Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Kim

Leo's family arrives, all of the men standing around the island. I disappear into the master bedroom with the iPad and find myself looking at baby furniture.

I know we need couches and tables, but I've never bought any of this stuff and I don't even know where to start.

So instead of buying anything, I call Charlotte.

She instantly picks up. "Kim!" she says by way of introduction. "Did Mason just tell me that you moved with Leo to the burbs?"

"Charlotte," I say, my voice trembling a bit. Telling her is better than telling my mom, but it gets more real when she knows.

Maybe that's why I didn't tell my best friend the other day. Once I do, I need to have figured some stuff out and I need to face someone I love knowing that I made the exact mistake I tried so hard to avoid.

"What's wrong?"

"I…" I swallow down a lump, deciding this is a Band-aid-ripping kind of situation. "I'm pregnant."

My words are met with silence.

"I know. It's the thing I swore I wouldn't do. I lost my head when I met Leo and?—"

"Kim," she cuts me off. "Just tell me one thing…" There is a long pause where I feel myself tensing. "Is he good to you?"

I stare at the phone, trying to understand where that one came from. Of all the things I expected Charlotte to say, that wasn't it. "Yes. Why?"

"He doesn't get rough?"

"Never. Why would he do that?"

More silence. "If he ever crosses a line, you have Mason get involved, okay?"

"Charlotte. Leo would never physically hurt me. If anything, he…" He worships me.

"I believe you. It's just, Leo has a dark side and I don't want him to hurt you."

I promise her that I'm fine, but the words unsettle me. Charlotte didn't seem worried about me having a baby nearly as much as she worried about me being with Leo. It wasn't what I anticipated at all and I'm trying to reconcile Charlotte's perspective.

I know there was some stuff that happened between them but maybe it's time I asked some more specific questions.

I'll ask Charlotte but I want Leo's side first. I hear the front door, so I set down my phone and the iPad and head out to the landing.

Roman, Luke, and Jake are just leaving.

Roman looks up at me and gives me a smile and a wave. He looks more like Leo than Mason, which is funny because he acts like Mason. I wave back, feeling my cheeks heat. Do they all know?

Luke nods and Jake salutes. "Welcome to the family," he calls. "Glad I got to see you dance before Leo got his hands on you."

My brows lift as Leo punches Jake's arm. "Don't mind my uncle. He needs a feminine touch."

All the other guys laugh and it's the kind of laugh that you know there is a secret there. I cock my head, assessing all of them as they leave. Guess I don't get to be in on this secret.

Three other men enter, all impeccably dressed, carrying a large case between two of them.

I look down at my clean leggings, the heat in my cheeks growing darker. I should have worn something nicer.

"Set up on the island," Leo says before he trots up the stairs.

He reaches my side and takes my hand. "Ready?"

"No," I shake my head. "I'm not dressed for this."

He leans in and kisses my cheek. "Kim. You are not less than them. You dress how you want to dress, and they wait on you anyway. Get it?"

I am used to people treating me like less, not more. Like I need to dress the part to be believable. "I think it's going to take a bit…"

He smiles. "This will help. Come on."

We walk down the stairs together, one of the jewelers setting out cases, while the other is opening champagne.

"No alcohol," Leo barks out in a clipped tone. The bottle disappears as the man quickly sets up a large light that shines down on the boxes that they begin to open one by one…

I gasp as the rings sparkle in the light, all my reservations forgotten.

Leo pulls me closer. "Diamond? Emerald?" He looks at me, his brows lifting.

"How did you know that's what I like?"

He brushes my cheek, stopping at the corner of my green eyes. "Lucky guess."

Several stones are removed, the diamonds and emeralds are pushed to the front.

I look at several of the diamonds, one simple solitaire making me gasp. The light hits it, the sparkle winking at me from the box.

"Excellent choice," one of the men gushes.

"Excellent taste," another adds. "That's a D-color three-carat solitaire with a VS2 clarity."

I have no idea what any of that means.

But I know this one catches the light like nothing I've seen before. It's slipped on my finger. I stare down at the stone, my fingers flexing as I hold back a gasp.

Tears sting at my eyes as Leo's hand touches my back. "I'd like to see that emerald as well."

My head whips to him. "You want an emerald for an engagement ring?"

"No," he winks. "It's for your other hand."

