Page 115 of Wicked Brutal

“You slept on the couch all night.”

“Surveillance.”

“And ate the bait.”

“It was stale.”

Kaiden’s mouth twitches. “What was the bait?”

“Pretzels.” Dad points at me. “Which your girlfriend then stole.”

“One pretzel.”

“After accusing me of eating evidence.”

“You were eating evidence.” For half a second, the room breathes. Then I remember what happened after. “Ally took one and said something about my baby making her hungry.”

Kaiden’s eyes widen. “Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“Tobias heard her.”

“What happened?”

“Exactly what you’d expect from Tobias.” I rub a hand over my face. “He asked what baby. Then whether there was a baby in Ally’s stomach. Then whose baby it was. Then if Roman knew. Then if Victor knew. He was firing questions faster than she could answer them.”

Clifford looks at me. “And Ally?”

“Panicked. She kept trying to tell him he couldn’t tell anybody. He didn’t understand why, so he kept asking. She couldn’t get him to stop long enough to think.” I can still see her face. The second the words left her mouth. The horror. “She yelled.”

Theodore’s expression changes. “At Tobias?”

“Enough to scare him.” I look down at my hands. “She wasn’t angry with him. She was fucking terrified. But Tobias didn’t know that. He started crying and ran to me.” Nobody says anything.

Dad does eventually. “Ryan handled it.”

Arthur looks at me. “What did you tell him?”

“The truth.”

“All of it?”

“The part a six-year-old needs.” I lean back. “He wanted to talk man to man. I told Tobias Ally has my baby in her stomach. Showed him the app. Showed him how big it is right now. Explained that the baby is okay and Ally is okay.” Danny’s eyes drop. Clifford’s hand finds his shoulder again. Danny doesn’t pull away. “I told him it’s a secret because some adults would be angry, but not because Ally did anything wrong.”

Callum nods. “What did he say?”

“He asked if it was Victor’s.”

Arthur’s voice goes flat. “Why?”

“Because Victor told him Ally is going to give him babies.” Nobody moves. “Lots of babies,” I say. “Apparently sons specifically.”

Theodore whispers, “Jesus Christ.”

“Roman told Tobias Ally needs to do better than Jane did because Jane only gave him one son.” Dad’s jaw flexes. “He told Tobias Victor picked Ally because she’s a good girl.”

Thomas goes still. Picked. The same fucking word. Kaiden hears it too. I can tell.