AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You think I don't know that?" I snarl. "You think I haven't thought the exact same thing, that I don't think it twenty times a fuckin' day. Ailbhe is probably the purest, sweetest thing ever, and I'm not goin' to fuck her up, Py. I won't do that to her."
"Bit late, wouldn't you say?"
His words hit me. "Fuckin' Wrath. I fuckin' warned him. That motherfucker."
"Wrath didn't say shit, brother. You see, last night, we all noticed that Ailbhe wasn't herself. She's lost weight, and she looks sick, but we kept an eye on her and let her do her thing."
His words are like a punch in the gut. I haven't seen her in two weeks. I hadn't noticed she'd lost weight.
"She was up on the pole last night, Preacher. She fuckin' collapsed on stage."
Blood rushes to my head and the pounding intensifies. There's a ringing in my ears. "What?" I hiss. "The fuck did you say?"
"She collapsed. I was there, brother. I was workin' last night. I called the ambulance for her, and imagine my fuckin' surprise when her friend told the paramedic Ailbhe's pregnant."
My pulse races as sweat beads across my forehead. Fuck. I've done this. I should have protected her, stayed with her, made sure she was okay.
"Where is she?" I demand. I need to know where she is. I need to know she's okay.
"I ain't tellin' you. Not in that fuckin' state. You can barely fuckin' stand as it is."
I run a hand through my hair. Fuck, he's right. "Is she okay?"
He shakes his head. "I stayed with her last night. I learned a fuckin' lot about your woman last night, Preach. None of which she wants you to know. I was in fuckin' awe listenin' to her. But truth of the matter is, she's far from fuckin' okay. She's dehydrated. The pregnancy is rough, and she hasn’t been able to eat or drink. Anytime she does, she's pukin' her fuckin' guts up. She's had no energy, and whenever she leaves work she's collapsing on the bed and sleepin'."
Fuck... How the hell did I not know this? Why the fuck didn't I know what's been going on?
I didn't want to. That's why. I didn't care to fucking know. The moment she told me she was pregnant, I ceased to fucking care about anything other than getting the fuck away from her.
"Why the hell is she workin' if she's so sick?"
He snarls at me. "That's her story, not mine. But she truly is pregnant, brother. That's your fuckin' kid she's carryin' and you're fuckin' it all up because of what that cunt Pepper did to you. You've got to realize that she's not Pepper and that you've got a child who’ll be here in the next seven months or so. You'd better get your head around it sooner or later. Otherwise, you're gonna be without another child."
I sink down onto my bed and bury my head in my hands. He's right. I need to sort my fuckin' shit out. The question is: how the fuck do I do that? I can't see fucking straight when it comes to her. The pain of losing Tyson is holding me back from Ailbhe and the baby.
"How do we know it's mine?" I ask, and the moment the words leave my lips, I wince. Pyro's right, Ailbhe isn't Pepper and there's no way she'd do that to me. But fuck, the fear is rooted so deeply within my veins that I can't see anything else.
"Preach," he says low. "Did you say that to her? You don't look surprised that she's pregnant."
"She told me," I reply. "I didn't outright ask her, but I did call her a liar and basically told her to stay the fuck away from me."
Silence fills the room. "Damn, brother." He releases a low whistle. "That's some fucked up thing to say to a woman who's just told you she's pregnant with your kid. Fuckin' Pepper really fucked you up."
I glance at him. "If the tables were turned, brother, don't you think you'd be just as fucked up?"
He nods. "Yeah, I probably would be. So what are you goin' to do about Ailbhe?"
I lift my shoulders and shrug. I've no fucking idea. Can I even fix things between us?
"First place to start is to get a shower, then some food, maybe even some coffee. Then you can go and see her."
I raise a brow. "She at the hospital?"
He shakes his head. "Nah, she pitched a fit and was let out first thing this morning. She returned home with the promise that she'd rest up."
Well, that's exactly where I plan on heading once I've showered.
I hear Pyro's chuckle as I move toward the bathroom. "What?"
