“Shh. Stop. She’s okay,” I cut him off and took hold of his hand in mine. “It happened while you were inside Tesco. The car was parked and you were both in an aisle inside the shop. She is okay.”
Physically okay, anyway.
“Thank God,” Kane breathed in relief. “That’s good.”
I nodded my head and let go of his hand when he glanced down to my hold on him. I busied myself with moving a chair closer so I could sit and talk to him.
“I’m... I’m a little surprised you’re here,” he said after a few seconds of silence.
I looked up at him and frowned. “Why?” I asked, slightly offended.
He shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t like me, Aideen.”
I huffed. “So? That doesn’t mean I want to see you dead.”
Kane smirked. “If I remember correctly, the last time we were alone together, you said you’d kill me yourself if I—”
“Do you want me to hurt you while you’re in this state?” I snapped. “We agreed to never talk about that night.”
Images of our bodies moving together from that night filled my mind, but I stopped that train of thought. I forced myself not to think about what happened. I pretended if I didn’t think about it, then it didn’t happen.
He lost his smirk and glared at me. “You agreed. Not me.”
I groaned. “Please, Kane. What good will come from people knowin’ what happened between us? I can tell you. Nothin’. Nothin’ will come of it because it was nothin’.”
“Kick a man while he’s down, why don’t you,” he growled.
I placed my head in my hands. “I didn’t mean it like that—”
“Then what way did you mean it?” he cut me off, his voice raised.
I kept my head down. “It was drunken sex, Kane. It was a mistake.”
“Yeah, well that mistake may be growing inside your body right now. I’m not stupid, Aideen. I may not remember fainting, but I remember everything else about yesterday. You might be pregnant, and we didn’t use protection that night. I can put two and two together. I’m not as dumb as you think I am,” he hissed. “Did you take a pregnancy test yet?”
I felt my eyes well up as I nodded my head. “I did, but then Keela phoned and told me what happened with you. Everythin’ was a little crazy after that. I forgot to look at the results.”
Kane’s voice was stern. “Go take one now. Ask a nurse for one; they will have them in their supply rooms.”
I looked up at him and frowned. “I can’t do it here.”
“Why not?” Kane asked, his face twisted in rage. “If you are pregnant it’s just a mistake, right? What do you care about taking a test in a hospital?”
I wasn’t sure why I was so upset, or why he was so angry with me. He agreed what happened between us all those nights ago was just an impulsive act. He knew we weren’t suited as a couple just as much as I knew it. We were the polar opposites of one another, and butted heads more times than not. We weren’t good together. We didn’t even like one another.
“Please, Kane,” I whispered. “I’m... I’m scared, okay?”
Kane remained silent for a long moment. “Fine. I won’t tell anyone we fucked, but I want you to go home and take a pregnancy test today and then come back and tell me the results. Do you understand me, Aideen? If you’re pregnant, that’s my kid in there too and I will have a say in what happens. Understood?”
I was frozen to my seat as Kane spoke. I had never heard him use that tone of voice before. It was cold and threatening and not at all the Kane I knew.
“You seem pretty confident that if I was pregnant the baby would be yours,” I began, “I want to know why you’d just assume it’s yours? I could have been with someone else around the same time.”
I wasn’t with another man before I fell into stupidity and slept with Kane. I would normally never lie like that, but his arrogance and controlling demeanour both scared and pissed me off.
“Were you with someone else?” Kane snarled, his hands balling into fists.
I kept my head down so he couldn’t see the truth in my eyes. “It’s not relevant unless I turn out to be pregnant. I’ll keep you posted.”
Kane sat up in the bed and I heard how laboured his breathing was.
“Aideen.”
One word and I was shitting myself.
“I understand you, okay? I’ll do as you asked and take a test, then let you know the results. Jesus.”