Waiting on April

by Bella Settarra

  “I’m assuming you’ve got proof of this baby which so conveniently appeared just when you and she were breaking up?” She spat the words at him. The venom in her words surprised herself. It was hard for her to face how jealous the situation was making her. She had never really contemplated having a baby with him, but she had thought they might get married at some point. Now that girl was having his baby. Although she didn’t want him anymore, it still hurt. She wondered if that might be why she had been so crushed by Master Steve’s reaction to the condom business yesterday.

  “Of course I fucking well have! What do you take me for?” He was getting angry again now, obviously realizing that the eye thing hadn’t worked.

  She resisted the temptation to answer his question, but only just.

  “So has she had a scan? Were you there?” April felt rather than heard her voice getting louder and angrier. He made it sound as though it was somehow her fault. She was used to that from him, but she wasn’t going to put up with it now.

  He huffed. “It’s too early for a scan. But I saw the stick. You know, the test thing. It was definitely blue—that means it’s positive.” He finished the sentence as though he was speaking to a two-year-old.

  It really pissed her off.

  “Well, I’m surprised you know that much,” she sneered. “You never seemed very interested in babies when you were with me.” April could not get over how aggrieved she felt about it all.

  “I’m not. I thought she might get rid of the damn thing, but she’s determined to hang on to it. She’s got a cousin or something that’s pregnant too, a lot further on than her. Apparently they’ve been swapping notes on names and baby clothes and shit. I was beginning to wonder if she hadn’t planned it all along.” He looked like a sulky schoolboy.

  “That’s your problem,” she snorted. “You’ve made your bed, now you can damn well lie in it. I just wanna know why you were asking me back when you had all that going on? Not that I’d have taken you back anyway, but only a scumbag would ask someone else out when they’ve already got a girlfriend. And a pregnant one at that!” She had her hands on her hips now and shouted angrily at him. How dare he do this?

  “I don’t want to be with her. I want to be with you. Can’t you see she’s trying to trap me into staying with her? I’d told her things weren’t working out for us. I tried to let her down gently, but then she came out with this shit!” He waved a hand in the air angrily.

  “You really think you’re the victim here, don’t you?” April couldn’t remember if she’d ever been this furious in her life. “You’ve got a girl pregnant. Whether you meant to or not, that’s your responsibility. Don’t you dare try to make out this wasn’t your fault! It takes two, you know!”

  “I’m not saying that!” He grabbed her arms angrily, making her jump. Her heart hammered against her chest. She knew he was angry, but so was she.

  “Get off me! You and your buddy better just stay away from me, d’you hear? I want nothing to do with you, ever! And you’d better tell that to him an’ all. Don’t you dare let him think I’m making a play for you!” She hollered at the top of her voice as indignation and rage swept through her.

  “He is not my buddy! I can’t stand the fucker. He’s a bastard wannabe Dom who thinks he knows everything! I’d never be friends with a guy like that. If you saw the way he treats women…”

  “I don’t give a shit about what he does! I don’t ever want to see him again! He’s got no right threatening me and I’ll call the cops if he comes back here, you hear me?” She screamed at him, feeling herself go red-hot with rage.

  “Like you set them on me, you mean?” He towered over her, gripping her even tighter, their noses actually touching.

  She felt as though someone had just sucked all the air out of her. What in hell was he talking about?

  “I have never called the police on you!” She gasped.

  “Like fuck you haven’t! I spent all yesterday in a fucking police cell thanks to you and your frigging lies! You told them I hit you, didn’t you? What the hell was that about? Trying to get revenge on me? Huh?” He spat the words at her, pinning her up against the wall.

  She swallowed hard. It was all too much to take in. And what in hell was he planning to do to her now? She could feel his hot breath burning her face.

  “I never told the cops anything!” She meant to shout, but her voice wasn’t half as loud as she had hoped. It must have been the shock.

