Chapter Eight Facing the Truth
Evans POV
"I m pregnant, Evan."
Her words dont leavethey haunt. Echoing in every breath, every heartbeat, louder than anything in this boardroom.
I sit through the meeting with my hands clasped, jaw locked, and pretending to care about projected earnings. But I dont hear a single number.
Because Harper just changed everything.
This is what Ive always run from. The risk. The permanence. The vulnerability.
And now, its here. Flesh and bone. Real.
For a man who thrives on control, this should feel like a nightmare.
Instead, I feel terrified . And alive .
I think about my fathera man who walked out without ever looking back. No explanations. No goodbye.
I spent years swearing Id never be him. But what if silence is hereditary?
Langley calls my name. I blink up, startled. A dozen executives are staring at me.
Holsten merger, he says. We need your final sign-off."
Right. A two hundred million dollar deal. Should be the only thing on my mind.
I shut my laptop.
Send it to my office, I say, my tie suddenly feeling like a noose.
I leave the room, every step heavy.
Back in my office, I brace myself against the desk, knuckles white.
Harper. Her face. Her voice. The way she waited for something I didnt give.
I pull up the security feed.
Shes at her desk, composed on the outside. But I see the tension in her shoulders. The way her fingers strangle the pen. Shes unraveling.
Because of me.
I slam the laptop shut and hit the intercom.
Langley, whats Harper working on?
The Holsten logistics.
Of course she is. Always handling everything.
Send her to my office. Now .
Less than a minute later, she enters. Her steps are graceful, but her eyes are wary.
She stands before my desk, spine straight, hands clasped.
What is it, Evan?
I cross the room.
And I pull her into my arms.
At first, shes stiff. Then her body slowly melts into mine, tension bleeding out in slow, hesitant exhales.
Im sorry , I say into her hair. For how I reacted. Or didnt. I froze, Harper. This... it scared me.
She pulls back just enough to look at me. You could have said anything. Anything at all.
I know. And I hate that I didnt.
I swallow hard.
My father left when I was a kid. Just disappeared. It broke something in me. I stopped letting people in.
She doesnt speak, just presses her palm to my chest like shes trying to read the truth in my heartbeat.
But you got in anyway, I whisper. And now, theres a part of you thats a part of me. And it terrifies mebecause I want this. I want to get it right.
Her eyes shimmer, emotion tightening her features.
I dont want to be someone you have to hide, she whispers. I dont want to become a cautionary tale in the office rumor mill.
Then lets stop hiding, I say, brushing her cheek with my thumb. Let them talk. Ill make it clear who you are to me.
Her breath catches.
Who am I?
Mine.
I kiss her then. Slow. Deep. The kind of kiss that says everything I didnt.
Her fingers slide into my hair. Her soft belly presses into mine.
And I knowthis is it.
I dont want perfect. I want this . Her . Us .
The future, messy and beautiful and unknown.
And Ill fight for it. Every damn step of the way.