by Brook Wilder
My emotions must have shown on my face, for Hector laughed, lowering his arm.
“So, you have put two-and-two together. I heard you were a smart chick, a fighter as well. Broke one of my guy’s nose with one punch. That’s pretty impressive.”
“What do you want?” I asked, swallowing hard.
He leaned in, a nasty gleam in his eye.
“I want you to know that I know you are pregnant with that asshole’s bastard.”
My breath caught in my throat. He knew? How could he know? I had told no one, kept it to myself while I tried to figure out how to tell Brendan.
“I have my sources,” he continued, answering my silent questions. “I have many, many ears in this town, and this is such a juicy bit of gossip that I had to come see for myself. Don’t worry, Ms. Hall, I’m not going to do anything now. But, when the time comes, I will cut that baby out myself.”
“Get out,” I said, unable to catch my breath. “Now.”
Hector chuckled and saluted me, as he walked to the door.
“I will be seeing you soon, Ms. Hall.”
It wasn’t until he had shut the door that I sank to the floor, unable to hold myself up any longer.
Chapter 13
Brendan
Something was wrong.
I entered the house and quickly shut the door, my eyes scanning the kitchen for Laura. Normally she would have been in the doorway, greeting me, but the house was as silent as a tomb, the kitchen dark. My blood ran cold as I unsheathed the knife on my side, holding it aloft as I walked into the living room. She had to be fine. She hadn’t left the house all day.
I found her curled up on the couch, a heavy throw over her.
“Laura?”
“Brendan,” she said dully, picking at the throw with her fingers. “I-I’m glad you are here.”
I sheathed the knife and sat beside her, taking one of her hands in mine. It was ice cold.
“What’s wrong. What happened?”
She drew in a breath.
“Someone came to visit me today.”
Her tone had me concerned.
“Who?”
“Hector Blackwood.”
I drew in a breath, my rage nearly overtaking me. That bastard. Why had he come to see her? To scare her? I was going to pull his throat out of his body. Gripping her hand tightly, I forced myself to keep in control.
“Did he?”
She shook her head, her eyes focused beyond me.
“He just talked, but I think he’s the one that tried to kill me last week. H-he threatened my life again Brendan. Oh god, what does he want from me?”
That I did not know, but I intended on finding out. Tonight.
“I’m going to call Colby over to sit with you. I need to pull the guys together. You will be safe with him.”
I stood but she pulled me back down, her hand clutching mine. When she looked at me, I saw fear in her eyes and it nearly tore me apart.
“I-I have to tell you something,” she said quietly, her lower lip trembling. “I’m pregnant and he knows.”
A dull roar ran past my ears as I comprehended her words.
“P-pregnant?”
She nodded, looking vaguely ill as she did so.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
I blew out a breath, feeling my stomach flip over with uneasiness. Laura was pregnant. Blackwood knew she was carrying my child. If he didn’t want to kill her before, he really would want to now.
“I… this can’t be happening.”
Laura withdrew her hand from mine and curled up once more.
“It’s happening, Brendan. I-I will do whatever it takes to protect this child.”
I ran a hand through my hair, feeling as if someone had sucker-punched me in the stomach. First Aaron, then Laura, and now this child she was carrying. Hell, I couldn’t protect her brother, how the hell was I going to protect her?
“Are you sure?”
She threw off the cover and stood.
“Yes, I’m fucking sure! What’s next? Asking me who the father is?”
I stood as well, matching her anger with some of my own.
“I damn well know who the father is! Shit, do you know what kind of danger you are in? I can’t… fuck, how am I going to protect you now?”
Laura flinched, and I immediately regretted my words. It wasn’t her fault she was pregnant. It was mine. I should have been more careful, I shouldn’t have even touched her, but I had thought with my damn cock instead of my head, and now she was in more danger than she realized.
“They could use this against me,” I said softly, my voice clogged with emotion.
She shuddered and stepped away from me, her jaw set and her eyes hard.
“Well then, maybe I should leave so they can’t.”
Shit!
“Laura, wait,” I said, walking after her. I was fucking this all up. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
She turned in the hallway, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“You said all you needed to say. I-I think I need to be alone tonight.”
I watched her go, unable to find the right words to make this right.
The door shut hard at the end of the hall, and I flinched before grabbing my cell, holding it up to my ear.
