“We’ll see.”
He chuckled as he sauntered out of her office. Her gaze stayed glued to his sexy rear until he was out of view. “And you, baby, would win hands down if you were ever in a male booty contest.” She sighed. The man really did have one fine ass.
As much as she would have liked to concentrate on it or anything else about Asa, it was time for Chelsie to kick her plan for Chad into full gear.
She took a seat in front of her desk, opened the top drawer to her left again, and extracted the pad of paper she’d brought with her from home this morning. The pad contained a detailed to-do list and its title was: Exterminating a Snake. However, each step on the paper in front of her had to be done with exact timing. If even one item didn’t pan out, not only would her plan fail, she or someone she loved could end up dead.
As she began to reread her list, tension coiled in her belly, interspersed with little stabs of fear. “God, please let this work,” she prayed, then picked up her cell and executed number six on the list. The previous five were done, crossed off. She had nineteen more to go.
Chad answered on the third ring, his voice rusty and sleep-laden. “Wh-what?”
Chelsie gritted her teeth. Apparently, the criminally insane had no problem with sleep after a busy night of mayhem. “I need to see you. Now.”
He grunted. “What time is it?”
“Around nine. Be at my place in an hour.”
“Hell no. It’s too early,” he whined. “Call me back around noon.”
A lazy lunatic too. Great. “Listen, Chad, if you want me to pull off this ruse regarding my family and Asa, then you’d better get your ass to my apartment in an hour.”
Silence, then he said, “Sounds like you got an early start. Good girl. Did you break up with the blood sucker?”
“Yeah and I had a very truthful reason for doing so. It worked beautifully.”
That statement must have given him a little burst of verbal energy. Intrigue laced his tone when he replied. “Really? What did you say?”
Chelsie swallowed a gag. “I’ll explain when I see you. One hour, Chad. We have a lot to discuss and a lot to do.” She disconnected. Let that marinade, she thought.
Over the next forty minutes, she accomplished the remaining tasks on the list, with the exception of number twenty-three and twenty-four, the last two and by far the most nauseating of them all.
The clock on her computer told her she had twenty minutes to get home. Barring traffic, she only needed thirteen. Her apartment complex was very close to the clinic. Since she knew Chad probably nursed a hangover, she was counting on him being late. On the off chance he decided to be punctual, she grabbed her purse and scooted. She’d just rounded the last turn in the clinic’s maze of hallways, which led to the elevators, at the same moment Tiffany rounded the corner from the opposite direction. They ran full force into one another. The impact about made her loose her footing. She stumbled back and frowned at her sister. “Are you okay?”
She snorted. “Of course, but where’s the fire?” She paused, scanned her, and scowled at the purse slung over Chelsie’s shoulder. “Where’re you going?”
Crap! She did not have time to play twenty questions with her sister. She would at least have to play a couple in order to quell suspicion. “I, umm, I have a doctor’s appointment.”
Her brows knit. “Seriously? What for?”
“Routine gynecological. Obviously, I don’t want Christian, Noah, or Asa to be my doctor.”
Tiffany grinned and crossed her arms. “Yeah, that would be totally awkward. So who’s your doc?”
Dang it, Tiffany! “Umm, she’s a new OB/GYN in Baton Rouge, but she comes highly recommended. I have to go. I’m already running late.”
“Alright.” She studied her for several seconds, scanning her face, then scowled. “What the heck happened there?” She pointed at the bruise on her cheek.
Chelsie groaned. “I fell getting out of the tub last night. It’s a stupid story, which I don’t have time to go into. I have to go, Tiffany. I’m going to be late.” She didn’t look pleased or completely convinced, but Chelsie didn’t care. She couldn’t afford to be late.
“Whatever. I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah. Later.” Chelsie hurried out of the clinic and across the street to the parking lot, hoping Tiffany would let the matter go about her face. Convincing Asa had been easy because he didn’t know her the way Tiffany did. Chelsie rarely lied to her sister, but when she did, the woman was like a hound on a ripe, fresh scent. She prayed Tiffany’s day would be a busy one with no time to sniff into her business.
