Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1) - R.S. Grey Page 0,96
and panicked. It felt good to remind her how quickly the tables could turn. She could plot her moves and weasel her way into my life, but there was no denying how easy it would be take back control. One hand around her neck and Caroline would be gone.
“Frederick, you’re scaring me.”
I squeezed tighter. I wanted to break her like she was breaking me. “Even if you have this child, I’m going to stay with Andie. I will never marry you, Caroline.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“We’ll share custody and communicate through solicitors, nothing more,” I continued.
“No, Frederick, once again you’re too slow,” she said, scraping her nails against my hand until I finally released her. She took two steps back and slid the sonogram into her purse. “You’ll realize soon enough that you have no choice but to marry me and make me your wife.”
Her sly smile was enough to do me in.
I raked my hands through my hair. “How could you be so bloody delusional?”
“Because if you think the world hates your precious Andie for being the object of your disloyal desires for one night, just think how much they’ll despise her once they hear she’s conspiring to break up a family.”
“No.” I shook my head.
She sent a smile to a wandering party guest then glanced back at me. “If you don’t stop, I won’t stop. Not until you’ve lost everything, Frederick.” She leaned forward and tipped her heels to kiss my cheek. “The sooner you realize that, the better.”
She slipped back into the party and I stood rooted to my spot in the corner. The entire world continued on around me, but I stood there with numb senses. Waiters passed with trays of drinks and food. Party guests stepped around me. Laughter and chatter and music and life continued on, but I stared at a singular spot on the wall. The sound of my rapidly beating heart was enough to fill my ears. I didn’t hear Georgie when she stepped up beside me and jostled my arm. I watched her lips move, but I was a world away.
Was I truly about to become a father?
Had Caroline manipulated my life so easily that there was no way out?
I blinked and Georgie was there, trying to gain my attention. I blinked again and she was gone.
Eventually, I moved. I turned for the doors of the party and walked toward them in a daze. Someone reached out to grab my arm and ask me a question, but I jerked away from them and continued on without so much as a second glance. People were flooding through the doors, smiling and laughing. How could everyone else be so happy? Couldn’t they see what was happening? Couldn’t they see?
“Freddie.”
Andie’s voice was the first thing to break through the static. Her fingers wove through mine as she pulled me aside. I’d nearly stepped out of the party, but she was there, pulling me toward her, pulling me out of the fog.
“I have to go,” I said, staring at her lips. They were always an irresistible shade of pink, plump and beautiful. I’d miss her lips.
“No,” she said, shaking her head and trying to catch my eye. I wouldn’t let her leave me. “The party just started. Stay. I need to see you. Stay.”
She was magnificent in that black dress, small, and subtle, and real. I reached out to run my finger along her collarbone, feeling her inhale a sharp breath. I’d miss that skin, just above her breasts. She was extra sensitive there and I knew if I leaned down and pressed my mouth against her, she’d crumble in my arms.
“I’m leaving,” I said, my voice nearly unrecognizable.
Her hand squeezed around mine, trying to force me to stay. It wasn’t the same as Caroline’s touch. When Caroline grabbed my tie, it was with a vengeance. Andie touched with love and need and passion. I’d miss her touch.
“Caroline is pregnant.”
Her hand slipped away from mine.
One second she was there, begging me to stay, and the next she was stepping back and shaking her head, already losing sight of us. I’d taken her into that broom closet and I’d tried to show her how good we could be together. This was too much though, even for my Andie.
“What do you mean?” Her voice was shaking.
She was crying and I was stepping back, giving her the space Caroline demanded.
“She’s pregnant.”
I leaned forward to wipe the tears from her cheeks, but she turned her head away before I could.