by Kennedy Fox
I groan, leaning against the counter. “Ugh, when do I get to have real food again?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of protein for lunch.” The corner of his lips tilts slightly as he digs into the fridge. For some reason, his sentence comes off dirty, and I chuckle.
“Why does this all of a sudden feel like boot camp?” I tease.
“This is nothing like a real boot camp. Trust me, you’re living in paradise compared to that.”
“You were in the Army?” I ask, standing taller.
He grabs a handful of veggies and fruit, then places them on the counter. “I’ll put these in your smoothie, and you’ll barely taste the protein powder.”
The way he ignored my question doesn’t go unnoticed. I want to pry, but I know there have to be boundaries while we have eyes and ears on us. It’d make sense, though, considering how meticulous and strategic he seems. How the hell did he go from being a soldier to working for the mob?
“Well?” Ty asks after I take my first sip of the drink he made me.
“Better than the first one,” I tell him and wrinkle my nose. “But still, it’s no steaming hot breakfast.”
“I’ll make pancakes and bacon tomorrow. Don’t worry,” he tells me with a grin. Of course, Eric saunters in and ruins the nice moment we were having with his loud and commanding demeanor.
“We need to talk,” he states, staring at Ty.
“Sure. What’s up, Captain?” I say, though I know he’s not addressing me.
Eric’s eyes snap to mine. “Enough!” he barks, and I jump. “Go to your room until told otherwise.”
I risk a glance at Ty who looks like his jaw might snap.
“We can talk in the office,” Ty tells Eric, shuffling to put the items back into the fridge.
“No, now. Maddie can leave,” Eric states harshly.
“Maddie’s leaving,” I say, mimicking his tone. He doesn’t approve of Ty treating me like a human being, that much is obvious, but why does he have to be such a dick?
I set my drink down and awkwardly leave the kitchen. The air is still and silent, and after I walk a few steps, I freeze at the sound of Eric’s voice.
“Victoria’s getting impatient with your behavior. She’s sending a replacement in a couple of days and wants you to start packing for your departure,” Eric tells him.
What? No!
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Ty argues. “Just because I’m not an asshole to her doesn’t mean I’m not obeying orders.”
“You’re getting too close,” Eric says roughly. “Which means you’ll think twice about taking care of the situation, if needed.”
What the fuck does that mean?
My skin goes ice cold.
Is Victoria ever going to let me out of here? I’m afraid to even think about the answer to that because deep down in my gut, I know there’s only two possibly ways I’m leaving this place— in a body bag or running like hell and escaping.
Chapter Six
LIAM
I’ve slept better now knowing Tyler is with Maddie. Though I’m still stuck in this fucking hellhole with Victoria, her threats bounce off me a lot easier. It’s been two weeks since everything imploded in my face and I lost Maddie, but I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get her back. To prove my love and loyalty.
Victoria, on the other hand, is on my last fucking nerve, and I’m using all the willpower I can to keep from telling her off and risking everything. I don’t know what Tyler’s plan is, so I can’t act until he does. I contemplate texting him, but I have a feeling he’s not allowed to use his personal phone, or if he is, it’s probably being watched. Either way, I’m in limbo waiting for his next move.
“Good morning, hubby,” Victoria singsongs as she walks into the kitchen wearing lingerie. I roll my eyes when she grabs food and juice from the fridge. “I was thinking we should do some shopping today. We need to register for the babies and get some stuff for their nursery. Daddy wants to buy their cribs, and Nana wants to buy a double stroller, but we’ll need a lot more than that. Plus, I want some new bras.”
I clench my jaw, swallowing down the words I really want to say. “Isn’t it a little early for all of that?”
Victoria spins around and glares at me. “It takes time to get everything together, Liam,” she snaps. “I want to repaint and have new carpet installed. Then there’s research for the right equipment–baby monitors, bottles, bassinets, pacifiers, changing tables. We need to make sure we get the right brands.”
Narrowing my eyes at her over my coffee cup, I take a sip and scowl. She knows damn well there’s no “we” in this situation, but she pushes it every chance she gets.
“I’ve been here long enough. I need to get back to work,” I tell her after I set down my mug.
“You need to be here with your pregnant wife,” she retorts, pouring herself a glass of apple juice.
“Your grandmother went back to New York, and your dad is plenty convinced. What more do you need?”
“I need you to move here.”
“That wasn’t the deal,” I remind her, and I’m starting to sound like a broken record. “I want a paternity test.”
“And I want to know why you were asking my dad about what family properties we own,” she abruptly changes the subject. How the hell does she even know that?
I groan as the memory of JJ being at the bar surfaces, and there’s no doubt he overheard the conversation and told her. I dream of the day I’ll get to kick his fucking ass.
“What’s wrong with talking to your father? Isn’t that what you want anyway? We get close, and he believes our marriage is legit?” I ask, shrugging off her suspicions.
She inches closer, leaning her elbows on the countertop and showing off her breasts. “I’m not a goddamn idiot, Liam. I know what you were fishing for, and you better stop before you regret it.”
