Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

Then again, I met him because of a chance encounter at a Christmas party.
I guess people meet all sorts of ways.
Before I left the store, I bought a super soft baby blanket I just loved. It was white with dusty
pink giraffe spots and pink satin trim around the edges. I realized almost immediately that buying it
would only encourage Calvin, and I didn’t want him to come home and see it, so I asked Hollis to
swing by my apartment before he took me home so I could stash it there.
“Not a word about this, you hear?” I asked as I climbed back in the limo.
He didn’t confirm or deny whether he would keep my secret, but I took it on faith that he would
keep his mouth shut—at least, unless Calvin somehow explicitly asked about it, but that seems
entirely unlikely.
Chef Ryan shows up before Calvin to start dinner. I ask if he needs help with anything even
though I know he doesn’t. Then I decide to make the most of my “phone time” before Calvin gets
home and takes it away again.
I start off with distractions— emails that aren’t crucial, logging into my mobile app game for a
bit. But now that I’m back at Calvin’s after buying that baby blanket, my mind seeks out darker places.
He’s normally on the couch beside me when I have my phone. I have a little privacy, but not
enough.
Today he isn’t here, and I have a lot weighing on my mind, so I take a darker path down memory
lane—a foot path obscured by forest that I would ordinarily pick up the pace near so I could escape
without it touching me.
There’s a question in my mind that I don’t want to ask. I don’t really want the answer. Under
ordinary circumstances, I wouldn’t be interested in it. Some crimes are too heinous, and the people
who commit them don’t deserve redemption or second chances. My opinion on the matter is set, and I
have no interest in reevaluating.
That’s my philosophical stance on the matter, but this pregnancy requires a more practical one,
even if it’s deeply uncomfortable to think about.
I know there’s no chance I’ll be able to keep Calvin away from this baby if I have it, so the
question must be asked.
Can a rapist be a good father?
bar.
I shudder just thinking it, but I’m committed to my course now, so I type his name into the search
I pull up the page of the man who makes me sick. I haven’t looked at his profile in ages, and
looking at it now makes my stomach feel all wonky.
When I looked on a particularly dark night several years ago, I saw that he had a daughter. A
little blonde girl with blue eyes and his nose who stood beside him smiling and holding his hand,