***
The fates were with her. Chelsie arrived at her apartment five minutes before Chad. She’d left her door open. No surprise, that when Chad arrived, he just waltzed in without ringing her doorbell and plopped down beside her on the couch.
He’d definitely tied one on last night after he’d beat the crap out of her. His eyes were glassy and a bit swollen. She hoped he had one rip-roaring headache to match the one he’d given her.
“So what’s up, Chels? This info better be damned good for you to be getting me out of bed at this hour of the morning.”
Here it went. In this very pivotal moment, Chelsie seriously regretted her decision to quit drama club in high school.
She sucked in a deep breath then said, “I’m pregnant, and you’re the father.”
He glared at her with an open-mouthed look of shock—exactly what she’d expected, then his look darkened to anger and suspicion. “Bullshit. If you’re pregnant, whatever. Go pull this bit on your vampire lover, but I know damned good and well the kid ain’t mine.”
Chelsie shook her head. “No, Chad. I’m serious. I am pregnant and this baby is yours. It couldn’t be Asa’s. Apparently, you didn’t read all that much of this book.” She picked up the Vamposapien A&P text off her coffee table, opened it to chapter seventeen, and handed it to him. “Read this if you don’t believe me. Vampires and humans can have sex, but conception can’t occur. They are two different species. It’s physiologically impossible.”
He shoved the book at her. “I don’t care what that damned book says. You and I never did the deed. Shit, Chelsie, you’re the biggest fucking prude I’ve ever met. If I’d ever gotten into your panties after fifteen years of trying, I think I’d remember.”
Chelsie sucked in a deep breath and sent up a little prayer that he would buy what she was about to try and sell. “Normally, you would, I suppose. Do you remember the first night the band played here in the city at Effigy?”
He reached up and scratched the side of his head then grinned. “Yeah. That was great. Two standing ovations, if I recall.”
“Good. What else do you remember?”
He shrugged. “Afterward we had our getting-the-band-back-together celebration with some Patron and several cases of Bud Light back at the hotel me and the guys were staying in at the time. Everyone got wasted.” He grinned, his expression grossly reminiscent.
“Right, and to my shame, so did I. Do you remember me going back to your room with you?”
His brows knit. “No. I don’t even remember getting back to my room. I do remember a couple of porcelain-throne-worship moments throughout the night.” He laughed, obviously pleased with the lame joke.
Chelsie rolled her eyes. She recalled vividly how slobbering drunk he’d been, and the memories disgusted her. At the time, she’d been appalled by his asinine behavior, pawing at her, telling the guys this was the night he was finally going to lay her. Sickened, she’d left the small party before she’d finished one beer.
Prior to that night, she’d held to a tiny little thread of hope that Chad had matured and maybe the boy she’d fallen in love with in high school had finally developed into a man, but he had not. In fact, his attitude, personality, everything about him had seemed more immature and degenerated than the twenty-one-year-old Chad she’d left behind when she went to Harvard. Chelsie had realized then that it was over bet
ween them forever.
However, Chad could never know any of this or that she lied about them sleeping together. Luckily, her assumption that he’d blacked out that night was correct, and Chelsie intended to use it to her advantage.
“Well, let me spell it out for you, Chad. We had sex, and I was stupid and drunk and didn’t insist upon protection. So there it is.”
He snorted. “No way. After fifteen years you finally unlocked that chastity belt of yours? Sorry. Ain’t swallowing that load of bull.”
“Say what you will, Chad, but it happened. At the time, I wanted to rekindle things between us. The beers certainly didn’t help my thinking that night. I’m an OB, which means I failed miserably to practice what I preach about contraception.”
His eyes darkened with irritation. “I’m not buying it, Chelsie. If it happened between us then why have you been so aloof since?”
The next lie slid off her tongue as if it were oiled. “Because it sucked, Chad. You were slobbering drunk, and it was not what I imagined at all.”
That pissed him off. His lips formed a tight thin line, and a tick started in his right jaw. If she didn’t do something fast, she’d likely wind up with more bruises.
