I sit on the edge of the bed until the door opens. I look up, surprised to see the street lights on. I must have been sitting here for hours. Ronnie steps in with a Styrofoam box. I smell food as he lifts the box up toward me.
“Dinner,” he says. I grunt in response. He drops it on the little round table by the door and turns to leave.
“Wait!” I call out. He pauses and turns toward me. We stare at each other for a few moments until my face twists and I feel like my heart is breaking all over again.
“Why, Ronnie?” I finally croak. His eyes narrow and his lips press into a thin line. He stares at me for a long time and then glances out the door before closing it.
“What do you mean?” he answers.
“I mean why are you doing this? Why are you working for my mother? Don’t you see that you’re hurting Sam?”
Ronnie’s face falls and he shakes his head.
“I didn’t think it would go this far. She said she could get me a better settlement in the divorce if I helped her. And I saw you with her and you were making her laugh. You know how she looks when she laughs?” He looks at me and his face contorts. “I never thought that…” his voice trails off and he stares at the brown stain on the ground that I’ve been looking at for hours. He sighs.
“She’s a monster,” I finally say. “My mother. She’s a monster. You should get as far away as possible.”
Ronnie looks back up at me and all I see is pain in his face.
“I made a mistake. I lost everything. I couldn’t…” his voice trails off and he looks through me. I watch his face harden. He stands up a bit taller and turns toward the door.
“Wait, Ronnie!” I call out. “Wait!”
The door slams.
“Fuck!” I exclaim. He doesn’t want to be doing this. He thinks he has to, maybe he’s in too deep. Maybe my mother knows too much about his past and his divorce. I shake my head. I thought we were understanding each other, I thought maybe he’d let me go. Maybe he’d let me call Sam.
I stare at the Styrofoam box of food and finally get up off the bed. I flick it open to see a chicken drumstick and a pile of rice. I sigh, pushing the rice around with a plastic fork. I don’t feel like a billionaire right now. I leave the food and fall down onto the bed. My eyes trace the outline of the water stains on the ceiling over and over until my eyelids get heavy and I fall asleep.
43
Samantha
“Samantha Jane,” Jess says with her hands on her hips. “You cannot blackmail the Shelbys. That’s insane! You’ll get yourself killed.”
I look at my best friend and shake my head. “I have to,” I say. “It’s the only way to get Dean out of this.”
“Fuck Dean!” she exclaims. “Seriously! Think of yourself! Think of the baby! You need to get away from these people. Run.”
Heads start to turn, so she grabs my arm and drags me out of the lobby. We head toward her car. I get into the passenger’s seat, clutching my phone against my chest and then playing the recording again.
“Honestly, Jess, this would ruin a political career. Imagine the headlines: Billionaire Family Threaten Non-Profit Children’s Worker,” I say, fanning my arm out in front of me. Jess slams her door and shakes her head.
“Imagine this headline: Body of Deceased Non-Profit Worker Found in the Hudson River.”
She raises an eyebrow and starts the car. I nod. She has a point. They’re obviously dangerous, and they’ve had these plans for a while. I have no idea what I’m up against. All I have is one measly recording. We start driving and pass a car in the parking lot.
“Jess! Is that Ronnie?” I exclaim, craning my neck to see into the car. Jess slows to a stop and looks over. There are two men in the front of the car. They’re talking to each other and looking toward the building. Jess looks at me, her face drawn with worry.
“What is he doing here?”
“Pull over up here. Let’s see what they do,” I say, pointing to a side road just ahead. Jess nods and turns the car around so we have a view of the front of the building. We say nothing to each other as we watch the other car. Jess sighs.
“This doesn’t feel good, Sam. This feels very, very bad.”
I nod. There’s a lump in my throat. She’s right, it feels very bad. I look down at my phone and take a deep breath. Maybe she’s right. Maybe this is too dangerous, and I should just run.
“How do you know Dean even wants to be saved? Didn’t you say that he told you it was over? And those pictures…”
“They’re not real! They admitted it up there. They told me that they were just using him.”
