“We’re having a discussion.” Christian smiled ruefully. “About conserving energy and the proper times to turn on the air conditioner.”
Trevor smirked, crossed his arms and leaned back against the door jam. “Sounds like fun. Feel free to keep talking as soon as we leave.”
“Huh,” Adam grunted, his eyes darting between the two of them, his lips twitching. She didn’t know what to say, so she kept quiet, her stomach doing somersaults. Her breath quickened, and her whole body felt tingly with fear and anxiety.
Oh God, that pregnancy test. How would Adam feel about the pregnancy? Would he be happy to be a father? They’d never really spoken about it.
“I’ll be out of here in a sec,” Adam said and continued walking straight for the master bath.
She wasn’t sure what her plan for telling Adam had been, but it certainly hadn’t been like this. Most likely she would have waited until that night, when they were alone, so they could talk it through. She could tell him her fears. Her anxieties. Hear what he had to say. Finding out this way was the worst scenario imaginable.
“Wait!” Rachel jumped up and ran to the door of the master bath. “I need to use the bathroom,” she announced, trying to act natural and sound calm as she blocked Adam’s entrance.
Adam reared back, surprised. “You need to use the bathroom now?”
“Yes, right now.” She whipped her head toward the other two men in the room. “Can’t I have some privacy, guys?”
“Privacy for what?” Christian asked. “I thought we were talking.”
“What does it matter?” she said sharply. “Girl things. I can’t talk anymore. Shoo. I need you guys out of here. Trevor, please? I’ve gotta go.”
“Okay, let me just get…’” Adam started.
“No, wait.”
She tried to block him, but Adam had already opened the door and was in the master bath, brushing past her as if she were as insubstantial as a ghost. She squeezed her eyes shut. Please don’t let him see it. Please don’t let him see it.
“Rachel.” His deep voice echoed in the small space. “Why is there a pregnancy test on the counter?”
Dammit!
Trevor stood up straight and alert. Christian’s head jerked in her direction. She took a sharp, shaky breath.
Adam stepped out of the bathroom holding the pink stick in his hand, his head bent. “It’s a plus sign.” He looked up. “What does that mean?”
She stifled a sob. “It means I’m pregnant.”
“You’re pregnant?” Warmth—glowing, billowing and generous—pierced Adam’s chest. A smile he couldn’t stop exploded across his face. He looked down at the stick in his hand. “Pregnant,” he repeated to himself, feeling the word roll over his tongue, trying it on for size. A baby? Rachel was carrying his child.
They hadn’t spoken of this possibility since the day the condom broke. Rachel had gone into her typical session of denial and Adam… Well, he’d preferred to cross that bridge when he came to it. Although, when he was alone, out on the farm and working the perimeter, his thoughts would stray and he’d wondered what he would do if Rachel were pregnant.
He looked up at her.
In that moment, everything seemed to lock into place. Stray thoughts raveled together and tightened. Any uncertainty he’d had about his feelings for Rachel or at the thought of her carrying his child fell away. This was right. He could keep her safe. Keep the baby safe. After all, they were both immune, so it stood to reason that the child would be born with the same immunity, and if it wasn’t, everyone who had the disease was dead. There was no one infected alive to carry the virus.
Yes, he was in this for the long haul. And dammit, he could give her what she needed from him. He’d been living with her now for the last two months, hadn’t he? And he’d enjoyed every moment of their life together. His chest warmed. Rachel made him happy to be alive. Happy he’d survived.
“What the hell?” Trevor exclaimed from the doorway. “This shouldn’t be happening. We use protection. You two used protection every single time too, right?”
Christian gave Trevor a sharp look. “We?” he asked. “What do you mean, we use protection? What do you have to do with this?”
“Rachel and I use protection,” Adam admitted to Trevor, ignoring Christian’s question. “But two months ago the condom broke. This isn’t unexpected.” He ran an eye over Rachel again, about to wrap an arm around her, pull her to his side. But she wouldn’t look at him. Why wouldn’t she look at him? He felt an unease settle in his chest.
