PREGNANT FOR THE WRONG MORETTI

CHAPTER TWO: THE MYSTERY MAN

The ride back home was pensive, Marie entered her room like she was a ghost of herself, her eyes blazing, tears had refused to fall since the hospital, not like it would help, but maybe it would actually, she could let out the heavy pain in her chest,

The blood test had confirmed it, the scan had sealed it, showing eight weeks gone, how possible could it be? She was already eight weeks gone, and she saw the tiny heartbeat on the screen,

Eight whole weeks of a life growing inside her, and she hadn’t known. Or maybe she had…maybe her body had been sending signs, and she had just been too confident about the protection Ricardo used that night, or too mentally occupied to even notice.

She collapsed backward onto the mattress, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. Her breath caught as tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, rushing down into her ears.

“God… no…Marie what have you done?” Her voice breaking as fresh tears welled up in her eyes, she rested her hands on her lower belly, with care, pain, and confusion.

The room was awfully quiet except for the faint sound of music penetrating through the door, from the music blasting in Jessie's room downstairs, and the few times she heard her Mom's footsteps.

What would she tell her?

Mom, I’m pregnant for a married stranger I met in a hotel bar?

“Mom, I don’t even know his real number or where he lives.”

“Mom, I'm not sure he'd want this baby.”

Getting rid of the baby was one thing she never thought of, killing a child growing in her while she's still crying over the one that was taken from her? Hell, No! That's never an option!

Her chest tightened. A lump clogged her throat.

Or maybe she should disappear. She had done it before.

The memory hit her like wind…Angelo. She had loved him to a fault, she was barely nineteen, scared and naive.

When her Mom tried to stop their relationship, she had packed a bag and vanished from her mother’s house for over a year. No calls. No trace. She lived with Angelo in a town far away from Monterey, thinking running would fix her life, life was peaceful until Angelo vanished with the baby.

But running away didn't help, it bred even more problems for her, ones she hadn't been able to share with her family, ones that drove her crazy when she thought about them, Angelo had disappeared with their baby, their Son.

Marie closed her eyes tightly, trying to stop the flood of memories, but her brain ignored her plea and dragged her backward… back to the night everything changed. The night she met Ricardo.

That evening was one of those evenings when Angelo's betrayal hit her hard. Pictures of her little boy, Nathan, kept flooding her eyes. Searching for a child no one in her family ever knew existed,

She never believed Angelo could turn against her, and took her son away from her, that thought devastated her, she needed to escape from her own mind.

The mansion felt empty always, she couldn't speak to her Mom, she always had one business deal or another to attend to, and even when she tried to listen, her business calls were endless, she paid least attention,

“I have to keep the company afloat, it's your father's legacy” she'd always say

And Jessie? She was the last person to want to listen to Marie,

“We’re sisters, not friends,” and her eyes always blazed each time she said that, Marie had no idea where all that hatred came from.

So she drove.

Forty-five minutes to Santiago. Far enough that no one recognized her, and no one could take pictures of her from somewhere in the background.

She had walked into the bar, a few stares here and there but she wasn't bothered, she had driven that far to avoid those bars in Monterrey, where almost half of the people would recognize her, but right here, she knew they stared at her, for her looks and not for her name,

No one knows her name over here; a tight black dress, round around the hip, and shimmering red lips, eyes as bright as ever, hiding so much pain and betrayals.

She sat at the bar on a tall stool and ordered tequila.

She had lost count of how much she already had, but she needed to drown herself in them, to forget her worries. She ordered more.

That was when he walked in.

A man in his fifties, tall, and broad-shouldered, he smelled too good for just a random nobody, his confidence affected the entire room, though his eyes were hidden under the dark shades he still had on at the time

Marie didn’t look at him twice, until he held her wrist, she was about to throw another shot down her throat.

She turned, slightly startled, her eyes searching his face

He didn’t smile. He didn’t speak. He just gently lowered her hand, letting the shot rest on the bar.

“You’re drinking like someone who wants to burn their own throat, or are you on a mission to burn up your liver too?” he asked, voice smooth, deep, calm.

She stared at him…tipsy, annoyed, curious.

“And?” she asked, her words soft but sharp,

He had offered to listen to her yell and speak out about all that was bothering her.

Marie blinked at him. No one talked to her that way. Not like they understood she was breaking.

The alcohol didn’t help. Every word she said carried so much bitterness, she wondered if she would ever be able to see her son again. It's been 9 years… She laughed out loud, trying to cover up her pain. She flirted, teased, and waved her fingers in front of his chest.

“What’s your name?” she murmured.

“Ricardo,” he answered, removing his shades just enough for her to see tired, dangerous eyes.

She lifted her face a little. “Are you married?” she slurred.

He was slow to answer. “Married…” he said slowly. “Technically.”

She laughed. Loud and careless. So did he. It was the kind of laughter that comes from people who are both broken in different ways.

“Take me to your room,” Marie whispered, her hand sliding over his chest, and bears.

The elevator doors seemed to hide them perfectly, Ricardo pulled her against himself, his hands firm around her waist, then he took her lips in firm possession, she kissed back instantly, her hand tugging at the edge of his tie.

He lifted her off the ground, like she weighed nothing, her laughter echoed as he moved down the hallway that led to his hotel room, her heels dangling in her hand, right at his back.

As Ricardo undressed her, she lay back on the bed enjoying every bit of what he was doing to her body.