Free Relentless (Relentless #1) by Alyson Reynolds

anything else. “It’s time guys. I’ll call if I need anything. Stephen hand me my phone, please. Why don’t you take the girls to the pizza place you found down on the boardwalk?”
    It was surprising they left so easily. Weariness shaded my expression as I looked over at Jaxon, reluctant to start the conversation. The last time this hadn’t gone so well. I maneuvered myself to the other side of the couch, so I faced him without touching.
    “So what do you need to say, Jaxon? You said quite enough last night, but if you want to call me a slut again, go right ahead.”
    He cringed and I watched him run his fingers through his hair and tug on the ends.
    “I don’t know how to tell you how sorry I am for last night. How I acted was unacceptable and it makes me sick to my stomach to realize I frightened you and treated you like that. Yes, I know I scared you, I noticed every time you took a step back.” I took in a sharp breath. It hadn’t occurred to me to hide that I was scared last night, but it was surprising he noticed as gone as he was. “I was drunk and thinking about things from my past that I had no business remembering. I took my anger and confusion out on you and I regret it. I’m so sorry, Violet. I’m so sorry that I fucked this all up. We should be overjoyed at this news, not fighting back old demons.”
    His accent grew thicker as his deep voice shook. He rubbed at his eyes and dropped his head into his hands as he continued, “I had an ex lie about being pregnant. She cheated on me and got knocked up by some guy, but she told me it was mine. She deceived me and I believed it because I loved her. I almost married her before I figured it out. Finding that test yesterday freaked me out. Everything I thought I had worked through came rushing back. You wouldn’t do that, we’ve talked about our pasts and I know how Aaron treated you. I feel like the biggest dick in the world right now for reacting like that.”
    This had to be the story that Taylor had told me last night. He brushed the high points, but there had to be more to the story. If this relationship went any further, I would have to make him tell me the whole story. I paused to gather my thoughts before I spoke.
    “I can accept the fact that you’re scared, because I sure as hell am too, but I can’t accept how you treated me. You were a different person, Jaxon. You scared me when you looked like you were going to rip the chair apart with your bare hands.” I took a deep breath before continuing.
    “It’s going to take a lot for me to forget the hatred in your eyes. I’ve never seen that side of you before, and I sure as fuck better not see it ever again if you want to be around your kid.” I sighed. “You aren’t the only one that fucked up though. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about the test when I took it. When it came back positive, I panicked. Some of my own stuff came flooding back that I had to deal with. I was planning on telling you last night, but Zac made me go to that awful charity gala and it took forever to get out of there. If I would have told you then, all this could have been avoided.”
    My eyes welled and I sniffed as the waterworks started again. I was so tired of crying. My body was exhausted from the past twenty-four hours. His gentle fingers wiped at my tears, and I felt his lips softly press against my temple.
    “I will make this up to you, and our baby, Violet. It kills me to think the first talk we had about him or her was so full of hate. I wouldn’t blame you if you want to walk away from me and just expect me to pay child support. That’s not what I want, but I don’t deserve anything I want right now. Even though you waited to tell me, I’m not sure my reaction would have been much better if you had told me as soon as you found out. I probably wouldn’t have been drunk, but it still wouldn’t have been pretty.”
    We sat there in the quiet. He pulled me back and my arms wrapped around him.