  He stared back at her, evidently computing her words. “Then who in hell told them I came and hit you?” He was gritting his teeth now, snarling at her like a rabid dog.

  She shook her head. “I didn’t go to the cops. I didn’t tell anyone anything. I just said I tripped on the table. No one knows I was even hit, for fuck’s sake!”

  She was becoming more annoyed now as the whole scenario played back through her head. The only people who saw her were Master Steve and Heaven and neither of them knew what really happened. They, as well as everyone at the club, had only been told that she fell over a table. She felt herself glow hot as it gradually dawned on her that, although she hadn’t admitted it, Master Steve had obviously not believed her story. Surely he wouldn’t have…?

  “What about that fucker you’re sleeping with? He’s a cop, ain’t he?” It was as though Greg was reading her mind.

  “I told him I tripped. He doesn’t know anyone else was here,” she yelled back, trying to convince herself as much as him. It was the truth, after all.

  Greg was staring at her, examining her face. She did her best to keep her expression blank, or, at least, angry. She knew the Doms—especially Master Steve—could read her like a book, but Greg wasn’t that experienced. He’d never actually trained to be a Dom, apart from the induction course the club offered, and even then he hadn’t been that adept.

  “You better be fucking telling me the truth!” He growled at her. “They seemed pretty convinced it was me who did this to you! How in hell did they get that idea, huh?” His voice was low and menacing as he gritted his teeth like an animal.

  “I don’t know. Maybe it was your beloved brother-in-law!” She yelled at him as a thought suddenly flashed into her mind. If he thought it was Mark Trammell who had told them, he might just fuck off and leave her the hell alone.

  “Why would he do that?” Greg frowned. April could tell he was struggling to figure it all out.

  “I don’t know. Perhaps he assumed I’d go to the cops and wanted to get there first. Maybe he just tipped them off to get the heat off himself and onto you? You did say you don’t get along.” she yelled at him, angry that he had put her in this position, hurt at his accusations, furious that she had let him into her house, again.

  “Fucking hell!”

  He suddenly let go of her and she felt the pain in her arms where he had been gripping them so hard. While he held them they felt tight and numb, but now they really hurt. She instinctively rubbed them as she watched him take a step back. It was clear from his expression that he was trying to think. He never had been the sharpest pencil in the box, she realized.

  “I’ll fucking kill him!”

  Relief swept through her as he quickly opened the door and left. She could hear him gunning his engine as she immediately locked him out of the house. The sound of his car speeding off rang in her ears as she went into the living room and slumped onto the sofa. What in the hell just happened?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A few hours later April heard the low hum of Master Steve’s SUV pull up on her driveway. She sighed. When he’d called her an hour ago to say he was coming over, she’d been quite curt with him and she knew he wasn’t happy. She was still tired. Greg’s early-morning visit had really wrecked her day, and she hadn’t been able to relax afterward.

  She’d tried napping on the sofa, but the events of the previous couple of days kept playing over and over in her head like one of those old records her Dad used to have, and things just appeared worse every time she closed he
r eyes. In the end she had gotten up and taken a long shower before occupying herself with some housework. She knew Master Steve was working today so he probably wouldn’t stay long anyhow.

  “Morning, darlin’.” Master Steve looked gorgeous, as always, but also tired as he grinned at her from her porch.

  “Come on in, I’ve got coffee on.” She didn’t even try to smile at him, and heard him sigh as he entered her house and closed the door behind him.

  “You OK?” He followed her into the kitchen and took a steaming hot mug from her.

  “I’m not sure.” She took a stool and sat at the counter, waiting for him to do the same.

  He frowned. “How are you feeling today?” He casually slipped a leg over the stool opposite her.

  “Tired.”

  He slowly placed his mug on the counter in front of him. “Look, darlin’, I’m real sorry about last night. I wasn’t expecting things to turn out the way they did back at the station and I got caught up in a case. I didn’t get home until passed three.” He looked apologetic.

