Ryley's Revenge (Gloves Off #2)(42)
Without even thinking, I bit down on his hand and elbowed him in the side when he faltered. “Get the f*ck away from me,” I screamed, stumbling my way out of the shower. I grabbed the first towel I could see and wrapped it around my shaking body. It felt like I was in a bad dream I couldn’t escape from.
Camden chuckled and stepped out of the shower. “I guess this is payback for what you did to me in Malibu. Sucks, doesn’t it?”
“I can’t believe you would do this,” I hissed. “You’re completely f*cked up.”
His smile disappeared and his lip curled. “You want to know what’s f*cked up? That baby of yours. You’re going to ruin Ryley’s life by saying it’s his. We all know how you left him and f*cked your other boyfriend.”
“You don’t know shit,” I thundered. “I know it’s Ryley’s, you bastard. He’s happy that we’re having a baby.”
Camden smirked and put on his clothes. “Yeah, well, he’s not going to be too happy when he finds out it’s not his.” He looked in the mirror and ran his hands through his wet hair like nothing was amiss. “Have a good night, whore. Have fun explaining to my brother about our little tryst.”
As soon as he disappeared, I fell to my knees and burst into tears. This couldn’t be happening to me. My skin felt dirty and I felt violated and disgusting. I should’ve known that it wasn’t Ryley in there with me. What is he going to say when I tell him what I did? The tile was cold against my skin, but I didn’t have the strength to move, other than the sobs that shook my body. I don’t know how long I laid there before pain radiated through every nerve ending of my midsection. The cramps I had before were nothing compared to what they felt like now.
“No, no, no,” I cried, clutching my stomach. “This can’t be happening.”
Thunderous footsteps raced along the floor downstairs and then soon Ryley was in the bathroom. “Ashleigh, what’s wrong?” he asked, panicking. Bending over, he lifted me in his arms and carried me to the bed. I couldn’t see through the tears and I didn’t want to. I was worried about our baby, and I didn’t want to look in his eyes when I told him what just happened.
“The baby,” I sobbed. “I think something’s wrong.”
His face paled, but he quickly wrapped me in a blanket and carried me downstairs. I didn’t care that I was naked underneath as long as we got to the hospital and made sure the baby was okay. Opening the car door, he gently set me inside and slammed it shut, rushing over to his side.
I had never seen Ryley so torn up as we were headed to the hospital. Tears glistened in his eyes and hit the steering wheel a few times along the way. It broke my heart and in that moment, I knew for a fact that he loved our baby—he wanted it.
“This is all my fault,” he muttered angrily. “I bet you fell in the shower, didn’t you?” He put his hand over my stomach and pressed harder on the gas. “We’re almost there. Keep strong for me.”
“Ryley, no,” I cried. “It wasn’t like that and it sure as hell wasn’t your fault.” My stomach tightened again and I doubled over. “I was having cramps since we left the arena. Also, I had an incident with your brother. He came into the house.”
The silence in the car was deafening. I was so afraid to tell him. When I finally had the courage to look at him, his knuckles were white and the expression on his face was a mixture of rage and agony. “What did he do?” he growled.
“Please don’t make me tell you right now,” I pleaded. “I just want to focus on making sure our baby is okay.”
Clenching his jaw, he rubbed my stomach and then grasped my hand. “And once we find out the baby’s okay, you’re going to tell me everything that f*cker did.”
Taking a deep breath, I nodded and turned my head toward the window. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I never made a sound. I had to believe everything was going to be okay.
EVERY SECOND ASHLEIGH spent in the hospital bed, all I could think about was wondering what my brother did to her. She didn’t want to talk about it, but I was on the verge of a f*cking meltdown if she didn’t speak soon. I was two seconds away from hunting him down. She was asked a bunch of questions by the nurse but we had yet to speak to a doctor. What the f*ck was taking so long? We had no clue what was going on.
Ashleigh had been texting back and forth for a few minutes and as soon as she put down her phone, she sighed and looked over at me, her expression guarded. I could tell she was trying to stay strong by the way she bit her lip to keep it from trembling.
“Who are you texting?” I asked. I really wanted to demand she tell me what happened but I didn’t want to upset her more.
“I sent Gabriella a message and told her we were here. She’s on her way.”
That wasn’t the only person she talked to. “What about Colin?”
Turning her head, she nodded. “I know you don’t want to see him, but this way when they do the tests, he’ll know we’re not lying when we tell him the baby is yours.”
The last thing I wanted was to see that f*cker and to deal with my brother. Regrettably, I had no choice. Getting to my feet, I walked over to the window and peered out, even though I wasn’t exactly looking at anything. Nothing could be worse than hearing the next words that came out of her mouth. I already knew it was going to be bad.