by M. S. Parker
“Like hell I am,” she snapped. “This is my house!”
“No, Elise,” he shot back. “This is my home. You may have lived here on and off when we were together, but we both know you didn’t contribute a single penny to it.”
“Because I had to keep places in New York and LA since you wouldn’t move to either city!”
She took a step toward him, and I took a good look at her for the first time. Her hair barely looked brushed, and her clothes were wrinkled. Her cheeks were flushed, and her mascara smudged.
“You’re trespassing,” Jalen said, folding his arms over his chest. “Don’t make me call the police. You know it’ll end up in the tabloids, and neither of us want that.”
“You won’t do it. You won’t have the mother of your child arrested simply for wanting to talk to you.”
I made a derisive sound that drew her glare to me. “We know he’s not the father of your baby. If you’re even pregnant at all.”
“I am pregnant, you bitch! How dare you accuse me of lying!”
I lifted a shoulder. “Well, you’re a liar, so there’s that,” I said mildly.
“A woman named Adeline Fowler came to see me yesterday,” Jalen said, his voice surprisingly calm and low. “She claims that you told her brother that he was the father.”
Elise jutted out her chin like some mutinous child. “She’s lying.”
“So you do know her?” I asked.
Elise flushed an even deeper shade of red. “I’ve seen her at various events. She’s always been jealous of me.”
“I’m supposed to believe that it’s a coincidence that the day after I’m told you’re telling multiple men that you’re pregnant with their kid, you show up here, demanding we talk?”
“I want us to be a family.” Tears glittered in her eyes.
Crocodile tears.
“Maybe you can explain something to me, then,” he said. “I dropped my phone in the living room on Monday, and it bounced under the couch. Imagine my surprise when I found it and a pack of condoms beneath it. One was missing.”
Elise shrugged but didn’t meet Jalen’s eyes. “How am I supposed to know where you fuck her?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “The receipt was down there too. It was from that night. We used a condom.”
“You don’t know that,” she countered. “It doesn’t mean anything. And they don’t always work. It says so right on the package.”
“If you’re that sure, go to the doctor tomorrow and get a paternity test,” I suggested. “Then we’ll all know for sure.”
“I know for sure,” she snapped. “And you stay out of this. I told you that I don’t want you anywhere near my baby or my husband.”
“Give it a rest, Elise.” Jalen shook his head.
The doorbell rang again.
“What the hell?” I muttered as I moved to get it. “What’s the point of having state-of-the-art security if people can get to the damn door?”
I opened the door and thought of a better question.
What was the point of having a camera to show who was outside the door if no one used it?
“Happy New Year, little girl,” my father said. “It’s time for me to finish the job.”
Thirty-Three
I grabbed the door and tried to slam it shut, but my shock had lost me a second, and I wasn’t fast enough. He slapped his hand against the door and shoved, knocking me back. I would’ve fallen if he hadn’t reached out and grabbed the front of my shirt. Jalen’s shirt.
“Not a word,” my father hissed as he yanked me forward.
Cold steel slid along the side of my neck, and I braced myself for pain. I’d die without a sound if it meant keeping Jalen safe.
“Don’t walk away from me!”
Elise’s shrill voice destroyed any hope I’d had that Willis would kill me and go before he realized we weren’t alone.
“Rona is–” Jalen’s question dropped away as he stepped into view. “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
Willis spun me around, holding me in front of him like a shield. “I remember you from my trial. You were there for the whore.”
Jalen’s hands curled into fists, but his eyes found mine. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Who else is here?” My dad demanded.
“No one,” Jalen said quickly.
“I’m ‘no one’ now?”
Not quick enough.
Elise stomped out of the living room and skidded to a stop as she saw what was happening. She held up her hands and took a step backward.
“Stop!” Willis pointed his knife at her. “I came here to finish my job. Let me do that, and you get to live.”
“Jalen?”
“Do what he says.”
My brain scrambled to find a way out of this situation. I knew this. At Quantico, we’d gone over the different sorts of moves to make when being held from behind. Flip him over my back? Smash his instep? An elbow to the solar plexus? I couldn’t remember what we’d been told to do if our captor had a knife. Any movement felt like it’d be my last.
“Don’t hurt me,” Elise pleaded. She put her hands on her stomach. “I’m pregnant. Please don’t hurt me or my baby.”
My father hadn’t cared about killing his own wife and unborn child. A stranger and her baby wouldn’t move him. I didn’t tell Elise that though. As much as I despised her, this wasn’t something I’d wish on anyone.
“Who’s the father?” Willis asked.
“He is,” Elise said immediately, pointing at Jalen.
“I’m not,” Jalen said, taking a step toward me. “They have nothing to do with me.”
“You’re really going to deny it now?” Elise wailed. The tears spilling down her cheeks now were probably real. “All you care about is her!”
I could’ve told her that Jalen was trying to protect her and the baby by making Willis think that they wouldn’t be leverage, but every time I swallowed, I felt the sting of the knife’s blade. Talking wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do right now.
“She’s trying to make you think her bastard is yours?”
The air in the room shifted with the question. Elise and Jalen looked confused, but I knew exactly what had changed. My father was identifying with Jalen now, not as a potential threat, but as an ally.
