Bled Dry (Vegas Vampires #3)(46)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Brittany leaned back, not sure what to make of that. “I don’t care about getting our baby into a paranormal Princeton. I’m not going to make contact with a man I’ve never met just so he can grease wheels for our kid.”

His fingers drummed on the armrest of his office chair, and he stared to the right, not looking at her.

It hit her that he was lying. Just flat-out lying to her. She knew him well enough now to see it in the subtle shifting of his mouth, his lips flat together, the way he wouldn’t meet her eye. The stiffness of his shoulders. She shook her head, rubbing her temples. “Why else does it matter? You’d better come clean with me right this minute or I’m walking out this door and not coming back.”

Swinging his head back, he stared at her. “You cannot!”

“I can and I will.” Even with tears stinging the back of her eyes, she managed to keep the tremor out of her voice. “I deserve respect, Corbin. I’m not afraid of being alone. I never have been. I would rather be on my own than in a relationship that isn’t honest.”

She gave him a minute to decide. He tried to see around her to the screen, but she moved to block his view.

“Damn it,” he said, falling back against the chair. “Do not do this.”

There was no point in responding to that. Brittany just waited.

He gave a sigh of extreme irritation. “All right then, listen to me. You have to understand that I thought it was safer not to divulge all my concerns to you initially.”

Okay, so he’d chosen to lie to her. Not an auspicious beginning. “What concerns?”

Clearing his throat, he finally looked at her. His expression chilled her insides, a shiver rippling over her in a waterfall effect.

“If our child has the genetic conclusion I think he will, then he will be immortal, but will not need to feed.”

Immortal? Brittany tried to process that. But Corbin wasn’t finished.

“When the birth of our child becomes general knowledge, there will be those who want him. For research. To figure out how to reproduce such genetics again. Because a man who is immortal, with all of the strength of the vampire, and none of the vulnerabilities of needing blood and night dwelling, represents a new race, and ultimately power. Do you understand? That is why I stayed away from you. I did not want anyone to know that the child was mine. I thought I could enter your life publicly later in your pregnancy, letting everyone assume I was not the father, and I could marry you to protect our child. And who your father is could assist us in protecting our child, as well as give us clues to gauge exactly what the child’s abilities will be.”

Brittany shook her head, trying to process what he was saying. It was incomprehensible. The implication of what he had just presented to her… “Our child is in danger and you didn’t bother to tell me? Why didn’t you let me know what we’re dealing with here?” She jerked her hand through her hair, frustration and fear colliding. “My God, I feel like such an idiot. I’ve been worried about baby registries! I’ve been picturing moving into a little adobe house with a playset in the yard. How could you let me think everything was fine, was normal, when it’s not? God, I’m like Bubble Brittany! No clue what’s going on. How could I possibly protect our child if I had no idea what was going on?”

Pushing away from the desk, she let the tears go. She felt sick. If her child was in danger, she had no idea how to deal with that. “Does anyone else know what you just told me?”

“Carrick and your sister do.”

“Oh!” Betrayed by her own sister.

“And I imagine Carrick’s sister and Seamus Fox understand the implications.”

Great. Everyone knew what the hell was going on but her. “I’m leaving.” She needed to get away from him. She felt like a total fool, lying in bed that morning thinking all kinds of delicious thoughts about houses and making love to Corbin every day… falling in love. It was all an illusion and she was angry and scared.

He grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, pulling her back. “Hey. Do not leave like this. We need to talk.”

“About what? How you’re a jerk?” And to think, she’d actually thought he wanted to marry her because he had feelings for her. Instead he just wanted to act as bodyguard. Talk about delusional. Now she knew how her mother had found herself in so many lousy relationships. It was very easy to see what you wanted to when you cared about a man.

“Now be reasonable.”

When tugging didn’t get him to release her shirt, she smacked at his hand, feeling slightly hysterical. Where were Alexis’s karate chops when she needed them? “Kiss my pregnant ass. You’re a lying, bloodsucking bastard.”

His jaw dropped. “Brittany… I do not know what to say. You need to understand I did this for your protection. What was the point in you worrying about something you could not fix? I wanted your pregnancy to be free of stress.”

How thoughtful of him. She wasn’t buying it. “You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want me to say no to marrying you. You decided you were right, so in order to convince me to go along with your plans, you just didn’t tell me.”

Score. His eyes shifted and he let go of her shirt. Guilty as charged.

And damn it, that hurt. Eyes blurring, Brittany moved away from him. She needed her pants. And a ride. Shit.

“Brittany… ”

Not wanting to hang around for a load of crap, she brushed at her tears and started for the door. She was going to break down and she did not want to do it in front of him.

“Wait, Brittany, don’t go. Mon Dieu. I know who your father is.”

That stopped her. She turned around. He didn’t look so good, eyes locked on the computer screen. His face was ash white. That didn’t bode well. Heart hammering in her chest, she touched her stomach. “Can he… help us?”

Corbin shook his head slowly back and forth. “No, ma chйrie . He cannot help us.” He turned to her, expression grave, stunned. “Your father is Roberto Donatelli.”

Thirteen

Nag, nag, nag. Ringo glared at Kelsey. “Whatta you want me to do? Turn myself in? Fuck that. They want me, they can come after me.”

He’d married her. He’d come back to Vegas, he had gotten them twenty-five grand. But it wasn’t enough for her. She wanted him to apologize to the tribunal for leaving? No chance in hell. Next she’d ask him to get her stupid secretary job back.