I smirk, knowing Maddie will be fine as long as Victoria isn’t near her. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked, now let me go home. I have a life I need to get back to.”
Victoria pats my head as if I’m a small child. “Shopping first.” Then she takes my cup and pours the rest of my coffee down the sink. Bitch. “Go get dressed. We leave in thirty.”
After I’m showered and ready for what’s surely going to be an awful day, I wait in the living room. I’m tempted to take my shit and leave right now, but knowing she’s able to make my life a living hell, I stick around. Playing this fucking game is getting old, and I really do need to get back to work, but Maddie’s safety is my top priority. If that means parading around the city as Victoria’s husband and buying baby shit, then I’ll do it all day long.
But I don’t have to be happy about it.
“You look nice,” Victoria singsongs, pressing a palm to my chest and sliding it down to my belt buckle. “Very handsome in fact.” She starts undoing my jeans, and I see red.
Squeezing her wrists, I push her away. “Not a chance in fucking hell,” I hiss, growling as I step back.
“You expect me to stay celibate?” She scowls, crossing her arms.
“I don’t fucking care what you do, but it won’t be with me,” I warn, walking around her toward the door.
“You really think she’s going to take you back?” she says from behind me. “She’s cozying up to one of my men as we speak. She’s forgotten all about you, Liam. It’s time you realize you belong here, with me.”
I swallow hard, resisting the urge to snap at her. Looking over my shoulder, I say, “I wouldn’t let you touch me if you were the last person on earth.”
Victoria actually looks hurt, but what did she expect? She’s trying to blackmail me into having sex with her, and there’s nothing she can say or do to make me change my mind. I’d let her father kill me before I ever make that mistake again.
She swallows and straightens her shoulders, then walks to me. “I don’t give a shit what our arrangement was, so it’s best you forget it. The moment you violated the terms a
nd screwed her while we were supposed to be proving to everyone that we were happily married is when you threw it all away. Now, you’ll do whatever I say because you have no other choice. Got it?”
That’s what she fucking thinks, but I hold back the smug grin I want to flash at her. Instead, I force out a smile. “Sure, wifey. Ready to go now?”
The corner of her lips tilt up in victory, and I can’t wait to see the shock on her face when she discovers holding Maddie hostage didn’t work. I have faith in Tyler and whatever he’s planning.
The morning is filled with Victoria bossing me around as her driver takes us from store to store. The number of things a baby needs is absolutely ridiculous, and she’s shopping for two, which makes it worse. We register at five different places, which is insane, considering Victoria’s loaded and could buy it all herself. But not the O’Learys. They need big, glamorous parties to show off, and I have no doubt that if she gets her way, she’s already planning for me to be at all of them.
At each shop, she looks through baby clothes and purchases more than I think any baby could actually wear without changing them twenty times a day. By the last one, there are ten large bags in the car, and I know because I’ve carried each of them.
“Are we done now? I need to eat something,” I say when we get into the back of the car.
“Yes, let’s stop for a late lunch. It’ll be good to be seen eating out together,” Victoria says, then directs Hector where to go. “Which means—”
“Cherish the ground you walk on, hold your hand, show affection. Yes, I know,” I grumble. The same shit I’ve been doing all morning since we’ve been in public.
“Good.” She smiles as if she’s successfully trained me like a dog.
Hector makes a stop at the light, and we’re roughly jolted forward as the sound of metal on metal rings out. Victoria smacks her head against the window, and the seat belts tighten around us, locking us in place. She squeals, and I curse when the belt digs into me. Fuck.
I turn around to see a large truck has slammed into the back of the SUV. Small fender benders like this are common, but Victoria isn’t having it.
The next half hour passes in a chaotic blur as Hector nearly knocks the guy’s teeth out and I call 911. Victoria cries in fear about the babies and tells the police officers she wants the driver who hit us unnecessarily arrested.
It’s a fucking shitstorm.
They take her in an ambulance, and I’m forced to ride along as her worried husband. I play my damn part, but I’m slightly eager to talk to a doctor not on her family’s payroll. I want to see an ultrasound in real time and find out how far along she truly is, considering how big she looks.
“Thanks for staying by my side,” Victoria whispers as she lies on the bed, waiting for the ultrasound tech.
“Of course,” I mutter.
The tech introduces herself as Talia and explains she’s going to take some measurements and pictures for the doctor to make sure everything is fine. Though the impact was minimal, Victoria was determined to get checked out.
Victoria raises her shirt up to her bra, and for the first time, I see her bare round belly. Even lying down, I can tell she’s bigger than she should be for this far along. I’ve been suspicious since the moment she announced she was pregnant and started reading up on it, and even with twins, she looks twice the size of the pictures I saw online.
Talia reassures us that both babies look great. The heartbeats are strong, and they’re moving around without any distress. Victoria exhales in relief, but I study the size of them. She claims she got pregnant over the Fourth of July week when she came to California, which would make her about two and a half months. I’m not buying it.
But I’m about to find out the truth.
“Can we get some pictures?” I ask like an excited father-to-be. “With the number of weeks on there?” I ask, then smile wide. “For the babies’ scrapbook.”
