I was pregnant.

I stared up at the ceiling, those three words ringing in my ears. I was going to have a baby. A real baby. The clock read eight pm, meaning I had been sleeping for just over eleven hours. I got out of bed slowly and headed towards the door, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Blake sat alone in the living room, a cup of wine in her hands. She set the cup down when she saw me, flinging her arms around me.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," she said. I pulled back, furrowing my brows.

"For what? You didn't cause it," I replied, confused. She held my hands in hers tightly, a tear streaking down her face.

"When I saw you on the floor, I completely froze. I-I didn't know what to do," she stammered. "I feel like I failed you as a best friend." I wrapped my arms around her again.

"You didn't fail me, Blake. I still love you," I said.

"I love you too." I wiped her tears and sat on the couch beside her. "So, I went into the bathroom and I saw the test." I rubbed my eyes tiredly. "Are you going to keep it?"

"I don't know, Blake. I don't even know how I got pregnant!" I sighed, pulling my knees to my chest. Blake switched the TV off, reaching out and placing her hands over mine.

"Do you always use protection?"

"Every single time. I'm not on the pill anymore, so maybe the condom broke."

"Is it Aerion's?" She lifted her cup to her lips and took a deep sip from it.

"It has to be. I haven't slept with anyone else in months. God, we're not even together!" I exclaimed. Aerion wasn't supposed to be anything other than sex and I had made that very clear from the beginning. And now, I was pregnant with his child. Another sickening thought occurred to me. "Blake, what's going to happen with me and Ales now?" Tears pricked at my eyes.

"Oh, baby. You really like him, don't you?" She set the wineglass down and gestured for me to come closer to her. I crawled up the couch until I was laying atop her body, my head resting on her stomach.

"How could I not? He's perfect!" I was crying now, my fingers knotted tightly in Blake's top. She ran her hands through my hair, the small motion calming my gasps.

"Tell me about him."

A small smile made its way to my lips. "He's a gentleman, but not like anyone else. He makes sure I'm always comfortable before doing anything. I know we've only gone out a few times but I really really like him." I sniffed, lifting my head a little to meet her eyes.

"Did you two sleep together?" I shook my head, my cheeks burning.

"No," I answered. "But it doesn't even matter anymore." Blake didn't reply but continued to stroke my hair. "He doesn't want a baby. He didn't sign up for a fucking pregnant woman!" I hated crying but couldn't stop for some reason. It must have been the hormones or whatever else people blame for acting overly emotional.

"Rose, no matter what you choose to do, remember that me and Ryan are going to support you. We're here for you," she reminded. "Ryan wanted to stay here when you woke up but his boss called him in." I was beyond thankful for Ryan.

"He did enough for me-" I was interrupted by a ring at the doorbell. I sat up, wiping my tears. "Who is it?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll get it," Blake said, standing. It rung again. "Coming!" I watched her jog to the door and open it. She had only opened it a little, but that was enough for me to see Ales over the top of her head. I cursed under my breath, keeping a close eye on him.

"Is Rose home?" He couldn't see me but scanned the little bit of the apartment he could see. "She wasn't feeling well this morning and didn't answer my calls, so I assumed the worst." He scratched the back of his neck.

"She's sleeping," Blake replied. Her grip on the door tightened. I sighed and got to my feet. I pulled the door open wider, stepping in front of Blake.

"No, I'm here." My voice was shaky, a tight smile pasted on my lips. I knew exactly what I looked like; face flushed, eyes red, and hair mussed. "Come in." Blake stepped back, jerking her thumb towards the bedrooms.

"I'll give you two some privacy," she offered. While Ales was taking his shoes off, Blake pulled me to her, pressing her lips against my ear. "Be careful," she whispered before walking away. I took a seat on the couch. Ales stripped his jacket off before settling in beside me.

"How are you doing?" he asked. He placed his hand on my knee, his thumb caressing me.

Horrible. "Better." I smiled, the movement tiring me out. "What about you?" He chuckled, running his free hand through his hair. I leaned on the back of the sofa, admiring him, my eyes running over him again and again. He spoke but I wasn't listening to a single word. Instead, I stared at him, drinking him in as if it was the last time I was going to see him. The thought of never seeing him again broke me a little.

"-wrong?" I blinked, waking up from my daze. Ales was frowning,

"W-what?"

"I asked you what's wrong. You seem a million miles away," he said quietly, a small smile on his face. His eyes seemed sad. "Did something happen?" I shook my head.

"I'm fine. Just kind of tired."

"I should let you rest then. I'll go." He made a move to stand, but I grabbed his wrist.

"No! Don't go!" I exclaimed before continuing more calmly, "You just got here. I'll fix up some dinner if you haven't eaten yet." Ales nodded. "Okay great! What do you want to eat?"

"What do you have?"

"By fix up some dinner, I meant to order in. I can't cook," I admitted.

"Well lucky for you, I'm a decent cook," Ales smirked. I raised an eyebrow. "Just let me freshen up a bit and I'll make you the meal of a lifetime."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I laughed, "deal." Ales stood and I watched him make his way to the bathroom. As he left, I could only think about the secret I was hiding.

***

Ales' POV

She thought she could hide it.

The second I found her vomiting into the toilet, I knew something was up. And then coming to her apartment and seeing her look like she had cried for hours on end. So I distracted her with the promise of having a good time and went into the bathroom to investigate. After locking the door behind me, I sunk to my knees in front of the trash can.

