“Baby.” No. “Don’t call me that.” I had to break the silence. He wasn’t going to pretend that this was about me. He reached over for my hand. I know he could hear in my voice the emptiness. I had become hollow. “Kristina.” I look over to him so he could see the darkness behind my eyes. “You ruined me.” He closed his eyes briefly and then pointed them back to the road. “I’m gonna fix it.” I shake my head to let him know that he couldn’t. There was nothing left to fix. “You’ll be a part of your baby’s life, but we are not gonna be together.” He let out a breath and said, “We’ll see.” Lovely.
The last thing I need is Trance on a mission. I needed to be sure that he understood that we weren’t going to be together. This wasn’t just something I was saying. I needed to focus on this baby and he didn’t have time to try and win my heart back. Not that he wanted to.
“Trance, I mean it. This isn’t code for “I wish you’d try harder”.” I could see him look over at me out of the corner of my eye. He doesn’t say anything, and I’m not sure what he sees in my expression, but it must have told him to leave me alone. Good. I was going to get my peace and quiet.
“I’m gonna do whatever it takes. You’re mine. Your body knows. It’s time for your brain to catch up.” Seriously? I snap my eyes to him. “Trance it’s about the baby. That’s all you want, and you’ll have your access. You can stop pretendin.” His head whips to me as he whispers slowly, “What the fuck?” I shrug, “You have no want for me. That’s fine, but I’m not gonna stop living my life. You can have access to our little girl, but I refuse to let you pretend to want me. I deserve more than that.”
He reaches his hand over again and this time I don’t move. There’s no point. He will just keep reaching. “Kris, I love you. This is not somethin you don’t know.” I roll my eyes, “You think you love me. It’s fine. We don’t have to end up like the others. Just because our friends all ended up together, doesn’t mean we will. We have this beautiful life to show for our time together, and other than that, you’re off the hook.” His eyes widen, “What if I want to stay on the hook?”
I shake my head, “I’ve let you go. We can’t even live our lives in public. Falcon has been there for me more than you have. The problem with that being, he’s not you. I get that. The jealousy. I saw it as soon as I was leaving. I knew it all stemmed from him being there with me. I can’t do anything about the fact that you can’t be with me in public.” He nods, “Yeah, I was pissed. I let my feelings about not being with you get in my head. You have to understand. I don’t want anyone else to touch you. I don’t want anyone else to be there for you. That’s my job. I want that job. You can’t let someone off the hook when they want to stay on it. It doesn’t work like that. And baby, I’m hooked good. That hooks in place and it’s not going anywhere.”
I wanted so badly to believe him. He just likes the idea of me. “Trance, I can’t do this right now. I need to focus on this baby, and that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. If there is still a threat at home, I am not staying at the club.” He shakes his head, “That’s the safest place. You don’t have to see me, but you do have to stay there.” I scoff, “Because you stayed away so well the last time.”
He doesn’t respond. He knows I’m right. Everything we’ve been through has built up to this. I knew all along that this was never going to work. Now I have to figure out how to raise my baby and keep him at arms-length. My life was never supposed to turn out this way. I can only be mad at myself for not fighting him away harder when he pushed for us to be together.
“Kris, I know you’re going to put off your badass bitch routine. I’ll beat it back. I swear there isn’t anything that will stop us from eventually being together.” I look over to him, “Yeah, well I’m in love with someone else. So there really isn’t anything you can do to beat it back. This badass bitch “routine” as you call it, is my life.” Looking back from this moment, I have no idea why I told him I was in love with someone else. It makes no sense. He was going to kill someone, and I should’ve known who he would assume.
“I will kill that motherfucker. He swore he’d keep his hands off you.” I had to back pedal. I needed to do that right now. “What? It isn’t Falcon.” He looks over to me, “Who is it?” I close my eyes, “You obviously don’t know him.” He nods, “So what you’re saying is, he doesn’t exist.” My mouth drops, “Of course he does. What you don’t think anyone could fall for me? You at least pretended to.” He shakes his head, “You think this is pretend? You think that everything I’ve said has been made up?” Shit. He was getting into deep territory here. I couldn’t hear any of this. I needed him to understand that this was done.
