on the other side sounds pissed and frantic.
“Alaina!” a deep, familiar voice calls. “I know you’re in there! Let me in!”
Enzo. What is he doing here?
Throwing the small blanket wrapped around me to the back of the couch, I get up and pad over to the door. I look through the peep hole, surprised to see the desperate look on his face staring back at me.
I unlock the door and pull it open. My mouth parts to ask what he’s doing here, but he’s pushing me backward with a gentle hand on my stomach before I get the chance. Using his foot, he closes the door behind him. For the first minute, all I can do is stare at him. It’s been a week since I last saw him. The anger and betrayed look that was on his face the last time I saw him haunts my dreams. Now though, he doesn’t look angry, or rather, he does, but that’s not the expression that stands out the most. Remorse and regret. He also looks like he hasn’t slept in days. His tired eyes have dark rings around them, and his face looks gaunt. His beard, which he normally keeps cleanly trimmed, looks unkept. His hair is more messy than normal.
As I stand there and take him in, he does the same to me. His eyes move up and down my body, assessing me for I don’t know what. Pain fills his eyes when they land on my abdomen. His hands ball into fists at his sides, and I wonder if it’s because he’s fighting the need to reach out and touch me. My own need flares hot inside me.
“I tried calling you.” His deep rumbling voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I look up at him.
I gesture toward the couch. “I was taking a nap. I must not have heard my phone ring.”
He frowns, his eyes darting down to my belly again. “How have you been?”
“I’m fine.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I shift uncomfortably on my feet. “What are you doing here, Enzo?” I repeat my earlier question.
He stuffs his hands into his pockets.
“Is the….” he starts, his voice hoarse before he clears his throat. “Is the baby okay?”
“Yes.”
Relief flickers across his face when he nods.
After a silent moment, “I went to see my doctor.”
His comment has my brows jumping up. “And?”
“The test came back positive with a sperm count. It wasn’t as high as it would have been without the vasectomy, but he said it was very possible for me to get a woman pregnant. Apparently, the tubes they snipped healed over time.”
He closes his eyes briefly before reopening them, shocking me at the pure anguish in their depths. Shame colors his cheeks and his Adam’s apple lifts and drops when he swallows. “I’m so fucking sorry, Alaina.” When he takes a step toward me, I match him with a step back. His brows slash down. “I fucked up, and I’m so goddamn sorry. I should have known you would never cheat on me. That’s not in you. I know that, and I knew it then too. I was just scared.”
“You hurt me,” I whisper as I tighten my arms around my middle.
“I know, and you have no idea how hard it is for me to know I did that to you. You’re the very last person I ever want to hurt.” His eyes drop to his boots for a moment. “I don’t deserve this, and I’ll understand if you can’t, but is there any way you could ever forgive me?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I answer truthfully. “What you did….” I trail off and shake my head. “I can’t go through something like that again. It’s not just me I have to think about now. I have to think about the baby.”
Pulling his hands from his pockets, he eats up the space between us. I back up until I hit the back of the couch. Throwing a hand up, I stop him from coming any closer by pressing it against his chest.
“I’ll never hurt you or our baby. In any way.”
“I know you never would intentionally. But what happens if you get scared again, Enzo? You didn’t trust me. You thought the worst of me because of something some other woman did to you. How do I know that won’t happen again?”
“It won’t,” he says vehemently.
“I don’t know that! And there’s no way for you to know that,” I cry. Tears prick the back of my