Chapter 3

Luci's POV

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. This doesn't even look like me…at least, not the image that usually looked back at me. Instead of my normal wavy brown hair that shone with vitality, blue eyes, and flawless olive complexion, I saw someone with splotchy skin, reddened eyes from crying, and lackluster hair scrunched into a ponytail.

I washed my hands and thought about how this all came about. One broken condom and my life had been changed forever. I'm twenty-three years old, you'd think I'd know better… Now all I can do is wait for the doctor to come in and deliver the sucker punch that my suspicions are true and I am indeed expecting a baby.

My thoughts went back to the last time I saw Lester.

I was in the library studying for mid-terms when the vibrations from my phone alerted me to the fact that I had a text message. I checked to see who it was and frowned as I saw that it was from Lester. I'd told him that I had some serious studying to do so I was surprised to see the text. Normally when I had a project due, he'd wait till I sent him a text that I was done. We'd been seeing each other for about eight months and I regretted that my school work seemed to be getting in the way of our relationship more and more, especially since I'd started the Master's program.

I opened the text to see; Luci, I know your busy studying for your exam, but you still need to eat so why don't you meet me at Olive Garden at six? I know how much you love their food and I really need to talk to you.

I looked at the books in front of me and felt a bit overwhelmed with everything that was on my plate at the moment. There was so much pressure at the moment that I was rethinking all this shit I was putting myself through. I don't think Lester realized everything I was going through. I'd tried to explain it but his standard comment was; we all have shit to deal with.

Over the past couple of months, since the fall semester started, he seemed to be less and less supportive in regards to my course work. When I had told him about studying for the mid-term and not seeing him for a couple of weeks until it was over, he'd gone all cold and uncommunicative.

I looked down at my phone again and gave a deep sigh. The growling of my stomach decided the matter for me since it was already after five and I'd need to leave now if I was going to get to the restaurant in time. I texted him back that I was on my way and then sent a quick text off to Vinny to pick me up in front of the library.

Vinny works for my father and was my chauffeur slash bodyguard. Although I spent an equal amount of time being grateful as resenting his presence, Vinny was a great guy and we'd become friends over the years.

Once we got to the restaurant, Vinny opened the door for me and offered his hand to help me out.

I looked at him hesitatingly and he sent me a wink before saying, "Giorgio is inside."

I grinned cheekily at him and said, "Thanks."

The minute I walked into the restaurant, Giorgio stepped up to me and smiled. "Right this way mademoiselle."

He led me to the table where Lester was already seated, a glass of wine in his hand and from the bottle on the table, I could see that it was my favorite, Moscato.

I stopped beside him and leaned down to kiss him.

He kissed me, but it wasn't with the usual passion he puts into his kisses and I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

His blank look—the one that I hate—was firmly on and that gave nothing away as to what he was thinking or feeling as he said, "I already ordered for you since we're on a time crunch and I know you always get the spaghetti."

I sat down across from him and asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

He took a drink of the wine and I started wishing that I would've told him I couldn't make it. The way he was acting, this couldn't end well. He finally looked at me and there was a flicker of something in his eyes but it was gone before I could tell what it meant.

Lester set his glass down and said, "I know that your school work is very important to you, but I just feel you're giving me a lot of excuses lately. It was never this hard last semester to find time to be together."

"That's because last semester was just regular course work for my Bachelor's degree. This semester I'm in the Master's program and that work is harder."

He tilted his head to the side a fraction of an inch as one shoulder lifted slightly. "That may be so, but the fact is we're barely seeing each other, so maybe we should just make a clean break. That way you can give all of your time to your school work."

The room spun as I tried to deal with the pain his words brought. It wasn't like I hadn't known this was coming. He'd told me when we first met that he did two things, work and fuck, he didn't do relationships.

"Is this really about my schoolwork? Or is this about you doing what you do best? Fuck and run… Or in this case, quite a few fucks."

If looks could kill I'd be six feet under. The ice in his gaze gave me a chill and made me wonder if he'd ever thought kindly of me.

"If that were the case, then I should have fucked and run about six weeks ago since you haven't been living up to your end."

I gasped as pain sliced through me. "I told you from the start how important getting this degree was to me. I don't think you really cared about me at all."

He sneers. "I told you, all women are just fucks to me. Some better than others. When you want to, your one of the best… But I'm not willing to put the effort into it that you've been demanding lately."

If I thought the pain was bad before, it was even worse now. Anger had always been my go to when I was overwhelmed with emotion, and it was no different this time. I lifted my head and forced myself to focus on the anger that was building inside me. "Maybe you're right, Lester. Maybe I should concentrate on more than school."

The waiter reached our table as I stood up and I paused to smile at him and asked, "Can I trouble you to make mine to go? And how about throwing in three pieces of cheesecake?"

He looked a bit dazzled but nodded his head as he moved to do as I'd asked

I turned back to Lester and said, "I guess this means I can accept a date from that new guy that just moved in across the hall from us. He's asked several times and I've turned him down since I was seeing someone. That's no longer true so I guess I'm a free agent."

Lester's look was pure rage and it frightened me more than a bit. His tone was lethal as he said, "As I said, you're a good fuck when you want to be. I'm sure he'll enjoy you."

