Coup De Grâce

by Lani Lynn Vale

  Two months since he’d fucked me, stayed with me throughout the rest of the night, and then disappeared without a trace.

  Well, not without a trace.

  I knew where he was.

  He called me, updated me on what was going on, but he wasn’t there.

  He was seeing a therapist.

  He was ‘coming to terms’ with the baby, as he said.

  He’d been on a case.

  I knew it was a bad case.

  I also knew it was a worthy case for him to be on, but I didn’t understand why it was taking him away from me like it was.

  And I was fairly sure he was just using it as an excuse to lick his wounds. Wounds that he believed I delivered against him.

  I was on birth control. I didn’t know what else to do to prevent a child other than abstinence…and that wasn’t going to happen with Michael.

  I hadn’t been on antibiotics, so it wasn’t anything stupid on my part.

  Nor had I forgotten any pills. I knew he didn’t want kids. I would never trap him into keeping me, nor give him a child he didn’t want on purpose.

  So, needless to say, I was in a mood.

  A lonely mood.

  Because he wasn’t there.

  He wasn’t with me, and I needed him so bad that I could barely stand it.

  I’d been ducking his calls for three days now

  And I knew he either would plain old stop calling, or he’d pull his head out of his ass and come see me.

  Either one was a desired effect at this point.

  I knew he loved me.

  Knew it so deeply that I felt it with each call he made to me. Heard it in the tone of his voice.

  I took a gulp of my water, enough that I could technically say I was done with it since there was no way I’d be touching it when I got back to my table.

  I wasn’t going to be roofied.

  Plus, I wasn’t stupid.

  “Want to dance, mamacita?” I heard called over my shoulder.

  I turned from where I was swaying my hips along with the beat to find a very beautiful man at my back.

  He was tall.

  He had a black leather vest over a red t-shirt with black jeans and a pair of black boots.

  I knew he spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

  Did I care?

  Fuck no.

  Because I was a single lady, and single ladies had needs.

  No, not that kind of needs.

  Needs that made me want another human’s touch. Crave it.

  Needs that Michael should be fulfilling right now. Not leaving me to my own devices.

  Jesus, now I was depressing myself again.

  I turned, and the man’s eyes immediately went down to my stomach.

  Something I made no effort to hide.

  I was proud of this stomach.

  I was one week shy of four months pregnant, and I was definitely showing.

  My previous flat belly was now gently rounded.

  And my jeans that I was wearing hugged my legs and hips like a glove.

  I had on black spiky heeled boots that came up to mid-calf, and a skin tight black, low cut tank top that showed off the girls.

  It was an outfit that I knew would drive Michael wild if he saw.

  He wouldn’t, but I still hoped.

  “Yeah?” I asked sharply.

  His eyes moved up from my belly to my face and he asked abruptly, “You got a man?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I have a man.”

  His shoulders seemed to slump. “Shit. I was hoping you’d say different.”

  I smiled genuinely at him.

  “Life’s a bitch like that,” I offered him my hand. “My name’s Nikki.”

  He took my hand, shook it twice, then let it go.

  “Name’s Dane. Can I get you another drink?” He asked, looking pointedly at the near empty glass.

  “Sure, but I’m going to dance right now. You may want to wait because if it sits there too long, I won’t drink it,” I told him, taking a step away from him.

  He smiled. “I’ll do that. But I have a meeting that’s supposed to start in about fifteen minutes. I’ll have to take a raincheck.”

  I tossed a laugh over my shoulder and then disappeared into the crowd onto the dance floor.

  Shaking my ‘bon bon’ to some Ricky Martin, completely forgetting about the man and his ‘meeting’ by the time the fourth song, Pitbull this time, rolled around.

  ***

  Forty five minutes later, I came off the dance floor with one thing in mind.

  A bathroom.

  Quick.

  I barreled through the door to my destination, and came to a sudden halt when I was faced with the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen.

  And she was pregnant to boot.

  Flowing blonde hair that came down to her ass. A black skirt pulled up to just underneath her belly, a sky blue tank top, and gold gladiator sandals rounded out the outfit.

  She looked hip and trendy, something I never managed to do.

  My curves were too generous to look nice in what she was wearing.

  “Hello,” I said, skirting around behind her to go into the stall behind her.

  “Hi!” She answered back immediately.

  I did my business, but heard her leave before I made it back out of the stall.

  Washing my hands and fixing some fly-aways from the bobby pins holding my hair out of my face, I smoothed my hands down my jeans and made my way out to the mouth of the hallway.

  I tried to decide whether or not to grab a drink from the bar again before going out to the dance floor once again when I saw them.

  And my heart stalled in my chest, coming to a slow, pounding stop before it started beating again at a rapid staccato.

  Because there, in front of me, was Michael.

  He had his arm around the blonde woman from the bathroom, laughing with her.

  Dane was across from them on a bench by himself, watching the two interact with crude eyes.

  He said something to them, and made his way to the bar.