“My cheating bitch of a wife tried to do that to me too.”
The knife at my throat moved slightly as Willis adjusted his grip on me. Instead of it being positioned so that he could cut my throat straight across without needing to apply much pressure, it was at an angle and now half an inch from my skin. The slight flick of Jalen’s gaze told me that he’d seen it too. It wasn’t much, but it was more than I’d had a minute ago.
“After I’m rid of this slut, you can do that one, and then we can get a drink before we take care of the bodies. That’s what went wrong last time. I didn’t get the chance to get rid of the evidence.”
The casual way my father spoke of murder and body disposal was more chilling than the shouting and ranting.
“Can I take care of her too?” Jalen asked, his expression a mask of calm. “I mean, she’s not pregnant, but she’s been a lot of trouble.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?!” Willis shouted. “You’re going to kill them and blame it on me!”
I felt his muscles tense a split second before he moved, and I acted on instinct, spinning toward the knife rather than away from it. I jerked my head down and away as I dropped to my knees and rolled, ignoring the agony ripping across my jaw and up my cheek. I couldn’t tell how bad the damage was as hot liquid spilled down my face, but I could see and breathe, and that was enough.
Everything seemed to happen all at once.
Jalen shouted my name.
Willis cursed and kicked at me.
Elise screamed and covered her stomach.
She really was pregnant.
The realization hit me a moment before I knew what my father was going to do next.
; I reached out and grabbed his foot, the sickest feeling of déjà vu coming over me. He twisted as he fell, and for a moment, his eyes met mine. Something that looked a lot like relief flashed across his face, and then he slammed into the floor. The world went still, as if everything held its breath to see what would happen next.
He didn’t move.
Jalen knelt, putting himself between me and Willis. Cautiously, he reached down, fingers pressing against my father’s neck. When he turned toward me, I knew it was over. I closed my eyes and let Jalen wrap his arms around me as he shouted at Elise to stop freaking out and call the police. I might cry later, but right now, I was just glad that it was done.
Thirty-Four
“That’s one hell of a way to start the new year.”
“Clay!” I tried to get up, but a glare from Jalen kept me seated. He’d been fussing over me the whole time, and I knew it’d eventually get annoying, but right now, it was endearing.
My friend was pale as he came over to me and pulled me into a hug. To my surprise, Jalen didn’t say a word. When Clay finally pulled away, he held out a hand to my boyfriend.
“I was an ass.”
“Yes, you were,” Jalen agreed, but he shook Clay’s hand.
“Glad to see you two are safe,” Agent Matthews said as he came into the room. “Are you feeling up to giving your statements?”
“Can’t it wait?” Jalen asked. “She’s had a rough morning.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “My face is still numb, and I’d rather do it before the medicine wears off, and it hurts to talk.”
The cut I’d received wasn’t too deep, but it ran from my chin, across my cheek, ending just below the corner of my right eye. Jalen had insisted on a plastic surgeon being called in to take care of it, and I’d been told it probably wouldn’t scar, or at least not badly. Oddly enough, I wasn’t concerned. The people I loved wouldn’t reject me because of a new scar, and that was the only thing that mattered to me.
“I gave my statement to the officers out there,” Jalen said.
“The doctor kicked him out because he yelled at her when I winced during the assessment,” I said with a half-smile.
“I apologized,” he said as he reached for my hand.
“Just tell us in your own words what happened.” Agent Matthews sounded amused by the exchange.
I took a moment to gather my thoughts. I wanted to be thorough but as unemotional as possible. What I’d done should have been cut-and-dry, but if I wasn’t clear about anything, I could end up in trouble.
“Jalen and I were in bed when the doorbell rang. He went downstairs to see who it was.” It wasn’t any easier to tell it than it had been to live it. I squeezed Jalen’s hand tighter with each minute. When I finally reached the end, my body shook, but my voice was steady. “That’s when we called for an ambulance.”
“Shit, Rona.” Clay put his hand on my shoulder. “You shouldn’t have had to do that. We should’ve caught him before he got to you.”
“Yes, you should have,” Jalen said.
“J,” I warned.
“What about your security?” Clay asked Jalen. “The whole reason I agreed to let Rona stay with you was because I thought you could keep her safe.”
“Hold up.” I stuck my hand between the two of them. “If the two of you keep talking about me like I’m not here, you’re both going to need a doctor to reattach your balls. Got it?”
Jalen raised an eyebrow. “I thought you liked my balls where they were.”
I scowled a warning. “I like being treated like a person more.”
He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry. You should be the one to yell at Clay.”
“I’m not going to yell at either one of you,” I said. “Everyone’s made mistakes. We’re not going to debate who did or didn’t do worse.”
They were both silent for a moment, then nodded.
“I’ll be meeting with my security people to see what went wrong,” Jalen said. “Just because your father’s not a danger anymore doesn’t mean you’re safe. There’s still whoever killed Serge.”
“Actually, there’s not,” Agent Matthews interjected as he came into the room. “Part of the reason we think your father was able to get past us was because we had to pull men off looking for Willis to help with the trafficking case. We caught a huge break.”
