“Are you fucking kidding me?! Tell me what happened, Ivy!” William took a step closer to her, and she shrank back.
Sean inched closer as well. “Don’t hurt her, Kade. Ivy, talk.”
Witnessing William’s eyes that where twin pools of despair, she revealed, “I found out I was a couple of months pregnant after I escaped. I delivered much too early. She’s a girl. I…I didn’t have any money, William. I thought you wanted me dead. It was a stupid choice made in desperation.”
“Don’t you dare make excuses for yourself! The child has a father that could’ve taken care of her. You should’ve told me. This…This is unforgivable!” William raked his hair back with both hands. “I can’t even…grasp how you could’ve kept this from me.”
“William, I thought you were going to kill me! I was at my wits’ end. Sean and I returned to the Loop right before I gave birth. I never planned it. The couple spoke to me on the street and inquired about my situation, then brought up the idea of them ‘adopting’ her. They wanted to pass the child off as one of their own; the woman had just miscarried. I got an advance on the money, which wasn’t much, and when they took her away from me, they conned me. They didn’t pay, and I couldn’t go to the police or anything.”
“You should’ve come to me,” William mumbled.
William’s gaze pierced right through Ivy, and he glared at her incredulously, as if his mind couldn’t understand the events unfolding before him.
“Is she healthy?” William asked whisper-soft.
“Yes, she was born healthy.”
William blinked and blinked. His face held no expression; his eyes were as calm as the sea before a storm. The most pressing silence she’d ever known settled over them.
Ivy turned her head to Sean, imploring him to help her.
“William,” Sean started, “while I didn’t agree with her decision, I did understand why she did it. We really aren’t in a position to take care of a child.”
Ivy moved in front of William and raised her arm to touch him, but his frighteningly calm demeanor halted her action, so she lowered her hand. “I was going to tell you today. I wasn’t planning on never telling you.”
William stared straight ahead, not looking at her.
“William, please…” Ivy’s hand slid over his beard while she nuzzled her face into his neck. “Please, I’m so sorry.”
She was truly regretful. With every fiber of her being, she’d hated giving their daughter away. But Ivy was also thankful that her baby now had food and a home. She went to that house every day to check on her.
If she had a second chance, she would do everything differently.
“William, I love you. Say something.” Ivy studied him warily.
He looked completely unaffected by her declaration, so she dropped her arm and stepped back.
William cupped her face, pulling her in for an embrace, a painful hug. He lowered his head to whisper, “I’m too angry to speak to you. Get out.”
And he let her go. Dumbfounded, Ivy reached for him, but he pulled away.
Then he repeated to Sean, “Leave now, Sean.” And William marched to the elevator, opening the door with his key.
“Come, Ivy.” Sean took her elbow and prompted her to walk.
In a daze, Ivy passed William, whose stare was fixed on the floor, and entered the elevator. She hoped he’d lift his gaze to her, but he didn’t. The door closed right after he swiveled around without ever saying goodbye.
CHAPTER 50
William
He couldn’t stand the sight of her any longer. He couldn’t watch her cross the threshold. William wanted to throttle her; therefore, he had to send her away.
There was only a thread of sanity holding him together right now, but that thread would snap the second he looked up, so he glowered at the carpet.
Her eyes bore holes into his back when he turned away from her and heard the elevator close.
Numbly, William sank onto his sofa, resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, dropping his head into his hands.
The betrayal he’d suffered from Ivy flamed through his body. William was in a state of mindless rage. Ivy, the woman he loved, was still the same liar as before. Only this time, her lie was simply unjustifiable.
He had a baby girl. Out there, with strangers.
Promptly, he jumped to his feet and returned to the elevator, waiting until it came back up to take it downstairs.
On the first floor, William went in search of Silk, who happened to be heading down the corridor.
“Silk, come with me,” William instructed as he led the way while fishing his car keys from his pocket.
“Where to?” Silk followed him outside.
“To get my daughter,” William answered to a speechless Silk as he climbed inside the vehicle.
***
William parked right in front of the townhouse. The journey had strengthened his outrage over the fact that these people had bought his child.
William and Silk simultaneously opened and closed the car doors as they stepped out and made their way toward the front entrance.
As William rang the bell, he read the nameplate: Edward Taylor.
Faster than expected, the door unlocked, revealing a short, young brown-haired man that came up to William’s shoulder.
“Mr. Taylor,” William said as he glanced to the street. “I suggest you invite us in unless you want everyone in the Loop to hear about how you purchased a newborn.”
Silk cracked his knuckles as he stood imposingly next to William.
Edward’s scared expression intensified as he held the door open wider for them to enter. Then they followed Edward to the living room where his wife sat with William’s child.
Confidently, William and Silk speared the woman holding the baby wrapped in a wool pink blanket with a scowl that made her cower.
“Mrs. Taylor”—William halted right before her as she sat on her hideously green couch—“I’ve come to collect what’s mine.”
“What?” she said with a trembling bottom lip, cradling the baby close to her chest.
