Protect

by Bailey, Sarah

  “Okay, you can all shut up for a minute.”

  All heads turned to me and conversation halted. Now everyone was staring at me, I felt uncomfortable, but fuck it. Better to just get it out there in the open.

  “You know I’m not one to mince words…”

  James scoffed and I scowled at him before he quietened down. Brent squeezed my hand, giving me his reassurance.

  “Brent and I are engaged and we’re having a baby.”

  The room got so silent, I swear you could hear a pin drop. The first person to make a noise was Fi, who literally screeched and jumped up from the sofa, practically barrelling into me. She knew I was pregnant, but I hadn’t yet told her about the engagement.

  “Let me see. Let me see it,” she practically begged me as she pulled away and searched my hands.

  I showed her the ring and she cooed over it, telling me it was beautiful and so me. She gave Brent a hug too.

  “I know you’ll take care of my sister,” she whispered, making him grunt at her in acknowledgement.

  “Well, I guess we’re going to have another screaming infant in the house,” Dante muttered.

  “Excuse me, did you just call your son a screaming infant?” Liora retorted.

  His lips curved up and for once in his life, his eyes twinkled.

  “Of course not, my heart. I love our son even if he does like to scream the house down.”

  Liora scowled and stroked the top of Logan’s head. He was happily sleeping in her lap despite all the noise.

  “He only does that when he’s hungry.”

  “Or when he’s grumpy for no apparent reason.”

  “Yes, well, he seems to get that from his father.”

  He stared at his wife with an almost amused expression on his face which was so unlike him.

  “You’re just upset that he not only looks like me, he’s inherited my personality too.”

  “Shut up.”

  He leant closer to her and kissed the top of her head before stroking his son’s face.

  “We should give him to Jen for practice so you and I can…” He gave her a wink.

  Liora’s face went bright red and she bit her lip.

  “Dante!”

  “What?”

  “Not in front of your family.”

  He chuckled and I rolled my eyes. Here he was talking pawning his baby off on to me so he could fuck his wife in front of everyone and he’d told me off for having sex with Brent on the conservatory table. We had cleaned it at his request, but if he couldn’t look at it the same way again, it served him right.

  “Yeah, Dante, not in front of everyone,” I said with a grin.

  He gave me a dark look which told me he was still unhappy about what he’d seen. I stuck my tongue out at him.

  “I take it this was not a planned pregnancy,” Liora said, directing our attention away from Dante’s hints about the two of them.

  “No, I’m still getting used to it all, but it is what it is.”

  She gave me a tentative smile and I knew Jensen was right. I needed to sit down with her about it because the whole thing was still a mess inside my head. Speaking of Jensen, he had a raised eyebrow, as if to ask me if I was okay. I shrugged. What could I say? I wanted to marry Brent, which is why I’d said yes, but not yet. I wasn’t ready.

  “Talk about moving along at warp speed,” James said. “Are you two going to drop any more bombshells on us? Like oh, I don’t know, you’re having twins and you’re getting married next week?”

  “Ha-fucking-ha. Not likely.”

  With twins running in our family, it was a possibility, but right now, I didn’t even want to consider it. I mean how fucking ironic would that be? A twin having twins. I could see Fi raising her eyebrow as if she was thinking the exact same thing. Hell to the no. If anyone was going to have a set of twins, it should be her. She’d cope better than me and she had Jensen who was adorable with kids. Honestly, I’d been at theirs when they had his niece and nephew around and the way he doted on them had me and Fi getting all stupidly giddy over it. And I didn’t get giddy over anything. Besides, I knew the man beside me would make an amazing father too. The way he cared for his own nieces and nephews warmed my heart. Not that I’d ever tell him that.

  Thankfully James didn’t make any further annoying comments. In fact, we were duly congratulated and hugged by all before the pizza arrived and then that was all anyone had any time for. I soon found myself sequestered in the corner of the room with Jensen staring down at me with concern.

  “Are you sure about all of this?”

  I fiddled with my engagement ring.

  “Marrying Brent is what I want, but just not now. I told him that and he’s okay with it.”

  “It’s a big commitment to make.”

  “We’re going to have a baby, that kind of already ties us together for life.”

  “I want you to be sure, Jen. It’s a lot to take in at once and after what we spoke about in our last session, I’m concerned about you making rash decisions.”

  I sighed. We’d had another session on Wednesday and had a further discussion about forgiveness. Whilst I had forgiven Brent and myself for everything which happened between us, there was still the issue I had with my dad.

  “I don’t want to tell Brent about this.”

  “About what?”

  “I want to go see my dad and I want you to come with me.”

  He raised an eyebrow. Brent hadn’t told me much about his conversations with my dad when he visited the prison, but it made me realise I couldn’t live in fear any longer. I needed to be strong and I needed to do this for my own sake.

  “What do you think seeing him will achieve?”