“How do you know that! Who knows what’s a lie and what’s real?”
I shake my head. “Dean doesn’t want this. I know it, Jess. He wants to be with me.”
“Sam,” Jess starts. I hold up my hand and point to the front of the building.
“It’s Dean,” I breathe. He’s being led to the car, and is thrown in the back seat. They drive toward us and we hide our faces as they drive by. I tap on the dash. “Come on, Jess. Let’s see where they go.”
She takes a deep breath but says nothing. We follow the black car from a short distance. Jess turns off the radio and we drive in complete silence. We follow them for just over half an hour until they pull up into a motel parking lot. I see Ronnie get out of the car and grab Dean by the arm. They push him up the stairs and throw him in a room. Ronnie and the other man sit down outside the room, guarding the entrance.
I turn to Jess. “We have to get him out. He’s being held hostage!”
“Samantha. You have a baby on the way. Your ex-husband is holding your new boyfriend in a shitty motel. His billionaire family threatened your divorce settlement and said they’d ruin your career. What do you want us to do? Go up there and ask Ronnie to let him out? Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
The frustration builds inside me and I shake my head. Tears start prickling my eyelids as I look at Jess, hoping she’ll understand where I’m coming from. She sighs and opens her arms up to give me a hug.
“Look, let’s just go home for now. We can come back tomorrow morning and see what happens. Just sleep on it, please.”
I nod. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Jess puts the car in gear and pats my leg. “It’ll be okay,” she says. “I promise.”
I nod and turn my head, staring at the door where Dean disappeared until it’s out of view.
By the time we get to Jess’s place, my head is a mess. I don’t know what to do. If I try to help Dean, I put myself and the baby in danger. If I don’t help Dean, I’m abandoning him to his family. I collapse into bed and stare at the ceiling. I run my hands over my stomach and let the tears flow out of me.
I don’t know what to do.
I hear Jess and her family making dinner and getting ready for bed. I don’t have the energy to get up. I don’t want to see her and Owen and the twins and be reminded of what a mess my life has become. All I want to do is lie here and forget about it all.
My phone buzzes and I frown.
Ronnie: I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.
My heart squeezes in my chest and the tears start to flow freely. I read the words over and over and all I feel is hurt and anger and betrayal all over again. I pick up the phone and dial his number. His voice is timid when he picks up.
“Sam?”
“What the fuck are you doing with him at that motel?” I growl into the phone. I hear Ronnie shuffle as if he’s getting up and walking away.
“How do you know where I am?” he says in a hoarse whisper.
“Answer my question,” I spit back. “Why are you texting me apologizing when you’re keeping my boyfriend hostage. She got the divorce papers from you, didn’t she?”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I’m sorry,” his voice breaks and I hear a sob. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Sam.” He repeats it over and over and I try to stop him.
“Ronnie, get out of there! Go back to Lexington. What are you doing!�
�
He sobs once more and finally stops. “I can’t,” he says, his voice firmer. “I can’t. Not until they’re married. Then she’ll let me go.”
“When’s that?” I ask, trying not to sound too forceful.
“I got to go, Sam. I shouldn’t be talking to you.”
The phone clicks and I exhale. “Fuck!” I say under my breath. Dean’s mother must be using the divorce over him as well. I lay back and stare at the ceiling. The fire in my stomach starts to burn hotter and my resolve strengthens.
Jess is right about a lot of things. She’s right that this is dangerous and stupid and it might be suicide. But she’s wrong about Dean. He’s being held against his will and forced to marry someone who betrayed him. I sit up in bed and listen to the recording of our conversation again. I pull up Ronnie’s name again and type a message.
Sam: What does Mrs. Shelby have on you? Why is she making you do this?
I grip my phone and hope he answers. If he does, I’ll have two small but powerful bits of ammunition against them. If the recording doesn’t scare them, maybe evidence of coercion and extortion will.