  Where he ordered a water, and turned to smile at me.

  I didn’t smile back.

  Instead, I walked to him, dread in my every step, and took the glass from him.

  I’d never in my life wanted a drink as bad as I did right then.

  But, alas, I was pregnant.

  And that was a no-no.

  Fuckers.

  “What’s wrong?” Dane asked as he took in the set of my shoulders, the way my eyes were flat without any emotion.

  “How do you know them?” I asked pointing at Michael and the mystery lady.

  “Colleague,” he answered.

  Wonderful. Dane was another cop.

  With a sigh, I walked to the dance floor, knowing Michael would see me as I walked past his table.

  Then I found the first person I saw, remembering that he’d wanted me to dance with him throughout the time I’d been there, and grabbed him.

  Startled at first, the man smiled when he saw who it was.

  Then started to grind into my backside.

  And dammit, I hated it.

  I wanted to want it so bad that I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings.

  I totally missed the man that was staring at me as if I’d just stolen his heart straight from his chest.

  Missed the way Dane caught it all, and the way understanding lit his eyes.

  I also missed the way the woman watched me, knowing I was the one for Michael.

  When the man’s hands moved up to cup my hips, I slapped his hand away.

  Michael missed that, though, because he turned to talk to the woman, and hurriedly she moved out of the booth allowing him to head straight to me.

  ***

  Michael

  “This has to look real,” Dane said to Lisette and me.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “We’ve already
gone over this a million times, Dane,” I growled.

  “You aren’t even touching her. In fact, you haven’t touched her all night. How convincing is that?” Dane laughed.

  I ignored him, scooting closer to Lisette and putting my arm over her shoulder. “Better?”

  Dane studied the two of us. “Yeah, I guess.”

  I felt like I was betraying Nikki.

  Even sitting here, just like this, wasn’t good.

  I knew it.

  I should call and explain.

  But I was a coward.

  “What time do you want us to meet up at the doctor’s office tomorrow?” Lisette asked Dane.

  Dane shrugged. “What time’s your appointment?”

  I ignored them, pulling my phone out of my pocket once again, disgruntled when I still had no reply texts or returned calls from Nikki.

  I laughed when Elliott said I texted like a girl, and watched when he got up to leave.

  “You don’t really want to do this,” Lisette observed.

  I shrugged. “It needs to be done. I just wish I didn’t have to lie to my girlfriend about it. She’d be devastated if she ever…”

  I watched as the woman I’d been dreaming about walked past me without a glance in my direction.

  Eyes down at the floor and a look of devastation on her face, I knew she’d seen me.

  Hell, how could she not?

  We were in the middle of the dance floor under the fucking lights for Christ’s sake.

  “Fuuuuck,” I groaned, turning my head to watch Nikki as she walked up to some punk of a kid, grabbed his arm, and started grinding her ass against him.

  I was stunned still, for long moments, and only came unstuck when the punk’s hand went to Nikki’s hips.

  She slapped his hands away, but he didn’t take the hint, grinding his dick into her ass and holding on when I knew she didn’t want him to.

  “Move quickly please,” I urged Lisette.

  She’d seen the altercation, had followed my eyes to the dance floor and Nikki, and chose to move.

  Smart girl.

  I walked purposefully up to Nikki and her new friend, and roughly yanked him away from her.

  “Go find your own woman,” I hissed at the boy.

  The boy’s eyes narrowed, and I yanked my badge from my belt and held it in front of his face.

  “Now do you really want to try it?” I asked him honestly.

  I didn’t think he would, but I’d give him the option. I was itching for a fight.

  He shook his head frantically. “No.”

  Didn’t think so.

  I nodded my head. “Good boy.”

  When he stayed where he was, waiting for my next direction, I cocked my head towards the exit and said, “Why don’t you go ahead and go?”

  He went.

  And I was left with Little Miss Trouble Maker.

  “Really, Nikki?” I asked, amusement clear in my voice.

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “Go fuck yourself, pendejo,” she snarled.

  There was my little Spanish hellcat. The one that only came out when she was well and truly pissed.

  I raised a brow at her, and then took in her attire.

  I liked the way her spiky heels brought her up to me.

  I liked the way she stared me in the eyes, all fire and innocence with a hint of prissiness.

  “Take it outside, buddy,” Elliott said from my back.

  I looped my fingers around Nikki’s wrist, noting that she’d gotten more delicate since I’d last seen her, and made a mental note to speak with her about that as well.

  First on the agenda, though, was setting her straight.

  I’d gone long enough keeping her in the dark.

  It was time to bring her into the light.

  Let her know what all she was about to get into.

  Because I’d just given my notice, so to speak.

  I wouldn’t be the FBI’s guinea pig.

  I would be my own man and I’d have my woman at my side.

  “Let go of me,” Nikki yanked her arm out of my grip before we’d made it outside.

  I stopped, then pushed her into the handicap bathroom, slamming the door closed before she could protest.