“Maybe this will convince you.” She went to her foyer where she kept her purse, then dug out the phony lab result sheet she had created early this morning. She returned to the couch and thrust the paper toward him.
He snatched it out of her shaky hand. “What’s this?”
“Proof that I’m pregnant. I ran the test myself, twice, and if you know anything about me, you know I’m thorough.” The test result sheet was a fake copy of what a patient might receive if she were pregnant. Chelsie had circled and highlighted the relevant line, so hopefully Chad’s pea-brain could gain a layman’s conclusion.
He frowned at it for so long, Chelsie didn’t know whether he was an unsuspecting father-in-shock or if he plotted something diabolical for her based on this news.
She was taking a huge risk, playing Chad this way. Ten, fifteen years ago had she slept with him and come to him with this news, she had no doubt he would have wanted this child. He probably would have still cheated on her given any ripe chance, but he would have wanted to be some sort of father to the baby. Now? After what he’d done to her last night? No telling. Given his current mental state, she and her pretend baby might not live beyond the next fifteen minutes.
Finally, he placed the sheet on the coffee table, then bent forward with a sigh, his elbows resting on his knees. “I can’t believe this. When did you find out?”
It was working! He believed her! His expression was serious, lucid, and a little worried. She had him on the line, now she just had to reel him in. She pointed to the paper, near the top where she’d typed the fake date. “Tuesday.”
“What?” He straightened and glared at her. “You’ve known for four days? What the hell, Chels? Never mind, guess you were too busy doing that frickin’ vampire.”
Her first inclination was to pop off the couch and distance herself before he took a notion to haul off and hit her again, but she held her ground and returned equal attitude with her tone as she replied, “Wrong, Chad. First of all, Asa and I have never been intimate. Secondly, I was far more shocked than you, and well…I wasn’t sure there was any need to tell you. I’ve been seriously contemplating ending the pregnancy.” Another lie. Even if she had been pregnant with Chad’s child, abortion would have never been an option. She was completely pro-life, and so was he. Or at least, he had been at one time. She was counting on that fact to pull off this ruse.
The statement shocked him. His eyes widened with horror. “The hell you will! It’s my kid. It’s not like I was looking to have one anytime soon, but now that there is one, I want a chance to be its father.”
This was working beautifully! She forced her expression to remain tight and angry, despite her urge to grin. “You have no business being a father. Look at my face, Chad. Last night can’t be that distant of a memory for you. Do you honestly think I’d chance raising a kid with a man capable of violence? Murder? You threatened to kill Tiffany for God’s sake!”
“Come on, Chels. You know I’d never hurt T.J. She’s a major pain in the ass, but she’s like a sister to me. I was just trying to get your attention.”
“Well, you got it, and you certainly had no problem hurting me. I probably have a mild concussion, based on my symptoms.”
Shame and regret claimed his features. He reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear on the bruised side of her face then winced. “I’m so sorry. If I’d had any idea you carried my kid, I’d never have done that. I guarantee you it will never happen again. Please, Chels, forgive me. Let me make things right, and please have this baby. I swear to you, I’ll straighten up and be the kind of man you and this kid need. You have my word.”
Which is worth about two cents, she thought, repulsed. His speech was the proverbial one of an abuser, one that far too many women with self-esteem issues bought. However, his temporary repentance was good. She had him exactly where she wanted him. “You seriously expect me to believe that after you threatened to kill members of my family? After pulling a gun on me and smacking me around? This child would be far better off never knowing life than to suffer a life with a father capable of such terrorist behavior.”
“Damn it, Chelsie, you’re right.” He released a sharp breath, then shook his head. “I’m a frickin’ ass. I was just so danged mad at you last night for stalling on the contract, and I was jealous. You were engaged to a damned vampire. What was I supposed to do with that? Huh? I got crazy like I’ve never gotten crazy before. You bring it out in me, like no one ever has because you’re so damned headstrong. So damned smart. You make me feel small sometimes. I know you don’t do it on purpose. I guess it’s just my insecurities, because you always seem to have it all together, and well…I’m a major screw up. I know that.”
