Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
When I saw my ex-husband’s name on the screen, my stomach dropped.
“Excuse me,” I said, ditching the table and all but running back to the hallway where the bathrooms were.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Sebastian’s sick.”
I blinked, and then let out a long breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’m at a work dinner, Marshall.”
“And your son is sick,” he shot back, his voice violent already where mine was level and calm.
“Can you handle it?”
“He threw up everywhere — like, projectile vomited all over his bed. I don’t have any spare sheets and I don’t even know where to begin cleaning up this goddamn mess.”
That was a no, I guessed.
I wanted to tell him to calm down, but I’d learned long ago that wasn’t the approach to take with Marshall.
“I’ll be there soon,” I said instead, hoping the calm in my voice would transfer to him.
In reality, I knew he’d be happy just because he still had power over me.
One call, and I was doing what he wanted.
My stomach was in knots as I made my way back to the table, my feet moving slower than I wanted them to. I needed to rush, to get to my baby boy and take care of him.
But going to him also meant going to Marshall.
I did my best to stay away from him as much as I could. Other than dropping Sebastian off or picking him up, I didn’t have to see my ex.
But with this, I’d have to go into that house I once lived in with him. I’d have to be within the walls, behind closed doors, alone with him — other than our child.
Nothing put me on edge quite like that did.
Marshall was careful. He always had been. He never outright hit me when we were together, and since our divorce, he found clever ways to bruise me without any physical marks being left on my skin.
Still, he was unpredictable.
“I’m sorry, I have a family emergency,” I said to Kyle when I made it back to the table, pulling cash from my purse.
Kyle immediately stood, dropping his napkin on his chair. “What happened? Is it your mom?”
My chest squeezed violently.
“No.”
Kyle frowned. “Your brother?”
“No,” I gritted, and when I tried to put cash on the table, Kyle stopped me, his hand lightly finding my wrist.
The soft touch made a lump form in my throat.
Slowly, he slid his hand down to mine, folding my fingers around the cash and guiding it back toward my purse.
“Who, then? Your dad?”
God, why did he have to ask, why did he have to pretend to care?
“Sebastian,” I said on a swallow, breaking contact with his hand. “Let me pay for dinner.”
“Not happening.” His eyes were still hard on me when he asked, “Who is Sebastian?”
I met his gaze. “My son.”
It felt like all the air in the restaurant was sucked out with those words, and I kept his stare even long after it burned me.
“Son,” he repeated. “You... you’re a mom?”
My eyes watered when he asked. It was like he was hurt by that fact as much as he was amazed by it.
He had a lot of balls to have that reaction, since the last time he’d found out I was pregnant, he’d left me.
I licked my lips on a laugh, slinging my purse over my shoulder. “Yep. And before you ask, no, he isn’t yours.”
That made Kyle frown. “Why would I assume that?”
I closed my eyes, forcing a breath. Of course, he wouldn’t assume I kept our child. I was just eighteen when he left. He was sixteen, for fuck’s sake. We were both still kids ourselves.
Not that I’d been much older when Marshall had knocked me up, but in that scenario, he was the older one. He was more mature. He knew what to do.
Or so I thought at the time.
I cleared my throat, lifting my chin to meet Kyle’s gaze even when it made me sick to do so. How he could be so callous, pretending like it never happened, made my blood boil.
Almost as much as it made my heart long to go back to that day, to force him to talk to me, to not let him go so easily. I was young, scared, and insecure — even though I masked that with a hard exterior.
We were both so good at pretending to be people we weren’t.
The commission, I reminded myself.
I only had to stomach him for a short while, and then I’d have the key to my freedom.
“I will send you a list of houses in the morning. I have your availability here, and I’m sure we’d both like this to be over quickly, so expect a full schedule.”
I bolted out of that restaurant like it was on fire, leaving Kyle Robbins to put out the flames.
Madelyn
I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant.