Free Crash: A Bad Boy MMA Romance by Haylee Delane Page B

What would happen to me if I had a baby? I couldn’t possibly tell my mother and Don who the father was. I couldn’t tell anyone. What would they think of me? What about my career? There’s no way I could make it through my resident schedule in the ER, being pregnant or having a child.
    “Now that we’re all here,” Don said. “I wanted to talk to you about the Crash situation.”
    “I think it’s wonderful that you found out that you have a son, Don,” my mother said. “I know you always regretted not having a child of your own.”
    Don reached over and took her hand in his, giving her an affectionate smile. “I’ve offered to let Crash stay here at the house since he is between places right now. His mother just died, and he had to clean up all of her things and vacate her house. From what I understand, he’s been overseas for quite some time. First with the military and then doing his mixed martial arts fighting in Brazil. Weren’t you just in Brazil recently, Harper?”
    “Yeah,” I said, not elaborating.
    “Anyway, he was there fighting for a year, so he doesn’t have a home per se at this time. I’ve told him that I could help him get into any occupation he chose, but he insists that he wants to continue fighting. I’m not going to tell him how to live his life. But I do want the opportunity to get to know my son.”
    “Totally understandable,” I said, pushing the eggs around on my plate. I certainly didn’t feel very hungry now.
    “So, we’ll all be living here together. One big happy family,” my mother said.
    “Sounds great,” I muttered.
    “That was the other thing I wanted to tell you about. It shouldn’t be any cause for concern, but since Crash is my only child, I feel obligated and responsible for him now. I missed so much of his life. He grew up poor, and I can’t help but want to make up for that. So I am considering changing my will to leave him half of my estate upon my death. I just wanted you to know that, honey. You will be my wife so it is something I should share with you.”
    “Oh, Don,” my mother said. “I think that’s wonderful. Even if I were to outlive you, what would I even do with all that money?”
    “So you’ve known Crash for one day, and you’re already making him your heir?” I asked.
    “Well, I want to get to know the man first. From what I can see, he’s a strong, independent, resourceful person. He loved his mother to a fault. I can already see that he is the kind of man who would honor my estate. But I’m going to give it a little time before I change the will. Like you said, I’ve only known him for a day. I don’t know his character yet. Who knows what could come up? If I find out that he is not the man I believe him to be, I’ll leave him a much smaller sum.”
    My knees began to shake under the table. Now there was a billion dollars on the line for Crash. It wasn’t just my good name that was at stake anymore, it was Crash’s inheritance. My parents could never know what happened between us in Brazil. No one could ever know that the baby inside my womb belonged to my soon-to-be stepbrother. It could jeopardize everything, for either of us.
    “Are you all right, honey?” my mother asked, noticing that I was shaking. I tried to get myself under control and force myself to smile.
    “I’m just tired. It’s normal. All first-year residents are sleep deprived,” I lied.
    “Maybe you should go back to bed before your next shift,” my mother suggested.
    “No, it’s fine,” I said. I began shoveling food into my mouth, wanting to end the conversation.
    I had way too much to think about. Was I going to let Crash’s baby grow inside my womb? Having it would surely destroy my future. It would destroy Crash’s chance of inheriting his father’s wealth.
    All his life, he had believed he didn’t have a father. I couldn’t imagine taking something like a billion dollars from him. Not because of a one-night stand we had in a foreign