by KB Winters
Then I came back to Heller’s mansion, and he’d asked me if I’d uncovered anything yet. He was livid when I told him no. All the while, I thought of the flash drive burning a hole in my purse, and how I could so easily get him off my case, if I’d just hand it over.
Then I remembered how Gabe said he loved me. How he’d lovingly taken care of me, washing me, showing me how much I mattered, and how it wasn’t just sex that he wanted from me. He cared about me, wanting to know everything about me.
Even if I only mattered to Gabe, I mattered. And that was enough. I’d had the best night of my life with him, a night that had made me think that he could be my forever.
And I knew I couldn’t live a life with Heller, betraying Gabe like that anymore. So when I heard Uncle Heller leave that morning, I started to pack.
I called an Uber and heard it pull up in the U-shaped driveway. Time to leave, I thought, not looking back at my bedroom. It had been a prison to me for too many years, and I wasn’t going to miss it.
As I noisily dragged the suitcase down the stairs, tasting freedom, I broke out in a sweat. I was almost there, and yet I was so nervous that my body was shaking. I was really doing this. I was really going to get away.
But then, a figure appeared in the foyer below me. When I heard his voice, my insides went cold.
“What are you doing?”
I froze.
I looked over the curved railing to see my Uncle Heller, standing below me, a frown on his face. “Are you going somewhere, my lovely niece?”
I knew he was angry, despite his pleasant tone. It was simpering, false, and it masked a rage that frightened me to my core. I decided to play it cool. “You scared me!” I said lightly, holding my heart for effect. “Why aren’t you at work?”
“Never mind that,” he said, his voice cold. “Answer me.”
I nodded, knowing he wasn’t going to let me off easily. Warning bells were going off everywhere in my head, and yet, I was trapped. There was nothing I could do.
I nodded. “I’m leaving, uncle,” I said, trying to keep my voice breezy. “It’s time, right? I found a place nearby and maybe a job.”
That was a lie. I’d looked into them, but all the jobs I found paid minimum wage, and all the apartments were too expensive. But after last night with Gabe, I’d made the decision. I couldn’t stay under the same roof with Heller anymore. I’d saved up my pitiful allowance he’d given me and had a few hundred dollars to my name. I could find a cheap hotel room and stay there while I sorted things out.
“And you weren’t going to tell me.”
“I was going to leave a note in the kitchen,” I said lightly. “And of course, I would have called you. We just haven’t had time to talk recently.”
That was because whenever I knew my uncle would be around, I made myself scarce. He did the same with me. That was the way it had worked since I’d moved in, each of us doing this uneasy dance around one another.
He didn’t say a word, just watched me struggling with my suitcase.
I forced a smile. “You’ll be happy with me out of here. Admit it.” I hit the bottom step and rolled the suitcase across the checkerboard tile. “Goodbye.”
Without a word, he strode in front of me, standing between me and the door and crossed his arms.
My uncle was not a big man. But he had several inches and enough pounds on me that he didn’t have to be. I knew he could hurt me, if he wanted. And now, I had more than just myself to protect. I straightened up to my full height, though it wasn’t enough to intimidate him.
He dropped his voice, and a coldness crept in. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“What do you mean?” I asked him innocently. “Aren’t you happy to get rid of me?”
I tried to move him aside, but he stood firm, his eyes staring at my hand on his arm so that I felt compelled to remove it. “Meg. You don’t seem to understand.”
“Understand what?” I asked, keeping my voice as calm as I could. “I’ve been a drain on you, Uncle. You don’t ever hesitate to tell me that, time and time again. So I’m rectifying the situation. You don’t have to be my warden anymore. So be happy.”
Without warning, he reached out, grabbing my arm with such force and fierceness that I let out a startled cry.
“Meg,” he said, his voice as calm as could be. “You don’t seem to understand. You owe me. And until you pay your debt, I. Own. You.”
