My Dad's Bestfriend

Chapter 213

Samuel

"You're too young for a baby, Evelyn!"

"Jacob's right—you should abort it!"

"No, you can't have a kid when you're still a kid yourself!"

"I'm going to kill that bastard!"

"Evelyn, think it through!"

A hundred pleas, a hundred desperate arguments-none of them mattered. She was hell-bent on having this baby. And truth be told, I couldn't force her. Danica and I had her when we were young too. Questioning her now would mean admitting we thought she was less capable than we had been.

And I refused to do that. My daughter could handle this. I knew she could.

As shocking as the news was, my bigger concern was Jacob. That piece of shit's reaction. I knew what this meant for him—how the word father terrified him, how much he hated himself for the blood that ran through his veins.

He didn't think he was capable of being a father because he was convinced he'd fail. I'd seen it in him for years—his greatest fear.

"Do you think Jacob's going to agree to this?" Clara asked, worry lacing her voice.

"I don't think so." I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down my face. "This is going to be a tough road for them —especially Jacob."

"You should talk to him." She stepped closer, resting a hand on my shoulder, her touch momentarily soothing me. Of course it was. This was Clara—my Clara. My answer to every storm.

"It won't work, babe," I murmured, tension coiling at the base of my neck, my blood pressure spiking. "My words won't change a thing. I've tried—his entire life, all through college, every time we met. His response has always been the same. It's not that he doesn't want to be a father. There were moments when he told me he wanted a daughter, how he'd give her everything. But those moments never lasted. At the end of the day, he always backed away, trapped in his own fears. I bet that asshole even made plans with Evelyn during his highs—dreaming about their future, their kid. And now, when the time has come, he thinks running is his only option, when facing it head-on is what he really needs to do."

Clara licked her bottom lip, concern flashing in her eyes. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "Wait? Let them deal with it?"

she said, her voice tinged with dread, as if remembering Italy— when they

his way out of the darkness, or he loses the only light he has.

***

Evelyn

pulled my attention from my phone. My gaze flickered up just in time to see Jacob step inside. It

suspiciously, "Guess

back of his neck, massaging the tension as

baby," he murmured. "Too many meetings.

even bother making deals with assholes?" I asked, raising a

most rich

an asshole too." I shrugged,

lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug before leaning in, his voice dropping. "But what really matters is... what am I to

gaze briefly dropped to the open buttons of his shirt draped

a soft

His lips parted slightly, but

can't keep avoiding this conversation, can we?" His chuckle was humorless, his voice strained. "Fine. Let's talk. But I want us to have this discussion in peace,

a bitter taste in my

Peace?

be peace when every conversation we had about this ended with him telling me to get

stop it. "How can there be peace

words physically hit him. He pushed off the couch, running both hands

he always look like he was on the verge

he really hate the idea that

finally turned to face me. "This is not the right

"Same old shit, Jacob. Try something new if you

of his nose, pressing his eyes shut

if this is some sort of inconvenience? And then you talk about

rose. "What the hell is there to control? It's not like whatever you say is going to