Chapter 14

WELLS

Most of the night, I tossed and turned. Every time I closed my eyes, Delilah's face would come back, pulling me deeper into my thoughts. Is the baby she's carrying mine? If so, how will we tell my parents? Jonas?

Jonas.

He's going to lose it. My poor older brother is already hanging on by a thread. He stayed in my parents' suite last night, not wanting to be alone. We went there after the nightmare that was the rehearsal dinner and made a plan.

Jonas may have just found out that he has a daughter who's in her twenties, but he's already decided that he's going to be the best dad he can be from this point on—do whatever he can to make up for lost time.

My parents are on board and plan on being amazing grandparents and great-grandparents.

It's not like they have far to go to be better than Claudia and Drew, but I didn't tell them that.

The wedding is for sure off. Jonas had my dad go to the suite he shared with Claudia last night to get his things and he asked Claudia for the ring back so he can pawn it.

Mom tried to talk him out of that. But he insisted. His exact words were, "That bitch kept my child from me all this time, so I'm keeping her diamonds from her."

Today, they plan to head to Delilah's suite and see if she'll have a conversation with them, possibly even a meal. I need to get to her first so I can get my questions answered and figure out if she gave me the wrong number on purpose or if it was a fluke.

I stand in front of the mirror, my reflection looking as disheveled as I feel. The sleepless night clings to my eyes, heavy and shadowed. With a deep sigh, I step into the shower; the water scorching at first but then soothing, washing away the remnants of my chaotic thoughts.

After drying off, I dress in a crisp green polo shirt and a pair of jeans. I'm starting to feel more like myself since last night.

Filled with determination, I make my way down to the lobby and approach the front desk. A middle-aged woman with sharp eyes looks up from her paperwork, wearing a name tag that says Tammy, and underneath Desk Manager.

"How can I help you?"

I lean in, my voice low. "I'm looking for a list of rooms that Drew Salahan reserved. We've misplaced a maid of honor and want to make sure she's okay."

She raises an eyebrow, skeptical. "It's against policy to give out information on other guests."

Without missing a beat, I slide a hundred-dollar bill across the counter. "Drew's daughter is engaged to my brother. We're all family. I just need to check in on someone."

Her skepticism melts into compliance as she retrieves the list. My heart pounds as I scan the names: my room, my parents', Drew's, Jona and Claudia's'. The last one must be hers.

Taking a deep breath in, I blow it out slowly, trying to steady the rush of adrenaline. With the room number seared into my mind, I head toward the elevator, each step filled with dread but also longing. The doors close, and I press the button for her floor. As the elevator ascends, I can't help but wonder what the future holds for me and my little doe.

The elevator doors open slowly, like a portal to my future and I can't help but hope that she didn't catch a red-eye home after last night. I can't imagine how she's feeling.

Stepping out into the hallway, I head toward her room. I make it to her door and stop, raising my fist to knock.

I rap twice and within minutes her friend, Derek, opens it with a sleepy smile. "I figured it would be you or someone from your family. Come on in." He steps to the side and allows me to enter the suite.

"How is she?" I ask.

"She is just fine and you can ask me yourself," the woman who's starred in every erotic dream of mine over the last seven months quips as she enters the living room wearing a matching pajama set that shows off her toned legs and barely contains her baby bump.

"Hello, Opal. Or is it Delilah now?"

"Depends, are you here to get a dance or to play uncle to your adult niece?"

God, her fiery spirit and stubbornness even when I can tell she's upset turns me on.

"We need to talk," I tell her.

"Well, that's my cue to go to my room. Shout if you need me, babe," Derek directs at Delilah as he heads toward the room off the living room. He turns to me. "And you. Don't fuck with my girl. I'll castrate you." I don't get to respond before he's shutting the door, and it's just the two of us.

"The time for talking was after you took a call in the alley with your cum still dripping down my thighs," she snaps.

"I tri—" I start but she cuts me off.

"I told you I'm not the type to sit around and pine for some man who says he'll call and never does. And what did you do? Ask me for my number to just not call? Not even a fucking text. Guess it worked out for the best, though, huh? Since you fucked your niece."

My fists clench at the word niece. She's not my niece. She's so much more than that. I just have to figure out how to make it work. How to tell my family. That's a problem for later, though. Right now, I need to calm the raging woman in front of me.

