Surprise Delivery(76)

Brad stares at me for a long moment before finally giving in and sitting down on the couch. He leans forward, clasping his hands in front of him, and closes his eyes as he does his best to get himself back under control. After a couple of minutes, he opens his eyes again and doesn’t look quite so psychotic.

“Now, what do you want, Brad?” I ask. “I thought I was pretty clear –”

“You haven’t been returning my calls.”

“No, I haven’t,” I say. “And you know why I haven’t.”

“I’ve left you voicemails, sent text messages, and you’re just fucking ghosting me,” he growls. “Why are you ghosting me, Alexis? Because of him?”

“You know perfectly well why I told you to leave me alone,” I tell him. “And it has nothing to do with Duncan.”

“Why was he here?” he asks again, his eyes boring into me.

“What makes you think he was here?”

“Don’t insult my intelligence, Alexis. I’m not a fucking moron,” he snaps.

“Oh, right,” I say. “Because you were outside on the street watching my building again.”

He fidgets with his hands, picking at his fingernails. “Somebody has to keep you safe,” he says. “Somebody has to protect you.”

“I don’t need your protection, Brad.”

He looks at me and I briefly see that psychotic flash in his eyes again. He manages to get it back under control quickly though. It’s then that I really see Brad for the first time. What I see is disturbing. He’s a fastidious man by nature – always clean, groomed, and well-kempt.

But tonight, he looks like he hasn’t showered in days, his hair is wild and greasy, and he’s got at least three days’ worth of growth on his face. He almost looks like he’s been living on the streets. It only adds to that half-psychotic energy about him and deepens my fear even further.

“You do need my protection,” he insists.

“From what?” I ask.

“From guys like him.”

“Guys like him? You mean, guys like Duncan?”

He nods and scratches at the stubble on his face. “Exactly,” he says. “Guys like that only want one thing from you, Lexi. They’ll use you, drop you when they get it, and hurt you badly in the process. You need to be kept safe from that. You deserve better.”

“And by better, I assume you’re talking about yourself,” I say.

“Obviously,” he tells me. “I’m devoted to you, Lexi. My heart belongs to you. You are the only woman I’ve ever wanted. That’s something guys like that asshole don’t understand – love and loyalty. You’ve been my entire world since I met you. Duncan may be able to give you all kinds of fancy, expensive baubles, but they can’t give you what matters the most – true love and devotion.”

Hearing him speak sends tendrils of ice crawling across my skin. He speaks with the fervor of a tent revivalist, that crazed light in his eyes punctuating his every word. He honestly believes every single word falling out of his mouth right now.

I know that I need to tread lightly, with him in a state like this. I can’t afford to upset him because I have no idea what he’s going to do, nor what he’s capable of. If I want to get out of this and keep Aurora safe, I’m going to have to make sure I stay totally neutral. Keep my words even and measured and do nothing to set him off.

That’s going to be tough because my natural instinct is to put him in his place. But I’ll have to bury my natural instinct to ensure the safety of myself and my baby girl.

“What do you want, Brad?” I ask again.

“I want you, Lexi.”

“You know that’s not going to happen.”

“But why not?”

“Because you and I aren’t good together,” I say. “We never have been.”

“We were great together back in college.”

I shake my head. “We really weren’t,” I explain. “I know you wanted to believe that, but that wasn’t the truth of things. And I think somewhere deep down inside of you, if you’re really honest with yourself, you’ll see that.”

He shakes his head this time, his face turning a dark shade of purple. “That’s not true. That’s a lie, Lexi, and you know it.”

Not wanting to enrage him while at the same time trying not to feed his delusions is a fine line to walk. I feel like I’m treading on a razor’s edge right now. One slip up is going to lead to some very bad things. But I know I can’t tell him anything other than the truth.

“What was he doing here?” he asks again.

“He came over to see me,” I sigh. “We had to talk about a few things.”

“Did you fuck him?” Brad presses, leaning forward.

“That’s none of your business,” I snap. “You have no right to barge into my home and start interrogating me about my personal life.”

“I’ll take that as a yes, you fucked him,” he says, an expression of betrayal on his face. “How could you do that, Lexi? How could you fuck that piece of shit when you know that I love you?”

I let out a silent breath and steel myself. “Because I don’t love you, Brad,” I explain. “Not like that. I never have, and I never will. I’ve been more than clear about that. Many times.”