“Holy hell,” Trevor exclaimed. “The condom broke. Well, that explains that. But shit, a baby.” Trevor glanced at Rachel, clearly stunned.
Christian stood up from the bed. “Trevor, what did you mean when you said we…we use protection?” he asked with more force than necessary, every word edged with bitterness.
Adam’s brow furrowed. What the fuck was going on? Why did Christian care whether Rachel told him about the test or not? What did it matter? Adam looked again at Rachel, really looked at her. She’d been quiet this whole time, a few feet separating them but standing there as if she were a world away. “Rachel, come here.” He put his hand out.
She swallowed hard and didn’t move a muscle. “Adam, I…” she trailed off, her eyes huge and bright with unshed tears. She looked scared out of her mind. Terrified. Like she was ready to bolt from the room. His stomach churned, his instincts flaring to life, telling him that something was very, very, fucking wrong. This whole scenario felt very similar to another one he’d been through with another woman. He watched Rachel and felt in his bones that this wasn’t nervous fear over her pregnancy, this was something worse.
“Did you have sex with Rachel?” Christian raged at Trevor.
Trevor crossed his arms and shook his head at Christian. “Dude, that’s a private matter.”
“There’s no such thing as privacy here anymore,” Christian snapped. “Have you been fucking Rachel or not?”
Adam heard Rachel’s sharp intake of breath. “Christian,” he warned.
Christian turned on Rachel. “You had sex with Trevor too, didn’t you? Jesus Christ, Rachel, were you trying to get pregnant? How could you be so stupid? You could die from this, you know. The baby could die too. What were you thinking?”
Adam’s eyes narrowed and clenched his hands into fists. “You need to calm the fuck down and watch what you’re saying. Now.”
Christian jabbed a finger at him. “I have the right to say whatever the hell I want. I’m as much a part of this as you are.”
Rachel put her hands over her face and started crying, her shoulders shaking. Pressure began to build in his chest. Ice ran through his veins. “Why is that?”
Christian’s nostrils flared, and his neck corded. “Because, I will also be living with the consequences. That child will be mine too. It will be all of ours.”
That was all he needed to hear. His brained seemed to crack, as if he literally heard the shards crashing on the floor. A piece of him that had been fragile, more fragile than he had realized, broke apart and left behind an exposed, raw wound. A pulsating, disgusting part of himself that no one needed to see, but today they would. There was no stopping it. One moment he was fine, the next he was a raging bull. A stampeding beast of an animal. He could feel the veins in his neck pounding out a vicious drum beat.
They had tricked him.
Fucking tricked him.
Rachel and Christian had been having sex behind his back. He’d known it. Known that this would happen all along, and here it was. She was leaving him for someone else, and he was the last to know.
Holy shit.
This had happened to him before, and here it was happening again. This time he’d get answers though, this time they would pay. They would hear what he had to say, know how much they’d hurt him.
In two quick
strides, Adam had one hand twisted in Christian’s shirt, his other around the motherfucker’s throat. “You’re a dead man,” Adam told Christian with a voice that could grind rocks into powder.
Rachel screamed.
“Fuck,” Trevor exclaimed. “Dude, what are you doing?”
“You had sex with her, didn’t you?” Adam snarled. “That’s why you’re so damn concerned. You think that baby might be yours.”
“Fuck,” Trevor repeated.
“I…I,” Christian croaked.
“What?” he asked.
“He’s trying to tell you that you’re wrong. Let him go, Adam. This is crazy talk. Nothing happened between Christian and me. This baby is yours. Yours,” Rachel sobbed.
Adam loosened his grip around the asshole’s throat and turned his head toward her, trying for a moment to calm the fuck down. “Why didn’t you tell me then? If this was all so goddamn innocent why did you hide it from me?”
“I was scared, Adam.”
“Fuck that, you know I’d never hurt you.”
