21. Elias
‘Kate,’ Dr Douchebag said, coming down the stairs and reaching for Kate to hug and kiss her.
Elias felt a growl rise up in his throat, but he kept it at bay, instead stepping in front of Kate before Hugo could reach her.
He bared his teeth in a smile and held out his hand. ‘Hi, I’m Elias. I don’t think we’ve met.’
Hugo eyed him warily, sizing him up, if Elias wasn’t wrong. The guy was tall, but Elias had a good ten kilos on him in muscle. That’s what came of working with metal. Elias didn’t need a gym, but it looked like Hugo did. Or he was a runner. It didn’t matter how fast Dr Douchebag could run, Elias could drop him like a sack of potatoes and not even break a sweat.
Hugo clasped Elias’ hand to shake, and Elias may or may not have squeezed a little too hard. He didn’t try and break his fingers… if the guy had weak bones, it wasn’t Elias’ fault. Probably good that Kate hadn’t been impregnated by him in that case.
Hugo squeezed back but couldn’t match Elias’ grip strength.
‘Hugo,’ the man said through gritted teeth. ‘Doctor Hugo Marshall.’
‘Elias Beckingsale,’ Elias replied, finally letting go of Hugo’s hand. ‘Doctor, huh? Like my Kate?’
Hugo looked past Elias to Kate and then back to Elias. ‘Your Kate?’
Elias slung an arm around Kate’s shoulders and tugged her into his side, grinning widely.
Kate elbowed him in the ribs, but Elias ignored it. He knew he was being an arsehole, and he didn’t care. He wanted Dr Douchebag to know that if he ever came near Kate, he would have to go through Elias.
It wasn’t just because of how he felt about Kate. No. Kate was carrying his baby. This was all to protect his baby… and his baby mama.
‘Why don’t we go inside to talk?’ Kate said, freeing herself from under his arm and shooting him a glare.
‘Uh, Kate… I think our discussion needs to be had in private,’ Hugo said with a significant glance at Elias.
‘Anything you have to say to Kate you can say to me,’ Elias said.
‘I think that’s up to Kate to decide. Not you.’
The scathing look of disdain Hugo gave Elias made something snap in his brain. He stepped forward, but before he could pull his arm back and punch the guy in the nose, Kate put a hand on his arm, stilling him.
‘Let’s all just go inside and talk,’ Kate said wearily. ‘This involves both of you.’
Hugo and Elias continued to glare at each other as Kate walked up the stairs to unlock the door. As soon as the door was open, Hugo spun on his heel and followed Kate, getting right behind her and hissing in her ear loud enough for Elias to hear.
‘You can’t be serious, Kate? You want this neanderthal to be involved in our discussion?’
‘That’s what the lady said,’ Elias said, striding up the stairs and past Hugo into Kate’s house.
The last time he’d been there he’d barely taken anything in, but now as he looked around, he realised just how perfectly it suited Kate. He crossed the living room and sat on the couch taking up as much space as he could… literally manspreading.
Kate rolled her eyes at him as she headed for the kitchen and hit the switch for the kettle.
‘Still renovating, I see,’ Hugo said, standing in the middle of the room and looking around.
Elias followed his gaze. The space looked finished from what he could see, and to a high spec.
Kate looked at Hugo and blinked slowly before replying. ‘These areas are done. It’s just a few of the other rooms that need to be completed.’
‘Oh… you’ve finished in here? Right, well, you’ll want to get the rest done before the baby is born.’
He looked specifically at Elias when he mentioned the baby, and Elias smiled broadly. Hugo looked taken aback by Elias’ non-reaction.
‘So exactly what kind of doctor are you?’ Elias asked.
‘I have a PhD in computer science. What do you do, Elias?’
‘I own my own business,’ Elias replied, still smirking. ‘And I’m an artist.’
‘An artist?’ Hugo scoffed.
‘You might have seen in the news that one of my sculptures sold for a six-figure sum.’
That made Hugo pause.
‘All right. If the two of you have stopped measuring dicks, can we maybe have a conversation?’
Hugo blanched at Kate’s language, but Elias just chuckled.
‘I only have green tea. Take it or leave it.’
‘Perfect,’ Hugo said, grinning. ‘It’s good to see you’ve kept up with the healthy eating.’