  “We talked about forgiveness. I don’t think I’ll ever truly be able to forgive myself if I don’t tell him all the things I’ve been keeping locked up in here.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “All the things we’ve talked about. I know it’s stupid, but he needs to know how much he hurt me. He needs to understand the consequences of his actions even if he’ll never feel remorse for them. I need this. For me. So I can move on.”

  He let out a long breath.

  “I can understand that. If you feel it’s best, then you should go. And of course, I’ll come with you if you need me there, but you also need to tell Brent about it. You told me you can talk to him about anything, so why not this?”

  I looked over at Brent who was sitting with Dante and they seemed to be deep in conversation. Likely about me and the baby.

  “He won’t be happy about it.”

  “Is that a reason to keep it from him?”

  “No, but I can’t, Jensen. This isn’t about him. It’s about me.”

  “Jen..”

  “Look, I get it, but it’s my choice. I need to see my dad and you can’t make me tell Brent.”

  He was silent for a long moment.

  “Are you going to tell Fi?”

  I nodded. Fi would understand. More than anyone else. I could understand now why James had gone to talk to him. He seemed so much lighter afterwards. I needed it too. To end things once and for all so I could move on.

  “She might even come with me.”

  “I think she will, and it might be good for the both of you.”

  I gave him a smile. Jensen understood far more than anyone else about how much this meant to me. He had my back and there was no doubt in my mind, this was the right way forward. I’d just have to contend with telling Brent after the fact. And that was the part I was dreading more than actually seeing my dad.

  ***

  Things had been quiet in the office. Too quiet. It felt like the calm before the storm and I had no idea why I had such a bad feeling. Perhaps it had everything to do with the fact that Max hadn’t contacted me since we’d had dinner together and that was three weeks ago. So yeah, I was on edge, wondering what the hell he’d do next. He hadn’t pulled the funding from Bensons or any
thing. If anything, that side of things was operating smoothly. However, it was being managed by his company and not Max directly now we’d signed all the contracts.

  Brent was visiting one of Dad’s friends in prison today, which made me nervous, but he said it was necessary to make sure we had a handle on the Max situation. Apparently, Marcus was responsible for telling Max about the blood debt. I hoped Brent was right and he’d be able to get us out of this mess after he spoke to Marcus.

  I rubbed my temples, feeling a little nauseated. This being pregnant business was already pissing me off. It didn’t help that every time I saw Brent, I wanted to jump his bones. Not that he was complaining about my increased sex drive. No, he was reaping all the rewards, but I still had to suffer the morning sickness which sucked balls.

  Thinking about Brent gave me a tingling sensation in my nether regions and I groaned. No way in hell I was going to be able to deal with that with me being at work and him at the prison.

  “For fuck’s sake,” I muttered.

  Pulling out my phone, I decided I couldn’t wait until I got home so I send Brent a text which I hoped he’d get after he was done with Marcus.

  ME: I need you. I’m horny as fuck. Can’t think straight. Please come save me from myself when you’re done at the prison!

  I wondered if he’d be smiling when he got it. Smug bastard probably would be grinning from ear to ear and rushing over to see me. Lucky I had a lock on my office door and blinds. I shifted in my seat, imagining him under my desk pleasuring me in the way only he knew how. And no doubt, Brent loved going down on me. He told me I tasted like magic and he’d never get enough. I couldn’t complain since his addiction to me was most definitely to my benefit.

  My office door opened and in walked in the person I didn’t want to see again.

  “Hello Jennifer.”

  I sat up straighter, all thoughts of Brent’s tongue between my legs flying out of my head.

  “What are you doing here, Max?”

  He came further into the room, not shutting the door behind him.

  “Did you miss me?”

  “No.”

  His ice blue eyes flashed as he cocked his head to the side and dug his hands into his chino pockets.

  “Did you think I’d forgotten about our little deal?”

  “You think I’m stupid or something?”

  A smug grin graced his lips. God I really wanted to punch that smile right off his face.

  “Why, no. I’ve merely been busy and had no need to make any appearances with you by my side.”

  My skin crawled at the thought of being anywhere near him again. We really needed to end this shit with him. Especially when I was pregnant and would no doubt be showing in a couple of months.

  “And what, now you do? You could’ve called.”

  “Then I wouldn’t get to see your face.”

  I rolled my eyes, sickness coiling in my stomach.

  “What do you want?”

  He walked around my desk and leant against it. I rolled my chair back to put some space between us.

  “What I’ve always wanted, Jennifer. You.”

  “Well, too bad you can’t have me then, isn’t it? I swear we already had this conversation.”

  He simply shrugged and put a hand out.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t give a shit if you try to bring me down because you’ll be going down with me.”

  My body locked up. What the hell did he just say to me?

  “You’ve changed your tune since last time.”

  “You see, I realised something. I have all the power here. You can try claim I blackmailed you, but you’ve been seen by the public hanging off my every word. Who’re they going to believe? Me, who has all the evidence or the girl whose family covered up that your brother’s wife was part of a blood debt? I think I know who will win here.”

