Read Online Return of the Secret Heir by Rachel Bailey - Free Book Online Page B

distance, all the while keeping his eyes trained on the clock on her wall. She didn’t need to watch, the ticking was loud in her ears, counting down to her fate.
    â€œIt’s been a couple of minutes,” he said as he turned to her.
    She pointlessly looked up at the clock. Swallowing her fear, she lifted the stick.
    Double pink lines.
    Her stomach plummeted and her vision blurred as she thrust the stick at JT. She was pregnant. The entire world shifted on its axis leaving her dizzy.
    JT took it from her numb fingers. “We’re pregnant,” he said, his voice barely a rasp.
    Unable to find her own voice, she nodded. Silence, heavy with all neither of them said, descended over her living room. Perhaps sensing the change in the emotional atmosphere, Winston appeared and leaped onto her lap. She put her tea down on the window sill and absently stroked the cat’s soft fur, taking the comfort he offered.
    She was pregnant for the second time in her life. By the same man. The child conceived in the same spot.
    The room began a slow spin around her.
    JT cleared his throat. “What do you want to do?”
    She understood his meaning—it was the issue they hadn’t once discussed the first time. And this time, having learned that JT’s own father had wanted him disposed of, she knew, if anything, his feelings would be stronger. Hers were the same without question, despite the tangled web their decision would create.
    â€œI’m keeping it.” This was a tiny little life and nothing would ever hurt it, she’d make sure of that.
    â€œYes,” he said, gripping his mug as if it were a lifeline.
    But everything else would be different this time. This time she wouldn’t have any naive romantic notions about JT and their future. That direction led inevitably to heartache.
    â€œIn case you’re wondering, I don’t expect anything fromyou.” She rubbed the purring Winston’s ears, not looking at JT. “There’s no need to get married or create any artificial situation here.”
    â€œI wasn’t planning on proposing. I won’t go down that track again. But this baby has a right to expect everything I can give. And she or he will get it,” he said with a quiet fierceness.
    She’d known he’d support their baby in any way possible. Some things may change over the years, but that core of decency and his love of children wouldn’t alter. If this baby made it to term, it couldn’t wish for a better father than JT.
    If.
    With her lower lip caught between her teeth, her hand crept to her stomach. Losing another baby was inconceivable. Her throat ached with years of repressed memories, with the self-recriminations and the grief that haunted her dreams at night. Nothing would hurt this baby. Certainly not her.
    â€œI won’t make the same mistakes this time, JT,” she vowed. She wouldn’t take a single risk. “I’ll be careful.”
    He nodded. “Of course you will.” Then his gaze—hyperalert now—snapped back to her, and he put down his mug. “Pia, you weren’t to blame for Brianna’s death.”
    She frowned as she tried to read his features—was he bolstering her up or did he really believe that? “Of course I was. Brianna paid the price for my recklessness. If I hadn’t been climbing out the window to run away from home, she’d be alive now.” Her teeth clenched as the pain ate into her heart. She’d killed her own baby through bad choices. It’d been the night she’d realized she needed to grow up and stop taking irresponsible risks. That she needed to make a break from her unhealthy obsession with JT. “She was totally dependent on me, and I failed her.”
    JT leaned back in his chair, reeling from the double shock that had been lobbed his way. They were having a baby. Again. And he’d had no idea Pia had blamed herself for Brianna’s