William couldn’t see the child’s face; that annoyed him. And he didn’t want to spend too long in here.
Silk knitted his fingers behind his back and casually raised his brows to Edward, who witnessed it all from the doorway.
“Don’t be ignorant. I’m not in the mood for games. That baby is mine. I’ve come to pick her up.” William bent and the woman reared back, but he easily pried the baby from her arms. “You two have illegally bought a baby. You pressured a poor woman into selling her child to you! Unfortunately for you, this is my daughter.”
“How do you know it’s yours?” Mrs. Taylor frantically inquired.
William cocked his head. “That doesn’t matter. She isn’t yours. I’d tread carefully if I were you…”
Edward jumped forward, but Silk easily gripped his throat with one hand and slammed him against the wall, holding him there.
“No!” the woman screamed and covered her mouth with both her hands.
“Calm down,” William ordered. “You have two choices. I can go to the police and have you arrested, or I can kill you.”
They gasped.
“I’m inclined to do the latter, but I’ll be lenient today.” William turned and walked to the door, holding the small infant in one arm. “Do you know who I am?”
They both nodded.
“Then I suggest you stay away from me, Ivy, and my child forever. If I ever see you near any of us, I will kill you. I don’t care what you tell your family or friends about the sudden loss of your baby, but you never involve my name. If you do speak of me or Ivy, I will find out and murder you in your sleep.”
William shot daggers at both of them, and Silk hit Edward’s stomach once, causing him to double over.
“You only get one warning from me,” William threatened as he exited with Silk in tow.
Outside, William told Silk to drive as he took the passenger s
eat.
Once on the way, William observed the tiny baby girl in his arms. She was asleep but started to stir.
He edged the blanket away from her round, pink face to see her hair. She had a few fuzzy hairs that were exactly the same color as Ivy’s curls.
“She’s so tiny,” William mused aloud as he stared at this little creature.
Then her eyes opened and she looked straight at him, blinking sweetly. Something tugged at his heartstrings. This baby girl was a perfect mix between William and Ivy. Ivy’s hair color and William’s silver-grey eyes.
Tears pricked behind his eyelids as he stroked his finger down her soft, chubby cheek. She stretched her short arms and legs while William held her firmly, afraid he’d hurt her. She was the smallest baby he’d ever seen.
“William?” Silk asked.
“Yes,” he said without shifting his stare from his baby.
“So now you have a baby? Um, do you know anything about babies?”
William shook his head.
“Well, neither do I, but I do know we’ll need help. Like, what does that tiny thing eat?”
“That is a she, Silk,” William replied around a smile. “And I guess we should find help today.”
CHAPTER 51
William
William awoke instantly when he heard his daughter fretting, lying next to him on his king-sized bed. There was a mahogany crib next to the bed, but William had slept with his baby on the mattress every night so that he could watch over her. He’d placed large pillows on her other side so that she wouldn’t roll too far away from him and off the bed.
Her cute sounds were like music to his ears.
His daughter.
Even after a week, he still couldn’t believe that the sweetest baby in the world was his girl.
Rolling to his side, a wide smile was directed at William when she saw him.
“Morning, Eva.” He spoke quietly and rubbed his hand over her round belly. She loved it when he did that.
Eva made soft noises while kicking her legs.
Every morning, he played with her before the day began. She wrapped her palm around his pinky, not even able to close her tiny hand.
Looking at Eva’s reddish-brown hair and watching her innocent gaze upon him reminded William of Ivy and made him long for her. And although time had flown by since he’d brought his baby girl home, he’d never once forgotten about her mother.
Her mother that hadn’t contacted him. William, who almost caved on a daily basis, wanted to reach out to Ivy, but his resentment had been too strong the first week.
Nonetheless, William did get updates on Ivy often. Silk had been in contact with Sean to ensure that Ivy had moved from her old apartment. Sean had arranged for him and Ivy to live in the better area of the Loop, not even fifteen minutes away from William’s high-rise.
William shook his head, attempting to shake Ivy from his mind. Fortunately, his apartment had been busy lately. On the day he discovered Eva’s existence, he and Silk had driven to an agency to demand a trustworthy nanny immediately. When you throw money around, things can get done very quickly. And the agency had given William their best nanny – Julia – who was a middle-aged woman that William had instructed to live with him in the spare room and who had arranged everything rapidly.
A wet-nurse was acquired so that Eva could drink healthy mother’s milk, William’s apartment had been stacked with baby toys, a stroller, and a crib, and William had ordered Julia to buy anything she believed Eva might need. His décor had changed from masculine to feminine in twenty-four hours. Pink blankets, bibs, and toys were scattered around his household; there was something pink everywhere.
While William had been scared to first find out he had a baby, he’d adjusted without any trouble. It also helped that William wasn’t alone in the least. Silk, Julia, and all the female employees of the gambling club fawned over little Eva. Silk’s reaction to Eva had especially stunned William; Eva had wrapped Silk around her finger.
