He ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket.
“Come on now, you want me to give away all my secrets?”
“This is not funny Paul, tell me what you did.”
“You’re so predictable, Maggie. You didn’t even make it hard for me. Your phone password is your mother’s birthday. I didn’t even have to try getting into it. I made it so that all your calls forwarded to my phone. The text messages were a little bit harder, but these days, they have apps you can use to do that.”
He was tapping my phone. Why did I think that is so improbable at first? This was Paul. He was a psycho. He had graduated from just a run-of-the-mill abusive boyfriend to a full-blown stalker. I didn’t want to see any other layers of his personality that I could pull back.
Wait a minute, if he had been receiving all my communication, that explained why Toby was ignoring me. He wasn’t ignoring me, my messages weren’t going through. I didn’t have time to think about that standing in a room with Paul while he held my keys and I had no way of contacting somebody with my own phone.
I used to fear Paul. Even though he never worked his way up to physical violence, I was afraid of the hold that he had on me. Now, I was afraid of his scary potential. I knew that he was cracked, but this behavior was taking it to a whole other level. I was afraid to dig deeper but I had little choice but to try and reason with him.
He had proven that he was unpredictable and that he meant business. Threats to get the cops involved didn’t work on him. I felt like I wouldn’t have just been standing there if it was a stranger with me in the house and not him. He was worse than a stranger even though I knew him.
I didn’t know the lengths he would go to get what he wanted from me and I didn’t want to find out until I had a backup plan.
“Why would you do that?”
“What do you mean why would I do that? I was looking out for you.”
“I don’t need you to look out for me, Paul. I’m not in any danger.”
“I know what’s best for you. I couldn’t risk you messing anything up.” Okay, he wasn’t making sense anymore.
“What are you talking about? What am I messing up?”
“Do you know what you have growing in your belly? That kid is our meal ticket. I’m going to get the billionaire to pay out and the two of us are going to be living like kings.”
“The billionaire? Are you talking about Toby? He doesn’t even know that I’m pregnant right now.”
Paul shook his head. “Yes, he does. I told him.”
I called his bluff. “He doesn’t know you either. Why would he believe you even if you told him something like that?”
“I sent him solid proof. He’s seen the confirmation results from the pregnancy test that your doctor ran.”
“How would he even get his hands on that?”
“It was in your trash. I sent it to him.” My stomach turned thinking about Paul going through my trash and finding that out. That must’ve been how he found out that I was pregnant too. He went through my trash and found the used at-home test. He was worse than I thought.
This was scary. It wasn’t just weird and gross anymore. Paul had gone behind my back and done actions that would have real consequences in my life. It was hard to admit, but I had underestimated him. I didn’t know whether this level of crazy was new or if he had always been this way. I didn’t like feeling cornered. I was trapped. The only thing I could think of doing was keeping him talking so that I had a little more time to think.
“Okay… well, if Toby knows that I’m pregnant, why hasn’t he done anything about it? Why hasn’t he contacted me at all?”
Because he didn’t want to. My stupid insecurities decided this was the moment to come up out of nowhere. When my crazy ex who was even crazier than I thought was essentially holding me hostage.
“That’s because I made sure that he knew you didn’t want him to.”
“What are you talking about Paul?”
“Do you remember the other day when you got upset. You yelled at me to leave you alone, that it wasn’t my baby and you didn’t want to see me again. I recorded it and I sent it to Toby as a voicemail.”
I opened my mouth to speak but the lump in my throat made it difficult.
“He knows better than to believe something like that. He would want to hear it directly from me, not from someone else.”
“I told him that you and I were getting married so he knows that he needs to leave you alone. You weren’t there, babe. He definitely got the message.”
“What do you mean? Why are you even doing any of this?”
“It’s a whole plan babe, I thought it up perfectly. You’re gonna be my wife and he’s going to be the man who had an affair with you and knocked you up. Can’t, you see it? I’ll be the husband who gets humiliated and wants revenge. I’ll threaten to expose him to the press and blackmail him so he’ll payout to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Crazy might have been an understatement. He was out of his mind. He had hatched a convoluted plan out of nowhere with me at the center. How had he even started planning this? How long had he been planning it? Why did he know as much as he knew and what the hell was I supposed to do to stop him?
“Are you out of your mind?” I asked, still biding my time but no longer sure for what. I had no ideas in mind.
“I know he's a bigshot, he has a reputation to protect. He’s gonna do it babe, and we’re going to be rich.”
“Why did you think I’d do this with you?”
“What do you owe him? He had sex with you and dumped you. He doesn’t even care that you’re pregnant. Why don’t you want to punish him?”
That stung and I had a feeling he knew it. He was an expert at making me feel bad about myself and that was what he was doing now. That was how he was going to rope me into doing this with him.
He was the same old rat from before, just worse and a hundred time eviler. I was the same old fool as before but this time I was even more vulnerable. He didn’t have the kind of control over me that he used to but he was going to try. We weren’t even together but he had managed to weasel his way back into my life. Why hadn’t I managed to cut him off right at the beginning, the moment he appeared in the alley that day?