My mouth drops open. He isn't serious. Charlotte sparkles with new jewelry every time I see her but she's girly like that.

It's dresses not leggings for her and I just assumed she really liked sparkly things.

But I'm beginning to wonder if the Kincaids just like to drip their women in jewels.

A large emerald of the same cut that's encrusted with side diamonds is slipped on my other hand. It's larger than the diamond, the deep rich color stealing my breath.

"Necklaces?" one of the men asks.

"No," I shake my head.

"I don't see why not," Leo replies.

"Leo!" I straighten. I've conceded a lot of ground today, but two pieces of jewelry is two more than I ever expected to accept. "No more."

He shrugs. "All right. What my lady wants, she gets."

My lips part again as I stare at him.

"So these two?" The man in the center asks.

"That's right. But leave these out. My uncle will be shopping as well."

"Jake is shopping for what?" I ask, now completely confused. I thought Jake was a bachelor for life.

But Leo is already leading me out of the room. "Do they need to be sized?" he asks me instead of answering.

"No." Both rings are a perfect fit.

"Did you make any progress on the furniture front?"

I shake my head. "Every piece of furniture I've ever acquired has been from the side of the road," I say quietly. "I don't have any idea how to furnish a house like this."

Leo pauses before he wraps an arm about my waist. "One piece at a time. Let me see if I can find a tape measure."

Right. We should know what size to get.

An hour later, we're browsing sectionals with price tags that make my head spin.

I'm sitting on the bed, Leo behind me, my body tucked between his powerful thighs.

It's ridiculously comfortable and really fun actually as Leo pulls up a leather sectional. "Too masculine?"

I snuggle deeper into him. "How am I supposed to know?"

He laughs. "I think no dark brown," he scrolls down to a caramel-colored sectional. I point. "What about that one?"

The floors are dark, and the walls a very light cream. "I like it," I say as he reaches over to the nightstand where the credit card sits.

It's then that my phone rings.

It's a New York number so I click the call as I'm scooting off the bed. "Hello?"

"May I speak with Kimberly Evingston?"

"This is she," I smile back at Leo but he's not typing in the numbers, he's staring at me, his expression strained.

"Hi. This is Rebecca Stonefield from the New York Ballet."

"Hi," I answer, my heart beginning to pound. This call is seriously happening now? After everything that's happened this week, now is when the ballet chooses to call?

"We're calling you to offer you a spot on our upcoming roster."

"Oh," I say, swallowing down a lump. "Thank you so much for the opportunity but I've decided to stay in Las Vegas for one more semester."

"Of course," she answers. "That makes sense. I'm sure Mr. Kincaid will be very pleased to hear it."

I hang up, blinking at the phone. Why would the New York Ballet have any idea I was dating a Kincaid?

"Kim," Leo says, his voice holding an edge that makes me physically start. I blink up at him, my stomach churning.

"Why did she think you'd be pleased? Why does the New York Ballet know who you are?"

He grimaces. "Kim."

The sense of dread is building as I lower my phone. "Leo."

He scrubs a hand through his hair. "I'm not proud of some of the things I've done."

My heart is pounding, blood thundering through my ears. "Tell me."

"I…" He's off the bed, coming to stand in front of me. He's everything I know I love in this moment, but I can also feel that I'm going to hate what he says next. That it's another moment where Leo's rash behavior is going to hurt me. "I paid the ballet."

"To what?" I swallow down the lump, feeling dread swell in my stomach.

He looks away, his expression grim. "To delay your acceptance."

I can't even process those words. "Why would you do that?"

"I wanted a little more time with you. Our hook up was so good, I?—"

"You ruined my chance?"

His hands come up. "Technically, the pregnancy would have?—"

I feel like I'm going to throw up again. "You knowingly and deliberately blocked my acceptance?"

"Delayed," he corrects with a finger. "I?—"

"How could you be that selfish?" My voice comes out high and tight. "How could you fuck with my life like that?"

"Kim," it comes out as a plea. "I'm trying to be a better man."

I shake my head. Part of me wants to yell. Scream. Instead, my shoulders slump. "How can I trust you with my welfare or the baby's after you were so callus?"

"Fuck," he spits, and he grabs for my biceps, but I shrug away. "I know I fucked up, okay? I didn't used to be like this and I'm getting back to the man I was. I swear it."

