He cheated i chose two firefighters novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

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When I became pregnant, I didn’t ease him into it. I marched into his office and slapped the positive test on his desk.

His face tightened. “What the fuck? I thought you were on birth control.”

“I never said that.”

“I wouldn’t have fucked you raw if I’d known.”

“You shouldn’t have fucked me at all.”

His voice dropped, urgent and ugly. “You need to get rid of it. If Lila finds out, she’ll leave me.”

I stared at him. “Um, what? No. This is our baby. We made it out of love.”

“Love?” He let out a harsh laugh. “I never said I loved you. You’re a good, easy fuck. You let me do things Lila won’t.”

“Then leave her,” I purred, leaning into the edge of the desk. “And you can do those things

to me whenever you want.”

“Fuck no,” he snapped. “I love Lila.”

“You love her?” I barked out. “If you love her so much, why cheat?”

“It was a mistake.”

“A mistake is once,” I yelled. “We’ve been fucking for three months straight!”

I paced, anger simmering into calculation. “Maybe I’ll just go to her work and tell her. When she leaves you, we can be together.”

His eyes went sharp with panic. “Don’t do this, Sloane. I’ll do anything. I’ll give you money.”

That stopped me cold.

Because money–that was real. That was leverage.

“Okay,” I said, tasting the power in it. “You want this baby kept quiet? I’m telling you right

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now, I’m not getting rid of it.”

“Yes,” he said immediately. “Anything.”

“I want a million dollars.”

“Done.”

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I stared, stunned despite myself. He didn’t hesitate. Didn’t bargain. I knew he was rich, but

not like that.

A month later he handed me a check for a million. I deposited it the same day. I also told

him he would be paying the taxes.

He barely blinked. Said it would be handled, just send him what he needed.

Then he told me to leave Las Vegas.

So I did.

I moved to Arizona. I lived well for a while. Ever had a good childhood there–good schools, good clothes, good everything. And then the money started thinning, because a million feels endless until you’re feeding a life you created and you refuse to live small.

When it got tight, I found other sources. Affairs with married men. Pressure. Threats. Blackmail. It worked–until it didn’t. Eventually they got sick of paying for their sins and

confessed to their wives, and the town got too hot.

I left Ash Fork fast.

Oklahoma came next. Then, after a couple of years, Montana.

Now I’m here.

My phone alarm chirped, yanking me back into the bathroom. I snatched the test off the

counter.

Fuck.

1

Either it’s too early or I’m not pregnant.

I needed Brennan to fuck me again.

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So I waited until he got home. I grabbed the bottle of wine I had spiked with r–hypnol and stepped outside like I was just a neighbor being friendly. Then I marched to his door and

knocked.

He opened it and looked down at me like I was something he’d scraped off his shoe.

“What do you want, Sloane?”

I tried to drift forward so he’d retreat and let me slip inside. He didn’t move an inch.

“Won’t you invite me in?” I asked, voice sweet, playful.

“No. Now what do you want?”

“Come on, Bren. We’re friends. I can’t stop by and see a friend?”

“We are not friends,” he said flatly. “I told you I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“But you can’t really mean that.”

“I do,” he said, jaw set. “I’m fixing my life. I’m working on myself. I’m staying sober, because

drinking is when I make really bad choices.”

Well, shit.

“That’s great,” I said, putting on supportive innocence like a mask. “I’m here for you.”

“Thanks,” he replied, not softening. “But I can’t be around you. My therapist says any relationship with you–even ‘just friends‘–is bad for my mental health.”

He kept going, like he needed to say it out loud to believe it. “You were a catalyst for my

marriage falling apart. And the other catalyst is my hero complex. I didn’t even know I had

one. Apparently it’s what you call it when you feel like you have to rescue someone.”

Utter bullshit, I thought.

He wasn’t done. “I wanted to save you and Ever because my mother didn’t have anyone. I wanted to be the man she didn’t get.”

I tilted my head. “So all that help–none of it was because you actually wanted to?”

“No,” he said, then corrected himself, frustrated. “I did want to. That’s the problem. I saw

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you two and convinced myself you needed me. But I did it while my marriage burned. I

couldn’t balance both.”

“And what about the way you looked at me?” I pressed, forcing my voice to stay light. “The

attraction. You wanted me. I know you did.”

“I didn’t,” he said, hard. “Being around you, fighting with Scarlett, being sexually frustrated because she and I weren’t having any–and then alcohol on top of it? I made shitty choices.”

“You weren’t drunk when you pinned me against my door frame,” I shot back, desperate

now.

He didn’t flinch. “Like I said, it was a mistake. I told you then, and I’m telling you now. Stay away from me. I’m selling this house soon. Goodbye.”

He started to close the door.

I huffed and turned away before he could see what I was thinking. I walked back to my place, slammed my own door, and screamed into the empty room.

This wasn’t over.

<He Cheated; I Chose Two Firefighters