Fucking weirdo, I knew he went through my trash after I left it out that day. I wasn’t going to do this again with him. This was his fault. He was taking advantage of me. He was the one who forced his way back into my life and pulled all kinds of dirty tricks to make me vulnerable again.
“I’m not helping you with this.”
“You don’t have a choice, babe,” he said.
“Stop calling me that.”
He grinned and I saw the man I ran away from years ago.
“Make me.”
31
Toby
I looked up at Maggie’s building. Was she not home? Calvin would have told me. I hit the buzzer again.
Why did she live here? Why wasn’t there a doorman? At least then I could talk to someone and get them to let me up. I felt like I was getting nowhere. Was she even home?
I had tried her phone already and I wasn’t getting an answer. Something told me that she was home. I knew it. She had to be. She was in there and something wasn’t right. I could feel it. I tried the buzzer again. Pushing down on the button. Finally, I heard a man’s voice.
“What do you want?” he asked. Maggie lived alone. Wait, I couldn’t even say that with confidence since I didn’t actually know for sure whether she did. Regardless, this was still Maggie’s place.
“Where is Maggie? I need to see her.”
“Who are you?” he asked me.
“You tell me. I know Maggie lives here. Why are you talking to me instead of her?”
“I’m her fiancé. Whatever you want to tell her, tell me.” I didn’t even know whether that was true either. Despite everything Calvin had let me know, there were still things that I had to confirm myself with Maggie. This was Paul, I knew
it. Something wasn’t right and this guy who was claiming to be her fiancé was definitely a dog.
“You think because she’s getting married that she can’t speak for herself anymore? I want to talk to Maggie. Put her on.” He didn’t, but I heard her. A woman’s voice shouted in the background for help.
“Maggie?” I said, but the intercom cut off.
That was it. She was in there. This guy, the psycho who was claiming to be her fiancé had done something to her. If he had been smart, he wouldn’t have let me know that she was in there. Now, I was going to have to hurt him to get to her. I backed up and looked at the building. If I called the police, I would have to wait. Maggie was in there with that man and who knew what he would do if given time.
No, this couldn’t wait. The door was made of glass. Tempered most likely, but still glass. I ran up and kicked. Three times and I was through the glass. I used my legs and shoulders to clear a space big enough for me to get through.
I hurried to Maggie’s unit and stopped at the door, trying to see whether I could hear anything.
Nothing. Their silence was bad news. I tested my weight against the door, then took a few steps back and rammed into it shoulder first. The lock burst and I stumbled into the apartment.
“Paul, don’t,” Maggie said, struggling. The man had one hand on the back of her neck and the other fisting her collar. I didn’t think, I just charged.
I lunged at him and got my arm around his neck. The pressure made him let go of Maggie and try to protect his neck. He wasn’t small, we were almost the same height and he was solid too but I was willing to bet he hadn’t been combat trained.
I quickly got him to the ground and yelled for Maggie to stay back.
“Toby what are you doing?” she yelled.
“Maggie don’t-”
“Toby, look out!” she shrieked. Light glinted off the blade the man suddenly pulled out of somehere. He looked insane, on his back, waving a knife around as his last line of defense. I pinned the arm and threw the knife across the room.
I heard a stampede of feet coming into the room and someone called my name. Calvin and his team, right on time. I stayed on the man until he was restrained.
Finally, I scanned the room for Maggie. She was against a couch, pale and trembling. I went over to her.
“What did he do to you?” I demanded, harsher than I wanted to. She was scared and I knew I sounded frantic but I was. The guy, Paul, had trapped her here. I didn’t want to think what he could have done if I hadn’t shown up when I had. I didn’t want to know what had happened already but I had to ask.
“Nothing. He didn’t hurt me. He was just trying to scare me,” she said. I touched her face, the first time I’d touched her in what felt like years.
Had I almost lost her?
I had almost lost her.
I held her. I knew she was shaking but I was too. In the commotion, the sound of sirens in the distance just registered. Cops. That meant questioning. Maggie wasn’t doing that right now. She didn’t need an interrogation right after being attacked in her home.
“Come on, let’s sit,” I said as we waited for the cops to arrive. I told her to stay put while Calvin and I took care of the police. Introducing himself and his team, he presented what they knew about the guy and his association with Maggie.
“Can we talk to the person who lives here?” one of the cops asked.
“Talk to me,” I said.
“Sir, we need to know about the details of the break in,” he insisted.
“Look, she’s pregnant and she’s scared, do you really need to hear all this now?” I asked.
“We need a statement,” he said.
“First of all, she tried to get a restraining order against that man and it clearly didn’t work. You’ll get one. I’ll deliver her to the precinct myself okay? But when she’s ready.”