“I’m not scared of you. I’m scared of having a baby,” she shrieked.
“Bullshit,” Adam shouted. “You’ve got me. Nothing would happen to you, or the baby. You know you would be safe.” He let go of Christian, shoving him against the wall, turned to Rachel, stepped close and got in her face. “You cheated on me?” he ground out.
“Goddammit. This is bullshit,” Trevor interjected.
Rachel’s eyes were huge, tears streaming down her face. “No, no, I didn’t,” she pleaded.
Lori had lied at first too. “How many times?”
“Nothing happened between us,” Christian answered for her.
Adam didn’t turn his head and continued to look straight at Rachel’s face as he spoke. “You shut the fuck up,” he told Christian. “I don’t want to hear one more word from you. I’m talking to Rachel.” His eyes locked with hers. “You cheated on me?” he repeated, waiting for her reply. Waiting to hear that it was happening again, behind his back.
Just like Lori.
“Adam. There’s only been you. And Trevor when you brought him into our bed.”
“You expect me to believe that shit? This has probably been going on the whole time.” Adam squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then opened them, his pulse pounding in his ears. “You two were fucking behind my back.” He threw an arm out toward Christian. “Is he the one you really want?” The words echoed in his head. He’d used those exact words before when he’d found out Lori wasn’t into him. Wasn’t into his kink. Fuck, here it was, happening all over again. She’d been pretending to care for him, waiting patiently for something better to come along. “Well, Rachel, that can be arranged.”
“Adam, I want you,” she cried.
“You don’t want me,” he shouted. “You’re fucking Christian, without my permission, behind my back. You’re probably pregnant with another man’s child. How can you want me?” He picked up a lamp and hurled it against the wall, shattering it to pieces.
The room went quiet.
Rachel whispered. “Adam, this isn’t like Lori.”
“Bullshit,” he roared. “This is the exact, goddamn thing.”
His chest was heaving with labored breaths. He sliced a glance at Christian, who took a step back. A growl rumbled through his chest. He needed to leave before he did something all of them would regret.
Adam stalked to the door. Trevor stepped quickly out of his way.
He whipped around. “I’m out of here.” He pointed at Rachel. “And I’m not fucking coming back.”
He slammed the door shut behind him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Was he serious? Rachel put a hand over her mouth, sick to her stomach. Was Adam really leaving? She heard the engine of Adam’s new F-150 rumble to life through the open bedroom window, the sound of tires churning in gravel. Apparently, he was dead serious. He was leaving all right. Leaving them all behind. Leaving everything.
Leaving her.
Her knees weakened, her chest tightening. She took a few steps back and dropped on the bed, hand over her churning stomach.
It was all so out of the blue. How could he do that? Not believe a word she said and discard her so easily, as if she were trash? It was like he was some other person. Had turned into a man she didn’t recognize. Turned into the Hulk.
Behind her, Trevor and Christian shouted obscenities and began pushing and shoving at each other. Did Trevor believe what Adam had accused her of? She put her hands over her ears, the sound of their rage almost painful. She had to get out of here. She surged to her feet and darted out of the room and flew down the stairs into the kitchen. Chest heaving, she stumbled to the sink and leaned over for support, trying to calm her rapid breathing.
She lifted her head and looked through the kitchen window to the front drive to confirm her worst fear. Adam’s truck was gone. Gone. And when was he coming back? Was he ever coming back? And if he didn’t, what would she do?
Because she was pregnant. Now she was pregnant.
Bile rose up her throat. Rachel placed a hand over her mouth. Gagging, she scrambled to the bathroom, fell to her knees and threw up in the toilet. Crying and vomiting. Terrible combo.
Afterwards, she sighed, flushed and slumped against the wall for a moment, her face in her hands. She ground her teeth, nostrils flaring. Having Christian go off like that in front of Adam, in front of Trevor, was the last thing she’d expected. What the hell was wrong with him, and with Adam?
