Chapter 33
Lacey
37weekspregnant.Babysize = Swiss Chard
What was supposed to be a four-day trip has turned into a seven-day trip – seven days of video calls and various family members staying with me. Seven days of planning this Halloween Party with everyone but the one person I need.
I think back to the time when Cole moved out after he had briefly stayed with me after he was attacked. I had never felt so lonely. I’d gotten used to him being in my space, our movie nights, and binge-watching TV shows that I knew he didn’t like, but he watched them with me anyway. Then he moved out, and he was gone. He found Gabby and moved on without me.Fucking Gabby.She didn’t like me from day one, always throwing daggers my way when I dared speak to Cole. She snubbed Emmy and Hayleigh, too, by association with me.
I take a minute to acknowledge how different everything is now and how everything happens for a reason. Part of me wonders if Cole and I would have ever found each other the way we have if I’d never had that one night with Ted.Fucking Ted and fucking Gabby.
I don’t regret Peanut, not one little bit, but I do regret being tied to Ted. He’s been quiet for a while now, no more phone calls, no more messages or sightings. It’s as if he’s vanished for good.
If only that were true. Cole admitted to me that he had Vik look a bit deeper into Ted, and he found out that we weren’t the only ones looking for him; someone else was, and this someone wasn’t a person to be crossed. I don’t wish harm on him, but I must admit the idea of him never being able to hurt either of us again seems appealing.
My phone blares to life. Picking it up, I smile. “Hello there, handsome, how’s your day?”
I can hear the smile in Cole’s voice. “My day would be much better if I were home with you and Peanut, instead of stuck in a stuffy boardroom, arguing why a building has to have a second stairwell for safety rather than the one they want because…and listen to this, ‘aesthetics’! They’re a bunch of idiots, Lacey.”
I hum in agreement. “Yeah, but they’re rich idiots, so you’re going to have to woo them.” Sighing because I wish I could hold him, I say, “I wish you were home. How long will you be?”
“Well, that’s why I wanted to call…” He goes quiet, and dread curls into my stomach. “I’ve decided that after this meeting, I’m packing up and coming home. I’ve already told them to get their shit together, and in about ten minutes, I’ll go back in and let them know that they either sign for the plans we have done or they can find someone else. Rich idiots or not, Lacey, I need to be with you and Peanut. Plus, I can make it in time for theHalloween Party.” He sounds so happy, and it immediately lifts my spirits.
I smile at his words, but before I can respond, there is a knock at the door.
“Hold on a sec, someone is knocking.” I pad over to the front door and swing it open. The phone falls from my hand and clatters across the hallway floor, Cole’s voice shouting in the distance.
“Well, isn’t this cosy? You going to let me in or what?” Ted stands on the other side of the door, hands on the frame.
There is no way I am letting him in this house. “Not!” I step back and slam the door shut with all my might, but he’s faster and stronger than I am. He slams his boot between the door and the frame at the last moment, preventing me from completely closing it. He pushes on the door, hard, and I lose my footing.
I’m falling, and there isn’t anything I can do to stop it.
I throw my elbows back to try and break the fall, and pain radiates through them and up my arms. My head snaps back into the radiator as an explosion of pain and nausea rips through me.
I see Ted advancing towards me, and I raise a hand to stop him while the other cradles Peanut.
My little Peanut, please be okay.
It’s my last thought as the darkness creeps around the edges of my vision.
This is it.
**********
Cole
Rage.
Pure, unfiltered rage – that’s what I’m feeling right now as I hurtle down the motorway towards home. If I don’t get pulled over for speeding, it will be a miracle, but I don’t care. The only thing that matters is getting home to Lacey and Peanut, making sure they’re okay.
When I heard his voice over the phone, I knew…I knew he was there to do something terrible. He’s been watching and waiting for his opportune moment, when Lacey was alone without me, without the girls and our family. That little fucker knew.
I try dialling all of my brothers, Don, my parents, anyone, but no one is answering.
I slam my fist on the steering wheel. “FUCK!” Why won’t this fucking car go any faster?
My phone starts to ring, and I click the answer button on the steering wheel. “Lacey?”
