Chapter 26.

To the guest reviewer that says Manny raped Olivia, I think you need to read chapter 20 again. He actually didn't. Also, I know I promised the paternity test in this chapter by it didn't fit and so, next chapter?

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All that morning, he looked at Olivia as if she were new and he didn't recognize her. He got up from the bed after Zara came in and "woke" him and he immersed himself in his daughter from that point on, not wanting to think about what he'd heard Olivia say but how could he not? She admitted to cheating and as he stood with his back to the counter, drinking a glass of pomegranate juice while Zara sat and ate her breakfast, babbling on about something or other, he was an absolute wreck. Having moments like now where he imagined her lying down and there was some man on top her her, in between her thighs. Thighs that were meant for him only and that man was in her most secret place- his place and he was fucking her and she enjoyed it!

Who was it? When? And did he know the guy; the guy that he'd fucking demolish when he found out who he was?Did she enjoy him, did he make her cum?He was jarred from his thoughts when he heard Zara calling to him as Olivia entered the room, having just showered and dressed, and saw the glass that was now broken in his hand, dripping blood and juice where he stood and Olivia came running.

"Baby, are you alright? Let me me see." She said in a panicked voice as she held his hand up and over the sink.

Does she call him 'baby'? He wondered as he stood there, motionless, just looking at her.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Zara asked him, scared of the blood and having abandoned her cereal and strawberries.

"I'm fine mi amor. And I'm sorry I scared you." He apologized while Olivia rinsed his hand and took out the glass that she saw.

"I don't think you'll need stitches, but-" She began as she dried his hand with paper towels. He had a huge cut on the heel of his hand and she did stop the bleeding but she was worried. Nick just shrugged it off, moving his hand from her grasp and heading towards the back of the apartment.

"I'll be fine." He said as he disappeared, leaving Olivia confused.

"Mommy-" Zara called to Olivia for assurance.

"He's okay peanut. Don't worry." She said and picked the child up, caressing her face to comfort her while being bewildered at the sudden change in Nick. "All done with breakfast? Yeah? Why don't you go and pick out what you wanna wear today before I leave?"

"Can I pick anything?"

"As long as it's in your closet." Olivia said, secure in the fact that they put away Zara's summer clothes weeks ago.

"Yay!" She said and hopped down, running to her room. Olivia took a minute to look back at the mess on the kitchen floor and went to clean it before heading back into the bedroom to see what was bothering Nick.

"I never meant to do this; never meant to cause this… I wish that I could take it back; I wish I could go back and undo it! ...I will never be unfaithful again. He thought of her words and they literally made him sick as he went running for the toilet and released the anger, the hatred and betrayal he felt. How could she? It was the same question he'd been asking himself all morning. How could she?He straightened up and flushed the toilet, going to look at himself in the mirror and he felt the tears again. This wasn't like it was with Maria. He'd known exactly what she was from the beginning but he wanted to provide a home for his baby but Olivia; he knew her. Two years they dated before they were engaged and six months before they got married.

"Two and a half years!" He seethed. "Two and a half fucking years and she does this!"

With Olivia gone to work, Nick spent most the day with Zara. Making sure she had fun before he dropped her off to his mom's house. He knew that he'd promised Zara that this weekend was for the three of them. but he had questions that he just couldn't ask with her around and so, he called his mother to see if she could take her for the weekend.

Olivia on the other hand had such a busy day at work that she had no time to think about Nick's attitude and when she did get a minute later in the day, Casey was on that time with news of her own as they sat in her office.

It was strange, she should have been feeling some sort of jealousy at the revelation that he'd apparently gone straight from her house and picked up a woman but surprisingly, she wasn't. She and Casey both knew why Casey wanted him but it was more than that on his part. When he'd run into Casey and they ended up fucking, did he not think that Casey would tell her everything? They were best friends, of course she- son of a bitch!That's why he didn't want to sleep with her the first time they went out. He knew that Casey would tell her and then she wouldn't want anything to do with him but last night he was upset and so he figured-

What an ass! She laughed to herself.

"I'll tell you something and you were right" Casey said. "I can hardly sit down...god, that man has a huge dick and he knows quite well how to use it!"

"Runs in the family." Olivia said, thinking of Nick and how they drove each other insane this morning with their lovemaking. She took a sip from her smoothie and smiled knowing what he had in store for her tonight.

Nick was a mess. When he dropped Zara off, his mother could see that something was bothering him but he told her that it was nothing, that he and Olivia just wanted some time and he left before she could put in more questions.

Since he got home he's just been sitting there at the kitchen counter, not moving an inch but thinking. Maybe he'd heard her wrong except he didn't, though he wished to god that he had. He took another sip from his beer and flexed his hand that he'd cut earlier then picked up his phone from the counter. 7:32. She'd be home soon and he wondered what the hell he'd say to her when she walked through that door.

Coming into their building she couldn't wait to get upstairs to Nick. Now that she'd gotten Manny out of her system, she wanted more than anything to be with Nick and to show him just how much she loved him and that she was committed, heart and soul to this relationship.

