Undeniably Married (Boston’s Irresistible Billionaires Book 4)

“No, that’s not possible,” I tell Keegan, who is sitting beside me, holding a probe inside my vagina and giving it to me straight. No pun intended. I feel like my world is crumbling around me piece by piece.

“You are seven weeks pregnant.”

“Keegan.” I end it there. I feel like I’m dying a little. “Do you know what that means?”

“That the baby is Brody’s and not Mason’s? Yes, I know.”

She’s so deadpan, which is so unlike Keegan, and I know she’s doing that for my benefit, but it doesn’t help. I lose it. Fuck the ribs and fuck my face. There is no holding these tears and racking sobs back.

“I can’t… I can’t be… I can’t be… I can’t be pregnant… I can’t be pregnant with Brody’s…” I give up, no longer able to form words as physical and emotional pain consume me from head to toe. Thank God my boss gave me the rest of the week off. There’s no way I could work with all of this weighing on me.

Keegan, who is blunt to an extreme, removes the probe, hands me some wipes, and rolls beside the bed I’m lying on. She takes my hand and holds it firmly, silently telling me she’s here with me and that I’m not alone. I’m so glad it’s her and not a stranger telling me this. I have the best family in the world.

“If you don’t want to keep it, I can⁠—”

“I’m going to keep it,” I tell her. I’d already decided this. Granted, I assumed it was Mason’s given the missed pill situation, but I’m thirty-five, I’m a doctor with a good income, not to mention the billionaire trust fund I carry, and I have a family full of support. My choice is far easier than for many women in my position.

She prints out images of my tiny baby moving around inside of me. There’s a head and a heartbeat and the littlest arms and legs. It’s mine now. But instead of being Mason’s too, it’s Brody’s, and I don’t know how to manage that.

“I have to tell him.” I swallow a loud gulp. “Both of them.” My tears come fresh and hard. I’m going to lose Mason. He’ll run as far and as fast as he can, and I can’t blame him for it. He may want me, but he didn’t bargain on me being pregnant and definitely not with another man’s kid. It’s too new between us. I don’t know any man who could handle that situation.

I don’t relish the idea of Brody being forever in my life or the life of my child, but that’ll be his choice to make. I just know I won’t move back to New York, and I won’t get back together with him.

On both of those, I’m firm.

My family is in Boston. My practice is in Boston.

This is my home now, and if Brody wants to be part of this, he can be, but I won’t uproot my life or this baby’s life for him. They say becoming a mother makes you stronger, and I’m starting to feel that. But Mason. Where does he enter into this?

Keegan comes in close to hug me, sensing I need that more than words. She does this for several minutes and lets me cry and cry and cry, and when my tears are all dried up, she helps me off the table.

“You need to make an appointment with my office, though I should not be your regular OB. You’ll need to find someone who is not related to you by blood. Not so easy in this hospital or even Brigham’s, but it can be done. Katy loved the OB she used for Willow. I can get you her name if you’d like without mentioning anything to Katy.”

I swallow and nod as I walk toward the exit while clutching the black-and-white image in my hand. “I’m thirty-five,” I muse. “It’s like Wren said to me when I was in Vegas. If not now, when?”

“Thirty-five isn’t old by current standards to have a baby, but I know what you’re saying.”

“Thank you,” I tell her. “You handled this exactly as I needed you to.”

“I’m here for you no matter what. I mean that. This will stay between us, but whatever you need from me or any of us, you know you have it.”

“Thank you,” I repeat, turning into a broken record. I look at her. “Do you think he’ll understand?”

“Mason?” she questions, pushing some of her long, red hair back over her shoulder. “I don’t know. But if ever there was any guy who would, it’s him. He knew the score with Brody when he took you to Vegas. Either way, Sorel, it’ll be okay.”

“Here’s hoping.”

I leave the office, clinging to that. I know I have to call Brody first. It’s his baby. I wish it were Mason’s, but it’s not, and I can’t change that. I can only hope what Keegan said about Mason is true, but if it’s not, I’ll understand.

I unblock Brody’s number and find myself walking along the path that leads to the Charles River on the Mass Eye & Ear side of things. There are benches here, and the sun is just warming the eastern sky. I stare down at my still-flat stomach and touch it over my shirt as I sit down.

I’m going to have a baby.

For the first time since this all began, a smile touches my lips, and I place my hand over my stomach.