Ronnie: She’ll make me lose everything in the divorce. Her lawyers told me they’d leave me with nothing.
I take a deep breath as I read the text over and over. Another one comes through.
Ronnie: Wedding is tomorrow at the courthouse at 9 a.m.
I hold the phone to my chest and whisper a silent thank you. Ronnie may have betrayed me over and over, but for telling me this I’ll forgive him everything. It doesn’t matter, because now I can make everything right.
44
Dean
I feel like I’m going to my own funeral. I’ve slept a couple hours, but when I see myself in the bathroom mirror it looks like I haven’t slept in days. I sigh and splash some water on my face.
What’s the point? It doesn’t matter what I look like or how I feel, this wedding is going to happen anyways. I lean my hands against the mirror and close my eyes.
Sam.
I picture her laugh and the way her green eyes sparkle in the sun. I think of everything that I’ve anchored in my mind and I hang onto it. I’m doing this for her. I’m doing this to keep her safe.
I open my eyes and look at myself in the mirror before standing up a bit taller. I’m doing this for her. I can endure it all: the wedding, Victoria, my mother, my father. I can endure it all if I know that Sam is safe. I wipe my face clean and wait for Ronnie and the other man to lead me to the courthouse. I sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the stain on the carpet before lifting my eyes to the window.
I can do this. I can do this for her.
The drive to the courthouse feels short, too short. All too soon, Ronnie is opening my door and grabbing my arm to drag me out of the car.
“Alright, alright,” I say, ripping my arm away. “I’m getting out. Let go of me.”
He grunts and takes a step back. A gleaming black Rolls Royce pulls up behind us and my mother gets out, followed by my father, Victoria, and Victoria’s parents. All five of them are dressed impeccably. I look down at my disheveled clothing and sigh.
Victoria takes a step toward me and I snort.
“Funny, I wasn’t expecting you to wear white today,” I snarl.
She rolls her eyes. “This wasn’t the wedding I was expecting either, Dean. Get over it.” She crinkles her nose and looks me up and down. “Would it have killed you to shower?”
“I’d rather you be disgusted with me,” I retort.
Victoria opens her mouth to respond when my father makes a noise. He frowns as he looks at his phone screen.
“What is it, Henry?” my mother asks. My father lifts his eyes and frowns, his thick eyebrows drawing together like two grey caterpillars.
“That girl. She sent me this.”
He turns the volume up on his phone and our voices ring out. My mother takes a step closer to his phone and her face freezes. The entire conversation when Sam was in the room is played over the speakers. I look at my mother, whose face starts to fall. It twists and contorts until she looks at Victoria and explodes.
“You just couldn’t keep your fucking mouth shut, could you!”
Victoria flinches. Her face is completely pale and she shakes her head.
“It’s okay. Daddy has the police commissioner in his pocket. She has nothing. She can’t do anything with this. Right, Daddy?”
Victoria’s father is beet-red. He looks like he’s about to explode. All five of them look at each other and then at me.
“She’ll go nowhere with this,” my mother says.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Sam says. We all turn around to see her walking down the courthouse steps. She looks like an avenging angel, a halo of light around her as she walks toward us. She’s standing tall, her hair falling in loose waves around her head. A light breeze lifts her hair and makes it flow behind her. Her chin is held high and her eyes are blazing as she stares at my mother.
“I have copies of that recording in more places than I can count. If anything happens to me or Dean, it’s going straight to the press.” She smiles gently and opens her palms toward us. “Political careers are made and broken in the press. Even a small town girl like me knows that.”
My mother makes a gargled noise and takes a step toward Sam. Sam holds up a hand.
“If that doesn’t work, I have evidence that you coerced Ronnie into threatening Dean.”
With a gargled scream, my mother lunges toward Sam. Finally, the strength returns to my body and I jump between the two of them, holding my mother back before she can touch Sam.
My mother stops and lifts her eyes up to me. She looks at me with pure venom and I take a deep breath. I can feel Sam behind me and the fire of my family’s hatred in front of me.
