Wicked Ever After (Wicked & Devoted #2) - Shayla Black Page 0,65
I still think that hot mysterious man will come back for you.”
If he can, he will. But Brea just smiled. “I owe you.”
The woman waved her away. “You don’t owe me anything. Just know I’m here for you.”
Brea disappeared into the back room with her phone for a bit to call Daddy and check on him. Thankfully, the church had been mostly quiet today. As she hung up and muted her phone again, the door opened.
“Bre-bee.”
She shoved her phone on the nearby table and leapt to her feet to run to her best friend, who looked tired and sad as heck. “Cutter.”
He scooped her up on his arms and held her close. “You okay?”
“I’m all right. How are you?”
“I’m sorry about everything.” He pulled free to study her with solemn eyes. “I never imagined my choices would impact your life so horribly. One minute I was guarding Shealyn’s body, and the next the feelings neither of us expected were front-page news. I knew she was a public figure…but I didn’t think anyone would care about me, much less the people in my life.”
“I would have assumed the same thing. Don’t worry about me. It really is all right.”
“How did your father take the news?”
“About the baby? Better than expected. It was good to finally be honest with him, and I realize I should have found the courage to do it a long time ago.” She sent him a little smile. “You told me once that I had a habit of burying my head in the sand. I didn’t like hearing it, but you were telling me the truth. I was afraid to pull my head out, but I finally did.”
“And he didn’t disown you, did he?”
Brea shook her head. “No, that was my irrational fear about disappointing him talking. He knows the baby isn’t yours.”
“I figured. He’s always suspected our relationship isn’t like that.” Cutter pulled at his neck. “Walker picked me up at the airport yesterday afternoon so we could talk.”
Her breath caught. She hoped like heck they hadn’t come to blows. “About what?”
“Me watching over you. For all his faults, he truly does care about you. He wants us to continue with our engagement as if we’re going to marry.”
“Are you all right with that?”
Cutter shrugged. “It doesn’t make me any difference.”
He tried to hide his feelings, but Brea knew him too well for that. “She broke your heart, didn’t she?”
After a long pause, he finally cracked. “Yeah.”
Brea gathered him into her arms. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know anyone more deserving of love and happiness. She doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.”
“She never will, and I’m at least half to blame.” He sighed. “Let’s talk about something else. Has it been too crazy—”
“No. I won’t let you bury your head—or in this case, your heart—in the sand. I’d like to march outside and tell all those reporters we were never really engaged, and this isn’t your baby.”
“You can’t,” he growled out.
“I know. And I feel horrible that I’m placing my welfare above your happiness.”
“If you didn’t, I’d be angry as hell.”
“If I weren’t pregnant, I wouldn’t care. I’d use those reporters to speak directly to Shealyn West.”
“It wouldn’t matter. She’s past listening.” He frowned down at her. “But who is this defiant, opinionated little thing I’m talking to now?”
That made her laugh. “You can thank Pierce.”
Cutter scoffed. “If you’re getting mouthy, I don’t know if it’s thanking him I’ll be doing.”
She took his teasing in stride. “Well, too bad. This is me now. You’re going to have to deal with it.”
“You know I’m happy to, Bre-bee.”
“You want to talk about her?”
“No. Forty-eight hours ago, we were trying to figure out how to defy odds and make it work. Now…it’s done because I screwed up.” He sighed. “It was probably just a stupid-ass fantasy anyway.”
“I’m sorry.” Brea gnawed at her lip. “I hate to ask, but… I don’t suppose you’d be willing to find Pierce in Mexico and help him.”
“I already offered. He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want anyone.” Cutter shrugged. “And I respect him for not wanting to take others down with him.”
Everything inside her froze, then started to ache. “Do you think he’ll make it out of this alive? Is there any chance?”
Cutter hesitated, then shook his head. “You’re a woman now, and I won’t candy-coat it for you. No. He’s probably not coming back. I think we press on with our January wedding. If he somehow beats the odds and proves me wrong,