a few things you did not,” Kade said.

“You are insane,” I said.

“Probably, I am running on three hours of sleep and a lot of coffee,” Kade said, and for one second he smiled, the real smile from the club, and then it was gone.

“I need to think,” I said, and I put my hand on the doorknob.

“You have until Friday, that is when Dean wants his money,” Kade said, and his voice dropped. “And Red, one more thing, do not tell anyone else about this, not your father, not your friend, not one person in this building, because somebody told Dean where to find that photograph, and I want to know who.”