Surprise Delivery(93)

“Doesn’t matter,” Brad says. “None of this matters, because I’m going to remove you from the equation.”

I feel off-kilter, like I’m on unsteady footing. I’m distracted, and my head is in a thousand other places. I should be focusing on the man with the knife who’s already vowed to kill me, but I can’t keep my mind off of Alexis – or Aurora. My daughter, apparently.

I’m only aware that Brad is in motion when I see the blur of movement from the corner of my eye. When I turn, he’s already bringing the knife forward, slicing in a deadly arc. I jump back, but it’s not quick enough, and the blade slices straight through my shirt and across my belly. It opens up a wound that starts pouring blood, turning my shirt a dark shade of crimson.

I ball up my fist and lunge forward as he twists his body on the follow through with his knife. I’m aiming for his face but clip the side of his head instead. The blow is strong though and sends Brad staggering a few feet away from me where he falls to his knees, clutching his head in his hands. I press my advantage and close the distance between us again. He takes another cut with his blade and it slices through my slacks, opening another wound on my leg. I feel the blood pouring down my leg, leaving a sticky, wet trail.

Using my other leg, I deliver a strong kick to the side of his head. Brad staggers forward and falls to his knees. He’s swaying as he sits there, as if he’s on the verge of passing out. Rushing forward once more, I know I need to end this. As I close in, he delivers a vicious jab with his knife – point first. If I’d been in the way, he would have stuck it straight into my gut. Thankfully, I was expecting it and was able to move to the side in time to avoid being stuck.

Before he can pull his arm back again, I grab Brad’s hair and pull his head back. Mustering all the force I can, I deliver a wicked shot to his face. The sound of my fist meeting his flesh cracks like a gunshot and snaps his head backward. I let go of his hair and let his momentum carry him down.

Brad is out cold before he hits the ground.

I look down at the wound on my gut. It’s bleeding a hell of a lot, but it’s a shallow cut. Same with the one on my leg. They’re superficial, thankfully. I’ll need them cleaned and bandaged, but I probably won’t need stitches or anything. Brad is as bad at murder as he is at relationships – which is a good thing for me.

I pull my cellphone out of my pocket and call the police. It’s time Brad learns the consequences of his actions and even though we can’t get him for stalking, I think attempted murder will do quite nicely. Brad will be going away for a long time. Hopefully, he uses the time constructively and can get some of the help he so obviously needs.

It’s not long before my condo is swarming with cops and medics. The cops have a thousand questions for me that I answer as best as I can while the EMT’s treat my wounds. I tell the cops to pull the tapes from the security office, so they can see that he was stalking me and lying in wait for me when I got home – which should earn him a little more time in prison.

Through all of the commotion, I remain focused on one thing and one thing alone – the fact that Alexis has been lying to me all this time about Aurora. I have a daughter. I actually have a fucking daughter. How could Alexis lie to me about that? Why would she betray me like that?

And more importantly – now that I know the truth, what am I going to do about it all?





Twenty-Nine





Alexis





I grab my phone and look at it for the hundredth time in the last hour. Nothing. No calls. No text messages. Nothing but continued radio silence from Duncan. He hasn’t returned any of my calls or texts for the last couple of days and I’m starting to really freak out about it.

This isn’t like him. Even on days where he’s got really long rotations at the hospital, he’ll usually shoot me a text or something, just to let me know he’s thinking about me. But for the last couple of days, I haven’t heard a word from him.

Sabrina told me that she’s seen him at the hospital, so I know he’s not like, dead or anything. Which makes me worry that I’ve done something. Or more specifically, that he’s somehow found out about Aurora and is lining up his army to come after me.

I look at the contract on the table and feel a chill run through me. I wonder if Henry went back on his word – or just decided that I wasn’t going to comply and sign the damn thing – and told Duncan about his daughter anyway.

I’m carrying her around, bouncing her up and down a bit, as I try to get her to sleep for a while. I need some time alone to think. I need to sort through all the garbage floating around in my head and I need to come to some decisions. More than that, I need to put a plan in place to act upon those decisions once I make them.

“What do you think, little one?” I ask.

Aurora looks up at me with those big brown eyes of hers. She’s got eyes that remind me of Duncan so much that it makes my heart hurt knowing something is going on with him – and sends a deluge of fear running through me because I don’t know what it is.

I place a gentle kiss on the top of her head and sing softly to her. The love I feel for my daughter is powerful and overwhelming. I never planned on being a parent – or at least, not an unexpected parent – but now that I am, I understand why people love it so much. There is just something about looking into the face of your child that lights up pieces inside of you that you never knew existed. There is more love flowing through me than I ever thought possible, and when Aurora gives me a little smile, or does something adorable, my heart just melts into a puddle of goo.