Tears pooled in my eyes as I said, "You're a bastard, Lester. I'm giving you what you want. For what it's worth, I do love you… I don't know why with the way you just treated me, but feelings aren't that easy to turn off."

I'd thought we were good together and he at least liked me… that's the impression he'd given me.

The waiter reached us with the food all bagged up and I took it from him before saying, "Thank you. He'll be paying the bill."

I turned and stormed off only to turn around and head back. I grabbed the wine and said, "I need this more than you do."

The sound of someone knocking on a door brought me back to the present. I heard the doctor greeting someone and knew that I still had time before I would see him. I had more time to stew before the blow came.

I knew already that I wouldn't be contacting Lester. I'd brought up children once and his response was an emphatic no. That was okay… my dad would have my back and I knew I could count on Stephanie. And then there was my stepmother, Elana—well, actually, she was more of a mother to me than mine had ever been. She was my Mother's younger sister and she'd married my father after he'd divorced my mother. Everyone always commented that Elana and I looked like twins. I suspected that was the reason my mother hadn't made an effort to keep in contact with me. Of course, even if she had, there was no way my father would let me see her without supervision.

When my mother had left, she'd hooked up with a married couple. Seemed that both women had their own room and the man would visit whichever one of them that took his fancy at the moment. Of course, I'd only found out because when I was thirteen, I went looking for her. I made it as far as the curb in front of her house when Vinny found me. Instead of dragging me back home, he sat me in the car and we found a spot a few houses down where we could watch the house. The three of them had come home from someplace they'd been all dressed up for and they were all kissing on the front porch. I'd turned away and told Vinny to take me home and he did.

Once I'd gotten home, my dad had called me into his office and we had a long talk. That's when he told me reality can be a fine line or a fracture like the Grand Fucking Canyon, and she fell in.

Times like this, I really missed my best friend Nico. Although I loved Stephanie like a sister and she was a great friend, there was a special connection between Nico and me. We'd grown up together and he was my first. His uncle, Alexander, and my father were business partners and friends. It was Alexander who'd found Nico and me—Nico with my lipstick on his face and me with my T-shirt on backwards. If my father was the God of Thunder—which is how I referred to him when he was angry—then, Alexander was the Greek God of Fire.

After that incident, Nico had been sent to Le Rosey, Château de Rosey in Rolle, Switzerland, and I'd been sent to Ashville School in North Carolina.

That's when I'd grown really close to my current roommate and best friend, Stephanie Plum—the woman was a computer genius who could hack her way into anywhere and worked for Alex. I'd been at the school three months when I'd had enough and hitchhiked back to Deal. Daddy and Alexander had a talk after that incident and Alex suggested that Stephanie have an apartment in Ashville so that I could stay with her at night and on weekends. The two of them talked to Stephanie and she agreed with the proviso that I was okay with it.

No one had consulted me on important issues before and the friendship that we'd already developed over the years became even more cemented that day.

A knock sounded on the door once again bringing my thoughts to what was in store for me as I heard Stephanie say, "Luci, the doctor is ready for you in his office."

I frowned wondering why he wanted to see me in his office instead of just coming back into the exam room. Instead of wasting a bunch of time trying to figure it out, I made sure I was presentable before opening the door.

Stephanie smiled gently and placed her hand on my forearm as she said, "You're going to be fine. You'll get through this because I'm going to be right at your side."

There were tears in my eyes as I looked at her and whispered hoarsely, "Time to fall in the Grand fucking Canyon." For some reason, that phrase my father used to explain my mother resonated with me and seemed fitting.

Stephanie hugged me for a moment—neither one of us were huggers, but this seemed to work to make me feel less alone and like I'd get through this.

We walk into Dr. Thomas's office and he greeted us with a smile as he extended his arm and motioned for Stephanie and me to sit. He started to speak and I felt like he was talking in a foreign language because I couldn't wrap my head around what he was saying. He paused and smiled again, whether it was genuine, or more than likely because of pity, I couldn't tell for certain. After a moment he said, "I can tell from your actions and the look on your face what you want the answer to be… I'm sorry, I can't tell you that. You are pregnant. From the information you gave us as well as the tests results, your due date should be around the beginning of July, officially the fourth. Of course, we can make arrangements to alter that if that's your wish."

I was frozen in place. I knew what was coming but I was still totally unprepared. It felt like forever before I was able to look at Stephanie.

She took hold of my hand and squeezed, then looked at Dr. Thomas and said, "She wants this baby regardless of circumstances."

Dr. Thomas looked at me and his face seemed to gentle. "I'm giving you a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and there are a list of recommendations that I'll have Cassandra, my nurse, give you that will let you know what to do in certain situations as well as what to expect over the next few months. Your body is going to be going through a lot of changes and the most important thing to remember is to give yourself time to adjust."

I knew that what he was telling me was for my own good but I just wanted out of there.

Stephanie seemed to understand without my even having to say a word because she said, "We'll both read through the information and we really appreciate your fitting Luci into your busy schedule. I think we should leave now and maybe next month we can go over everything else."

Dr. Thomas nodded. "Of course." He stood and saw us out.

I headed directly to the waiting room where I stood looking out the big picture window while waiting for Stephanie to take care of everything. I knew it was wrong of me, but she'd been taking care of me for the past eight years so I knew she would handle setting up the appointment and getting the information the doctor promised. My eyes widened as she joined me with a large bag of "parting gifts".