She rubbed her stomach ruefully, one hand still tangled with his. “I am pregnant, and the baby is yours. Only yours. I screwed up royally in Paris, by leaving, by running away from all of this. And I know you won’t be able to forgive me for my stupidity in thinking that I’d be better off away from you. Now that we know Ivy was trying to ruin our lives... Well, it’s too much to ask you to open yourself to me again. But if you’re willing to make a go of this, of us, I am, too. And if not, I will understand.”

“And the baby?”

She smiled. “I will see him or her as a blessing, now and forevermore, no matter what happens.”

“So you’re keeping it?”

She nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. “Yes. I am. We’ve lost too much already, don’t you think?”

Ethan stood and walked out of the room.

Sutton sighed, sipped her tea. She couldn’t say she blamed him. It was a lot to dump on a man. I thought you killed our child, I thought you’d kill me, too, so I ran away and screwed another guy, and oh, by the way, now I’m back and knocked up, and aren’t you thrilled, it’s yours!

A minute later, she heard him coming back. She set down the tea and moved forward in her chair, leaning toward the doorway. When he appeared, her breath left her.

He held the pregnancy test she’d taken before she left in his hand.

Ivy was with him. And she had a gun to his head, and a crazy smile on her face.

“Hello, Mom. Did you miss me?”

The Reckoning

THE RECKONING

Ivy tugged roughly at Ethan’s arm, pulling him into the room. His face was ashen. He was trying to tell Sutton something using only his eyes, but she couldn’t understand. She was too focused on Ivy, and the snub-nosed revolver, and the blood on her hand, casually trailing down her arm, disappearing into her sleeve. Where was the blood from?

“So, Mom, I must say, I’m impressed. You have it all figured out, haven’t you? You’ve written my villain’s speech and now we get to end things. Is that what you think?”

“The police—”

“Are otherwise occupied.”

Sutton heard the sirens now, insistent and frantic.

“What did you do? Oh, Ivy, what have you done?”

“I did what I had to. She should have left well enough alone. Now...” She shoved Ethan and he stumbled toward Sutton. “Sit. Both of you. We’re going to have a little chat.”

Ethan put his arm around Sutton, his grasp warm and sure. She felt his strength, felt him reassuring her. “Why are you doing this?” Sutton asked. “Why?”