"Hey Olivia." The blonde older woman from their floor said as she got out of the elevator.

"Mrs. Longworth, hi." Olivia smiled as she got the mail from the box and locked it.

"How's Thursday for Zara?" She said. She was an old woman, widowed, and she loved taking Zara to Museums when she had the chance in between her work.

"Thursday's fine. She's already excited."

"Oh good. Well, I can see you're in a rush so I'll let you up to that husband of yours. You say hello for me."

"I will." She said as she ran and caught the elevator.

She remembered after Zara had woken up crying last night, she'd had a long moment where she lay there in bed thinking and she decided that she had to let it all go. When she thought of everything that she and Nick had been through together, everything they meant to one another, she knew that she'd been stupid and reckless but never again. And when Nick came home this morning and they made love, reconnected, she knew it even more, Manny and her infatuation with him was over! She had what she'd wanted, what she'd wished for since she could remember; she had her family. She had a husband who loved her and a child that she adored and who adored her and she had these babies on the way. She could feel them inside in spite of the doctor saying it would be a few months before she would actually but she knew better. She had bonded already with these babies, even before, when she thought that there was only one of them and she felt them lying in her womb protected from anything that could hurt them. And soon they'd be out, in the world, in she and Nick's arms and when she thought about it, she felt so grateful for Nick and for second chances, even if he didn't know that he was giving her one.

She began rubbing her stomach as the elevator came to a stop at their floor and she got out balancing the bag she was carrying that contained the takeout she bought for dinner, along with her purse and the mail while trying to find the house keys as she walked the hall to their apartment.

...

Inside Nick was still sitting at the counter when he heard the front door open and shut. He listened while she hung her jacket and purse and then dropped her keys in the bowl on the small table by the door before she came into the main area, carrying a bag and looking at the mail.

"I was thinking, maybe we shouldn't find out what I'm having in a few weeks. This will probably be our only pregnancy and I kind of want to be surprised." She said as she sat the bag and mail down on the counter and kissed him before she noticed how quiet it was. "Baby, where's Zara?"

He was so detached as he kept looking at the beer in his hand, and tears started to form in his eyes. "My mom's house." But she had already gone to the bedroom to take off her gun and put it in the lock box.

"But we were gonna watch Cinderella again." She yelled from the bedroom. Nick didn't answer, just continued to sit there, staring into nothing. After a couple minutes, she came back into the kitchen. "Baby, did you hear me?" She asked as she began unpacking dinner. But Nick was still somber for a moment passed, a moment where he gathered the nerve to ask Olivia the question that he was sure he didn't want the answer to.

"When?"

She looked at him from where she was standing. "When what?"

"This morning, after we made love..." He said as the tears came to his eyes. "...and you thought I was asleep, you…"

By this point, she'd stopped unpacking and was standing there looking at him in shock.

"Nick; I can…"

"I heard every word. "...I will never be unfaithful again." Unfaithful." He said as his tears dropped and he got up and walked around to where she was standing. When she saw his tears, her heart broke clean down middle. "That was the hardest part; because here I was thinking that we were happy!"

"We are happy." She said to him as her own tears rolled down her face. "I swear we are…"

"When?"

"Just let me-"

"When?"

She hung her head looking for the words. "I'm sorry." She cried in a voice so low it was almost unintelligible but then the sob came and with it, her voice and she came undone. "I never wanted this to ha-"

"Tell me when."

"Nick-"

"When Olivia?"

With her shame all over her face and the tears that couldn't wash it away, she looked up at him.

"It...oh god!" She cried. "It was two...two weeks before our wedding…" She said with lost breath, in between sobs.

How could you do this to me; to us?" He cried, trying to hold his tears but they fell. "How could you do this us mami, how?"

And when she answered, she gave him the truth through her tears.

"I don't know, I don't…"

"You don't know… What about me? Huh, what about Zara? Did you even think about us?"

"I didn't think baby, I know. I just..."

"You just what? What Olivia? Did you think at all that this would end us?"

"Don't say that!" she cried, putting her hand on his arm to see him recoil from her touch. "We can talk about this, let's just..."

"Is it someone I know?"

"Please don't do this-" She said walking away but he wasn't having any of it and walked up behind her, taking her arm to turn her back around to face him. Tears be damned, though it hurt him to see her crying, she 'would' answer him.

"Who was it, Olivia?" He had expected her say it was a guy she met at a meeting, or an old lover but he wasn't prepared for what she actually said as she looked down, still crying, unable to meet his eyes and with great hesitation.

"Your brother."

He didn't even know it was happening. In an instant, he'd grabbed her up by her neck, something he'd never done before to any woman, and choking her with absolute rage! He pulled his hand back to hit her but just as his hand was an inch from her face he stopped and he looked at her. She was terrified and had absolute fear in her eyes. In that moment, he saw his father in himself and immediately let her go. He looked at her, standing there against the wall with her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach, shaking and he snatched his keys from the kitchen counter and turned to leave.

"Nick…" She called to him but he didn't stop. He didn't turn around as she followed, he just kept walking out the door. "God!" She yelled, clearing the table in the hall with one swipe of her hands, sending the key bowl, lamp and other trinkets falling to the floor amidst a loud clang as she pushed her hair back and sank to the floor in the small entryway and cried.

"What have I done?"

Instead of going out that night, Manny had no business to tend to so he opted to get Casey over and with her not having any plans (that she would have cancelled if she did) she jumped at the chance telling him she'd be there quickly.

He knew that she wouldn't waste his or her time with small talk. She was coming for one reason, to fuck. And as soon as she came in the door, he planned to be on her, stripping her fast and fucking her slowly. He wanted it to last so she'd have even more to tell Olivia. Right now, he was standing against the window, talking to her on the phone with face time.

"I need you out of those pants!" Casey said referring to his cashmere sweats that he was wearing with no shirt and that already hung ridiculously low on his hips.

"How do you know I'm wearing any?" He laughed just as there came pounding at the door and he looked over his shoulder. "I'll get rid of whoever it is." He said as he went toward the door. "When you get here, I want you in that bedroom, ass up and naked when you get here." He said and hung up right as he opened the door and Nick's fist came flying at his face, knocking him backward. He was so stunned by the hit, he fell down and Nick walked into the suite as he came at him.

"You fucked my wife?!" Nick said as he pulled Manny up, his mouth bleeding. "I let you into my home and this is what you do? You fuck my wife?" He knocked him on his ass after punching him the jaw, hard. "GET UP!"

"That's 2…" Manny said from where he lay wiping the blood trickling from his mouth before he got up. "You don't get any more freebies!"

"You son of a bitch!" Nick said and ran at him, knocking him into the coffee table and broke it, landing another punch before Manny scrambled and turned them, putting Nick's back against the floor and punching him in the kidneys, then his jaw, completely taking the breath out of Nick.

"I didn't want you to find out like this hermano!" He said as he punched Nick again in the face. Luckily Nick recovered quickly and when Manny was going to deliver another punch, Nick blocked it, hitting him in the nose, then the jaw and knocked him off, quickly getting up and standing over him, his own blood dripping from a cut to his cheek.

"You son of a bitch!" He said, straddling Manny and just pummeling him. it was like he was possessed and just kept delivering blow after blow as Olivia came running into the suite.

"Nick stop!" She cried as she saw Manny on the floor, blood running from his nose and mouth and Nick beating him senseless. "Baby please!" She begged but he was beyond angry at that point and went back to beating Manny. "Nick, that's enough!" She screamed, literally pulling him off of Manny.

"You don't tell me when it's enough!" He yelled, escaping her hold on him and wiping his own blood from the cut on his face with the back of his arm.

"I came to stop you from doing something stupid, what the hell are you thinking?"

"Now you're worried about me? Tell me, were you worried when this piece of shit had you on your back fucking you like a common whore? Huh, were you worried about me then?"

She stood there trying to keep her tears at bay but the hurt she felt... "I deserve that." She said in a muted voice that was laced with the tears she so desperately wanted to cry.

"Yeah you do; deserve that and a whole lot more!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Manny said but Nick didn't even regard him.

"So how many times did you enjoy your little boy toy, huh? How many times did he laugh behind my fucking back because he was fucking my wife?!"

"Please don't-"

"HOW MANY TIMES?!" He yelled, causing her to jump as her tears came in huge drops.

"Three!" She finally broke into sobs. "It happened three times...but Nick I-"

"Jesus! Are these even my babies?" He asked through tears the question she didn't want to ask herself but now had no choice as she looked at him, the sorrow of the world weighing on her. The fact was, as much as she hoped and prayed that the test would tell her what she wanted to hear, right now she just didn't know. And that, more than everything broke her heart. Except now, she had to break his too.

"Let's talk about this at h-"

Manny got up from the couch. "You don't have to answer that; you don't…" But Nick was enraged and he charged at Manny, the two of them about to come to blows yet again but Olivia quickly got in between them.

"Nick please!" She begged. "Let's just go home and talk about this, please!" But he just laughed with tears in his eyes before he looked down at her.

"We don't have a home anymore; you made sure of that when you took him to bed! You wanted him so bad?" And he turned to his brother. "Enjoy her, you two deserve each other!" He spat, then walked out.

"Nick…" She wept but he kept going. "Don't, let's just…" But he walked out the door, and she stood in the middle of the living room crying, holding her stomach and wondering what the hell happened? Everything had just collapsed beneath her and when Manny came up behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and thinking that he was making it better. That his touch could fix the problem, she lost it.

"You'll stay here. There's no reason for you to go back."

"You don't get it do you!" She screamed, angrily and in tears. "I don't want this and I don't want you!" Then walked away, leaving him standing there.

TBC… Please review.