AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before Nova had helped me run away, I’d had to start rationing my supply of tampons and pads because I wasn’t sure if I would get more the next month. Having to wear either of those items longer than I was supposed to was a gross feeling, but I’d had no other choice. Not even our housekeeper and cook, Maria, had been allowed to purchase anything for me once Matias started losing touch with reality. The one time she’d tried to sneak me some from her own supply of tampons, Manuel had slapped her so hard she’d fallen to the floor.
After that, I’d tried to avoid the housekeeper, not wanting my stepbrother to have a reason to raise his hand to her when all she’d tried to do was help me. Until Nova, Maria had been the only one to even attempt to assist me in any way where Manuel was concerned.
Grabbing my purse, I tucked my phone into my back pocket and left the apartment. Kim had been getting on my nerves more and more lately, so I made sure to slam the door nice and loud on my way out. The bitch was a light sleeper and I’d hear all about the noise later, but it put a sly grin on my lips as I walked to the diner.
I’d worked there when I first moved to NYC. The tips had been decent, and I’d gotten a free meal every shift I worked. But in comparison, the money I made at Cherry Bomb was triple each night what I would have made working there.
Entering the diner, I glanced around briefly before walking to a table in the back where I usually liked to sit. The waitress, a new girl I didn’t recognize, brought me over a menu, but I waved her off. “I’m waiting on someone, and I don’t need a menu. I know what I want, but I’m going to hold off on ordering until she gets here.”
“M’kay,” she said before walking off to check on her other customers.
The place went through waitresses like they did toilet paper, but the cook had always been the same old man. When I’d worked there, he’d never said much, just flipped the burgers and minded his own business. But damn, they were the best I’d ever tasted in my life.
While I waited for Nova, I played on my phone, hoping I’d get a message from Garret, but nothing popped up from him. It was so unlike him, but other than sleeping in my bed each night, he’d been basically radio silent since returning from California.
Several of the tables around me cleared out before Nova and her muscle showed up. Catching sight of the girl who had become my best friend over the years, I felt happiness fill me and I waved. She spoke quietly to the huge guy in a suit beside her, and he eventually gave a nod before picking up a menu and dropping down at one of the tables far enough away to give us a little bit of privacy, but still close enough that he could eliminate any danger that cropped up.
As Nova neared, I jumped to my feet and wrapped my arms around her as tight as I could. “It’s so good to see you,” I whispered, trying to mask how emotional I was at getting to hug her again after so long. To hide my tears from her, I eyeballed her bodyguard. “Did you have to bring the muscle, though?”
“It’s either bring the muscle or not leave the house,” she said with a grimace before pushing me back into my side of the booth and sitting across from me. “You look great, by the way. Definitely better than the last time I laid eyes on you in the flesh.”
That had been the year before, when Manuel had broken my jaw. I hadn’t known that at the time. It wasn’t until I got to Creswell Springs and Gracie had taken me to the hospital for X-rays that we’d known just how much damage my stepbrother had caused.
I touched my cheek, remembering the pain of having my jaw wired shut the summer before. “You would be surprised by the changes that happen when you’re no longer living with an abusive, sadistic monster.”
Compassion filled a set of eyes so like Garret’s, it made my heart flutter. “I can only imagine,” she said as the waitress came back over. Nova let me order for the both of us once I told her how good the burgers were.
“I worked here until my roommate got me the job at the club,” I explained as I picked up my glass of cherry cola. Maybe I shouldn’t have been drinking caffeine, but I didn’t even know for sure if I was pregnant yet, so it didn’t count—at least, that was what I told myself as I sipped it through the straw while the waitress walked away after promising our food would be out shortly.
“I’m going to assume you make bank at that place,” Nova commented, and I tensed. “Or you wouldn’t be fighting my brother so hard on continuing to work there.”
I rolled my eyes, already knowing where this conversation was going to lead. “I make plenty to cover my bills and have enough left over for a little nest egg in case of emergencies. Your brother just wants me to be his kept woman. He says he only wants to spoil me and take care of me. I don’t consider it taking care of so much as wanting to control me. I’ve lived that life, Nova. Never having a penny of my own. Having to rely on some man to provide everything. Beholden to him for every meal, every piece of clothing. I’m never going back to it. If he can’t handle me working, he knows where the door is. No one is forcing him to stick around.”
“What if you had a different job?” my friend suggested hesitantly.
“I don’t need a different job. I’m fine right where I am.” I crossed my arms over my chest, clenching my jaw as anger filled me. Not at Nova, but at her brother. He was definitely using his sweet little sister to con me into doing exactly what he wanted.
“What if the job offered better pay and benefits like health care?” she enticed.
“I’d say your brother is using you to try to control me.” But the mention of health care had me sitting up straighter, fighting my pride to turn down the offer. I might have had a nice savings, but how long would that money last if I had to pay for all my doctor’s visits out of pocket if I did happen to be pregnant? “But I might be interested in hearing you out since you mentioned health care.”
“Yeah?” Her smile could have lit up the entire diner.
“Yes,” I muttered, shifting my gaze to her bodyguard. He was drinking a cup of coffee and appeared to be reading a newspaper. But there was no mistaking the way his eyes shifted around the diner, keeping everyone in sight at all times, making sure the little angel he was in charge of stayed safe. I swallowed hard and inadvertently leaned forward. “Nova…”
Her green gaze shifted to mine, having been watching her guard just like I had. When our eyes locked, I couldn’t blink back the sting of tears any more than I had the power to fight the fear that was trying to choke the air from me.
Nova grasped my hands, her touch offering me a small measure of comfort. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.
The lump in my throat was hard to swallow, and I had to put more effort into keeping the tears from falling. I couldn’t break. Not now. Not when there might be a life growing inside me who needed me to stay strong. “I think I’m going to need the health insurance,” I confessed. “I’m two weeks late.”
She lifted one of her hands from mine to slap across her own mouth, holding in a scream. I watched her for a moment, unsure why she was the one screaming. I was the one in emotional overdrive because of what was going on inside my body. But this was Nova. She was an emphatic little thing who loved hard.
After a minute, she seemed to gather herself and returned to holding my hands, her fingers squeezing mine reassuringly. “Okay. There’s no need to get upset. We’ll figure everything out.”
“I’m not worried about me,” I hissed, pulling one hand free to wipe away the dampness on my lashes I hadn’t realized was there until right then. “Or even the baby—if there is one. I mean, this could be anything, right?”
Nova shrugged, but I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. I was twenty-one years old. The chances of this being something other than a baby might not be zero, but it wasn’t exactly likely. I had to face facts. Somewhere along the way, our protection had failed, and now I was knocked up.
