His Dangerous Love On Ice Chapter 86: Olive's Pov

"I'm pregnant."

A voice rang out through the open space, breaking through mine before I could finish what I was saying.

"I'm pregnant and today was supposed to be about Hunter, about me announcing my pregnancy, but no... it always, always has to be about Janet judging or finding a new fault or trying to pin me with some accusation."

My mother's voice broke through the silence, and my jaw dropped, hanging open like I'd forgotten how to close it, and the next second Grayson was standing beside her, holding her and staring at her like she'd just announced the world was coming to an end.

"What? You are..."

She nodded, and I could see the way her eyes turned glassy, the way she stared at me with pure happiness radiating from her face, and every thought of being angry just disappeared into nothing.

"Oh my God, Mom..."

I whispered, walking towards her and pulling her into my arms, hugging her so tightly I could feel her sniffing into my shoulder, her body shaking slightly with emotion.

"I'm sorry, Peach," she said, pulling back to look at me, and I saw the guilt written all over her face. "I wanted to break the news to you personally, but you stopped living with us and you never accept my invitations to come see me."

The words hit me harder than they should have, and I felt a tinge of guilt settle in my stomach because she was right, I'd let the whole Zane situation affect the people I loved, had let myself get so wrapped up in him that I'd forgotten about everyone else.

"You're pregnant, that is..."

"Good news, Janet," Grayson said, his voice firm as he held my mother tightly and stared at her with so much pride in his eyes it made my chest ache. "We have double celebrations here."

"Now what does that mean for me?" Hunter asked, confusion raking across his eyebrows, and I tried not to smile watching him process this. "That I'll be a big brother or something?"

My mother nodded at him, and he walked over to hug her gently, carefully, like she might break, and I chuckled watching my family celebrating together, watching how Janet stood there in complete silence with her lips pressed into a thin line like she was physically restraining herself from saying something terrible.

And then she started speaking, because of course she did.

"I'm so happy for this good news..."

I watched as everyone cheered, completely forgetting about the entire argument that had been happening between me and Aunt Janet just moments before, and I felt myself being pushed to the background of the scene, like I was watching it happen from outside my own body.

I needed some fresh air, needed to check for any important messages from Brenda or maybe from Zane, needed to get away from the suffocating feeling of being in that scene.

The second I stepped out onto the patio, my phone beeped, and my heart raced with the stupid hope that it would be Zane, God I was going insane over him, but somehow he'd managed to slip into my head and my mind and was slowly getting under my skin in ways I wasn't ready to think about.

But when I looked at the screen, I froze, my heart stopping for a second at the message I'd received.

‘Do you want to know the real secret Zane Mercer has been hiding?’

I stared at my phone, then checked the number trying to figure out who had sent it, but it indicated a private number, someone who knew how to bypass encryption and stay hidden.

I sighed, thinking it might have been one of those crazy fans of his who didn't have a life to live and spent their time harassing people online for fun.

Just as I was about to turn my back and walk inside, my body rammed into something hard, and a hiss came out from my lips as I tried to understand what I'd just crashed into since I knew there wasn't a wall beside me.

But it wasn't a wall.

It was a person.

A tall and large person who felt like he was made of solid muscle.

The stranger stared at me slightly, hands reaching forward as he tried to hold me steady so I wouldn't fall.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Oh, I think I was the one that needed to apologize," I whispered, hoping I hadn't just proven how dumb I was by walking straight into another human being.

"No, you didn't, I did..."

He stopped mid-sentence, his lips quirking up at one corner like he was trying not to smile.

"I think none of us want to let go of who's at fault here," he replied, and I chuckled despite myself, still straightening my shirt where it had gotten twisted.

"Haha, okay, I'll have to accept your apology then."

He just remained quiet, watching me in a way that made my skin feel warm.

"I haven't seen you before," I said, trying not to stutter because I couldn't help but be amazed at how incredibly handsome he was, the kind of face and demeanor that made him completely unforgettable. "Your face doesn't look familiar."

"No, we'd be meeting for the first time, I presume," he said, stretching his hand towards me. "I'm Alonso."

I stared at his hand for a second, at how incredibly large it was, maybe even larger than Zane's, and I internally shook my head at the thought because I shouldn't be thinking about Zane right now, not when I was supposed to be taking a break from thinking about him.

I took his hand, feeling the way it engulfed mine completely like I was holding onto something that could crush me if it wanted to.

"I'm Olive," I whispered, pulling my hand back immediately.

"So who invited you?" I asked, and for some reason I was trying way too hard to be on my best behavior, I couldn't pinpoint why but there was something about Alonso, about the way he looked at someone, mesmerizing and deep like he was trying to find a connection or a bond, which startled something within me that I didn't want to examine too closely.

I'd never felt anyone enchant me so quickly with just their gaze, but he did.

"Your cousin," he said. "I owed her one, and that was coming to her other cousin's celebration. I was just stepping in when we had our catastrophic accident."

I chuckled at his words. "That wasn't catastrophic."

"No, it wasn't," he replied, and I instantly went silent when I saw him staring down at my clothes, his eyes traveling over the fabric in a way that made me clear my throat.

His eyes rose up to catch mine, and for a second it felt like I was lost in them, those silver eyes that were one of a kind, so delicate yet screaming danger in a way I couldn't explain.

And suddenly I saw him come closer towards me, and then his hand slowly found my chin, fingers tracing along my jawline and down towards my lower lip in a touch that felt way too intimate for someone I'd just met.

"Yes, I didn't get to ruin that expensive dress of yours," he murmured.

"Olive..."

A voice called out from behind me, a familiar voice that was enough to make me freeze completely, and I knew exactly who it belonged to before I even turned around.