CHAPTER FOUR: When You Assume....
2000 Words
Five months.
That’s how long Duke had been looking for her.
Five months of dragging his best friend, Jax, from one crowded club to the next, chasing shadows and half-remembered faces. Five months of scanning dance floors, searching smoky corners, and asking bartenders about a woman with eyes like sin and a laugh that stayed in your bones.
Today was no different—until Jax froze.
They were cutting through a parking lot when Jax’s gaze locked on something ahead. His face went tight. “Duke—”
“What?”
“Nothing. Let’s go.” Jax turned, ready to steer him the other way.
But then Duke heard it.
Her laugh.
That soft, warm sound that had haunted him since the night they met.
He followed it like a man in a trance, and stopped dead.
There she was, Charlene,standing under the glow of a streetlamp, hair spilling over her shoulders, a man kneeling in front of her.
The guy’s hands rested gently on her rounded stomach, his stomach and he pressed a kiss to it while she watched him with a tender smile.
It felt like a punch to Duke’s chest.
By the time his legs started moving, the man was already climbing into a taxi. The door slammed, the car pulled away, and it was just the two of them.
Charlene’s smile faded when she saw him.
Duke’s jaw tightened. “Five months I’ve been looking for you. And this is what I find?”
“Duke—”
“You used me as a stud, didn’t you?” His voice was low, dangerous. “You get your birthday fling, get yourself knocked up, and then what,vgo back to your husband? Let him raise my kid?”
Her eyes flashed. “That’s not—”
“No.” He stepped closer, anger radiating off him. “No man is raising my child but me. You hear me?”
Charlene’s hands went instinctively to her bump, protective.
Her voice trembled, but there was steel in it. “You don’t get to throw accusations without letting me speak.”
Duke’s eyes narrowed, jaw tight. “I saw him kiss you. Kiss my kid. What am I supposed to think?”
“You’re supposed to think before you open your damn mouth.” She stepped forward, tilting her chin up even though he towered over her.
His gaze flickered to her stomach, then back to her eyes. Something raw and dangerous softened, just a fraction. “Then why didn’t you find me?”
Her laugh was short and bitter. “Find you? I didn’t even have your number. You were the one who said you didn’t do relationships, remember? It was supposed to be a one-night thing.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You were asleep when I left,” she cut in, voice cracking. “And I… I didn’t want to wake up in the morning and see regret in your eyes.
For the first time since he appeared, Duke’s anger dimmed into something else, something heavier. Regret.
“I’ve been tearing the city apart looking for you,” he said quietly. “Every night. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And now, He glanced down at her stomach again, his hand twitching like he wanted to touch but didn’t dare. “Now I find out you’re carrying my kid.”
Charlene swallowed hard. “Our kid.”
They stood there for a beat, the air thick with everything unsaid.
Finally, Duke stepped closer, close enough that she could feel the heat of him. “You should’ve known better than to hide from me, Charlene.”
Her pulse kicked up. “You should’ve known better than to let me walk away.
Duke stood there, eyes locked on her belly like it was the center of the universe.
“Give me your address,” he said suddenly.
Charlene blinked. “Why?”
“Just give it to me, Len.” His tone brooked no argument. Against her better judgment, she rattled it off, watching him type it into his phone.
He didn’t touch her, didn’t say another word, just turned on his heel and walked away.
Charlene stood there in the parking lot, still rattled by the way he’d shown up out of nowhere after all these months… and even more rattled by the fact that she hadn’t told him the truth about the man who’d been kissing her bump.
By the time she got home that evening, she’d almost convinced herself she wouldn’t see him again.
Then the rumble came. Low, throaty, impossible to ignore. Not the sound of a motorcycle this time, but the deep growl of an old truck pulling up outside her house.
She opened the door just as Duke was stepping onto her porch, duffel bag slung over his shoulder like he’d been gone too long and was finally coming home.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice sharper than she intended.
He didn’t answer her question. Instead, his gaze dropped pointedly to her ring finger. “So… your husband home?”
Her heart stuttered. “I—”
“Good,” he cut in, his mouth curving into a wolfish grin. “Hope he’s into polyamory. Because I’m not leaving.”
Charlene’s mouth fell open. “You can’t just—”
“Len.” He stepped forward, close enough that she could smell the faint mix of motor oil and cedar that clung to him. “I’ve been looking for you for five damn months. I’m not losing you again. And I’m sure as hell not letting another man raise my kid.”
Her pulse pounded in her ears. She should tell him the truth. She should. But instead, she just stood there, trapped between the doorframe and the sheer force of him.
“You really think you can just move in?” she asked finally, crossing her arms.