"I tried. I texted the number you gave so many times. Finally, the guy who it belongs to took mercy on my pathetic ass, and told me it was the wrong number." I sigh.

"Don't make up some fake ass story, Wells. You're old enough, and I thought classy enough, to take ownership of your shit. You met a hot stripper. You got to live your fantasy and fuck her and go home to your happy life. Just another fun trip to Vegas where you got your rocks off."

"That's not what happened, Delilah. I texted, hell I even went back to Hidden Gems and was told you didn't work there anymore. They wouldn't tell me where you went or why. You didn't make many friends while there, it seems." I raise my brows at her.

"I got the better clients for private dances and they got pissy. You went there looking for me? Why?"

"I told you, woman. After you didn't answer my texts and I couldn't get you out of my mind, I looked for you on my last trip."

"Prove it." She crosses her arms and stares at me.

"Prove what?"

"Show me the number you've been texting."

I reach into the front pocket of my jeans and pull out my phone, typing in the code, I navigate to the message screen and pull up my messages with Chuck.

"Here." I hold it out for her to take and she does. I watch as she scrolls through the messages of me trying to talk to her.

Her eyes widen, and she brings her hand up to her mouth. "It's off by one digit. Eight. One. Five. Nine. Zero. One. Seven. Three. Four. Eight." She starts to laugh. "I'm four. Nine."

"I didn't just fuck some stripper in an alley and disappear. I've been going crazy thinking about you and trying to find you so I could know more about you."

She hands me back my phone and sighs. "This is so fitting for my fucking life."

I can't wait any longer, I have to know. We've cleared up the phone issue, and she knows I didn't just forget about her. But now it's time she answers the question that's been burning a hole in my entire being since I did the math in my head yesterday.

"Is that my baby?

Part of me wants her to say yes, but it's going to be a messy situation if she does, so there's a minuscule piece of me that's hoping to avoid that. I try to focus, but my eyes keep drifting to her curves, and the way her body has changed. Her swollen belly only makes her more beautiful, more alluring. It's wrong, I know it is. We're almost strangers, and I shouldn't feel this way. Yet, I can't help but be drawn to her, wanting her even more now.

Slowly, her hands move to hold her large belly, and I fight to contain a growl at how sexy she is pregnant. My mind races, thoughts tumbling over each other. This desire is primal, and intense. I want this baby to be mine, to have something that permanently ties us together. A baby would change everything, and bind us in ways that are both terrifying and exhilarating.

"Yes." She nods.

My heart skips a beat. Relief and joy flood through me, mingling with fear. This is real. She's carrying my child. The thought of it makes me want to protect her, claim her, and be there for her and our baby. All I can think about is how much I want this, how much I want her.

"Holy shit. I'm going to be a dad."

That one word causes a hundred new thoughts, and ideas to form in my brain. My gaze settles where her hand rests, and it hits me like a semi.

Will our baby have her bright, beautiful eyes? Will he or she be as stubborn as Delilah or determined like me? How the hell am I going to tell my parents?

I swallow harshly as I realize from the sheer size of her, this will be a reality sooner than later.

"When are you due?"

"December twelfth." She sits down.

Shit! That's only two months from now. Not a lot of time at all.

"Congrats, Daddy. You're having a child and a great niece or nephew," she snarks.

My body tenses at her choice of words, but it's the truth. Our child will be my son or daughter and my niece or nephew. This is so fucked.

"You don't know what you're having?"

"Nope. Didn't want to find out. I wanted to be surprised. Derek knows, but he's not to tell anyone. He just wanted to be able to privately shop." She rolls her eyes.

"Are you keeping the baby?"

"Yes. If you don't want anything to do with our kid, tell me now and you can leave. I'll tell your family—my family I don't know who the dad is. But you'll stay away and leave us be."

"I don't want that. I just wanted to know what you decided," I tell her. "This is all brand new to me. I'm just asking to cover all the bases."

"So you want to be a dad?" she asks with her bright eyes looking at me in anticipation.

"Yes. I'll be there any way that I can. First, we have to tell my parents and brother. Your dad. They have plans to come talk to you as well, but I wanted to beat them here so we could get this," I motion a hand between us, "out of the way."