“Trance, enough. I can’t do this with you right now. I need to keep my blood pressure down. The last thing I need is for this little girl to come way too early.” Well, that at least got him to shut up. Thank God for small favors. I believe I mentioned that this was going to be a long ass ride
Chapter Fourteen
We had finally made it to the outskirts of town. We had stopped at a rest area, because once again, I had to pee. Go figure. This has been the worst ride in my life. When I made my way out of the bathroom, Falcon is standing there. “Kris, why is he askin me if I let you see another man?” Shit. Already? “What did you tell him?” He shakes his head, “I told him you and I needed to talk.” Great. “I told him I loved someone else.” He nods, “So he immediately assumed me. When you cleared that up, you told him it was someone else.” I nod. He didn’t have to say anything. I knew it was stupid, and eventually would come out.
“I didn’t get to choose to come back here, Falcon. I was perfectly happy in Louisiana. You promised I would have my space.” He nods, “I gave that to you for as long as it was possible.” He had. Actually, it lasted longer than I figured it would. I mutter a “whatever” and turn to make my way back to the truck. “Kris, if you need me to fight this I will.” I snap my eyes to him, “Why would you do that?” He smirks, “It’s selfish really. I’ve always wanted someone like you on the back of my bike.” I smile at him, “Falc, I’m extremely pregnant. Unattractive and huge don’t even being to describe me.”
He shakes his head, “The part of you not even knowin how sexy you are, is another reason why. I mean it. I’ll get a place here, and you can stay with me.” My mouth drops as he gets close saying, “No expectations.” He walks away before I can answer. I would never put him in the middle of this when we’re so close to home. I hadn’t even wanted him in the middle the last time. That was about being safe. There’s no denying how good-looking Falcon is. I would be blind not to see it. Hell, all the girls think he is. He wanted Sophie before this. We all daydreamed about the time he almost kissed her. We would never tell any of the guys this though.
When I realized I was still standing there speechless, I jumped my legs in gear and headed toward the truck. Getting in I knew that Trance had been watching us. Mostly because he started with, “Why did he just stop you?” I sigh, “He wants me to have his babies.” When I look to Trance I realize that this was the wrong answer. Way wrong. Luckily, the guys had already started ahead of us. Trance calms himself down enough to say, “We have a small window. Brandinger is on the other side of town, and I have to get back to the club.”
I sigh and ask the question that’s been on my mind for a while. “Don’t you hate it? Hiding I mean? Doesn’t it go against everything engrained in you? You’re obviously not one to back down, so why with this?” He looks over, “I’d do anything to keep you safe. Me not being here is what has been doing that.” For me or for the baby? “For both of you.” I snap my eyes to him. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Well, I might as well finish. “For me, because of the baby.” He shakes his head, “You really believe that don’t you? Haven’t I shown you time and time again how much you mean to me? What do I need to do to fix this, Kris? I’m drowning without you.”
Shit. I didn’t want to cry. I definitely didn’t want to believe him. This is why I snappe
d my lips shut, and turned to face the window. “Baby, please. Just try to understand my side. It’s killin me not bein with you. Especially in public. I’m missin out on everything. Look at you. Look at that beautiful bump that displays the baby that I put in there. I want to show that off.” I shake my head, “Trance, can we please just take a minute. This is a lot to take in after not seeing you for a month.” He doesn’t answer me, but he doesn’t have to. He was going to give me some time. Thank God.
When we pulled into the club he helped me out of the truck and grabbed my bags. “Trance, I need a minute.” I look over to Brantley and Trance says, “Go ahead in, Kris. I’ll be a minute.” I don’t say anything, because denying him that time would be pointless. Instead I head into the club, really just wanting a shower.
