The Billionaire Op - Lori Ryan Page 0,44

the record with the FBI yet. They have a whole investigation to do before my testimony even becomes a possibility.”

She crossed to the door and opened it, waiting for him to leave.

Naturally, he didn’t budge.

“Listen, Hulk, I’d love to have a slumber party and wax our legs, braid each other’s hair and all that, but that’s not happening tonight. I’m too tired. You need to go.”

“The hell I do. You’ll have to get over this, Jennie. The Masters brothers know you heard something and when their uncle showed up with a lawyer a few days later I’m sure they put two and two together. I’m not taking a chance that they know about you or that they might have told Rick Bandon about you. Until we know where they are, I’m not going anywhere. You’re going to have protection whether you like it or not. Whether it’s me or someone else.”

Oh, enough is enough. What the hell?

Jennie was more than a little annoyed at this point. She sure as hell couldn’t share a house with Chad. Not now. Not until she figured out what to do about the baby. Not until she was ready to tell him what was going on.

Never?

“Chad, I told you––”

In the split second before he rose from the couch, Jennie saw something she had never seen in his face before.

Unbridled anger. Anger he wasn’t trying to cover or calm or neutralize the way he usually did. The man who was always in control was suddenly, very much out of control and coming at her full force and there wasn’t anything funny about it.

She swallowed her words and stepped back as Chad filled the space in front of her.

“You’re having my fucking baby, Jennie!” Chad bellowed. “I’ll protect you for as long as I damn well please in whatever way I damn well please.”

Her heart stopped in her chest, frozen. She stood, eyes wide, speechless for several minutes as she watched him regain control.

She could feel the tears coming and she clenched her jaw to try to stop them as she watched Chad coil back all of the rage he had let loose moments before, until his mask was back in place.

A lump formed in her throat at the effort of holding back the tears and she knew she was seconds away from losing the battle. Regret was a tight ball in her stomach, making her sick with the what ifs and if onlies of the entire situation.

When he spoke again he was quiet. Controlled. But the anger was there. She could feel it pouring off him in waves just under the surface.

“Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out? Did you think I wouldn’t notice? That I don’t know you better than you know yourself, Jennie?” Chad’s words spat from his mouth and Jennie recoiled.

There was nothing she could say, she realized. Nothing to make him forgive her for this. He would hate her, and she honestly couldn’t blame him one bit. She hated herself right then.

“How did you know?” Her voice sounded quiet, almost foreign to her own ears.

His smirk was bitter. “I observe, Jennie. It’s what I do. You should know that better than anyone. I saw how tired you were. You’re run down all the time. Just like Kelly was.”

His gaze fell to her breasts, and Jennie had to purposefully resist the urge to cross her arms over them. She knew they were slightly bigger than they used to be. But, how the hell could he know that?

“At first, I thought you must be sick but then I noticed the difference in your body. I know every inch of you, remember, Jen?”

He always said ‘Jen’ so playfully, almost intimately. This time, it shot out of his mouth like the taste of it was bitter on his tongue and she winced.

“You’re not gaining weight yet, but your body has changed.”

She shook her head, trying to clear the fogginess she felt all the time now. Trying to make this all go away.

She raised her chin a notch. “What makes you think the baby is yours?” It was probably the wrong tactic to try to deny what they both knew was true, but she wasn’t ready to share her secret yet. She wasn’t ready for anyone to know, even him. She hadn’t even told Kelly yet.

His face fell. With a sad defeated voice, he spoke what they both knew couldn’t be denied. “Because you haven’t been with anyone but me, Jennie.”

She shook her head, hanging on