“Get your ass here, now,” I growled into the phone, not waiting for a response.
I couldn’t leave her alone now, not since Blackwood had brazenly waltzed up into this house like he owned the joint.
No, I was going to visit him and let him know that, the next time he threatened anyone in my family, I would kill him with my bare hands.
***
It wasn’t hard to find him. I cut the engine on the bike and climbed off, nodding to my backup a few feet away. Jax and a few of the other guys had rode over, leaving Colby and another couple of guys watching Laura and the house, so that I would not have to worry so much about her safety.
Hell, I was worried about her. I wasn’t ready to be a father. I could barely take care of myself, much less a kid.
A few pairs of eyes followed me as I pushed open the door to the bar, one that was frequented by Blood Eagles. It was fucking stupid to walk in there like I was, but I wanted to prove a point: that I wasn’t scared of him or any of his goons.
Plus, I had given strict orders that, if they killed me tonight, this bitch was to burn to the ground. No survivors.
“Morrison,” Hector announced as I approached his table. “Fancy meeting you here. Care for a drink?”
I gave him a smile, one that could cut steel.
“I’m here to discuss a visit you made today.”
“Ah yes,” he laughed, tapping his chin. “The lovely Laura Hall. No wonder you are banging her. She is quite the spitfire, and all those curves…! A man could get lost for days in those curves.”
“I’m warning you,” I said, my voice hard. “Stay away from her.”
“Stay away,” he repeated, a hard gleam in his eye. “Would that be because she’s pregnant with your bastard? Poor girl. I sure hope you don’t get her killed like her brother.”
I clenched my fists in an effort to keep from killing him on the spot, knowing it would be a suicide mission if I did so. He was goading me, hoping that I would make the wrong move, so that he would have a reason to kill me.
But I wasn’t that stupid. His time was coming.
“Leave her alone.”
He looked at me hard. “You know I can’t do that Brendan. All is fair in love and war.”
I didn’t answer. I turned my back to him and walked out, expecting a bullet to hit me in the back at any moment or a knife to be buried between my shoulder-blades. If he wanted war, I would bring war.
And he would forever regret the day he ever threatened anyone I loved.
Chapter 14
Laura
I drummed my fingers along my arm, watching as Colby idly flipped through the channels.
Colby had been sitting
in the kitchen when I emerged from the bedroom this morning, helping himself to a breakfast casserole that had been in the fridge. I knew he was here to watch over me, after Hector’s visit yesterday, but so far he had proved to be a bump on the log, not carrying on any conversation whatsoever.
I didn’t want to be rude and shut myself in the bedroom until Brendan came back and we could talk about this baby, so I sat on the couch beside Colby, a pizza sitting on the coffee table before us. The smell was making me slightly nauseous, but my stomach rumbled anyway.
Oh, this was going to be a fun nine-months.
"Do you want to watch something else?"
I looked at Colby.
"What?"
He gestured toward the TV.
"You sighed. I thought you might want to watch something that you are interested in."
I shook my head, rubbing a hand over my face.
"No, I'm good. It's just, well, it's been a stressful few days. That's all."
"Tell me about it," he muttered, throwing the remote on the cushion between us. "I bet you wish you’d never come here."
That was the understatement of the year.
"It's been nice seeing everyone. I mean, the last time I saw you, you were just driving, right?"
"Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "And you were all elbows and skinned knees."
I giggled then.
"Well, you know, I was ten after all. It was hard work chasing after your brother and mine."
Colby's grin faded.
"I'm sorry about Aaron. We all are."
I shrugged, feeling that familiar sadness well up inside. "It's okay. It's been some time now."
He looked down at his hands, a pensive look on his face.
"Brendan took it the worse. I can't tell you how many times we had to keep him from drinking himself to death. He hated himself for not being able to save Aaron."
"Save him?" I asked, surprised.
Though the truth had never fully been explained, my mom had long said that his association with Brendan had been the reason for his death.
Colby nodded.
"Yeah. Aaron pushed Brendan out of the way of the bullet. Those damn Blood Eagles. They have been a thorn in our side for years."
I swallowed, not believing what I had just heard. Aaron had saved Brendan's life?
"Did he ever say why they were in that alleyway that night?"
Colby rubbed a hand over his face, looking suddenly exhausted.
"The Blood Eagles were threatening everyone back then. They were tailing a member headed toward your parents' house and got caught."
