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In a desperate attempt to regain his footing, he flings his pipe at me. I bring my arms up to shield myself, but the end manages to smack me right across the forehead. Pain radiates through my body, the pounding pressure behind my eyes momentarily blinding me with black spots.
Lucius takes advantage of my disorientation, getting to his feet to charge at me. He tackles me to the ground. I don’t stand a chance. He’s twice my size and way too heavy. Lucius pins me to the ground, laughing maniacally as I try to claw, spit, scream.
He loses his phone in the tussle, the device skidding across the floor. The screen illuminates, my picture on full display. Even though I’m in the middle of the fight, I can see a massive dollar amount in bright red digits just below my image. Someone’s put out a hit on me for five million dollars.
My heart sinks.
Holy shit, this can’t be happening.
Before I have a chance to react, Lucius wraps his hands around my throat. He squeezes, the tips of his fingers breaking skin. Murder lurks in his eyes.
“I’m going to give Van Straus your body in a bag,” he seethes.
I choke and wheeze, scratching uselessly at his arms. My lungs burn. Black encroaches on the edges of my vision. Genuine fear rips through me. I can’t die here. I refuse to. Not when I have Dad to save and my little one to protect. The thought of the precious life I’m carrying sparks my resilience, filling me with a protective rage and fury that gives me just enough strength to pry his hands away and scream.
“Stop! Please,my baby!”
This snaps Lucius out of his rage. Confusion washes over his expression. “What baby?”
“I’m pregnant,” I rasp. My throat burns. Breathing is painful. I count my lucky stars that he hasn’t crushed my windpipe.
I’m too dizzy to keep track of what happens next. All the strength I managed to muster leaves me, my bones hollow and my muscles strained. I’m vaguely aware of Lucius picking me up, dragging me toward an empty chair with his hand fisted in my hair. He moves quickly to secure me in place, handcuffing my hands behind me before securing me with rolls upon rolls of tape.
I blink away my confusion and find Dad staring at me, alarmed and confused and maybe even delighted. It’s really hard to tell.
“You’re pregnant?” he whispers. “How is this possible? Who’s the father?”
“Shut up!” Lucius roars, wiping the sweat of his brow. “Fuck. Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve got to be lying, right?”
“I’m telling the truth. I’m pregnant. You wouldn’t kill a pregnant woman, would you?”
Lucius grits his teeth. It’s a risky bluff, but I’ve known Lucius long enough to know that he’s not rotten to his core. At least, not enough to harm a defenseless child. He picks up the USB with a grunt and moves to Laura’s old workstation, booting up her laptop to check the codes.
Baby and I are safe. For now.
“Who’s the father?” Dad whispers again.
I grimace. There’s no telling how he might react to the news that Gabriel and I were involved. I figure there’s a pretty good chance we’re going to die. If not now, then later. I might as well rip off the bandage and get this over with.
“Gabriel.”
Dad’s eyes widen. “Are you serious?”
“Why would I lie?”
“You two?”
“It’s a long story. After you sent me to him for protection… Well, we kind of hit it off.”
Dad slumps back in his chair, looking oddly amused. “If we get out of this, I’m going to kill him.”
“You’ll do no such thing. He helped me, Dad. If it weren’t for Gabriel, we never would have been able to steal the codes back from Van Straus.”
“Are you planning on keeping it?”
I swallow. I’ve been living day to day for so long that I haven’t thought that hard about the future. The logical part of my brain wants to say no. The life of a career thief is a hard one. I don’t want my baby to know that kind of hardship. When I was a little girl, I always dreaded the weeks Dad spent away on a job. I lived in constant fear of the chance that he wouldn’t come home. I don’t want to do that to my baby.
But my gut tells me to say yes. This is all very new to me, but I already feel so protective of this child. The love I have for my little one can’t be put into words. It’s going to be hard, but surely, I can balance raising my child and my career just like millions of working moms. Sure, I don’t have what can be considered a typical job, and it definitely comes with a lot more risks, but I’m nothing if not determined.
