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“Oh, yes. Are you two still…”
“He’s everything I knew he’d be,” I whisper, “and more. We’re going to be a couple.”
She beams, taking my hand. “That’s just awesome. I know it’s true.” We walk down the hallway together. Chloe lowers her voice. “I can’t believe they thought I’d do that to you.”
“It was a fair assumption,” I say.
Chloe stops and looks at me, wounded. “Wow.”
“No, I’m sorry. I mean to them. We only met recently. They couldn’t guess you’d be so loyal.”
“Loyalty matters,” Chloe says firmly.
I touch her arm. “I’d do the same for you.”
“Do you think Professor Stellar will want to call the cops?” Chloe asks.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“I just hope they don’t think I was involved.”
“What? No way. I’ll tell them you came to me and warned me. There’s no way they could think you’re involved. Max… Professor Stellar will say the same too.”
Chloe nods as if summoning her courage. “Okay, good. Okay, yeah. Let’s do this. Okay.”
We keep walking down the hallway together, approaching the entrance to the lecture hall. This doorway means so much to me now. It means secret lovemaking, secret looks, and all the beauty of the sonnets wrapped up in a poem of my own.
As bizarre as it is, happiness flows through me the closer I get to the door. I went from a life dictated by bullies, with no friends except the librarian, mourning my dad, Mom the best, but busy… There was a lot of loneliness. Now I have friends: Lacy at work and Chloe at school. I have love and loyalty.
It’s almost enough to make me well up, and that gets me thinking about a baby. I keep wondering if we did it during that first time. Were we lucky and blessed enough already to be bringing a life into this world?
Chloe walks ahead of me. She knocks on the door. “Hello? Professor Stellar?”
A voice hisses from behind. “Say it.” I think that’s what the person says, though I can’t be sure. It’s a low, snapping tone. It definitely isn’t my Max. I could recognize his voice as a whisper.
“Don’t come in here,” Max yells. “They’ve got wea—”
He grunts, and the door springs open, causing Chloe to fall back. A man rushes out. He’s huge, probably as tall as Max, and wide. He’s got a bald head, and when he laughs, a gold tooth flashes. His face is covered in faded cuts and bruises, like he’s recovering from a beating. He grabs Chloe quickly, wraps his arm around her, and grins at me. Behind him, I can see Max on the floor. Cillian has what looks like a hammer pushed against his neck. Jane sits on the desk, her legs folded, casually smoking a cigarette.
“Don’t make me hurt her,” the bald man says, glaring at me. “In now. Before anybody wanders by.”
They’re lucky. No lectures are scheduled. This isn’t a busy part of the campus, but I could still run, scream, and get help. Chloe whimpers as the man tightens his grip. I can’t leave her. What if they seriously hurt her?
Then I feel it. The puke rushes up my neck. I fall to the floor, really playing it up. I’m not faking it. I think about pregnancy again as the vomit burns up my throat. It’s not fake, but I’m exaggerating how bad it is. It gives me time to reach into my pocket and grab the device. It looks like a tube of lipstick.
I haven’t told anybody I bought it, not even Max. I wasn’t sure how he’d react. It might be useful now as long as we get out of here alive.
“Disgusting,” the bald man grunts. “Get up. Now.”
I climb to my feet and walk toward the lecture hall, wiping my mouth with my sleeve.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
Max
This is the worst thing that ever could’ve happened.
My woman is in physical danger when I can already see the glow of pregnancy emanating from her. It’s in every flush, every glance, and I don’t give a damn about the science. It wouldn’t show up on a test yet, but she’s carrying my baby. I feel it in my bones.
Now, the bald man forces her to sit in the front row, shoving Chloe beside her. That Cillian prick has the claw end of a hammer pushed right up against the back of my neck. My mouth pulses from where Jane slapped me when I tried to warn Ellie and her friend.
Jane titters, crossing and uncrossing her legs. She wants to draw attention to them, wearing a short skirt.
“You should put that out,” Cillian says from behind me. “We don’t want to set off the alarms.”
“Boring,” Jane says, then stubs the cigarette out on my desk. “Right, so what’s the plan, gentlemen?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Cillian snaps. “This was the big man’s idea.”
“Oh, this is just perfect.” Jane pushes from the desk, prances across the room, and stops in front of Ellie. Ellie glares up at her defiantly, despite the big goon looming. “Fate has brought us together. It brought Max to that crack den, and it just so happens we already know the big, handsome gentleman who runs said establishment.”