He smirked, shifting his duffel higher on his shoulder. “Sweetheart… I already did.”
And with that, Duke brushed past her, boots heavy on the hardwood, claiming her living room like he’d built it himself.
Charlene shut the door slowly, partly to buy herself a second to breathe. When she turned around, Duke had already dumped his duffel on the couch and was looking around like he was taking inventory.
“You need better locks,” he muttered. “And curtains. Big windows like this? Anyone could see right in.”
“It’s a living room, Duke. People are supposed to see in.”
“Not to you they’re not,” he said, his eyes flicking down to the curve of her stomach before snapping back up to her face.
She bristled. “You’re acting like you have some sort of claim here.”
“I do,” he said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Right there in your belly.”
Charlene rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen, pretending she wasn’t rattled. She opened the fridge, determined to put a physical barrier between them. But Duke followed, leaning against the doorframe, filling it entirely.
“You eatin’ enough?” he asked, scanning the contents of her fridge. “Half of this is just yogurt and pickles. That’s not a meal.”
“I didn’t invite you here to inspect my groceries.”
“You didn’t invite me at all.” His tone held no apology.
She turned, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but the sight of him standing there—broad-shouldered, dusty from the road, looking like he’d walked straight out of the night they met made her words stumble.
“You can’t just move in without asking,” she said finally.
“I just did.”
The silence that followed was thick enough to choke on. Finally, Duke crossed the room, took the yogurt from her hand, and set it on the counter.
“I’m gonna take care of you,. Whether you like it or not.”
Charlene swallowed hard, every nerve screaming at her to push him away… and yet, she didn’t move.
That night, Charlene slipped into the bedroom with her phone, closing the door just enough to muffle her voice.
“Sheena, he’s still here,” she whispered, pacing beside the bed. “Yes, still. No, I haven’t told him yet. He thinks I’m married! He actually said, ‘hope your husband’s into polyamory.’ And now he’s acting like he lives here.”
Sheena snorted on the other end. “Girl… you’ve got yourself a live-in baby daddy. You’re welcome.”
Charlene groaned, sinking onto the bed. “I miss you so much. I love you for always dragging me into trouble—”
She didn’t hear the door open.
Duke leaned against the frame, arms crossed, brows drawn tight. “So that’s your husband you’re talking to?”
She froze. “What?”
“Don’t play dumb, Len. I heard you. ‘I miss you so much, I love you.’” His voice was low, but there was heat behind it. “If you’re gonna sneak off to call him, at least have the guts to tell him about me.”
She blinked, heart hammering. “Tell him… what?”
“That I’m here,” Duke said simply. “That I’m the father of his wife’s kid. And that I’m not going anywhere.” He took a slow step forward, eyes locked on hers. “Next time you call him, you tell him about me. And you stop telling him you love him and miss him like that,it’s disrespectful.”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. He didn’t wait for an answer.
“Dinner’s getting cold,” he said, and walked back out.
Charlene sat there, phone still in her hand, pulse racing for a very different reason than Sheena expected.
Charlene followed him into the kitchen, nerves fraying. “Duke…
He was pulling plates from the cupboard, moving like he’d lived there his whole life. “Yeah?”
She swallowed. “You might not be the father.”
His hands stilled for a fraction of a second before he set the plates down firmly. Then he turned, his eyes sharp. do I look stupid to you?”
Her lips parted. “It’s just—”
“We didn’t use protection.” His tone was calm, almost too calm.
She flushed hot. I didn’t think—”
“You didn’t think you’d get pregnant, or you didn’t think I’d care?” He stepped closer, the corner of his mouth twitching in something between a smirk and a snarl. “You told me it was safe. I told you I didn’t care either way. And here we are.”
Charlene’s throat tightened. “It’s… complicated.”
He leaned one hand on the counter beside her, caging her in without touching. “No, It’s actually real simple. Until there’s proof otherwise, that’s my kid. Which means I’m not leaving, and I’m sure as hell not letting some other guy play daddy.”
She searched his face for any sign of uncertainty. There was none,just stubborn, infuriating certainty.
“Now,” he said, straightening, “sit. Eat. You need it more than I do.
Charlene’s pulse was thundering in her ears when he suddenly leaned in, eyes narrowing.
“You let me take you raw.His voice was low, almost accusing but there was something else in it too. “Let me guess… he’s sterile.”
Her breath caught. “Who?”
“Your husband,” Duke said flatly, not missing a beat. “When’s he coming home?
He stepped even closer, “Because I’d like to be here when he finds out he’s not the one that put a baby in you.”
He turned away like the matter was settled, leaving Charlene standing there, heart pounding, wondering how in the hell she was going to untangle this before it all exploded
- Writer