What I really wasn’t expecting to hear was, “Hey, Krissy Lynn. It would seem you’ve been lying to everyone.” I go to turn out of the clubhouse when someone grabs me around my waist. Pulling me back to them, I feel a gun go to my head. You have got to be fucking kidding me. I remain calm as I hear my mother speak again. “You have us in this mess. What the hell is wrong with you? Why couldn’t you just be dead?” Classy, right? I couldn’t really focus on the fact that my parents were here. I was more concerned with the fact that I had a gun to my head.
Not because there was a gun to my head, but because Trance was right outside the door and he’s supposed to be dead. I keep my mouth shut as I discover who is holding the gun. “Kristina, it would seem that we have a bit of a problem.” Shit. Brandinger.
“I believe that our mutual friend who is supposed to be dead and gone, is actually right outside. Am I right?” When I keep my mouth shut he must not like it, because he yanks my hair back as he yells, “AM I RIGHT?” I don’t know if it’s because my inner bitch decided to show up, or I was just sick of all of this shit, but either way I spit out, “Fuck you.” I hear him laugh in my ear as he says, “Oh we can make that happen later. Once this monstrosity is out of your stomach.” Shit. Not my baby. I once again go silent, because I couldn’t form words.
That’s when the door opens and I see Brantley walking in first. I see the moment he notices that something isn’t right. He looks at my parents, who are tied up across the room, and then he swings around and sees me. As soon as he sees it, I see Trance following him in the door. I fight with everything I have not to move. When he swings his eyes to me, I can see just a hint of panic behind them, before he shuts it down.
Brandinger automatically starts in with, “So, I will finally have a chance to kill you and your bloodline. I just never thought that I would get to do that with you as a witness. Makes it a whole hell of a lot sweeter.” I close my eyes as he yanks me back towards him, hard. That’s when I realize he has a knife in the hand that is at my stomach. “She has nothin to do with this.” He gives an evil laugh as he says, “The hell she doesn’t. We had a deal. You clearly didn’t follow through.” He shakes his head as Brantley says, “It’s not his fault you weren’t good enough to kill him.”
My eyes go wide as I stand here thinking we may not want to poke the bear. Especially since the bear wants to blow my brains out. I look to Trance’s face and I see him give me a slight nod. I don’t know if this was his way of trying to tell me he had it under control, or that he wanted me to do something. That’s why I really had to channel my inner bitch, and all those damn self-defense lessons that Melanie made me take with her in college. Of course, then, I didn’t have a huge belly in front of me.
I felt Brandinger move his hand to get a better grip on the gun, and I knew this was going to be my opportunity. I bring my arm up to throw his hand that had the gun to the side. From there, I stomp on his foot as I throw my head back to hit his face. I felt the knife at my stomach, as it bit into my skin. I know as soon as his gun hand went up, I felt movement all around me. Somehow, I ended up on the ground, and I saw Trance moving toward Brandinger. For some reason, I couldn’t quite catch myself. That’s when I hit my head and everything goes black.
Chapter Fifteen
I hear lots of commotion around me, but the voice I hear cut through is my mother’s. “She did this to us. You owe us.” Then I hear my beautiful angel say, “We don’t owe you shit. I know how you treated her while she was living with you. You’re lucky I don’t give you what you deserve. It’s a damn miracle my woman ended up the way she did after comin from your loins.” Holy. Hell.
“Trance.” It came out and I hear Doc, “Kris, can you hear me?” I let out a groan because my head is pounding. “Trance, she’s awake.” I open my eyes, and see Trance standing over top of me. They had me on top of the bar, and I could feel someone’s hands on my stomach. Oh my God. Was I cut open? Was our baby okay? Trance must have been able to see the panic in my eyes, because he starts with, “You’re both okay, beautiful. The cut was minor. You hit your head though and that’s probably why you feel like shit.”
I give him a nod, and I start to speak when I hear, “That little bitch caused all of these problems.” My eyes get big because those were the first words I’ve heard from my father. A man who is supposed to love you unconditionally. The man who was the original cause for all of my nightmares. I never thought I would ever have to see him ever again.