He’d come up close to me as he said those last, punctuated words, and I could smell the stale coffee on his breath. I flinched.
I swallowed and shook my head. “I . . . can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” His voice was almost gentle, but he was still gripping my arm with such strength that the pain was shooting straight up to my shoulder.
“Uncle. There has to be some other way. Can’t you just, I don’t know. Buy him out?”
He scoffed at the suggestion. “I’m broke, Megan. Turns out keeping you paid for, living the high life all these years, has cleaned me out. I don’t have a cent to my name. All I have is E-Ventures. But Gabe doesn’t have an eye for growth. He wants to keep it a family, mom-and-pop business, rolling out a new app every couple of years. He’s too careful. We could have a dozen new apps by now, but he wants everything to be perfect. Well, the investors don’t care for perfect. They just want returns. And until I get Gabe out of it, we won’t be able to reap those returns, and I won’t get to expand E-Ventures to its full potential, become the greatest thing the online dating world has ever seen. Without Gabe I can finally make it fully profitable. You understand?”
I shook my head. Gabe may have been careful, but he did things like that for a reason. “All right. But maybe if you just talk to him—”
“I’ve talked to him until I’m blue in the face!” he shouted. “He won’t budge. He says quality is the company’s cornerstone. For God’s sake, Meg. You really think I’d have involved you if I hadn’t exhausted every possible avenue?”
I stared at him, trying to rip my arm free from him, but he kept it there.
“I need you, Meg. And don’t think I don’t see the way Gabe needs you. Clearly, you are his weakness.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I whispered, even though I knew it was true. The way he’d washed my hair, the way he’d made love to me. I’d always known he cared for me, but it had gone beyond that. Without a doubt, he loved me.
And I’d screwed him over.
“It’s not ridiculous,” he told me. “And now, it’s time to expose his weakness. I want you to march your little ass back upstairs, get comfortable, and think long and hard about how you’re going to get me what you promised me. Do you understand?”
I stifled a sob in my throat. “But I —”
“Meg!” He lifted his hand high, ready to bring it down on me. But he didn’t. He stopped with his open hand, hanging in the air, then grabbed my other arm so tight that I winced and cried out again. “You’re hurting me!”
For the first time, ever, I was scared to death he was going to hurt me. I stiffened, waiting for him to release me.
The next thing that happened was in slow-motion. I started to move away from him, but he shoved me, so hard, that my hand flew off the suitcase handle, and I went stumbling into the bottom of the staircase, sprawling on the floor. My knees and hands broke my fall just in time, or else my head would have surely cracked on the marble stairs.
But I didn’t think about me. The first thing I thought about was the baby. My hands immediately went to my stomach, clutching at it.
I thought all was well, but when I turned to him, breathing hard, he was standing over me, a sick smile on his face. “Well, that’s an interesting turn of events, Meg. Are you expecting?”
Shit, shit, shit. I gasped, as all the air came out of me.
This was one thing I definitely didn’t wanted Heller to know.
Then he burst out laughing. “Is Gabe the father?”
I stayed quiet.
He shook his head.
“Now that explains things. Oh, my, Meg, I have to hand it to you. When you fuck things up, you do it royally.”
He extended a hand, almost kindly, to help me up. I rolled over but did not take it. I was too stunned, trembling. He knows. He knows I’m having Gabe’s baby. It was just another weapon in his arsenal to use against Gabe — and me.
He crouched beside me as I sat on the bottom step, moving so close that I had to scoot away, wincing and gritting my teeth as the tears started to fall.
With a cold, bony finger, he wiped a tear away from my cheek as I flinched. “You’re not going to let me down, now, are you, Meg?”
I shook my head.
“Good, now,” he said calmly. “Now. Why don’t you text me your plans this afternoon? I’ll be waiting for them.”
I nodded, gripping the staircase railing for support, my head aching, numb.