Tears fill my eyes. "I'm pregnant Leo. I've got a baby to raise and that's what you want to say to me. I think I can do better. I royally screwed up your life, like majorly screwed up your life, but I'm going to give being nice a real go? " Now my voice is rising, growing high and tight.

I pick up the phone, hitting redial.

"Who are you calling?" He sounds panicked.

Charlotte picks up. "Hello?"

"Charlotte, I need Mason."

Leo plucks from the phone from my hand, hitting the off button and tossing the phone away.

For the second time since I met him, I'm scared. "Leo," I breathe out, but this one sounds different. I can hear the fear in my own voice, feel it tightening my gut. I've never been afraid of him before. Not like this.

Technically, he was hotter under the collar last night at the club. But we were surrounded by people and his irritation was because he was worried about me dancing while pregnant. He was trying to protect me but now…

I feel the shift…

"Do not involve my brother," he grinds out.

"Don't scare me, then." My breath hitches and I realize I've been slowly backing away as he advances.

He stops. "I would never hurt you, Kim."

"You already did."

He scrubs his hands over his face, letting out a feral growl. "I instantly regretted it. I've been wanting to tell you."

"But you didn't." I shake my head, tears finally cresting my eyelashes.

My back hits the wall, and Leo surges froward again, caging me against it. "I had nothing to do with you missing that final."

"I know. But don't you understand? I've never been worth much and?—"

"Stop talking about yourself like that!" he roars. "You are everything to me, Kim. Everything."

I blink back my surprise, his words soothing something inside me.

But Leo's not done. "I'm in love with you, Kim. I think I might have been from that very first night. And I've made this habit of getting my way by being a blunt instrument and causing damage wherever I go. When my father died, I just was so angry, I caused hurt everywhere."

He shakes his head, and then, I can hardly believe it, but he drops to his knees. I reach for him automatically, maybe to pull him up, maybe to push him away.

Instead, my hands settle on his shoulders and he wraps his arms about my hips, pulling me close and settling his face against my belly.

"I don't know how to explain that I see it now. What I've been doing wrong. The man I want to be for you and for our child. I'm never going to be Mason, cold and calculating, I'm always going to run hotter than that."

"I like your heat," I whisper. I don't know why I'm comforting him.

"But that doesn't mean that I can't be the man who does what's best for you instead of what is best for himself. Please, Kim. Please give me a chance to prove that." I hear the sincerity in his voice and it guts me.

"I've never asked my mom," I say. "Whether my dad knew about me and he chose not to participate in my life." I squeeze his shoulders. "Do you think he just thought being a dad was too hard? That he couldn't give up his own future for mine?"

Leo's hands are still on my hips but he tips his head back to look up at me.

I softly shake my head. "No one besides my mom has ever put me first, Leo."

I see him wince.

"It's not all the time. And I think when you love someone, you put them first and then you trust that you'll get what you need because they'll do the same for you."

"I know what you're saying, and I know I haven't earned that trust?—"

"I love you too, Leo."

His jaw goes so hard, it could cut glass.

"But I'm not sure it's enough."

"No."

"I need to think Leo," I draw in a shaky breath. "And if you love me, you'll let me."

He shakes his head. "If I let you go, you won't come back."

That's when I know. He thinks he's worthless too. And something in my heart melts. I reach for his face and then I lean down and I kiss him. "You don't know that."

"I do."

He wraps an arm around my thighs, lifting me up as he rises. "Why would you come back to the man who stole your future?"

I hold onto his face. I don't want to say too much here. Did he steal my future or replace it with a different one?

"I need to go home. Talk to my mom."

I see the pain that spasms across his face. "I have to let you, don't I?"

"Yes. You can't dictate the terms of how I make choices." And somehow I know, if he lets me go, he's really willing to put my needs first. It will kill him to watch me walk away. But if he does it…

I hear the front door open and close. "Kim?" Mason calls.

I feel Leo tense.

"Up here," I call back.

Leo slowly lowers me to the floor. "All right. You go to Minneapolis. Talk to your mom. But just so you know, I'm calling every day. And I reserve the right to just show up on her doorstep."

This is the Leo I know. Kind even in his strength.

Something in me unwinds and I nod.

"And you're wearing my rings."

I stiffen. "I don't know if that's a good idea?—"

"Please," he whispers as Mason appears in the doorway.

I don't answer as I turn away and Leo lets me go…