Page 61 of Cocky Tech God

I turned, my gaze catching on Hansen sitting with Calista at a couch tucked near the back. My heart stopped. My breathing stopped. He held baby Joy in his arms. The smile on his face was enough to soften the cruelest person. And he looked so…fatherly and at ease with holding the infant. No question, he was meant to be a father. His words came back to me about how many children he wanted.

Nausea set in. And the longer I stood there watching him, I knew he should have them. An army of them. All of his own DNA. I couldn’t give him that, and I should have told him the truth the first time he asked me. Once he learned the truth, he may feel betrayed. Lied to. I’d already been through this before, and the pain was too excruciating to take a second time.

I pivoted away from the bar. From Hansen. And just as I did, I received a message.

Unknown: A room has become vacant. Please come to reception to claim your keycard to room 624. Thank you. Ritz-Carlton Hospitality Services.

Hansen

The second I received the text message from the hotel, I excused myself from visiting with Calista and Joy. I’d run into them after my meeting with Brett Doran ended. Lucia had never come down to the bar as we discussed she would for a break and networking. Maybe they were on the verge of a fix and time got away from her. But a dull ache moved through my chest. I couldn’t shake it. Something was wrong.

I left the bar area and took out my phone just as I entered the elevator and selected the eighth-floor button. There I read a message from the Ritz Hospitality service. Immediately, waves of adrenaline ran through me, sizzling my nerves. Lucia hadn’t sent me a message. Had she seen the text from Ritz-Carlton Hospitality Services?

As soon as the elevator doors opened again, I darted down the corridor in a full sprint to our room. I opened it to see Lucia standing in the middle of the room with one of her bags, plump with items, slung over her shoulder. All her bags had been packed. I stalled at the door because the sight made my legs weak as jelly.

“What’s going on?” I asked with measured pace. Had she found out that I’d failed to give her the message about an upcoming vacancy? Did she think I’d lied to her? Manipulated her to spend more time with me?

She dropped her purse. “Getting my own room finally.”

The air left me. I couldn’t take in a single breath. What was going on?

“Why?”

I advanced toward her, feeling stronger by my sheer desperation alone to not let her walk out of my life, because that’s what it felt like was happening.

“This isn’t going to work.” She bent over to retrieve her purse. “I don’t know why we thought it would.”

“What happened in the last two hours, Luci?” I reached for her, needing to feel her skin on mine. She stepped back, leaving me with nothing but coldness.

“I’ve just made the realization that we are not a match in any way.” Her hard stare met mine. It was as if she hated me. She continued, “And this is not us anyway. You don’t have relationships and neither do I.”

“I asked you if you had feelings for me. You said yes, and I believed you. I still think you do. Not think, I know you do.” I scrubbed my face. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Why you’re putting on this tough girl act.”

“It’s not an act.”

“Bullshit.” I was angry now. “Tell me what the fuck happened.”

She turned her eyes to the floor, and I swore I saw them water a split second before.

“I’m…”

“You’re what?” I demanded. Without finesse, I reached out and forced her to look at me with my hand under her chin.

She pushed me away. “I can’t give you what you want.”

“You already are giving me what I want.” Was this about me asking her to move in? Had I spooked her? “If this is about what I said earlier, about you moving in—”

“I saw you holding Joy. At the bar.” The tears bubbling in her eyes fell over her cheeks. And she brushed them away. “You were holding her, and you looked happy.”

I had never been more confused in my life. “Yeah, I was happy. She’s a sweet baby. But you aren’t worried that I’m hooking up with Calista, are you?” That would be insane.

“No, I don’t think that.” Her lip quivered. “I didn’t tell you the truth.” Her voice trailed off.

I stepped toward her, wanting to pull her into me, but she resisted and stepped back again. I asked, “About what?”

She shook her head. “That’s not in the cards for me.”

“What isn’t?”