  She shook her head. “That wouldn’t be because of Greg Preston, now, would it?” She stared defiantly at him.

  He squirmed. Then he looked her in the eye and nodded. “OK, you got me. They had to let him go. I was trying to find more evidence to make them keep him there.”

  She was irked at the way he casually took a slurp of his coffee, as if what he had just told her was the most natural thing in the world.

  “Why?” Her teeth were gritted as she tried to keep her cool.

  He swallowed, shaking his head with a slight frown. “Why did they let him go or why was I trying to find more evidence?”

  She took a deep breath to keep from yelling at him. “Why did they arrest him in the first place?”

  He gave a weak smile. “Have you seen your face lately, baby? You didn’t do all that just by tripping over a coffee table.”

  He sounded so matter-of-fact it really riled her.

  “That doesn’t mean Greg Preston did it.” She kept her voice even.

  He took another slow slurp of his drink, then shook his head.

  “No, it doesn’t. But he’s the prime suspect.”

  “Why? Because you don’t like him?” April deliberately kept her tone quiet to avoid doing what she really wanted to do—yell her head off.

  He shook his head again.

  “No, not because of that, although, that is true. I can’t stand the fucker, especially after the way he treated you. He’s the prime suspect because he was seen having a disagreement with you in the diner not long before the incident and he’s got a history of aggressive behavior toward you.” His voice was calm and professional, which only upset her even more.

  “Seen by whom? Someone who was spying on me? Maybe I should file a complaint against harassment if people are going to follow me and watch my every move!” Her blood boiled as she stood up and slammed her cup on the counter.

  “No, someone who just happened to be in the same diner at the same time as you, that’s all.” His teeth were gritted and she knew she was getting to him.

  “OK, so I can’t stop you going where you like when you like, but how does that make it a police matter? I didn’t report Greg for anything and sure as hell didn’t claim to have been attacked by anyone!” she screamed at him, sick of his calm, sensible, demeanor.

  “I saw the state you were in at the diner, and the state you were in after your little ‘accident’.” He used air quotes to emphasize his disbelief in her claim. He stood up, grabbing her by the arms, forcing her to look at him as she yelled at him.

  “Well, that’s your fault! I didn’t ask you to follow me or to come ’round here! You just stick your nose in and do what the hell you want! So now you’ve decided I got attacked by Greg. That explains why he was ’round here this morning accusing me of telling lies about him and getting him arrested. As if I need any more shit from him! Well thank you!” She hollered back.

  Master Steve stared at her, stunned.

  “H-he came here?”

  “Yes he did, thanks to you! He accused me of lying to the cops. He was mad as hell and who can blame him? I didn’t know anything about it! No one had asked me if Greg Preston had hit me, had they? No wonder he was so fucking pissed!”

  She shouted up to his face, trying to wriggle from his firm grip. She knew she’d shocked him, but she didn’t care. He deserved it for poking his nose into her business.

  “Darlin’, I was told he was out of town, I thought you’d be safe, I swear. Did he touch you?” He was examining her face and body as he spoke, obviously expecting to see more bruises.

  His concern pulled at her heart and she was touched that he was so worried—even if it was his fault! He looked furious now, though she knew it wasn’t with her.

  She stared into his wild eyes.

  “Yeah. He grabbed me, a bit like you’re doing now. He looked real angry, just like you. I wished I hadn’t let him into my house…” She left her last statement hanging in the air, letting him guess the rest.

  He quickly let go of her arms.

  “Did he hurt you?” His teeth were gritted as he spat the words out.

  “Not much more than you did.”

  She rubbed her arms to emphasize her point, enjoying the power she suddenly had over him after the way he had acted when he first arrived. She felt a sense of pride at turning “Mr. Cool and Calm” into “The Incredible Hulk.” Although her heart went out to him, she still felt hurt about the incident with the condom yesterday, the fact that he didn’t take her home last night, and the fact that he hadn’t spent the night with her. She had missed him. Besides that, had he been here this morning when Greg had come around…

  Master Steve’s phone sounded, cutting off her thoughts. He whipped it out and frowned.

