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“Why didn’t you tell me? Fuck, I would have done more, would have carried you into town, anything not to put the baby in danger.” He was suddenly sweating, appearing more worried than when he’d faced the gunman. His hand slid to my stomach, his warmth spreading through me. “Does anything hurt?”
“I’m shaken up, but there’s no pain.”
He grimaced, looking pained himself.
I glanced around, feeling jumpy, my emotions and thoughts all over the place. “I’m assuming there’s a car somewhere on the road that these two parked we’d have to hide.” Listen to me, already helping to cover two dead bodies.
“I hate that this happened to you, and I’m sorry.” He held onto me, afraid to let me go, I think. “And I feel a million times worse knowing you were pregnant. But you don’t need to worry about all of it. And the bodies, the car, I’ll take care of it all.”
“How is this your fault? For turning the guy in? Sounds like he was scum to me.”
“It was worse than that. He was catching the kids on the streets, selling them to dealers who would take them overseas to who knows what kind of horrors. I couldn’t handle that shit. No matter how bad I might be, I’d never harm a woman or kids. Ever.” He held me tight, then stepped back.
“I have to get him under the ground quickly. Otherwise, he might come back to haunt us when the tow truck comes for your car and the police come to investigate what happened.”
“Why would the cops investigate my car crash?” I looked at him, not sure why the police would investigate my car accident.
“Won’t the insurance want it investigated?” he asked with a shrug.
“Oh, fuck it, I’ll just write it off. That car is old, anyway, and I only had the bare minimum of insurance on it. I won’t get anything for it.” I shrugged, but that wasn’t what my thoughts were on now. I was wondering how many other bodies Brick had buried on his property. My emotions were conflicted.
“It would be easier if you did that. Let me get this other guy underground, and we’ll get back to bed. I don’t know if I’ll sleep tonight, but we have to try,” he said, not reminding me that it was technically Christmas day.
Fuck, this was all wrong. We had such a lovely day yesterday, and things were looking so perfect. Damn fate for coming along and ruining what could have been the best Christmas ever.
Once inside, the minutes passed as I sank back into bed, wondering if the day was really ruined. Okay, I knew Brick wasn’t a saint and definitely not a priest, but was he really that bad of a guy? To some, maybe, but I’d had the ‘perfect husband material, and I’d take a guy who would beat a guy to death for hurting me over one that actually enjoyed beating me. I hadn’t known I wanted a protector until I had one, and I wasn’t about to run away from that.
I just didn’t know if the feeling was mutual.
Brick came in, and I didn’t even know Brick had followed me until he slid into bed beside me, naked. I’d fallen asleep without realizing it.
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered, but I wanted to snuggle up to him.
“No, I think we need to talk,” I groaned sleepily.
“In the morning, Amelia,” he insisted, and I knew he was worried and wanted to put it off.
“Let’s do it now.” I sat up, finding that backbone he inspired in me.
“Brick, I want to stay with you, even after the snow melts and this interlude is over, but I’m torn and scared about how safe your life is, and that’s even before the whole ‘I’m carrying someone else’s baby.’ God, please don’t think I only want to be with you because I’m pregnant. It has nothing to do with that, and if you don’t want to, that’s okay, but I just wanted to let you know.”
I was burning up, blushing, and feeling stupid for just blurting it out. I hated that I sounded desperate, except that wasn’t why I shared. It had everything to do with being afraid of losing something I really liked.
He just listened to me, studying me as he lay next to me, and I liked when he did that.
“So, because I kept you safe?” he asked, not sounding impressed.
I rolled my eyes at him teasingly. “It’s not just that. I kinda like you.”
He drew me closer so we were face to face.
“I’m guessing the baby is your ex’s. Does he want anything to do with the child?”
His directness took me off-guard, and just remembering Jason’s cruelty pricked my eyes with tears. I shook my head, gnawing on the corner of my lower lip.
“He wants nothing to do with my little blessing.”
“Good,” he said abruptly, which left me puzzled.
