Tides

30 | a true monster

Ashton digs at his hair and bows his head in defeat. "T-then we just won't have kids. I'd rather have you than a family."

"I want to have kids, Ashton." She reaches over and touches his leg. "This is more than just for you. It's for me too. I want to bring life into this world. Vincent has taken so much from us. Do you understand that?" She touches his face, bringing his attention to her. "He's taken so much. I'm not letting him ruin another thing for us. I want to do this. It's my choice."

"Ria," he exhales and touches her hand against his. "I can't take a chance of losing you."

"You won't lose me. We can go to the doctor and figure out my chances and everything I need to do to increase our odds."

"No. I don't want to take a chance."

"Everything is taking a chance, Ashton. Everything. Even without the injury, there's a risk during birth."

The argument dies in his eyes and is instead replaced with grief; the saddest shade of blue she's ever seen. He holds the sides of her face and places his forehead against hers. "I swear to god, Ria. If I lose you." His voice cracks. "If anything happens to you..."

"It won't." She fights back tears and musters up a shattered smile. "We're going to make it through this."

"I hate to ruin your little moment," Chris snarls, "but being optimistic means shit to logic."

Ria snaps sharpened eyes to him, ready to cut like glass. "Having hope is not illogical."

"Vincent ripped a fucking blade into your stomach and you had to get surgery. The doctor said it'd be nearly impossible to get pregnant again. If you do, the process will kill you."

"Could. It could. Doctors can be wrong. I'm pregnant again, aren't I?"

He claws at his face and then drives his fingers through his hair. "Because that woman gave you some suspicious drugs to increase your chances!"

"Is that the deal you made with Camilla?" Ashton rubs his face. "What the hell have I done getting you involved with these people?"

"It's okay," she insists. "We're pregnant now. All we have to do is increase my odds of making it through this. You said you came up with a list of do's and don'ts, right?" She smiles and rubs her thumb along his cheek. "We'll go through everything. We'll do this right."

"Not if you're getting so stressed you pass out all of the time. How is it? Dealing with the mafia, Ria?" Sarcasm burns the delicate air alongside Chris' hatred. "Is it everything you've ever dreamed of from the love of your life?"

"How's being alone?" Ria snaps.

Chris narrows his eyes. "It's great thanks to you."

"Don't blame this on me. You're the one who doesn't want to let me go."

He shoots forward in his seat and jabs a finger at her. "I tried protecting you from this monster that you're so blindly fucking in love with. We could have made each other happy, Ria. We did for four years."

Ashton drags in an agitated breath and shakes his head. "I can't possibly see how she dealt with you for four years."

"He was a different person back in college," she mumbles.

Ashton folds his hands and places a vacant glare on Chris. "So we can handle more pressing matters like my fiancée risking her life for our child, we need to move on from this blaming session. We only want to hear yes or no to this one question."

Chris' dark eyes fall to Ria's ring finger and his frame visibly crumbles. There's a brief look of distress that's gone so fast she wonders if it was ever there. "Daniel was the one who came to me about breaking you two up." His voice is monotone, eyes dead. "Your best friend sat back and plotted to take Ria away from you. He promised that I could have her again. Your best friend."