I closed the door finally, unable to lock it because I busted through the lock earlier. It didn’t matter, she wasn’t staying the night here. As far as I was concerned, she wasn’t staying the night anywhere that wasn’t my penthouse. I went back to the couch.
32
Maggie
“What can I get you?”
I looked up, noticing Toby walking towards me after basically chasing the cops away. I didn’t even know you could do that. He came and sat on the couch.
I started shaking. It was like everything up to that point had happened to somebody else and I was just watching. Sitting there, realizing what had taken place, I felt myself start to crumble.
“Maggie, Maggie, tell me what’s wrong,” he said to me. His arms were around me one second, and then he was bundling me into his lap. I buried my face in his chest and cried. I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t even scared anymore, I was relieved. I was happy too. Finally, Paul had been marched out of my life in handcuffs. I could be sure that for at least the foreseeable future that he wasn’t going to bother me again.
I wasn’t sure that I would be able to see Toby again. The last several days had been so hard. With him ignoring me, I had started to get comfortable with not hearing from him. That wasn’t what I wanted and now, it felt like I had been afraid for nothing.
“Let me get you a glass of water,” he said. I sniffed and wiped my face. I wasn’t sure how long we had been sitting there with me crying into his clothes. I must’ve looked a mess. I muttered that I was sorry and sat on the couch. He went to the kitchen and then came back with some paper towels and a glass of water.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked me, handing me the water. I took some grateful sips.
“No, I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay Maggie, when I walked in here the guy was practically strangling you. Did he hurt you? Do we have to go to the hospital?”
“No, none of that is necessary. He didn’t actually manage to do any damage.”
“What about the baby?” he asked.
I had thought about how I was going to break the news to him in a million different ways. Now that I was finally going to do it, I wasn't even making an announcement, he was the one asking me.
“How, did you know that?”
“How did I know that? You told me. I got a message from you.” Wait, what was he talking about?
“A message?”
“Yeah. It was a voicemail message. You were yelling at me about how the baby wasn't mine and you wanted me to stay away from you.” I was going to jump in and defend myself, when I realized that he was telling the truth.
“A voicemail message? That wasn't a voicemail message from me Toby. It was a voice recording. Paul recorded me saying that stuff, against my will by the way, and made sure that you heard it somehow.”
“You are pregnant though right?”
“I am and before you ask, yes it is your child. I haven't had sex with Paul for years. Or anyone else for that matter.”
“He has been back in your life though,” Toby said.
“How do you know that?” I asked. Toby looked sheepish. I had never seen him like that, unsure and not one hundred percent confident about how to move forward.
“I was worried about you and I was suspicious about Paul. When he started sending documents to my office, I had him investigated.”
“You hired a PI?” I asked.
“I did and whatever it is I don’t want to hear it. That’s why I knew where you were and was able to get here on time,” he said. I was angry but I was touched at the same time. Maybe more angry though. It was unnerving that while I thought I was unable to contact him, he had been looking in on me secretly.
“Don’t do it again,” I said.
“If I can know where you are and not be afraid that I won’t have contact with you, done. I won’t have to.”
“I’ve been trying to contact you, I haven’t been avoiding you. Paul was getting in the way of both of us,” I said.
“What I said still stands. You’re pregnant.”
“I’m also an adult. I can take care of myself.”
“Is that what you want?” he asked. No. I didn't even have to think about it. I had had this conversation with Paul when he was forcing himself into my life. I wanted to go through this entire experience with a partner, with Toby, in particular. He was the father of my child, to begin with, but I loved him too.
He was offering me what I wanted. Right now was not the time to let my pride get in the way.
“Thank you for coming.”
“He wouldn't have been able to keep me away.” His hand was making small comforting movements on my back.
“I feel like I should apologize about Paul.”
“Why? Were you in on it too?”
“No, but that was what he wanted. When he popped back up in my life, it was more of an annoyance than anything else. I never could have guessed what he actually had planned.”
“What was that?”
“He knew who you were. He wanted me to collaborate with him to try to get money out of you because of the pregnancy. He thought he would be able to blackmail you. I thought he was crazy. I mean, he is crazy.”
“I should thank you for defending me then.”
“Don't. I should have just done it.” He laughed and pulled me in closer to him. “I wanted to tell you about the baby. I was going to tell you about the baby, honestly. I don't know what that's worth since it took me so long and you found out on your own anyway, but I was. I didn't want to lie to you and I felt like I owed it to you, I was just scared because of how messy things were between us. Add Paul to the mix and... it’s not an excuse. I should have said something sooner.”
“How far along?”
“Not a lot. We conceived the first night together. We used condoms but something must have slipped or broken.”
“Oh,” he said.
Seriously? Was that all he had to say? I fidgeted on the couch and suddenly the weight of his arm and hand on my body, even though they were supposed to be comforting started to feel heavy and awkward.
“You see, this is why I didn’t want to tell you,” I said.
Admit You Need Me: A Secret Pregnancy Romance (Irresistible Billionaires Book 4) Page 19