Kate didn’t bother to acknowledge his backhanded compliment. Had she not noticed it, or was she just choosing to ignore it for the sake of peace?
The more he got to know the guy, the more Elias realised that his initial assessment was correct. The guy was a douchebag.
They all moved to the kitchen table and sat down. Kate passed out the cups of tea, and Elias curled his fingers through the handle. He didn’t like green tea, but he wasn’t going to say anything to make himself look bad in front of Hugo.
‘Kate, I’m not quite sure why you want to have… him here for this conversation.’
‘Because, Hugo, it involves Elias.’
‘Why? Are the two of you dating?’
Elias and Kate exchanged a look.
‘Of a sort,’ Kate said.
Hugo glanced between them. ‘What does that mean?’
Elias could see Kate was struggling with what to say. He wanted to jump in and tell Hugo that his sperm were no longer required, but it wasn’t his place. To keep himself from blurting anything out, he lifted the tea to his mouth and sipped, barely containing the look of disgust at the taste.
‘Hugo, I want to thank you for your generous offer to be my donor but…’ She took a breath. ‘But I won’t be needing it anymore.’
Hugo’s eyes widened. ‘You’re going to have his baby?’
Elias wanted to puff out his chest and declare it loudly to the world, but he continued to keep his mouth shut.
‘Yes,’ Kate said.
‘What? How? Why? How long have you even known him? Are you in a relationship? Are you going to play house with this idiot?’
Elias could feel his blood pressure rising, so he took some breaths and kept silent. He looked at Kate. She wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at Hugo as if she had never seen him before.
‘Not that it is any of your business,’ she said coldly, ‘but I am already carrying Elias’ baby—so our contract is now null and void.’
Hugo jumped to his feet so fast he sent the mug of tea flying, straight toward Kate. Elias reacted without thinking, sticking his hand out to try and catch the tea and protect Kate. The tea scolded, and he swore colourfully.
Hugo hadn’t even noticed. He was too busy pacing and raging and lecturing Kate on her poor choices or some such shit. Elias wasn’t listening. The heat from the boiling water was searing through his skin and turning it red before his eyes.
‘Elias!’ Kate jumped to her feet and grabbed his arm, bodily moving him around the table to the kitchen sink. She turned the cold water on full blast and shoved his hand under the stream.
Only then did Hugo realise no one was paying attention to him. He took in the scene, and his eyebrows pulled down in confusion.
‘I think you should leave, Hugo,’ Kate said, her voice tight with anger and worry.
‘We need to finish this discussion,’ Hugo protested.
‘She said leave, mate,’ Elias said. He was grinding his teeth together against the pain, so his voice may have come out a bit more like an aggressive snarl. Good. Politeness didn’t seem to be working on Dr Douchebag.
‘This discussion isn’t over,’ Hugo said as he strode toward the front door. Before he stepped through, he turned to Kate. ‘I’ll call you later, when you’ve had time to calm down and think this through rationally.’
If Elias hadn’t wanted to punch the guy before, he did now. He even made a move, but Kate had his hand securely held under the cold water, and she wasn’t letting go.
‘Goodbye, Hugo,’ she said without looking at him.
The front door slammed, and then they were alone.
‘Are you okay?’ Elias asked.
‘Me? What about you? Why did you do such a stupid thing?’
‘Huh?’ He wasn’t sure if she was talking about the way he’d provoked Hugo or trying to catch the tea. In her eyes, they both probably looked stupid.
‘You are not made of metal, Elias Beckingsale,’ she said, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.
Was she crying? He didn’t want to jump to conclusions that she was crying because she was worried about him. Pregnancy was hell on the emotions, or so the books said. Plus, the exchange with Hugo hadn’t been great. All of it combined was enough to make anyone upset.
He tried to pull her into his arms, but she growled at him when he tried to move his hand out from under the water. With a small smile tilting the corner of his lips, he cradled her with his free arm, pulling her into his chest. She pressed her face into his chest and sniffed. He didn’t say anything, just stood there, letting her use his strength.
After a long moment, she pulled back, and he made to move but she growled again.
‘I’m going to get the first aid kit. Stay there. Do not remove your hand from the water, you hear me?’
‘Yes, Doc,’ he replied. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he grinned. As she walked away, he called, ‘Please tell me you don’t have one of those ridiculous first aid kits like Levi.’
She didn’t answer, and he laughed. She definitely had one.