Chapter 11

• Today was the day.
• I was going to tell Christian the truth about my pregnancy. Even though I hate to admit it, Marc was absolutely right. It made no sense to hide or to run away from the situation when he was going to figure it out either way, so it would be for the best if it came from me.
• I looked at the leather jacket in my hands and straightened it. It was the same jacket he had given me the day he had brought me home and I had yet to return it, he didn’t even ask for it.
• I know I was over-analyzing things as usual but if he was going to treat the baby like the jacket I did not had much expectations. To be honest, I didn’t had any expectations at all so I was prepared for the worst. I did not want his support, I did not want his money, I just wanted him to know and that’s all. The last thing I planned on doing was forcing him to be a dad when I wasn’t all that ready to become a mom.
• I got out of the car and made my way to the front of the club. The back door was something I would not be using today, because even though the girls weren’t here yet I didn’t want any of the staff to be in my business or to put two and two together about why I was here, looking for Christian, while I was supposed to be sick.
• I stood on my tippy toes to reach the small doorbell and hoped for it to get answered by someone decent who wouldn’t be asking too many questions. “We’re closed.” A voice I had recognized as Gio growled. Out of all people, it just had to be him.
• “It’s me, Serena!” I called out, as I tried my hardest to hide my nerves, but he didn’t make it easy. “Serena who?”
• Serena who? After a half-year of working at the club, I had at least expected him to know my name by now. “Serena Reyes?” I spoke unsure. It was cold enough as it was and the fact that he was interrogating me really didn’t make it all that better. “System says you’re sick, what is your business here?”
• Since when did they do stuff according to the system?
• “Well...I have something to tell Christian.” I answered. It was not too late to turn back around. Yes, I could still run away and use Gio treating me like some intruder as an excuse. “Gio stop bullying the poor girl, it’s cold outside, no one’s here for your stupid games.” I heard Enzo’s voice.
• I heard a sigh escape from Gio’s mouth before he finally decided to open the door, so I could enter the building. Just entering through here instead of the back felt different and it had looked the same as it did when I was here for the first time. In front of me was a front desk and on the ground floor, there were different entrances. One for the restaurant and one for the casino while the one for the club was upstairs, at the top of the escalator.
• The woman at the front desk gave me an uncomfortable smile and probably thought of a reason why I would even be here in the morning while everything was still closed. The poor woman must’ve thought I was someone important. “G-good-morning!” She greeted me.
• I was not in the mood for any more of this awkwardness, so I quickly made my way upstairs and pushed a button which led to the infamous second floor. The floor I had been a few times too many these past months if you’d ask me. The first time was six months ago when Lucio had hired me while he could clearly see that I was desperate for the job, the second time was when Christian took me to his office, the third time was when I got picked out to serve the men, the horrific moment I would never forget, even if I wanted to— the fourth time was when I asked Enzo to place me behind the bar for the night and this would hopefully be the last time, to tell Christian that I was pregnant. Quite some timeline.
• I planned on telling him about the pregnancy and would dip before he got the opportunity to freak out. After all of that I would go home and call Lucio to tell him the truth and quit my job, a perfect plan.
• I held the leather jacket to my stomach and took literal baby steps as I tried to stretch time before I reached his office. I had the urge to turn back and was close to panicking but realized I couldn’t. All I had to do was tell him and that was it, after that, I would be free.
• “I can do it, I can do it,” I whispered to myself and took a deep breath.
• “So how is that conversation with that door going?” I heard Christian’s voice call out from the inside and could almost drown in embarrassment. For a second I forgot there was a camera meaning he could see every little thing I was doing.
• I slowly opened the door and saw him seated behind his desk with a stash of papers in front of him. Paperwork? For what reason did these people even do paperwork?
• I shrugged off my thoughts and tried to focus on what was really important at the moment. He continued what he was doing and did not even look up to see me. He usually looked different from his brothers and ditched the fancy clothes, but this time he wore a suit and somehow seemed even more threatening than he had already been. “Your business here?” He spoke while I flinched.
• “I have something important to tell you,” I told him as I cut right to the chase. Christian chuckled and looked up to meet my eyes. “What’s that important that you came all the way out here while you’re still looking like a donkey’s backside?”
• Ouch...
• It was weird knowing this was the same guy who was nice enough to let his friend check up on me, but he probably did it to stay on his dad’s good side.
• He looked in my eyes and waited for me to speak, but I chickened out and did not know what to say anymore. “Do you remember when I was here like three months ago?” I suddenly blurted and mentally smacked myself when I saw the look on his face.
• “Of course, are you here for a round two?” He frowned. I felt my cheeks flush red and lowered my head. “Because I can’t give you that, so if that’s all, do you mind?” He spoke as he guided his hand to the door.
• “I-I have your jacket!” I barely managed to get out. Christian looked from the jacket in my hands to me and gave me an eye-roll. “You came all the way here to give me back one of my many jackets? Keep it!”
• I took a deep breath and tried to prepare the words in my head but I couldn’t. I came all the way over here to tell him two simple words, but it were two words too many.
• “No I really can’t, I actually looked it up online and it’s more expensive than all of my clothes throughout the years put together. Not to say that I wear extremely cheap clothes because I don’t, but even if I did, that would be okay because I don’t grow a money tree, but I also don’t wear expensive clothes, I just wear... I don’t know but five-thousandth for a jacket is a bit too much and-“
• “I’m not going to have this discussion with you, it’s way too early for that. Keep it, leave it, whatever pleases you.” Christian ended my rant. I had a habit of embarrassing myself and had done it once again, but that was not the main issue. The real issue was that Christian couldn’t have been more unbothered and to be honest, that scared me.
• I knew a baby was definitely different from a jacket, but the least he could at least pay attention to me. “It’s not about the jacket, it’s about something else,” I whispered. My heartbeat was out of control, my palms were starting to get sweaty and my head was spinning. It was now or never. I took a deep breath and gathered all of my courage to let the words even escape from my mouth.
• “I’m pregnant.”