(Well…we all knew this rumor was coming.)

“Were you still in love with him?” an angry Joel Madden spat as Nicole Richie tearfully mourned the death of her former fiance, celebrity spinner DJ AM.

AM, born Adam Goldstein, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment of a suspected drug overdose last Friday night. Nicole — a recovering addict herself — dated Adam for two years before the couple split in 2006. They remained friends — which is why the Hollywood DJ’s death has been so devastating for the beloved reality personality, who is expecting her second child with Joel next month, The National Enquirer reports.

“They were in touch over the big things, like her pregnancies and the plane crash,” says a spy. “They felt permanently connected, although they had both moved on in terms of their romantic lives.”

Nicole was so overcome with grief after learning of Adam’s death, she broke down in tears, crying so uncontrollably friends feared the petite socialite was going into premature labor.

“She was crushed,” The Enquirer tipster claims. “She broke down and thought she was having contractions.”

Friends say Nicole is heartbroken that the man who helped her kick a dangerous addiction to heroin still struggled with his own sobriety in his final days. But her emotional reaction to her ex’s death has Joel — who has a 19-month-old daughter, Harlow, with the star — questioning whether his longtime girlfriend has been harboring feelings for Adam.

“It ended up in a big fight,” the tabloid claims. “Nicole was angry that Joel would even ask that –during her time of grief — AND when she was so close to giving birth!”