  My phone buzzed on my desk, but one look at Max told me it wouldn’t be wise to touch it right now. Whoever it was could wait. I needed to get this man out of my office before he did something. The evil glint in his eyes made my blood turn cold.

  “You think you’re that powerful, do you?”

  He leant closer.

  “I know I am.”

  I gathered all the courage I didn’t feel and stood up, walking away to put distance between us. His closeness suffocated me and not in a good way.

  “Threatening me is getting old now, Max.”

  “You make it too easy. Your weakness is your family.”

  I clenched my fists.

  “You think because I’d do anything to protect them that makes me weak?”

  “Love makes us humans weak.”

  I scoffed. This guy was clearly a fucking idiot. Love was my strength. Having people in my life who cared helped me succeed in life. Their support was everything.

  “In your fucked up delusional world of self-grandeur, perhaps. I happen to live in the real world.”

  He laughed. Actually laughed at me before pushing himself off my desk and walking towards me. I backed away until I was against the windows. Bad move. Bad fucking move.

  “I know what your father did to you.”

  My heart thundered in my ears. He couldn’t know. How? There was no possible way he could’ve found out about that.

  “Tell me, Jennifer, did you like it when you were held down and taken against your will? Did you scream?”

  “Fuck you,” I spat.

  “Sore subject, is it?” He reached up and ran a hand down my neck. “Not surprising your family is so fucked up and you, you’re just a little girl acting out because dear old Daddy raped you.”

  I shoved his hand away from me which only made him smile. He had no idea. No idea at all. I wasn’t that girl any longer. Whilst I still needed to take that final step and tell my dad where to go, I was better now. Better than this piece of shit would ever know.

  “You think you know so much about me, Max, but you don’t know shit. I’m not scared of you. If anything, you should be scared of me. Fucking terrified in fact of what I’ll do to you.”

  I was bluffing right now, but there was no way in hell I’d let him see me back down.

  His smile got wider, setting me on edge.

  “Tut, tut, Jennifer. You really should know better by now.”

  He struck then, wrapping his hand around my neck as he pressed me up against the window.

  “I’m not afraid to hurt you.”

  I shook my head, panic rising in my chest. He could hurt me all he wanted, but he might hurt my unborn child.

  “Let me go.”

  The gleam in his ice blue eyes told me he wasn’t going to stop.

  “I’m never letting you go again, of that you can be certain.”

  I struggled against him, gripping his hand around my neck and trying to tug it off. He only gripped me tighter. He was too close and I started to feel claustrophobic. I choked a little, trying to breath oxygen into my lungs so I didn’t panic further. It wasn’t working. My body locked up and all I could think about is what if he hurts my baby? What if he destroys the small tiny peanut I’d made with the love of my life?

  “Please,” I choked. “Please, let me go.”

  My life flittered before my eyes. All of my regrets and mistakes. The biggest one I had would be never becoming Mrs Coleman. I couldn’t bare it. Even if I lost my baby, we could make another one, but I couldn’t cope with being ripped away from Brent. I needed him so much. He’d become an essential part of me. We belonged together.

  I need you, Brent. Fuck, do I need you.

  Max tore me away from the window and threw me down on the floor. My hands instinctively went to my stomach, protecting the life inside of me.

  “You’re pathetic. Breaking you down is far too easy. This hardly feels like work.”

  I wanted to refute his words. I wanted to shout at him, but I couldn’t. My world felt like it was coming apart before
my eyes as Max stared down at me coldly.

  Would he hurt me further?

  Would he destroy everything I’d fought so hard for?

  “No wonder your father only wanted you for a quick fuck. You’re a waste of fucking space.”

  Bile rose in the back of my throat. That’s when both Max and I heard the sound of footsteps behind us.

  “What the fuck did you just say to her?”

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Brent

  I saw red. I saw fucking red. Whilst I couldn’t see what was happening behind Jen’s desk, only that Max seemed to be standing over her, it didn’t matter. That was my girl and he wasn’t not getting anywhere near her again. As soon as I saw Jen’s text after I’d finished what I was doing, I’d smiled, not wanting to keep her waiting. Finding this little shit in her office was not expected, but fuck if it didn’t kill two birds with one stone.

  “Who the hell are you?” Max said as he stared at me.

  I didn’t answer him as I strode past Jen’s desk, finding her on the floor clutching her stomach. Had he fucking hurt her? Max Graves was dead. A dead fucking man. I turned to him and I swore I could see a hint of confusion and fear in his eyes.

  “Did you fucking hurt her?”

  “And what if I did? She’s mine.”

  I cracked my knuckles and walked towards him. He backed off a few steps, clearly realising his mistake.

  “I think you’re very much mistaken there.”

  He tried to look like he wasn’t intimidated by me. Tried and failed.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  “Clearly didn’t do your research too well, Maximillian Henry Graves, now did you? Because I know all about you and your little dirty secrets.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He had absolutely no clue. I’d spent all morning and half the afternoon dealing with Marcus and making sure Max never went public with the Benson’s secrets. Now I was going to teach this shit a lesson for ever laying hands on my Jen.