Tamed (Torn #5)(68)

“Why would you do that to me? I called you because I needed someone, and you’re turning your back on me!”

“No, I’m not. I’m helping you. Now, are you going to tell them, or do I have to?”

“I hate you right now,” I told her.

“I know, but you won’t hate me forever. Now, choose.”

“Let me tell Alex first,” I finally said after a brief pause.

“All right. And, Amber?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m booking you a flight back out here next week. You need to tell Adam face-to-face. This isn’t something you can say over the phone.”

I closed my eyes, fighting back a scream of anger…or defeat. I wasn’t sure which. “Okay. Work is going to love me for this.”

“They’ll deal. When are you going to tell Alex?”

“Soon.”

“Amber…” Her voice was full of warning.

“I’ll tell him this week. I promise.”

“Call me after, okay?”

“I will. I need to go.”

“Okay. I love you. I hope you know that.”

“I love you, too.”



“Hey, I got your message,” Alex said as I let him into my apartment.

It had taken me three days and several more tests to finally accept that I was pregnant. I didn’t know how to feel about it. I didn’t want to be pregnant. The thought of a baby growing inside me turned my stomach. If my life were different, I might have felt excitement. But no, my life was too f*cked-up to welcome a child into it.

“Thanks for coming,” I said as we walked over to the couch and sat down.

“You said you wanted to talk? What’s up?” he asked before leaning forward to kiss me.

I softly kissed him back, wishing that things were different between us. Even if the baby belonged to him, I knew I could never love him.

“I’m pregnant!” I blurted out when he pulled away.

He froze, his eyes widening in shock. “What?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“You’re…no, you can’t be!” he said angrily. “You said you were on the pill. Women on the pill don’t get pregnant!”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I got sick and had to take antibiotics. They messed with my birth control. If I had known—”

“If you had known?” He laughed. “Are you f*cking kidding me, Amber? I’m f*cking married, and you’re telling me you’re pregnant with my child.” He moved away from me, a look of pure rage on his face.

“There’s more,” I said quietly.

“More? What else could you possibly have to say after dropping that f*cking bomb?”

“I don’t know if it’s yours. I slept with someone else, too, but it was only once. You and I have been together a lot these past few weeks, so there’s a pretty good chance that it’s yours.”

“You…” He closed his eyes, obviously fighting to keep control.

When he opened his eyes, I wanted to run. They looked so cold, so empty.

“The kid isn’t mine.”

“What? You don’t know that. We won’t know until it’s born.”

“It. Isn’t. Mine. Do you understand me? I’m not about to lose everything over a slut like you.” He stormed to the door. “Don’t contact me again. I want nothing to do with you or your baby,” he spit out the last word like it was dirty.

“Alex, wait!” I cried as I stood and ran to the door. I grabbed his arm just before his hand touched the knob. “You can’t just leave me alone like this!”

He grabbed me and roughly shoved me up against the door. I gasped in shock.

“That kid isn’t mine. With the way you spread your legs, it could be anyone’s kid. Keep your bullshit to yourself or else.”

He threw me away from the door. I cried out as I fell to the floor. He didn’t look back as he grabbed the door and threw it open. It slammed shut, leaving me with nothing but silence. I stared at the closed door in shock, unable to believe what had just happened. He’d threatened me. He wanted nothing to do with this child, whether it was his or not.

I picked myself up off the ground and walked to my bedroom. My entire body felt numb. I couldn’t think properly. I thought Alex would be the easiest to tell. I’d hoped that he’d be excited and that he’d promise to stick with me and take care of me. If I had him, there would have been no reason to tell Adam.

“This can’t be happening,” I whispered to myself.

If Alex had taken it that badly, I could only imagine how Adam would react. He’d go ballistic, thinking that I was trying to trap him. When he found out that it might not be his, he’d probably tell me to stay away, too.

I hugged my pillow tightly against my chest and cried into it. I knew I had to tell him, but God, I didn’t want to. If I hadn’t told Chloe, I could’ve kept it to myself. I could’ve gotten rid of it before anyone found out. But I’d felt so alone and scared. I’d needed to tell her. I shuddered and clung to my pillow tighter. I couldn’t have an abortion anyway. No matter how much trouble this baby was, it wasn’t the baby’s fault. It didn’t deserve to die because I had been stupid.