She took a deep breath and wiped her tears. She stood up and rinsed her mouth out in the sink. The men’s voices were still raised in argument upstairs. Something crashed. She winced. Bodies collided against a bedroom wall.
Oh dear God. This was going from bad to worse.
Suddenly, she heard the front door squeak open. Rachel straightened. Her heart in her throat. Adam? Was Adam back?
She started for the front entrance and skidded to a halt. Wait. Her pulse beat double time. She thought about those people, those people who’d been too afraid to make first contact. What if this wasn’t Adam?
The other two men were upstairs. She was alone. “Adam?” she asked tentatively from the hallway.
No answer.
She bit her lip. This had to be a stranger. They were here, finally ready. Her stomach fluttered. Omigod, people. Someone else was alive. Someone who had heard Adam’s broadcast and tried to reply. She heard the sound of footsteps. She should be excited, this was what they had all wanted, to meet other survivors. But why would they sneak into the house this way? Why wouldn’t this person answer her?
Breathless, she tried to dart for the stairs, but a man stood there. A handsome dark-skinned man straight out of Bollywood. He was so tall she had to look up to see his face. Before either of them could say a word, he lunged forward. She gaped and stepped back. Her hand went to her gun hidden at her hip. Too late. A cloth was on her mouth and her world went black.
* * * * *
Rachel woke up in the backseat of a sedan racing down the road to nowhere. Her hands and feet weren’t tied and there was no gag around her mouth. She groggily processed the weirdness of her situation. In the movies, kidnapped victims were always tied up and sometimes left in the trunk. But here she was, comfy across the backseat. Why? She pushed herself up, hand to her forehead, a dull throb in the back of her neck, like she’d just slept for ten hours and could keep right on going for another ten.
“Are you okay?” her kidnapper asked kindly, keeping his eyes fixed on the road. As if he hadn’t just knocked her out and thrown her in a car. As if they weren’t speeding away to parts unknown so he could do who knew what with her. Like this was nothing more than a pleasant drive in the country.
How was she going to get the hell away from this freak?
“What’s going on?” Rachel squ
eaked. Outside, gray and brown farmland blinked past the car windows. Not one familiar orange orchard in sight. Her body tightened. “Where are we?”
“I stunned you so you’d black out and I could take you quickly and quietly. Are you all right? I measured the dosage very carefully so I’d only give you enough to knock you out for a short time. It seemed to work. We’re east of Fresno. You’ve been out for an hour.”
“What? An hour?” Her brain was muddled and her tongue thick. She grabbed the back of the front seat and leaned forward. “Who are you? Why did you take me?” She scanned the inside of the car for possible weapons and escape routes.
He kept his eyes on the road. She could only see him from behind. His hair was at his shoulders, dark, with some curl. Brown skin, tall, broad shoulders. “My name is Sebastian,” he said with a deep, soothing voice. “I’m not going to harm you. I took you from there to keep you safe.”
“Safe?” She snorted. “Safe from what? You took me from my home, from the men I live with.” Asshole. He’d kidnapped her. She couldn’t believe he was trying to rationalize his behavior. There was no excuse for what he’d done. She glanced around. The backseat was completely empty. She tried the back door. Locked. Shit, he must have clicked the automatic lock up front.
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. She watched the muscles in his arm flex and ripple. “Those men were assholes,” he ground out. “I saved you from a bad situation.”
“What bad situation? You don’t know anything. They’re good men.” Maybe she could get him to pull over. Pretend she was sick?
“You’re wrong. I know one of them.”
She stiffened, leaned forward and began to listen to him. Really listen. “You know one of them? Who? Which one?”
“The big motherfucker with the guns.”
“Adam?” She knew immediately who he meant. “Wait, when did you two meet, did you know him before the outbreak?”
“No. I met him afterwards, on the freeway in San Diego.”
Her breath froze in her throat. “But…but that was when I met him. Why didn’t I see you there?”
Die for You Page 23
