“I’ll figure it out as I go. What’s your concern?”
“Pia talks tough. She’s smart, she’s funny, she pretends nothing gets to her. But that’s not true. Crystal’s death hit her really hard. Before that…” He set down the weight again and straightened. “She’s had some tough breaks. Her dad died, her mom left. There were a few bad boyfriends. Nobody wants to see her get hurt. You mess with her, you won’t just answer to me. You’ll answer to everyone.”
Raoul had been a football star since he was sixteen. He was used to being the person everyone wanted to be with. The one who was liked.
“You’re saying I’ll be run out of town?”
“That’ll be the least of it.”
“I like Pia,” he said at last. “I’m not going to hurt her.”
Josh didn’t look convinced. “You can’t be sure.”
“I don’t want to hurt her,” Raoul amended. “I care about her, too.”
“I guess that will have to do for now. But if that changes, you’ll answer to me.”
“Think you can take me?” Raoul asked, not bothering to hide his amusement.
“Absolutely.”
Josh was in good shape and they were about the same height, but Raoul had a good twenty pounds of muscle on him. Not to mention years of playing football. Cycling wasn’t exactly a contact sport.
“I’m glad you’re looking out for her,” he said, because it was true. “Pia needs more people on her side.”
Josh studied him. “Nearly everyone would tell you she has the whole town on her side.”
Raoul had his doubts. “She’s a local girl and they like her. But who does Pia have that she can really depend on? One-on-one? She’s all alone in the world.”
A reality that was going to complicate her life when she decided to have Crystal’s babies. Babies no one else seemed to know about.
He thought about the soldier he’d known—the soldier who had died in his arms. What would Keith think about all this? Raoul had a feeling he would be pleased that his children were being given a chance but suspected he, too, would worry about Pia being on her own.
“You looking to change her situation?” Josh asked.
“I don’t do long term.”
“You were married. That the reason?”
Raoul shrugged and set the weight back in the rack.
Josh did the same, then hesitated. “I was married before Charity. It didn’t go well. Sometimes it’s not supposed to.”
Raoul nodded because he wasn’t going to have the conversation and agreeing moved things along. If he mentioned a bad first marriage, people assumed he’d been cheated on. Or had discovered Caro had married him for his money. Either would have been a whole lot easier than the truth. Hell, he would have preferred if she’d left him for a woman. But the real reason their marriage had ended gnawed at him. It woke him at night and left him wanting to scream at the heavens.
There were things that couldn’t be fixed, he reminded himself. Actions that couldn’t be undone. Like throwing a rock in a pond. There was nothing to be done but to wait out the ripples and hope no one got hurt.
He and Josh walked to the locker room. After showering and dressing, they agreed to work out together the following week. One of the things Raoul missed most about playing football was working out with his teammates. Josh could be counted on to push him. Sometimes Ethan Hendrix, a friend of Josh’s, joined them.
Raoul knew it took time to fit in a place, but he was willing to take things slow. He liked Fool’s Gold, so he was being careful not to make any missteps.
He left the gym, intending to go back to the office, but instead found himself walking home. He couldn’t get Pia off his mind. Kissing her had probably been a mistake but was worth it, he thought with a grin. Not only because he’d enjoyed the feel of her mouth against his, but because of the look on her face when he’d done it. Surprised didn’t come close.
He reached the small two-bedroom he’d rented and went into the study and booted his computer. When it was ready, he sat down and logged on to the Internet, then typed IVF into the search engine.
An hour later he had a clearer understanding of what Pia was going to go through. Two hours later, he knew there was no way he would ever agree to something like that. Not that it was physically possible, but still. Not only was Pia going to have to chemically prepare her body for pregnancy, she would be carrying triplets. Assuming all the embryos took. If they didn’t, she would have to deal with the loss and, he assumed, the guilt that went along with it.
Hard enough to be pregnant, but how much worse was it to be pregnant and alone, with no one to depend on? It wasn’t like there was a dad she could go after for help or financial support.