Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

with an impatient swipe, as if the tears were pissing her off. “A couple of months later, the doctor told me we could try again. Things with Peter had seriously disintegrated, but we both still wanted a baby so we made an effort to fix what was wrong even though I already knew it couldn’t really be fixed. For a while, though, things were better. A year after the miscarriage, I got pregnant again, but I didn’t know. It was an ectopic pregnancy. Do you know what that is?”
    Nick sat up, reached for her hand and tried not to be hurt when she brushed him off. “I’ve heard of it.”
    “It’s when the embryo implants outside the uterus. In my case, it was in one of the fallopian tubes. I was home alone when the tube erupted. I had almost bled to death when Angela found me.”
    “Jesus, Sam.”
    “I was in the hospital for more than a week that time. It was the most painful thing I’ve ever been through—physically and emotionally. I lost the tube and one of my ovaries. Because of some other problems I’d had with endometriosis, my doctor told me it was unlikely that I’d ever conceive again.”
    All at once Nick understood what had her so worried. “It doesn’t matter, Sam. Not to me. If that’s what you’re worried about, don’t.”
    “But you want a family. You deserve a family after growing up without one.”
    “We’ll have one. We can adopt. There’re millions of kids out there in need of homes. It doesn’t matter to me how we get them.”
    “But—”
    He leaned over and kissed her. Hard. “No buts. You’re the key to everything. I knew that years ago when I first met you, and I know it even more now after living without you for so long. You’re what I need most. We’ll figure out the rest.” Caressing her cheek, he added, “You’ve already given me so much that I’ve never had before. I don’t want you to spend another second worrying about the one thing you can’t give me.”
    “I told you I’m on the pill, but I’m not. I don’t need to be, but I couldn’t very well blurt this whole thing out when we were about to make love the other day. I’m sorry I lied to you.”
    “That doesn’t even count as a lie, babe. When the time is right, and we’re ready to have a family, we’ll work something out.”
    “You should think about it. You should take some time to make sure—”
    He stopped her with a finger to her lips. “I don’t need to think about it.”
    The tension seemed to leave her body in one long exhale, and when he reached for her, she came willingly back into his arms.
    “Do you feel better?”
    She nodded. “I felt like I was deceiving you by getting so involved with you and not telling you this.”
    “You weren’t deceiving me. It’s part of you, Sam. It’s part of what’s made you who you are, and I love everything about you.”
    She ran her finger over the stubble on his jaw. “I used to dream about you when I was married. I wondered where you were, what you were doing, if you were happy. We only had that one night together, but I thought about you all the time.”
    The reminder of what they’d been denied made him ache with regret. “I thought about you, too. I read the paper obsessively, looking for the slightest mention of you.”
    “I did, too! I knew you were working for O’Connor. I even watched hours of congressional coverage, hoping for a glimpse of you, but you kept a low profile. I hardly ever saw you.”
    “My profile is probably going to get even lower.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I checked my voicemail at the office today. Got a few job offers.”
    “Like what?”
    “Legislative affairs for the junior senator from Hawaii, communications for the senior senator from Florida. Oh, and director of the Columbus office for the senior senator from Ohio.” With a teasing smile, he added, “What do you think about living in Columbus?”
    She curled up her nose. “Is there anything that wouldn’t be a major step down?”
    “Nope. But that’s how it works in politics. Your fortunes as a staffer are tied up in who you work for. If they go up, you go up. If they flame out, so do you.”
    “Or if they die…”
    “Exactly.”
    “So what’re you going to do?”
    “I’ve got some money put away, and there’s that money coming from John, too, so I’m not going to make any hasty decisions. In fact, it might be time for a change.”
    “What kind of change?”
    “I used to toy with the idea of going to law school. It’s