“I already have some from a couple of weeks ago,” Victoria blurts out, but Talia is already printing them out.
“Absolutely! They change so much at this stage, so it’s nice to have more!” She hands them to me, and Victoria looks like she’s ready to rip off Talia’s head. “Everything looks really good, but the doctor will still want to review it all. Once he does, he’ll be in to discharge you.”
I thank her, and the moment she’s gone, I stare at the images and read the small print at the top.
O’Leary-Evans, Victoria
GA=18w4d
I learned from researching that GA means gestational age, which is how pregnancy weeks from the woman’s last menstrual cycle are counted. This means the babies were conceived about sixteen weeks ago and that was right around the time Johnny was about to kill me.
“You wanna tell me how it’s the middle of September and this is saying you’re over eighteen weeks along? Pretty sure the first week of July was only ten weeks ago.” I squeeze the pictures tight in my hand, rage building in my blood at the audacity this bitch has to lie to me over and over. “There’s no fucking way they’re mine.”
“We’ve been married for four months, so it’s very believable we got pregnant right away and that they’re yours,” she states matter-of-factly.
“But we both know they’re not.” I’m fuming and can barely control myself. “You were already pregnant when your father was about to shoot me, weren’t you?”
I don’t need her confirmation to know she was. She would’ve been super early, but it’s possible she could’ve known at that point. What other motive did she have for saving me? She needed someone to marry her and claim the babies.
But why?
“What’s it matter? We’re married, and you’ll be the father to them,” she says sternly.
“You bitch,” I whisper-hiss. “This was never about getting your trust fund and out of the family business, was it? You needed a father for them. Who’s the real one?”
“Shut. Up,” she snaps. “This conversation is over.”
The fuck it is.
“What exactly were you going to say when you went into labor two months early?” I push.
“Twins come early all the time.” She brushes it off like I’m a goddamn idiot. “I’m giving birth in a private suite, and it’ll be kept quiet until it’s time to announce their births.”
“You’re seriously delusional.” I shake my head in disbelief. “The moment your father finds out you got pregnant by another man, he’ll understand why I divorced your ass.” And hopefully let me leave without putting a bullet in my head.
Victoria scoffs with a smug grin. “Well, good luck proving it.”
I fucking will and won’t need luck, princess.
Once the doctor tells her to take it easy for a few days and sends us on our way, we finally make it back to her place with all the bags. She demands I unload them and set everything out on the dining room table. I do as she says to keep the peace, but my mind is still reeling from the information I just learned.
I know her family is religious, and she wouldn’t want to be pregnant out of wedlock, but I can’t figure out is why she didn’t just marry the real father instead of someone she barely knew. That part doesn’t quite add up, but if I know anything about Victoria, she does what will benefit her the most.
A paternity test would easily prove it, but it won’t be easy to get one done if she fights it. However, her being farther along means this pregnancy will be over a lot sooner and she won’t be able to hide her secret for long. Now that I know the truth, I have a little more weight in this deal.
Hours pass and when I don’t see or hear from Victoria, I assume she passed out for the night.
Thank God.
I make myself dinner, then head to my room to watch meaningless TV and try to keep my mind off Maddie, which of course never works.
Just as I’m dozing off, my phone beeps with a message.
Unknown number: It’s Tyler. I’m getting Maddie out of there and have the proof you need to get y
our freedom. I’ll call you as soon as I can. Gimme a few days. Until then, sit tight.
Chapter Seven
MADDIE
Ty’s still here.
Thank God.
It’s been two days since I overheard Eric tell Ty he’s leaving, and I’m scared like hell that his replacement is going to somehow be worse than Eric. Ty is my only saving grace while being stuck here.
Even after that happened, Ty never acted like anything was wrong. He helped me in the gym yesterday and this morning as if things weren’t about to change. I want to ask him about it, but I’m worried I’ll set him off or something since Victoria can hear us on the cameras.
What happens after he goes? Is he put on another mission? Fired? Killed?
I can’t even stomach the thought of Ty not being here because he gives me some hope that things will be okay. And he keeps me company since he’s the only one who doesn’t seem to want to murder me.
“Ty, I have a question,” I ask him as I finish my cool-down on the treadmill.
“What is it?”
“Do you think I could text my sisters today? Just give them a little ‘I’m alive’ update?”
His eyes finally meet mine, his lips in a firm line before he speaks, “That should be fine. I’ll need to supervise you, though.”
“Of course,” I say, knowing the rules. I’m just glad I’ll get to talk to them for a couple of minutes.
“Go clean up, and I’ll get Eric on board. Meet in the kitchen when you’re done. I’ll have your phone then.”
“Okay,” I say softly. “Thank you.”
He replies with a curt nod before walking away. Once I’m done stretching, I go to my bathroom and take a quick shower. I’m anxious as hell to communicate with them. I know they’re worried to death because ignoring their texts isn’t normal for me. They’re going to know something’s up even though I chatted with them when I arrived and told them I was fine.
“Here you go.” Ty hands me my phone as soon as I step into the kitchen. “I’ll read over your shoulder so you don’t have to hand it to me every time you send a message.”