Chapter Three

      Addie figured this was the worst way possible a man could find out that he’d fathered a child.

      But she hadn’t exactly had a choice about the timing of the news. Weston had come here to drop a bombshell that he wanted to use her to catch a killer, that the killer was actually after her, but she’d delivered her own bombshell.

      And it had stunned him to silence.

      Weston just stared at her for a very long time, and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. This pregnancy changed everything.

      At least it had for Addie.

      Maybe it would for Weston, too.

      Change him in a way that wouldn’t put her in danger. Three months ago, she would have been willing to do whatever it took to catch the Moonlight Strangler. Weston obviously felt the same way. Especially since the killer had murdered a woman he loved. But even though the killer had murdered her brother’s wife, Addie couldn’t allow herself to be used in this justice net.

      Unless...

      “Can you guarantee me that the baby wouldn’t be hurt?” However, she waved off the question as soon as she asked it. “You and I both know you can’t. The Moonlight Strangler’s smart. He’s been killing and evading the law for three decades, maybe more, and he might have already figured out a way to get around you so he could come after me.”

      Heck, the killer might have figured out a way to use Weston. Too bad Addie couldn’t think of how he’d done that, and she didn’t want to find out the hard way, either. This had to end.

      But how?

      “You’re pregnant,” Weston said under his breath. He groaned, and this time he was the one to do the stepping away.

      She couldn’t blame him for being stunned. The truth was, Addie had been pretty darn stunned herself when she’d first learned the news. She had always wanted children and figured that one day she would be a mom. She just hadn’t thought it would happen like this, with her being unmarried and with the baby’s father disappearing.

      Weston shook his head. “But we used protection.”

      Ironic that she had said the exact same thing to the doctor when he’d confirmed the pregnancy test results. That day, she’d said a lot of things, including some profanity in regards to Weston.

      “Obviously, protection’s not a hundred percent. Don’t worry,” Addie quickly added. “I was going to tell you if I ever managed to locate you, but I don’t need anything from you, including child support. Or any other kind of support for that matter. As far as I’m concerned, you won’t be a part of this.”

      The look he gave her could have blasted a giant hole through the moon. Weston’s eyes went to slits, and the muscles in his face turned to iron. “It’s my baby. I’ll be a part of this.”

      “That’s not necessary—”

      “I’ll be part of his or her life,” he insisted.

      All right. She hadn’t exactly counted on that reaction. “After you ran out on me, I figured...”

      Considering that his eyes narrowed even more, it was probably best not to finish spelling out that she didn’t believe him to be the sort who stuck around. Even for his own child.

      And then it hit her.

      Addie really didn’t know him. Didn’t know anything real about his life because of all the lies he’d told her.

      “Are you married?” she asked.

      That didn’t do much to help with those narrowed eyes. “No. I wouldn’t have slept with you if I’d been married.”

      She let that hum between them, but hopefully he understood what she was thinking. A man who’d lie and then have sex with a troubled woman didn’t exactly have a stellar moral compass.

      “And no, I’m not involved with anyone,” he went on. “Not now, and not when I was with you.”

      “Why did you sleep with me?” she demanded.

      Mercy, she wanted to kick herself for blurting that out. Not because she didn’t want to know the truth.

      She did.

      But Addie was a thousand percent certain that she wasn’t up to hearing it spelled out now. Not with all the other news that Weston had just delivered.

      Now he looked at her, and that wasn’t a glare in his smoky brown eyes.

      Nope.

      It was a look he’d given her many times over the three days when they’d been together. It was something she felt right after she first met him.

      Something she didn’t want to feel, but Addie felt it again anyway.

      The heat came like a touch. Barely a brush against her skin. But it rippled through her. Gently. At first. Until the ripple became a tug and made her recall exactly why she’d landed in bed with Weston.

      “Yeah,” he said. “Remember now?”

      Since a lie would stick in her throat, Addie settled for a nod. “But I slept with you only because of the attraction. Can you say the same?”

      No quick answer. Not verbally anyway, but she got another glare from him. She’d always thought Jericho was the king of glares and surly expressions, but right now Weston had her brother beat by a mile.

      “Like I said, that wasn’t part of the plan,” Weston finally repeated. “It just...happened.”

      She had the feeling he’d intended to say something else, but it was best if this part of the conversation ended. Addie didn’t need any other reminders of the heat that’d been between them then.

      And now.

      “Sleeping with me wasn’t part of this grand plan you keep mentioning,” she said, trying to get her thoughts back on track. “But leaving was.”

      “I left because of the letters,” Weston clarified, though she didn’t know how he managed to speak through clenched teeth. “The killer warned me to stay away from you.”

      Addie hadn’t thought there’d be any more surprises today, but she’d been wrong. Her heartbeat kicked up again, drumming in her ears. “Why did he give you a warning like that?”

      “He didn’t want us teaming up to find him,” Weston readily answered. “He said he’d kill you if I stayed. That you’d live if I left.”

      That