He stood up and smiled down at me. “Oh. And you might want to bring this suitcase upstairs and unpack. You’re not going anywhere. If you try to before I have what I want, I’ll make sure you suffer for the rest of your lives. You, Gabe, and the baby.”
And he opened the door and stepped outside, leaving me clutching my stomach and gasping for breath.
Chapter 19
Gabe
The following morning, a couple days after I’d last seen Meg, I received a text from her. Can we meet?
I was in my office, still trying to work through the goddamn bug, which I’d been paging through all night. Yes, all fucking night, I’d been going through line by line of code, trying to sort it out.
One thing Meg had told me about her life was that she was a night owl. She loved staying up late, which was why whenever I’d had to get up early to go to work, she’d snuggle under the covers and tell me I should press snooze. She’d made it so hard to get up. So I hadn’t expected a text from her that early.
Turned out, it came right in the nick of time. I’d been at the end of my rope, ready to pull my hair out, but the second I received her text, my spirits did a one-eighty. I’d been lagging, but suddenly I was wide awake. Energized. Excited.
I jumped up and pumped my fist behind my desk. Doing a victory dance, I suddenly felt like a million bucks. It wasn’t right to have one person mean that much to me, but I didn’t care. This was love, a love I’d never felt with Tiffany or anyone else. It only made me more convinced than ever that this was right, and that Meg was the woman for me.
I typed: Tonight? Dinner?
Sooner!
Bam. I could handle that.
I did wonder, though, what the rush was. Truthfully, I would’ve run to meet her right then, even though I hadn’t showered or shaved and was wearing the same clothes for the second day. But I needed to see her. I checked my watch. It was only nine in the morning.
All right. Breakfast, then?
Yes.
Sweet Bun in thirty minutes.
When she said yes, I gave her the address and pushed away from the desk and did another victory dance. Suddenly, everything was brighter. I wasn’t tired anymore. Instead, I was famished, for food, and for Meg.
I looked down at the computer and it hit me—what was missing from the code. I typed in the new command and it all just fell into place. Perfectly. Pumping my fist, I checked the rest of the code. Yes, we still had a way to go, but I felt like I’d just jumped a massive hurdle.
As I walked to the Sweet Bun, I had a feeling of invincibility. I walked with a spring in my step, enjoying the summer weather for once, feeling like everything was finally falling into place.
Meg had something going on, something she needed to tell me, and I had a feeling it wasn’t anything good. But still, I felt like whatever it was, we’d conquer it together. I didn’t want to be separated from her again. As I prepared to tell her that, it hit me.
She could move in with me.
That was perfect. I didn’t know where she lived, but we’d save on rent if she did. She seemed comfortable at my place. It needed a woman’s touch. No, fuck that. It needed Meg’s touch. That was what it had been missing. If I could come home to her, every day, it wouldn’t matter what was thrown at me at work. I’d be happy to do it.
As usual, when I got to the corner shop, it was busy. I went up to the counter and ordered a coconut strip and a coffee. Then I went to a table by the window, so I could see her arrive.
She showed up thirty minutes later, when I was done with my coffee. I’d thought that maybe she’d be early, considering she seemed so eager to see me. Nevertheless, I’d come to expect tardiness from her, and of course I didn’t mind relaxing and checking out the news headlines on my phone. By the time she arrived, the place had pretty much cleared out, as now they were getting ready for the early lunch crowd.
She was wearing short shorts that bared her pale, long legs, and a tank top that was so small her breasts were popping out. As usual, all the men in her wake stared with longing, but she ignored them all, chin up, an air of superiority on her beautiful face. I smiled at her as she approached, but my smile faded as she removed her dark, movie-star sunglasses and I noticed her eyes.
They were puffy and swollen from crying. “Meg,” I said, reaching over to take her hand.
She didn’t let me have it. She moved it limply to her lap. “It’s okay,” she said quickly, looking around furtively. “I’m okay.”
“You don’t look okay,” I muttered. “What is going on, Meg? No games.”
