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Holding my breath for a moment, I wait for my father to speak. He doesn’t, at least not immediately. He lets out a heavy sigh. “I shouldn’t tell you what my original plan was, but I will. I was going to kill you and save your brother. I should probably still do that,” he murmurs.
“But,” my father continues, “I feel as though I’ve done some possibly unnecessary killing recently. Not unwarranted, but possibly unnecessary,” he says, somewhat clarifying his words and actions.
I want to ask what he plans to do, but Tatum beats me to it. In his little teenage boy voice that cracks somewhere in the middle of his sentence, he asks what’s going to happen. I can hear the tremble, and if I were a different person, I would probably feel sorry for him, but I’m not that person.
“I’m not sure, and I don’t think it’s my place to make a decision. I believe your case will be brought to the executives, and I’m going to allow all of them to vote.”
The suggestion isn’t bad at all. In fact, I think I actually like it. The executives do make a lot of decisions alongside my father, but nothing like this. Punishments are usually given out by him and only him.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
ALLISON
Standing in the foyer, I watch as Brenda locks up the house and sets the alarm so we can’t get out, but nobody can get in either. I really like the concept, and I decide that I’m going to set Hendrick’s alarm regularly. I like the security I feel right now.
“What happens now?” I ask on a whisper.
“Now,” Brenda announces, “I get something to drink, and we hang out in the living room and chat.”
Chat. I’m not sure I want to chat with her, but then again, I need to talk to someone. So chatting with Brenda it is. Following behind her, I head to the sofa and sink down on the cushion, kicking my shoes off before sitting with my legs crisscrossed.
“So you’re marrying my son tomorrow, and I already know that you’re pregnant.”
“The baby is Hendrick’s,” I blurt out.
Brenda smiles before she brings the glass of wine to her lips and takes a sip. Her eyes are practically dancing as she watches me. But she doesn’t say anything as she continues to watch me, and I feel uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
I shift in my seat, and she thankfully puts me out of my misery. “I already knew,” she says, still smiling. “Henrick and Henry both tried to say that it was someone else’s, but I knew the truth. Henry tried to buy you off, right?”
“Not in so many words, but something like that,” I confess.
She lifts her glass to her lips and takes another sip of wine. She leans back against the cushion, her eyes finding mine. She tilts her head to the side, and I suck in a breath, holding it for a moment before I let it out slowly as I wait for her to say something, anything.
I need to know how much she hates me for lying, for taking money and signing a contract, possibly keeping this baby from his or her family. I am the worst kind of human being. It doesn’t matter that Hendrick has forgiven me, has not blamed me. It doesn’t take the simple fact away that I am a complete piece of shit.
“You aren’t. The fact that you feel guilty about all of this speaks volumes, but it isn’t just that. Hendrick and I, all of us, really, understand the circumstances. This is our world. We know exactly what is expected. And you being pregnant wasn’t ever a circumstance that would be acceptable.”
That should make me feel some kind of way. Maybe upset, hurt, or something, but it doesn’t. After the dynamic I’ve seen, I can understand what she’s saying. I decide to put all that hurt and anger in a little box and shove it away because it will do no good to hold on to it. Hendrick has already explained things to me and told me how he feels.
“So, what are you going to wear tomorrow?” Brenda asks, shifting the subject completely around.
I blink.
I stare at her, and I blink.
I was so excited about the idea of marrying Hendrick tomorrow that I didn’t think about what I would be wearing or the fact that Harlow’s entire family and friends would be in attendance. My stomach twists, and my heart begins to pound in my chest, throughout my body, and even in my ears.
“Oh my,” Brenda whispers. She lets out a laugh, but it sounds strained. “It’s going to be okay,” she murmurs.
“How?” I ask.
She shakes her head once. Then I watch as she reaches for her phone and starts touching buttons. Her gaze slides down my body, then it comes back up as she holds the phone to her ear.
I hold my breath for a moment, waiting for what she’s going to say because I can’t imagine who she could be calling in the middle of the night. I bite the inside of my cheek as I wait for her to speak. When she does, I know exactly who she’s called, and I’m not sure I’m ready to see her yet, although there’s no getting around it tomorrow, so I should deal with it right now. Better now than later.
“Do you have a white dress?” Brenda asks, then she lets out a laugh. “I doubt she’ll want to wear your wedding dress to her own wedding…” There is a moment of silence. Brenda’s gaze shifts to me, then she lets out a hum. “Can you bring them over tonight? Okay. See you then.”
