Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“I’m going to need you to stop talking now,” he says.
“I’m sorry.” I get to my feet. “You can take me back home, and I swear to you that you will never hear from me again.” I want to throw up. “I will never tell anyone who the father is. I promise I will never come to you for anything.”
“Like fuck.” He turns back around. “I want you to stop talking because I’m this close to going back to Montgavin to find your parents.” I swallow. “And it won’t be a friendly conversation either.”
“Theo . . .” The tear escapes from the corner of my eye.
“Now, this is what is going to happen.” He comes to me. “I’m going to show you around the house.” He wipes the tear away from my cheek. “We are going to get something to eat, and then I want you to meet my parents.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“After that, you and I will have dinner, and we’re going to have a talk.” His voice is tight. “It’s going to be a talk that you are going to have an open mind about.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused. “I’m not getting rid of this baby.” I step away from him and hold both hands on my stomach. “I’m not my parents. I will never use my child as a pawn. Not now, not ever.”
“Collins, I have no doubt, not one fucking doubt, that you would die before you brought harm to our child. You haven’t asked me for one fucking cent since you told me about our baby. And you can see I have some money.”
“I didn’t know. I thought you worked for Caleb.”
“I do. I also own half of the company now that I’ve moved there.”
My head falls forward into the middle of his chest. “My parents . . .”
“Your parents are going to have to go through me to get to you,” he declares, his voice tight, “and just so you know, I’m an asshole.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.” I look up at him. “You are kind and generous and—”
“I can let you meet at least ten people who will tell you otherwise. So when we get back to town, we’re going to sit down with your parents and—”
“No fucking way,” I snap. “There is no way they will ever get to you. They can smell money from a mile away. The next thing you know, they’ll be asking you for a loan, and you’ll think, Why not? Let’s just give it to them. Then the amounts are going to go from a hundred dollars to thousands, that is, if they don’t try to rob you blind without you even knowing.”
He’s about to say something else, but the doorbell rings. “Well, I think we need to table this discussion for later.” He bends to kiss my lips gently. “That will be my parents.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
COLLINS
I stare into his eyes, and I can tell he has more to say. But the bell rings again, and he looks up at the ceiling, letting out a deep breath. “I should get that,” he says, and I shake my head furiously back and forth.
“No.” I feel like my whole body is shaking with nerves. “I’m not . . . I don’t think . . .”
“Collins.” Every single time he says my name, it calms me. “I promise you I’ll be right by your side the whole time.” I swallow. “I also promise you that it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.” I don’t tell him I don’t really believe in promises. They’ve been made to me for so long, and every single time I’ve been let down by the two people who are supposed to never break them. The two people who are supposed to love you unconditionally from the time you take your first breath until their last.
He walks away from me toward the door, and I look around to see if there is somewhere I can escape to. Maybe I can run out the back, but then where the fuck would I go? “I’m so sorry,” I tell the baby as I put my hand on my stomach. “I know there are a million other people out there who are more qualified than I am to be your mom, but we are in this together.”
I can hear voices, but the only thing I truly notice is the buzzing in my ears. I close my eyes and count to five before I open them again. “We are so sorry to be barging in,” the woman says, “but your father got called in this morning to take a half shift, and then I had to run into work.”
“Samantha,” a deep-voiced man says, “can you move out of the way so I can get in here? The bags are cutting into my hands.”