I sat back on the sofa, the revelation punching a hole in my chest. Aaron had given up his life to save his best friend's and likely saved our lives in the process. Brendan hadn't been the cause of my brother's death, though he had not once attempted to clear his name.
A throat cleared and we both looked up to find Brendan in the doorway, his hands crossed over his chest and his expression… well, it was murderous as he stared at his brother. Clearly, he had come in on our conversation and didn't like the fact that his brother had just spilled a long-harbored secret.
"Hi," I said brightly, jumping off the sofa like he had caught us doing something bad. "You're back."
"Shit!" Colby said under his breath, standing quickly. "Did you handle what you needed to?"
"That and more," Brendan said, his voice hard. "I see that you two are getting chummy with each other."
I walked over to Brendan and touched his face, seeing the lines of exhaustion, the dark circles under his eyes. He was tired, and I was worried about him, so worried.
"Have you slept at all?"
He gave me a half shrug, his eyes still on his brother.
"Doesn't matter."
"Come on," I said, tugging at his arm. "Let's get you a sandwich or something."
He allowed me to pull him into the kitchen, where I hurriedly started to fix him a sandwich.
"He didn't mean anything by telling me. It's my fault. I asked."
"Doesn't give him the right," Brendan bit out as I sat the plate in front of him.
I placed a trembling hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm sorry I didn't ask you the truth sooner."
All this time, all these wasted years and he had not once attempted to clear the air.
His shoulders tensed under my touch.
"He still died because of me, Laura. Don't make it out to be anything else but my damn fault he's not here on this earth today."
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my cheek against his. I could hear the pain in his voice, feel the weight he had carried since the night Aaron was taken from us.
"You could have told me. You could have said something."
"You were ten," he snorted.
I pulled away from him, biting my lip. There was anger in his voice, as if I had made him carry this burden and I didn't understand.
"Why didn't you reach out to me later? I left thinking that you killed my brother."
He growled and pushed away from the table, stalking to the fridge and throwing it open. I watched as he grabbed a beer and opened it, taking a long swallow before even glancing in my direction.
"I didn't feel the need to set things to right. It didn't matter then, and it doesn't matter now."
"It doesn't matter?" I echoed, starting to feel my anger rise. "It matters way more than you realize!"
I had unwittingly hated him for thirteen years, placing the blame where it didn't even belong.
Brendan stared at me, his expression hard.
"Drop it Laura. Aaron's gone, and nothing is going to bring him back."
My eyes swam with tears. How could he be so abrupt, so unfeeling about this?
Chapter 15
Brendan
She was making too much out of this. I was going to kill my brother when we finished this conversation, for sticking his nose where it didn't fucking belong. He had no right to tell Laura the truth. I was perfectly fine with the title of the bad guy.
And now, Laura was looking at me like a kicked dog, tears in her beautiful eyes. I hated the pity she was looking at me with, the way she was trying to comfort me when I had been the cause of her brother's death. Hell, I should be begging her forgiveness for the pain I had put her and her family through, regardless of the facts.
"Why won't you let me comfort you?" she asked quietly, rubbing her arms with her hands. "Aaron's death was not your fault."
I slammed the beer on the table.
"I don't need for you to comfort me. Hell, Laura, I was getting along just fine before you came along, and I will do just fine in the future."
The minute the words were out of my mouth, I wished I could have shoved them back in, the devastation on her face telling me just how hurtful I had been to her.
Fuck!
"Fine," she said, her lower lip trembling as she crossed the kitchen. "It was a mistake to think… oh, never mind. I am so out of here."
I grabbed her arm and spun her around, hating the fact that I had hurt her. She was having my damn kid, for Christ’s sake! I couldn't let her walk out of here. She couldn't leave me.
"Fuck, Laura, I'm…"
She held up her hand before I could finish, wrangling herself out of my grip until there was some good distance between us.
"Don't, just don't. Where is my car?"
I swallowed hard, debating whether or not to tell her the truth. But if I didn't, she would likely start walking, and I couldn't have her walking alone. It wasn't safe.
"It's in the driveway. I finished it earlier."
My plan had been to tell her over food that her car was ready, and that I wanted her to stay after this was all over with.
But now, she looked like that was the last thing she wanted to hear.
"Please," I said, feeling at a loss for the first time in my life. "Don't go."