Clay picked up from there. “The coroner found a brand on Serge’s body, made post-mortem. Turns out, it was a signature used by his killer. We were able to use it to connect him to other murders, and after that, things fell into place. Dozens of our agents are out there right now, making arrests, conducting raids. The men we arrested before are making as many deals as they can. No one has anything to gain by coming after you.”
“Obviously, we’re going to encourage you to lay low for a couple weeks until we finish cleaning things up,” Agent Matthews said. “Do you have somewhere you can do that?”
“I think I can find somewhere,” Jalen said. “Are we allowed to leave the area?”
“Even Elise is saying you didn’t intend to kill him,” Agent Matthews said to me. “Actually, she said you were trying to stop him from hurting her and her baby.”
Clay looked at me with surprise. “You saved Elise?”
“I wasn’t going to let him hurt anyone else,” I said softly. “No matter how much she pisses me off.”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Agent Matthews reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “She gave me this to give to you, Jalen. I’m guessing it means something to you.”
Jalen took the paper, read it, then smiled. “It’s the official conception window. A week before I slept with her. The baby can’t be mine.”
Relief washed through me. Adeline’s visit had made me certain that Jalen wasn’t the baby’s father, but this meant we were done with Elise’s games.
“She wrote a note on it too,” he said. “You were right. We used a condom. I’ll sign the papers.”
“No apology,” I said with a shrug. “But on the plus side, you’re going to get a divorce.”
“I didn’t want to get it this way,” Jalen said.
For the first time, I heard something new in his voice. Something hard. And I wasn’t the only one who heard it.
“We’re going to talk to the cops,” Agent Matthews said. “And then we’ve got paperwork piling up back at the office. We’re going to be busy for a while with this case.”
Clay leaned over and gave me a quick hug. “If you need me, all you have to do is call.”
I nodded. “I know.” I waited until they left before I asked Jalen what was wrong.
He stared at me. “You could’ve died today. Why did you risk yourself for Elise? Dammit, Rona!”
“Are you mad at me for saving her life? Really?”
He cupped my face in his hands, careful to keep his fingers off my wound. “I can’t lose you. Don’t you understand that yet? Losing you would kill me.”
I curled my fingers in his shirt. “And I couldn’t have lived with myself if he hurt someone else when I could’ve stopped him.”
Jalen rested his forehead on mine. “Please, sweetheart, don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“Ever?” I echoed. “That sounds an awful lot like a commitment.”
He smiled. “One step at a time, right?”
I wanted to enjoy this moment, but there was one thing I had to know before I could. “When you heard Elise was pregnant, was it the baby you didn’t want, or was it just her?”
He raised his head but didn’t step away. “You want to know if I want kids?”
I nodded.
His eyes skimmed down to my belly. “Are you–”
“No, but if we’re looking to the future, it’s something we should talk about.”
He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose. “I want to be a father someday, but only if you’re the mother.”
I closed my eyes and finally let myself feel all the hope I’d been push
ing down for so long. I was going to have a family.
No, I amended. I already had a family. It was just going to get bigger someday.
Thirty-Five
“You do realize that you’re certifiable, right?” I said as I joined Jenna next to the pool. “Feeding this many people.”
Jenna grinned at me. “It’s all in the delegation.”
We both looked over at the grill where Rylan and Zeke were busy with an insane amount of meat. Nearby was a long table weighed down with chips and dips, potato salad, scalloped potatoes, fruit salad, cheese, crackers, cold cuts, buns, fresh vegetables, pies, brownies, Jell-O, condiments, and about half a dozen other dishes that I couldn’t recognize from my seat.
“Mom look!” Diana called from the pool. “Look what Aunt Stacey taught me!”
When she was sure we were watching, she flipped onto her back and floated. Less than an arm’s length away was Stacey, hand out to help if Diana faltered. While both of Jenna’s sisters had met the family back in March at Diana’s birthday party, Stacey had been coming by twice a week since school had let out last month. Both kids got along with her, but Diana had become obsessed. Everything was all about her Aunt Stacey.
“That’s great,” Jenna said with a sincere smile.
“I’m surprised Jeremiah’s not in there with them,” I said.
“He and Danielle are in a serious competition at the moment.” Jenna gestured toward the driveway. “They’re playing Antelope.”
“Antelope?”
She laughed. “Apparently, spelling horse wasn’t enough of a challenge.”
“Let me guess, that was Danielle’s doing.” Scott took the seat on the other side of Jenna while Michael sat down at the edge of the pool and dangled his feet in the water. “She’s become obsessed with going to the national spelling bee next year. She’s becoming extremely competitive.”
“I wonder who she gets that from,” Michael said dryly.
As the two men continued to banter, I found my gaze wandering. Suzette was sunbathing a couple chairs away and judging by the looks her brother and Zeke were throwing at her, she was going to end up getting wet, soon. I knew Zeke’s new boyfriend was around here somewhere too, as were Stacey’s parents. The Johnsons had been a little more reluctant to join a family holiday, but Jenna had managed to convince them that they wouldn’t feel out of place. Things between them and her were much better as time went on.
