Reese Ryan - The Billionaire's Legacy

“Is it... I mean...am I...” He felt as if he were suffocating, unable to get the words out. He swallowed hard and tried again. “Is the baby mine?”

“I haven’t been with anyone but you since my divorce, so my money is on you. I’m not really the immaculate conception type.”

He narrowed his gaze at Sloane. How could she joke about the fact that he was going to be a father in just a few months and she hadn’t even had the decency to let him know. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” The sarcasm she’d been using as a shield evaporated, and he noticed that the corners of her eyes were suddenly damp. Her gaze didn’t meet his. “That weekend, you made it pretty clear that you weren’t the daddy type.”

“What do you—” He stopped midsentence, recalling their conversation about his niece.

Evie’s a cool kid and everything, but 3:00 a.m. feedings and dirty diapers just aren’t for me.

“I was speaking in hypotheticals. As in, I had no immediate plans to have children. Not as in, I’m such a coldhearted bastard that I wouldn’t want to know my own baby.”

“Babies.” Sloane emphasized the s at the end of the word as she reached up and rubbed the spot where the lid of the trunk had tagged her head. She grimaced.

“Twins?” Benji’s voice reverted to the high pitch of a boy entering puberty. He cleared his throat and tried again. “We’re having twins?”

Benji’s gaze returned to her belly. For a moment he felt weak. As if everything was spinning around them.

“ I’m having twins.” Sloane’s voice deepened as she gripped her belly and winced. “Hopefully not at this moment. It’s too soon, but something doesn’t feel right.”

Benji felt the knot rising on her head, then touched her stomach, but drew his hand back. Despite everything they’d done that weekend, the simple act of touching her belly suddenly felt intrusive. Too intimate.

“I’m getting you to a doctor.” He stretched the seat belt across her body and secured it, then demanded her keys.

She stared at him as if she wanted to give him the finger, but she reached into her pocket instead, and handed him the keys without a word.

Benji retrieved the bouquet he’d brought for Sloane from the ground and got into the driver’s seat.

“Those are for me, I presume.” Her voice was softer. Apologetic.

“Oh, yeah. Here.” He handed her the flowers that looked the worse for wear after he’d clenched them in a Vulcan death grip and then dropped them to keep her from falling. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he mumbled bitterly.

“Snapdragons.” She whispered the word as she inhaled their scent. Suddenly tears were running down her face.

“Are you in pain?” He gripped her arm.

“Yes, but that isn’t why I’m crying.” She sniffled. “It’s these stupid hormones and...” She sniffled again, louder this time. “You remembered that I like snapdragons.”

Benji sighed and gave her a pained smile despite the anger that was burning inside his chest. “I remember everything about you, Sloane. No matter how damn hard I’ve tried to forget.”

* * *

Benji’s words hurt.

More than the physical discomfort of one of the twins bouncing on her bladder while her belly felt as if it was being squeezed in a vise.

He’d tried to forget her. Meanwhile, Benji had been all she could think of even before she’d learned she was pregnant—with twins, no less.

Because when she screwed up, she did it big.

She’d spent the two months after their night together regretting that she hadn’t taken him up on his offer to join him in Japan, daydreaming about their incredible night together and wanting him. She’d been so preoccupied with work and thoughts of Benji that she hadn’t noticed that she’d missed not one but two periods. Until the sudden, severe case of morning sickness she developed made it clear she was pregnant.

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this.” Sloane stared out the window, not wanting to see the hatred and disappointment in his eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His words vibrated with hurt and anger. Pain.

“I know I should’ve, but...” She turned toward him, needing to see that he was okay. She licked her lips, her throat incredibly dry. “This isn’t what you signed up for. We agreed to a one-night stand, not an eighteen-year commitment as parents. Besides, you made it pretty clear that kids weren’t something you wanted.”

“I was speaking in generalities, Sloane.” He clenched the wheel as he turned a corner.

“You said, and I quote—”

“I’m aware of what I said. I remember everything that happened between us that night.” He took another sharp turn, following the directions of the GPS app. “But how could you think that meant I wouldn’t take care of my own flesh and blood, or wouldn’t want to know that I have a son or daughter somewhere out in the world?”

“It’s both.” She winced again, pressing a hand to her belly, trying to calm herself as the pain got worse. “A boy and a girl.”

He glanced at her quickly before returning his gaze to the road. “Does this happen often? The pain, I mean?”

“Not like this.” Tears stung her eyes, more from fear than from the pain. It was too early for the twins to be born. Not if they were going to be okay. She forced a laugh. “Usually it’s just discomfort from your son bouncing his big head on my bladder and your daughter doing some kind of calisthenics. I swear, that girl is going to be a gymnast.”

“Everything is gonna be okay.” He reached over and squeezed her hand, despite the reserved anger in his tone. “First, we make sure you and the babies are all right. Then...”

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” she said, grateful to see the hospital sign come into view. “I promise.”

* * *

Benji hadn’t stopped pacing outside Sloane’s hospital room since they’d admitted her.

He was going to be a father of two babies—a boy and a girl. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. He’d been responsible and used protection every time they were together.

How could this have happened?

Benji’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he glanced at the screen. It was his mother. Probably checking to see if he’d returned safely from Japan. But he didn’t dare answer the call. Not yet. Not until he’d gotten some definitive answers from Sloane about why she hadn’t told him he was going to be a father. Regardless of what he’d said that night, he couldn’t believe that was the only reason Sloane had kept something this important from him.

He respected the fact that it was Sloane who was carrying these babies, but they were half his, too. What about his right to know? And to be part of his children’s lives? Sloane’s father had left home when she was around ten. She understood the pain of living without a father. Why would she intentionally subject their kids to the same fate?

The door opened, and the doctor introduced herself and invited him into the room where Sloane was hooked up to an IV. She gave him an apologetic smile before lowering her gaze to her hands, which were pressed to her belly.

“Is Sloane okay? Will the twins be all right?” he asked Dr. Carroll.

The older woman placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Sloane is going to be just fine, Mr. Bennett. She’s experiencing something called Braxton Hicks contractions. It’s basically the uterus practicing up for child labor.” Her smile deepened. “They’re usually painless, but Sloane is experiencing particularly intense ones today. She’s dehydrated. That likely contributed to it.”

He nodded dumbly, his hands shaking and his head feeling light. None of this seemed real.