“I won’t always be perfect. I won’t always know the right thing to do or say. But I’ll try. Okay?” At saying okay, my heart lurches, and a sob locks in my throat. Fresh tears well in my eyes, and I let them fall, allowing myself this moment of doubt and insecurity and fear.

“You’ll be my priority, and you’ll be so adored, born into a huge family who will dote on you and spoil you rotten. You don’t have to be a doctor. I just want you to be happy. Whatever you do in this life, do it for yourself and no one else. I’m late to that game. I sacrificed a lot for other people, and now I’m learning how foolish that was. Always follow your instincts, ask for help when you need it, and remember there is pain in this life, but there’s also beauty. Sometimes things don’t turn out how we planned they would, but with any luck, the new version will be the right one, even if it doesn’t always feel that way at the beginning.”

With that thought lingering in my head, I pick up my phone and dial Brody. Everything hurts, but it’s got nothing on my heart as he answers the phone. I’m calling him and not Mason, and I hate it.

He picks up after two rings with, “I didn’t think I’d hear from you again, but I’m glad you’re calling.”

I can hear noise in the background, and I bet he’s on the field. That’s where Mason is.

“Can you go somewhere to talk?”

“Uh. Sure.” He murmurs something to someone nearby, and a moment later, he says, “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

My eyes close. “Brody…” My throat is impossibly dry, even out here in the humid air, and I try to swallow. “I’m… pregnant.”

I’m greeted with silence for a minute or two, but I can’t check the phone, and I don’t open my eyes.

Finally, he clears his throat and utters, “It’s mine?”

“Yes,” I sob and quickly tamp it down. Tears won’t help me with him.

Bitterness tints his voice when he asks, “How do I know that?”

I grit my teeth and ball up my fist in my lap. “God, you’re such a bastard. I just had an ultrasound. I’m seven weeks along, and unlike you, I didn’t cheat. The baby is yours.”

“Shit, Sorel.” That’s all he says, and I can’t tell what those two words mean because his voice is flat now. “You’re keeping it?”

“Yes.”

He huffs a breath.

“Come to New York.”

I shake my head.

“No.” Fortitude steels my spine and solidifies my nerves. “I’m going to stay in Boston. My family is here, and it’s where I belong. It’s where I want to be and where I want to raise this baby.”

“And what about me? What about what I want?”

“What do you want?”

He hesitates. “I… I want you. That’s all I know for sure. I hadn’t thought about kids yet. Not really. I figured I had more time before that happened. I don’t know. But if you came here, we could figure it out together.”

“And what about my job here?”

He grunts. “Sorel, my job demands I stay in New York. Your job isn’t like mine.”

I smirk. That’s what I wanted to hear from him. Still Brody. Still all about him and his needs and no one else’s.

“Brody, I’m not moving back to New York, and we’re not getting back together. I wasn’t expecting this either, but if you decide that you want to be part of the baby’s life, I welcome that. I’d like to do this amicably, but if you want to go through the courts or force me to do so, I will without hesitation.”

More silence and then he shoots back with, “Is that what this is? You’re after my money?”

I laugh because that’s ridiculous. “Do you not remember the prenup I had you sign? I’m a Fritz, you moron. Money is the last thing I’m worried about with this. Regardless, if you want to support your child financially, that’s your choice. I intend to raise this child on my own if necessary.”

“This isn’t the Sorel I knew. She was never this rough with me and was always willing to consider what others needed. Did you even think about how I’d feel about this?”

My eyes round as I stare out at the choppy water of the Charles as it flows by. “Are you for real with that? It’s not like you asked how I feel about being pregnant with your baby or if I’m okay or anything. I understand your world revolves around you and no one else, but I’m tired of being a planet stuck in your orbit instead of my own sun.”

He growls. “You call and tell me you’re pregnant, but that you won’t even try again with your child’s father?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.” It makes me smile because I’m glad I’m no longer the Sorel he knew. The pushover. The one who was always too afraid to act. The one who put everyone above herself, even to her own detriment. “The Sorel you knew allowed herself to be blind to what was right in front of her for far too long. I won’t make the same mistake twice. If you want to be part of your child’s life, the choice is yours, Brody. If not, that’s fine too. Think it over.”

I disconnect the call. Maybe that was cold, but I don’t care. I need to protect this child and myself. I’m not sure Brody is the best father for this baby, but I’m willing to give him the chance to prove me wrong.

Now I have to tell Mason.