She nodded. “I want to tell you. Something has happened and I want to tell you everything.”
“Please,” I said, leaning forward. “Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay.”
She looked at me doubtfully. She opened her mouth, and then glanced toward the counter and licked her lips. She looked vaguely green, a thin film of sweat on her forehead, and I wondered if she was feeling well. Her eyes kept blinking, as if she was in danger of fainting.
“Are you hungry, Meg?” I asked her. “Let me get you something.”
“Thirsty,” she said. “Could I get an orange juice?”
“Yeah. One orange juice, coming up,” I said, standing. “Anything else?”
“Bagel?” she asked tentatively. “Cream cheese?”
“Plain?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Her voice was faraway, unfocused. This was not the Meg I knew, the confident, unbreakable girl who used to rule the world and take no prisoners. Now, everything she said seemed so tentative, a question. Something had shaken her badly. Whatever it was, I was going to stand by her and hold her up.
I paid for her breakfast, and when I returned to the table by the window, she was staring out, sitting on her hands and nervously tapping her foot on the floor. She looked at her phone and then gave me a half smile when I slid the plate in front of her. “Thanks,” she said, biting into the bagel.
I sat down across from her, reaching out my hand so she could take it. “All right. I’m listening.”
She swallowed a bite of bagel and nodded. But she didn’t speak. Instead, she looked away.
“I . . .”
I stroked her hand. “It’s okay, Meg.” I smiled at her, trying to coax her gently into letting me into the storm inside her head. “It’s all right. I just want to help.”
She started again, barely getting out one syllable, her eyes meeting mine for one fleeting second before shifting back outside. Over the course of the next five seconds, they widened. I tried to follow her line of sight outside the window, when suddenly she dropped my hand and stood up, so quickly the orange juice toppled over and spilled across the table, spilling onto the floor.
“It’s okay!” I stood up, before I could get a lap full of juice. People around us had turned to see what was going on. I grabbed for a napkin, but she wasn’t concerned about that. She was shaking her head at me, and trembling from head to toe.
“I can’t do this, Gabe,” she said, bursting into tears. Before I could move around the table to draw her into a hug, she started to back away.
I knew what that meant.
Her face was terrified, like a cornered animal. I knew exactly what she was going to do.
“I’m sorry, Gabe. I really am. But please believe me when I say I didn’t want to. I had no choice.” She reached over, grabbed her bag, turned on her heel, and raced out of the coffee shop.
I started to chase after her, but only took one step before sliding on the pool of orange juice and slipping to my knees. When I stood up, I ran straight into a custodian, who’d arrived with a bucket and mop to clean up the mess. I danced around him, trying to get to the door, but by the time I got outside, and checked up and down the street, I couldn’t see her.
She didn’t want to? She had no choice?
What the hell did she mean?
I went back to the table where the custodian was working, left a tip on the table to apologize for the mess, grabbed my phone, and went outside, wondering where she’d disappeared to.
I’m sorry.
I replayed it over and over in my head, until I was sure I’d go mad. I hated to admit it, but the truth was right there.
Those last words had sounded like a goodbye.
Chapter 20
Meg
The knot in my stomach had tied itself tighter, so tight it was now rising inside me, strangling me.
I’d wanted to set things straight. I’d had it all in my head. Exactly what I was going to say to Gabe to explain what I’d done. It all seemed inadequate, but I had to try, at least for our baby.
I was no longer sure what Heller was capable of anymore. I knew the moment Heller had shoved me to the ground that I couldn’t stay in that house with him. Even if he killed me for trying to escape, I couldn’t stay in a place where my baby was in danger. I had to at least try to fix things.
So I’d texted Gabe, hoping to meet him. Heller had left, and I thought it’d be safe to leave, for an hour or so at least.
I’d gone in there, resolute. Coward that I was, I wanted to meet Gabe in a public place, because then I knew he couldn’t get too angry. Not that I’d ever seen him angry.