“You don’t speak another word. My woman, will not be polluted by the bullshit you spew. Brant, get them the fuck out of here.” I hear scuffles and mumbled words as I look to Trance. I half smile at him, “Is it over?” He nods, “The biggest part is. Baby, we gotta get you to the hospital just to be sure about that cut.” I nod instantly. I wasn’t about prolonging making sure our little girl was okay.
He picks me up like I weigh nothing, and we head out of the club. He takes me back to the truck and gently sets me down. It’s only a twenty-minute drive to the hospital, but it doesn’t take that long. Once they get me in a room to check me out, the nurse leaves me to get the doctor. They think I may need a stitch or two at the ends of the cut, but she doesn’t think there should be any problems with the baby. Trance is sitting with his head in his hands, “Baby, I died a thousand times over when I walked into that room.”
He was telling me! I had to see Brandinger and my parents. This was why I needed the strongest part of me. “Trance.” He looks up to me, because he can tell I want to say something. “Are you gonna kiss me, or what?” He closes his eyes for a second and then his lips are on mine. It’s a slow, sweet kiss, but it’s still the best I’ve ever had. I had missed this. I don’t know who I was fooling thinking I wouldn’t want this back.
As he pulls away I hear him trying to catch his breath. “Baby, does this mean we’re gonna work to getting back to us?” I slowly nod as a huge smile spreads across my lips. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I can’t believe that I lost this for over a month of my life. What was I thinking?
The doctor comes in as the nurse starts setting things on my belly to hear the heartbeat. Once the sound comes through the monitor, I get a huge smile on my face. Trance hasn’t been able to be there, until now. This was the first time he was hearing our baby. “When is your next appointment?” I smile at him, “I’ll have to schedule one. It should be two weeks from now.” He nods, “We’ll make sure that’s done as soon as possible.”
It took a little while for my brain to catch up to our conversation. When it did, I needed to ask, “When you said “the biggest part” of it was over, what does that mean? What’s left?” I see him physically sigh. I think he was hoping I wouldn’t catch on to that. “Someone obviously let Brandinger know that we were not at the club. They definitely didn’t see us leave the compound. He was on the other side of the city, and I know that because we have video feed.” I close my eyes, “Another inside job? You guys have been so careful.” He nods, “Yeah, with the new ones. This has to be someone that’s been in the club. Someone who knows us in and out.” I gasp, “But we all look at them as if they’re family.” He nods, “That’s why it’s gonna be hard. I didn’t want you worryin about all this
.”
“I’m glad you told me. Now with you in the open, how will you figure out who it was?” He shrugs, “Now that is club business. I can tell you when it’s done.” I nod. The reason I agree so easily is because I’m lucky I got as much as I did. Some of the guys in the club share more with their ol’ ladies, and some don’t. Trance is somewhere in between. He doesn’t always give me as much as he just did, so I will call this a win.
“Can we go home yet?” He nods, “Let me go grab a doctor and let Brant know we’re all good.” I smile at him, and then I realize that Brantley met my parents. Oh my God, so had Trance. He must read something on my face because he says, “I gotta go get this done, and then we’ll talk about that look on your face.” I roll my eyes, but on the inside, I’m mortified. No one was ever supposed to meet them. I was never supposed to see them again. How can I face any of them?
As I sit and wait for the doctor to come back, I have time to think about what happened. I had a gun to my head. I fought my way out, and now I have Trance out in the open. We were going to get our regular life. The gun to the head, and knife to my stomach needed to be blocked out. I couldn’t really process that. Trance would probably make me at some point, but we were all going to be okay. My little family. That is, as long as he still wants me, after meeting my actual family.
When Trance came back in, he had a doctor that was ready to release me. He wasn’t my doctor though, so I gave him a questioning look. Trance just shrugged at me, as if it were all the same. “Miss Tessa, I understand you’re ready to go home?” He looks mortified, and I bite back a laugh as I say, “Yes, I think since we’re obviously all good, that we could head home.” He nods, “Yes, your discharge paperwork will be here in a moment. I just wanted to check your vitals one last time.” I nod as he starts his process.
Shifting Time (Skull Shifters MC Book 3) Page 9