And wrapped in some toilet paper laid a pregnancy test. I picked it up, moving the tissue paper away and saw the line. I went still, the newfound information processing through my brain. I set the test back down, making sure it was set in the same way I found it. A soft, humourless chuckle rose out of me. Positive.

The father must have been her partner at work, Aerion. I knew she was no longer sleeping with him as my men reported he hadn't been at her house for a few days. It pleased me to know she had become sexually exclusive as soon as we went on our first date. But the damage of a pregnancy had already been done before I was even in the picture.

I had to use this to my advantage. I assumed she wasn't planning on telling me about the baby until she decided whether or not to keep it. And I had a feeling that if she decided to have an abortion, she would never tell me about it.

No, I thought. I needed her to tell me and allow her to confide in me. She had to see how trustworthy and caring I was and how I didn't care if she was pregnant or not. I rose to my feet, smirking. I headed to the kitchen where Rose was standing behind the open refrigerator door. I put on a sweet smile, sidling in behind her, snaking my hands around her waist.

She giggled. "What do you want to make, mister?" I opened the door a little wider.

"Well let's see what you have..." I trailed off, scanning the half-empty shelves. "Does no one in this house cook?"

I looked back at Rose, whose cheeks were bright red. "Blake is the only one who can but after she moved out, I've just been eating out."

The fridge was empty of actual ingredients but I found enough to make a basic salad. I pulled out some lettuce, tomatoes, some cucumber along with a couple of other things. Rose saw what I was doing and grabbed a cutting board and a knife. She set it down on the island before sliding a chair to sit in front of it.

"It's not very fancy but is a salad okay?" Her eyes softened, adoration shining clearly in them. I turned away to wash the vegetables, taking the moment to ignore the small pang in my chest. This was too easy. She was letting me in too easily. I almost pained me to see how emotionally vulnerable she was, how open she was to manipulation. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to shut off those feelings. I wasn't doing this for my own pleasure. Volevo soltanto proteggere la mia famiglia. (Translation: I only wanted to protect my family)

"Do you need any help?" Rose asked. I glanced over my shoulder, shooting her a charming grin.

I shook the excess water off the produce before turning and placing them on the cutting board. "I just need you to sit there and look pretty." I couldn't deny the attraction between us. She was a beautiful woman even though she didn't acknowledge her natural beauty. Especially her hourglass figure that I knew she was awfully insecure about but I, for the life of me, couldn't figure out why. But never had I ever seen a person more attractive than Rose did, especially sleeping in my arms. I couldn't even begin to imagine what she would look like naked-

"Ales!" Rose exclaimed. "Your finger." I looked down to see a slice running across my finger. I set the knife down, swearing. I was so focused on my lusty thoughts that I had cut myself without noticing. "I'll get you a bandage, just rinse it out under some cold water."

I did as she said while she jogged to the bathroom to find some bandaids. It stung as water made contact and held it under for only a few seconds before Rose returned. She smeared a little salve onto it before wrapping a bandage around the finger. Her face was scrunched up in concentration as she finished up. She clapped her hands, putting them on her hips.

"Does it hurt a lot?" I moved the cutting board to the side before holding her by the waist and hoisting her up on the table. She squealed, grabbing onto me as I did so.

"You can kiss it better," I flirted, holding the finger up. Rose's eyebrows lifted, recognizing the flirtatious behaviour.

"Whatever you say, sir," she whispered. She grabbed my hand, pressing a gentle kiss over the bandage. Then she kissed my knuckle, then my thumb, moving downward till her lips were on the pad. My breath quickened as I met her lust-filled eyes, blood suddenly rushing to my nether regions. Her tongue darted out, wetting the tip of my thumb. Fuck control.

I knew I shouldn't be getting physical with her so early in our "relationship". I needed her to be sure that the reason she kept me around was for the support I provided and not the sex. But the promise I made was getting harder, my desire for her increasing tenfold each time I saw her. I breathed in, the scent of her floral perfume invading my nose.

Her hands trailed up my arms until they were snaked around my neck. "Rosa," I whispered. Her lips were soon on mine with no sign of gentle passion. Instead, she kissed me hard, her tongue almost immediately sliding in my mouth. I kept up with her easily, gripping the hem of her sweater. I played with the zipper, dragging it slowly downwards until it just below her bra. I kissed her jaw, just making contact her with her exposed throat when her phone rang. She jumped up and I jerked my head back. She jumped off the table and ran to the couch where the device lay unattended.

"Hey Aerion," I heard her say from the living room. She had moved to the window, talking in hushed tones, but I could still make out her words. "What's up?"

I pretended to busy myself cutting up the vegetables. "I forgot about those files. Yeah- sure we'll go over them on Monday." The grip on the knife tightened. "I also have something else to tell you- no, not about the case. It's more personal." Rose let out a strained chuckle. "Alright, see you then." My eyes fell on her hand which was caressing her stomach. I quickly trained my attention back on the salad when she returned, nervously biting on her lips.

"Sorry about that," Rose said, sitting back down. She played with her fingers, anxiety rolling off her in waves.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, finishing off slicing the last of the produce. She nodded.

"Just a little stressed about work, that's all." Work. Her investigation about me was the whole reason I pulled myself into this mess. I only had to play the role of a perfect boyfriend for a little longer, just long enough for me to derail her leads and throw her off track.

I sighed. This was much harder than I expected. 

A/N: Remember to vote if your enjoying!