  “Michael! Let me out!” She shrieked.

  I moved forward, until my body was pinning hers to the door, and she started to squirm viciously.

  Her shirt rode up, and I looked down, feeling the new hardness of her abdomen.

  Before it’d been soft and yielding. Now it was hard and round, causing me to lose my train of thought.

  I moved my hand down until it rested on the side of her belly, my hand cupping the small life inside her tummy.

  “You’ve gotten big,” I murmured softly.

  She froze.

  Then smacked me upside the head.

  “You don’t tell the woman you knocked up that she’s gotten big!” She snarled.

  I chuckled, then dropped down to my knees in front of her.

  I moved my hands up, catching the hem of her shirt, and pushed it over her belly as I slid my hands up to her ribs.

  My eyes feasted on the sight before me.

  Her gently swollen belly popped out over the top of her pants.

  A black hair tie looped around the hole of the jeans, and then over the button, holding them closed.

  Her belly button was a little less concave, and I assumed, by the end of her pregnancy, it’d be an outie instead of an innie.

  I leaned forward, pressing my lips against the soft skin of her belly, and said, “I’ve been a fool.”

  Her hands found my hair, and I looked up to see tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “I’m so sorry, Nikki,” I told her. “I’ve only been thinking of you, though. This guy…whomever he is…he’s good. He’s gotten fifteen couples to date, and out of his thirty five kills, only two have made it. We have one witness, and he hasn’t been able to give us a fuckin’ thing to go on beside the build and color of the man’s hair. He never went to any of the appointments, so we’re all hanging on by a fricking thread.”

  “Why haven’t you come to see me?” She asked, devastation clear in her voice.

  I shook my head.

  “At first,” I said. “It was because I was trying to get my head on straight. Then I started seeing a therapist that the department recommended. Then another murder happened, and well, I’ve been a fucking coward. I should’ve come to you. I actually have every night since I left you in bed that night two months ago…I just don’t come inside.”

  She glared.

  “Who’s the woman?” She snapped.

  “An FBI agent. She’s going to help us catch this man. She’s been posing as a new patient who moved here because her husband was transferred to another police department…but I’m not sure that’s going to work too well now since I was supposed to be that police officer,” I told her honestly.

  She glared.

  “And what does being a fake husband make you have to do?” She asked, clearly not happy with my answer.

  I shrugged. “Go to doctor’s appointments. Be seen with her in public. Stay in the same place at night.”

  Her eyebrows rose to her hairline.

  “And what about my appointments?” She asked.

  I saw where she was going with it, and I knew she wouldn’t like my answer.

  “I can’t go to them.”

  And I couldn’t.

  Not if this was to be authentic and believable.

  “What about the birth of our child…will you be able to come then?” She asked calmly.

  “If he’s caught,” I said carefully.

  She dropped her hand from my face and stood there, looking up at the ceiling.

  Her tears had never abated, and I felt about six inches high.

  “Please get off me,” she said. “Please.”

  “We can have each other a
t night,” I told her. “I love you.”

  Those words seemed to make her snap.

  She pushed me away from her with enough force that I fell backwards, my ass planting on the ground solidly.

  And I was also far enough away that she almost had the door open.

  Almost.

  “This doesn’t change anything,” she growled, yanking on the door.

  I slammed my hand down to stop her progress.

  “It has to look real!” I yelled at her.

  “You want to have real, use me! I’m real! You put this baby inside of me, maybe you should use me since I’m actually yours!” She yelled, waving her hands in the air in true Pena Tantrum fashion.

  My eyes narrowed, then I moved forward until I could only make out the whites of her eyes.

  “I can’t use you. Because you’re mine, and I don’t ever want you on that man’s radar,” I hissed, crowding her into the dirty, grunge covered wall once again.

  She pushed at my shoulders, but I didn’t budge.

  “Get off me!” She screamed, drawing the attention of the entire bar I was sure.

  I pulled back and let her escape, and immediately saw Dane.

  Dane had taken my place on the Lisette’s arm. He looked at me in concern, but he didn’t intervene.

  Nobody did, in fact.

  I followed Nikki out of the bar.

  Then followed her to her car.

  Then followed her straight to her apartment.

  When I got to her front door, I tried the handle, and was surprised to feel it unlocked.

  So she wasn’t too mad at me, otherwise she would’ve locked the door.

  Right?

  Wrong.

  When I pushed the door open to her apartment, I was startled by what I saw.

  She was on her knees in the middle of the living room.

  She was facing away from me, her chest up tight to the coffee table as she looked at something with such focus that I wasn’t sure what to think.

  “Nikki?” I called, walking up behind her slowly.

  She looked over her shoulder at me, and I read the determination there.

  The understanding.

  The resignation.

  “Come look at this, Michael,” she said softly.

  As I made my way up to her side, I looked down, and my knees went weak at what I saw.

  “Are you kidding me?” I asked softly, dropping down to my knees beside her.

  My knees sank down into the plush carpet.