Chelsie almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not quite. She reached over and took his hand. “You’re not a screw up, Chad, but you are very immature. I get your passion for the band, for hitting the big time, I really do, but you’ve never had a serious day job in your life. If you mean what you say about being a father to our baby, then you need to realize that might be a possibility. A child is a huge responsibility. He or she will have to come before anything else in our lives. Not to say we’ll have to give up the band or wherever this contract leads, but our baby can’t play second fiddle to our careers. We both will have to make some major sacrifices. Are you sure you can do that?”
During her speech, his eyes had brightened with hope. “Absolutely, baby. This kid will have the best life ever. I promise. So will you. I’ve always loved you, Chelsie. You really have no idea how much, because I’ve screwed up so many times, cheated on you, treated you like crap, and for all that I have no excuses really. It was just you holding out on me that continually pissed me off. I thought the other women would wake you up, make you want me. Stupid, I know.”
Chelsie almost lost her nerve in that moment, her ability to go through with her plan to nail Chad’s ass to the ground, because he was being very honest for once in his life. In his own way, she knew he loved her as much as a person like Chad could love. For a few seconds, she almost lost sight of the fact he was a criminal, a rapist. Rape. That horrible word took root in her mind and brought her back on track. Whether he’d committed that crime or not, the girl accusing him deserved her day in court. It was up to the law to decide the outcome. Aside from that, this ruse was an umbrella of protection for herself and her family. Asa too.
She sighed with heartfelt intent. “Yes, your actions over the years were very stupid, Chad, and I’m sorry, but I’m no longer in love with you. There’s been too much water under the bridge. However, I’ve given this pregnancy much thought, and whether or not you’d responded as you have today, my intentions were to have the child.”
He beamed. “That’s great. We’ll be awesome parents, I promise.
I know you’ll be an amazing mother.” His smile faded. “I’ve known for some time that you stopped loving me, years ago, and I don’t deserve your love anymore, but if you’ll give me another chance, I’ll work my ass off to be the kind of husband you’ve always dreamed of having.”
Perfect. Of course she wouldn’t marry him if he were the last man on earth and she was pregnant with triplets, but she wanted him to draw the conclusion that her old-fashioned values dictated the child should have two parents joined in matrimony.
“Not so fast, Chad. Think about what’s going to happen when our families find out I’m pregnant. Both of our families have very similar values. I’m assuming your parents still attend Mt. Sinai Baptist church? I know how close you are to your mom. I also know how gossip spreads in a small town. You surely can’t want them to find out I’m pregnant.”
He nodded. “You’re right. We’ll have to get hitched immediately. Mom will be thrilled though. She’s always liked you. But what about that bastard vampire?”
“I broke up with him like you asked. What choice did I have? I had to anyway. I’m pregnant with your child. He was disgusted and wants nothing to do with me.”
“Good. Then nothing stands in our way.”
Chelsie grinned. She just about had him. A few more feet of reeling and she’d be able to net him and toss his slimy butt into her proverbial boat. “We have to do this right, Chad. There has to be a traditional wedding. Both of our families will demand that.”
He nodded again, his expression contemplative. “Yeah, but we can’t tell my folks you’re pregnant until after we’re hitched, so we better do this soon.”
“Agreed. So you know what step one is, right?”
His brows knit. “I don’t know. I guess we call them. You call your folks. I’ll call mine.”
“Wrong. You know my dad’s way of thinking probably as well as your own father’s. You’re going to have to go to him face to face to ask for my hand in marriage. Old-fashioned, I know, but that’s the way it has to be. Dad may have strayed from the faith for a while with the whole Reanna thing, but he repented, and the church took them back into the fold. He’s a deacon now. I can tell you straight up, Dad can’t afford another scandal. Nor would it be good for your parents. We have to pretend that we’re in love and eager to get married, and we’ll have to start regularly attending church.”
Deadly Secrets (Forever and a Night Book 3) Page 13