A Very Venom Christmas - Kristine Allen Page 0,25

you to get rid of it?”

“Truthfully? I have no idea. You came out here, and I thought you might be leaving. You think I wouldn’t have loved to run away and hide when I found out? I’m terrified—but I’m gonna figure out how to make this work with or without you.”

Abruptly, he stood, his movements so forceful, I took a step back. Snowflakes poured down, landing on his head, sticking to his lashes, and on the shoulders of his black thermal shirt. Chest heaving, he stared at me. Then he moved toward me, and I stepped back as he continued forward.

Quietly, he closed the door.

“What the hell kind of man do you think I am?” Again, his voice was deceptively calm, while his eyes belied that untruth. They flashed blue-gray fire.

“To be quite honest, other than a fantastic lay, I have no idea what kind of man you are.” Spoken in a tone as dry as the Sahara, it was the absolute truth.

My snarky words seemed to snap him out of the internal rage I could see building. The smallest quirk at the corner of his pierced lips was the only telltale sign that his mood had eased. At least a little.

“Well, let me tell you that I’d never leave you with the sole responsibility of taking care of my child. Nor would I expect you to have an abortion or give it away. So how about if we start over. Tell me how this happened.” He crossed his arms, waiting for me to speak.

I raised a brow at his request, wondering if he really needed a lesson on how babies were made. He rolled his eyes.

“You said you had an IUD. I thought those were pretty reliable?” he asked, looking suspicious.

“Ordinarily they are extremely effective. Of course, nothing is one-hundred percent effective except for abstinence. The problem is, I lost it.”

“You lost it? How the hell do you lose it?”

It was my turn to roll my eyes heavenward, because I wished I had an answer for that. “Isn’t that the question of the day,” I muttered.

“Have you seen a doctor?”

“Today.”

“And? What did they say?”

“That I’m pregnant?” I wrinkled my nose, then palmed my aching forehead.

“Like A Nightmare”—Deadset Society

The wince that pinched her face preceded her wavering unsteadily and I realized I was being a dick again. She’d had her face bashed into the concrete, and there I was grilling her like the Spanish Inquisition.

“Sit down,” I instructed her before she fell and hurt herself worse.

Relief softened her expression, and she dropped to one of the kitchen chairs.

Unsure of what to do next, I got her a glass of water.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

“No problem. So had you been feeling ill?” I asked, trying again to wrap my head around the fact that I was likely going to be a father and trying to figure out a non-dickish way to ask if she was sure it was mine.

Her chest rose in a deep breath before she deflated and her head bowed. “No, I was feeling fine. I’d gone in for a routine appointment to get my IUD replaced. Only it wasn’t there, and evidently a baby is. I swear to you, I had no idea there was an issue. It escaped my mind to check because I hadn’t been sexually active.” Her face flushed beet red at that admission.

“I’m not trying to be an asshole here, but are you sure it’s mine?”

“Yes. Considering you’re the first person I’ve had sex with in… um, a long time.”

“Why didn’t you call my grandmother instead of reaching out to Snow?” I asked her out of curiosity.

“I didn’t want to call Ms. Margaret to ask for you because I didn’t think you’d mentioned that night to her. She might wonder why I was asking for you, and I wasn’t sure how to answer that. So I figured Mr. Snow must be your friend if you had him fix my light and try to fix my car. I didn’t know what else to do. I don’t think I can do this by myself,” she said as she took a shuddering breath.

Letting it all sink in, I absently muttered, “His name is just Snow. Not Mr. Snow.”

“Huh?” She cocked her head with a confused frown.

“Snow is his road name for his club.”

“Club?”

“Motorcycle club,” I explained.

“Like on that TV show?” she asked with a residual sniffle. Her hair was a mess, scrapes adorned her face, her eye was black, and her nose was red, yet she was still insanely