Expecting the Billionaire's Heir - Chapter 17

Ellie clasped her stomach, still retching, as recognition reverberated through her on a wave of shock.

Brody…Baz… Was really here.

She was still struggling to process the information, when a large hand landed on her bare back where the gown drooped.

‘Ellie, what the hell? Are you okay?’

She trembled violently, the husky voice, and the warmth of his palm stroking down her spine so sure, so potent, so familiar, so longed for… Even as her stomach continued to heave.

‘It’s okay, young man,’ she heard Elsa Parker’s voice through the ringing in her ears, the panic and shock starting to choke her—as well as the foolish surge of hope.

She hadn’t expected to see Brody Kane ever again, but how could she face him now, in front of all these people, knowing the secret she’d kept from him for months?

Had he come here expecting to see her? Or was that painful burst of hope just another hangover from that unloved girl who had looked for commitment—and affection—in all the wrong places?

If he’d wanted her, cared about her at all, if that night had meant something to him the way it had meant so much to her, wouldn’t he have made the effort to contact her long before now? And surely, he would never have expected her to be here, as a guest, when she was one of the Lorentis’ employees?

Then she heard Elsa murmur softly. ‘Are you pregnant, my dear?’ But not softly enough for Brody not to hear the older woman.

He swore, and his warm callused palm dropped away.

Her insides swooped into her toes, but she forced herself to stand and face him. At least she’d finally stopped retching.

All the people standing around watching them both faded away, until all she could see was him.

Everything inside her gathered and yearned… And hurt… As she searched the darkly handsome face she’d obsessed about for months while trying not to—looking for a clue to his feelings. But then she recognised the turbulent emotion swirling in those deep blue eyes. And suddenly she was thrown back to a night long ago, when she’d found him in the bathroom of the group home, his face battered and bleeding… His spirit broken.

‘Is it true, Ellie…?’ he said, his voice husky with regret as his gaze dropped to her stomach, then rose back to her burning face.

But he didn’t wait for her answer… The accusation in his eyes as hard to take as the regret. Because surely it could only mean one thing… She’d been right not to tell him. He hadn’t come here to see her.

‘We need to talk,’ he said, his voice rough.

And all she could do was wrap her arms around her tender stomach—to protect the baby he didn’t want any more than he had ever really wanted her—and nod.