“William? Eva? Are you up?” Silk stopped by William’s every morning to see Eva before he went to work downstairs.
“Yes,” William said.
Silk swept inside the bedroom. The mattress dipped as he sat on the edge and bent down to place a kiss on Eva’s forehead. “Hi, baby.”
“That baby voice of yours is comical and a bit creepy,” William teased.
“Fuck you,” Silk retorted. “You just hate it that she smiles more at me than you.”
“You wish. She’s my baby girl, not yours.”
“She’s mine as well,” Silk stated, slamming his fist against his heart as if William had wounded him.
William chuckled as Julia entered in her robe with a bottle of milk in hand. “I think it’s time for breakfast for our little miss.”
William kept rubbing her belly. “She hasn’t cried yet.”
Julia came closer to check on Eva. “That’s because you two spoil her rotten.” Then she addressed Eva in a high-pitched tone, “You love it when daddy rubs your tummy, don’t you?”
Eva reveled in all the attention, beaming and wriggling her tiny body.
William held out his hand to Julia. “I’ll feed her.”
Julia gave him the glass baby bottle, and Eva drank hungrily from it.
Nowadays, William’s apartment was constantly swamped with people, and he didn’t mind it one bit. Julia and Silk each had a key, and some employees of the club often came up to visit Eva before their shift started.
Secretly, William preferred the bustle of people over the loneliness. When he was alone, he yearned for Ivy, and he wasn’t sure if he could ever forgive her for selling their child. But this new family of his never felt complete. A true mother was still missing.
“Julia, can you bathe her while I get dressed? I’m taking her with me today,” William instructed and lifted Eva from the bed to hand her to Julia.
William didn’t want to be far away from Eva on most days, so he decided to keep her close to him whenever he could.
***
William arrived downstairs with Eva in one arm. She weighed nothing and was the size of his forearm, so he enjoyed holding her this way.
Of course, Julia had dressed Eva in a pink dress, and William made a mental note to buy dresses in other colors as well. There was currently just a little too much pink around him.
It was still early morning, and the employees were cleaning the gaming hall. William crossed the Oriental carpet to the bar on his right where Silk was talking to their new manager.
“How did it go last night?” William asked.
“Better than expected. We were swamped,” Silk replied.
And the manager behind the bar added, “Word has spread that we serve alcohol, so every gambler in town wants to visit here. I closed the front entrance at midnight because we were full.”
“That’s good news.”
Silk started to play with Eva’s feet, and then he swooped her from William’s arm.
“Mr. Kade,” an employee called from the doorway, and William spun around.
“Miss Hunter is here to see you.”
Two emotions rose: hope and rage. The anger hadn’t subsided, but his love for her hadn’t either. And William wanted to see her too. “Send her in.”
Ivy darkened the doorway in a white cotton dress that came to her knees. Her hair was loose, curls combed over one shoulder. She was a burst of simplistic beauty that made his cock twitch.
Then, she looked at William. No, straight through him, her eyes passing as if she couldn’t pinpoint his exact location. And he knew why; she had gone entirely blind.
CHAPTER 52
Ivy
Several days ago, Ivy’s vision had left her completely. She felt cursed in the timing of all the negativity in her life. She lost William, her sight, and her chance to ever see her child, all in the span of a week.
Ivy had been lying in bed for days when Sean finally told her to get up and do something other than cry. And since cryi
ng didn’t make her feel better, she’d forced herself to get out of the apartment with Sean and seek help.
Ivy realized that William must’ve given Sean money for them to move and live without having to steal or con because Sean had also enrolled Ivy in a class for the blind. It would teach her to adjust to her new state, and they trained young people to rely more on their other senses. There was only one institution that offered the class, so it must’ve been expensive, yet Sean had told her not to worry about money.
It had proven problematic to live as a blind woman. The first few days, Ivy kept on bumping into everything, so she started to count steps to find her way around the apartment.
Ivy did note that her hearing was much sharper, and she could sense when Sean was near her. And since her sense of smell was much more sensitive too, she realized that she needed to learn how to recognize people by their cologne. Slowly, she attuned to her altered life.
But living in darkness makes one isolated, and Ivy felt solitude deep in her bones. Sometimes she was stuck in her own head, and because of her blindness, she couldn’t find the path to escape. She couldn’t venture outside alone yet, although she did get a cane from the teacher, but Ivy found it scary to be out and about with so many noises while she could only see blackness. However, what Ivy detested most was that she couldn’t spy on William; therefore, she had no idea what he’d been doing.
But that all changed the day she heard from Sean that William had taken back their child from the Taylors. Apparently, they’d informed their friends that there had been an accident and their baby had died. Sean had gone to Silk and asked him what William had done. Silk told Sean that William took the baby and was taking care of her. Within seconds of hearing that, Ivy had grabbed her wooden cane and left the apartment that was, thankfully, on the first floor.
The spring breeze caressed her cheeks while she firmly held the cane in her right hand and pursued her path to the street.
Sins of a Bad Boy (The Original Bad Boys Book 1) Page 34