  “I need to take this.” He hurriedly turned his back to her, walking toward the door.

  “Whatcha got, buddy?”

  She guessed it was Dave Preece again and sighed. Her ears pricked up, though, as she heard Master Steve talking while he opened the kitchen door.

  “Trammell? As in…? Fuck! I’ll be right there.”

  Shoving the cell into his pocket, he turned to her.

  “I’m sorry, darlin’, I have to go.”

  She shrugged at him sulkily. “Fine.”

  He walked over to her and went to kiss her cheek, but she dodged out of the way.

  “Just go.” She felt her face begin to burn as she spoke, and a lump settled in her throat. She didn’t want to cry in front of him.

  “We’ll finish this later,” he told her.

  She felt a massive thud in her heart as she replied, and couldn’t look at that gorgeous face for fear of changing her mind. “I think we’re finished now.”

  * * *

  Steve was choked as he sped through the streets of Miami to the station where Dave Preece was waiting for him.

  “No,” he’d wanted to say, “no, we’re not.” But the words hadn’t come out.

  “Have you spoken to her?” Steve wasn’t even out of his car before his buddy started quizzing him. He was glad to be straight into the thick of the job. He honestly might have cried otherwise.

  “Yeah. It wasn’t him.” Steve felt stupid, but there was no time for recriminations now.

  Dave shook his head. “Just as well. He was back in town by the early hours. If it had been him she wouldn’t have been safe over there on her own.”

  “I know. He showed up at April’s place.” Steve frowned as he followed his buddy over to his car and jumped in.

  “Bet he was pissed!” Dave grumbled as he revved the engine. “Was she OK?”

  “Yeah. He thought she’d told us it was him at first, but she managed to convince him. Wasn’t happy with me though, I can tell you. It was like a scene from Frozen when I got there. She’s doing her Ice Queen impression right now. I’m gonna have to work hard to thaw her out.” Steve grimaced at the thought of the frosty reception he had received
from his sub, and the way she was when he left. His heart lurched.

  Dave chuckled. “Bet that made you feel real good about yourself!”

  Steve snorted. “I know I deserved it. I went off half-cocked, I shouldn’t have done that. I messed up. I’m sorry, buddy.”

  Dave grinned. “Don’t let all that humble pie get stuck in your throat, bro. We all do it.”

  Steve managed to smile weakly at his partner. “Thanks for that.”

  “Bit of an eye-opener with the girlfriend though, don’t you think? Mary-Lou Trammell?” Dave gave him a wary look.

  Steve’s wounded heart had been hammering hard against his ribs ever since he’d taken that call. “Has someone checked it out yet?”

  “Yep. She’s the sister all right.”

  “Shit!”

  “We only found out ’cause we were tracking Preston’s movements last night. He went up the coast and we hoped he’d stay there. Came back with her in tow.” Dave shook his head incredulously.

  “And she’s definitely the girlfriend?”

  “Yep. Been seeing each other for months, apparently. Does your little girl know he’s got someone else?” Dave glanced over at him.

  Steve sighed. He wasn’t sure if she was “his little girl” anymore, and they sure hadn’t discussed Preston’s relationship status.

  “I don’t know. She sure hasn’t said anything, but then, it didn’t actually come up, if you know what I mean? I assume she’s guessing he’s single as he said he wanted her back. He wouldn’t do that if he was with someone else—not in April’s eyes anyhow.” His heart melted a little as he thought of his sub. She was so trusting, it had never crossed her mind that Preston would have been unfaithful to her. That’s what had hurt her so much, he guessed.

  Now it looked like the fucker was up to his old tricks again, only this time he was hoping to be unfaithful with April as the “other woman.” It made his blood boil just to think of it.