Slowly, I turn toward Sam who finally looks at me. My knees feel weak as her eyes break through the fire and anger inside me. Her presence is like a cold drink of water on a hot day, soothing the cracks on my heart and dulling the hatred inside me. I take a step toward her. I take a step toward love, toward goodness, toward Sam.
I can hear my father’s protests but I ignore them. Sam extends a hand to me and I slip her fingers into my palm. The instant my skin touches hers I feel revitalized. I stand a little taller, my shoulders start to relax, and the tension in my face starts to fade. A small smile starts forming on her lips and she nods to me.
The two of us walk down the rest of the steps hand in hand and head off down the street. In this moment, I know that I’ll never let her go. No matter who comes between us, what threats are leveled against me or her, I’m not going to let anyone hurt her or keep her away from me.
She’s mine, and I’m hers. Nothing can keep us apart.
She squeezes my hand and guides me down the road. Once we round the first corner, she lets out a long breath and starts chuckling. Her laughter gets louder and her shoulders start to shake. After a few moments, the last bit of tension in my body disappears and we lean against each other as we laugh and laugh and laugh.
We walk a bit further until Jess rushes toward us. A torrent of emotions passes over her face when she sees us, from concern to confusion to finally a relieved smile.
“It’s over,” Sam says. “It’s over. I was shitting my pants, but it’s over.”
Jess’s face breaks open into a smile and tears start forming in her eyes. “Well what are you guys waiting for, kiss each other or hug or something! Don’t just stand there laughing!” she says, laughing as she says it.
I turn to Sam and let my laughter fade, not needing any more encouragement to tilt her chin toward me and wrap her in my arms. I kiss her like I’ve never kissed anyone before. I kiss her with the knowledge that I’ll never kiss anyone else, that she’s the one for me and I’m the one for her.
45
Samantha
I’m floating, or dreaming, or dead and gone to heaven. I’ve never felt this good. Dean opens the door to his apartment and we glide
in. He lets out a big sigh and my hand flutters to my stomach. I open my mouth to tell him about the baby but the words don’t come. He looks at me and grins.
“What?” he says. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
I shake my head. “Nothing,” I say. I don’t know why I don’t tell him about the baby. I don’t want to ruin this moment. I don’t want to change anything about his mood or the air between us. Right now, I just want to be with him and feel his arms wrapped around me and his lips on mine. Nothing more, and nothing less.
As if he reads my mind, he takes a step toward me and slides his hands over my waist. He pulls me into him and my arms wrap themselves around his neck. He rubs his nose back and forth over mine and lays a soft kiss on my lips before leaning his forehead against mine.
“I love you, Samantha. You’re the strongest and most courageous person I’ve ever met in my life. I can’t believe you did that for me.”
“For us,” I correct. For us and our baby. My heart feels so full I think it might explode. He pulls me closer and I close my eyes to enjoy the heat of his body so close to mine. We stand there swaying gently from side to side until I open my eyes again and smile at him.
“I love you too,” I whisper. His face breaks into a smile and he drops his hands to my bottom. He hoists me up and I wrap my legs around his waist.
We don’t say anything, because there isn’t anything to be said. He crushes his lips against mine as he carries me toward the bedroom. He lays me down onto the bed and presses his weight on top of me. I tangle my fingers into his hair and pull his kiss into me. My legs are still wrapped around his waist like I’m afraid to let go.
He runs his hand up my shirt and I shiver as his fingers leave a trail of sparks on my skin. The space between my legs is a ball of electricity, and I can feel his shaft pulsing against me.
We tear at each other’s clothes, at each other’s bodies. I kiss anything I come in contact with. I touch everything that my hands can reach, gripping and scratching and squeezing every part of his body. He groans as he devours me, covering my entire body with kisses. He moves to my hip and lays a kiss on it before looking up at me.
Unexpected (Complete Accidental Pregnancy Box Set) Page 65