Surprise Delivery(77)

He jumps to his feet and starts pacing the room again, seemingly even more agitated than before. He looks at me, then stops and looks over at my bedroom door as if he’s having a thought, which sends a spike of terror through me. Finally, he starts pacing again, looking at the floor beneath his feet.

“You betrayed me, Lexi,” he mutters.

“I didn’t, Brad,” I say. “I gave you nothing but respect by being honest with you from the start.”

He shakes his head. “No, you were supposed to love me.”

“I told you all I wanted was a friend,” I remind him. “If you tried to turn that into something else, that’s on you, Brad. That’s not my fault.”

“Marry me, Lexi,” he says. “Be my wife now and forever. I love you with all of my heart and want to spend my life with you. Please. Marry me.”

I shake my head. “That’s never going to happen, Brad. I’m sorry, but I won’t marry you. Ever.”

He grips his hair with both hands and starts pulling on it, his eyes squeezed shut, and a look of absolute rage on his face. I know his rage isn’t directed at me. It’s directed elsewhere – probably at Duncan. He paces the room, muttering to himself, but his voice is so low, I can’t make out his words.

Finally, Brad seems to calm himself enough to turn and face me again. His face is completely blank, his expression the epitome of neutral. There’s a coldness about him that I’ve never felt before. It’s almost as if something inside of him switched off his personality button, leaving nothing but a cool, emotionless automaton behind.

“You and I are meant to be together, Lexi,” he finally says. “In time you’ll see that.”

“We weren’t, Brad,” I tell him. “That’s what I’ve tried to tell you from the start. You and are not meant to be together. We could have had a great friendship but –”

“I know you can’t see it right now. I know you’re so caught up in Duncan that you’re not seeing anything very clearly right now,” he interrupts me. “But you’ll see. I’m going to make sure you see and understand the truth of things – that I’m yours and you are mine.”

“What are you going to do, Brad?”

He shakes his head. “I’m simply going to prove to you that I’m the only one for you. The only one you can rely on to always be there.”

“Please, Brad,” I say. “Don’t do something stupid. Don’t hurt other people and don’t let others hurt you.”

He looks at me with eyes that are filled with the rawest sense of grief I’ve ever seen in a person before. And even though I’m furious, even though I know he deserves it, it still pulls at my heartstrings. Even though I’ve done nothing to feel guilty about, and didn’t lead him on in any way, to see that much hurt and pain reflected in somebody’s eyes – because of me – feels like a stab of guilt straight through the heart.

“You’re going to see, Lexi,” he whispers. “You and I are going to be together.”

“Brad, please –”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond. Instead, he turns and walks swiftly to the front door, slamming it so hard behind him on his way out, it rattles the pictures hanging on the wall. I rush to the door behind him and throw all the locks, making sure to seal him out of my place.

I turn and lean against the door, sliding down until I’m sitting on the floor with my knees drawn up to my chest. I wrap my arms around my knees and start to cry. Aurora and I are safe for now, but I know that Brad is going to do something stupid – and I might not be able to keep it from happening.

I scrub away the tears rolling down my face, irritated with myself for giving in to them in the first place. This has been one hell of a night. I never expected I’d be going from the high of having sex with Duncan, to the low of dealing with a psychotic man who thinks I owe him my love.

I’m terrified and uncertain about what comes next but determined to get through it all. Right now, the only thing that matters is that Aurora is safe. And I aim to keep her that way.





Twenty-Five





Duncan





It’s been about three weeks since the scene with Brad outside Alexis’ place. Thankfully, we’ve seen neither hide nor hair of him. He’s even stopped calling her a hundred times a day. She says that she still gets a text message from him now and then, but she thinks he finally gets it and is letting go of her.

I wish I could be that optimistic about it, but I know something is coming. I can feel it. Call me paranoid, but even though he’s not blowing up her phone all day, every day, I can still feel him out there. Watching. Waiting. Guys like Brad, who think they’re entitled to something, won’t stop until they either get it – or are stopped from getting it. Permanently.

No, I don’t believe we’ve heard the last of Brad. I don’t believe this is over yet. Far from it, in fact.

But until he rears his ugly head again, I’m just enjoying my time with Alexis. We’ve spent practically every possible moment together. I’ve even spent some time helping her down at the soup kitchen and homeless shelter she volunteers at. That she gives so freely of herself and her time and has such strong connections with some of the people who come in looking for a hot meal or a warm bed is actually touching. Inspiring. She even convinced me to make a large donation to the shelter, to help them stay open, providing vital services to the needy for years to come. It all only reinforces my belief that she would make a great nurse. Unlike some in the field, she genuinely seems to care.