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“Liar.”
“I’m going to the police as soon as he’s born. Getting a DNA test will prove it. Prove what you did to me. The hospital has the photos from the night he was conceived, but I had no proof it was you. Now I do. They’ll trace his conception date back to that night. My lawyer says my case is strong.”
A muscle ticked in my jaw. I would have continued to call her bluff, but I remembered her now. The police had questioned my whereabouts the night of her attack, and Leonn had covered for me. The police had been quickly persuaded to investigate other suspects.
But if what she’d said was true, and my genetic offspring was inside her belly right now, then she might not be bluffing.
“What do you want?” I clenched my jaw. “Money? How much? A hundred bucks?”
She laughed bitterly. “You really think you can buy me off that easily? You destroyed my life, Caleb. Now I have to look at my son or daughter every day, knowing what a monster their father is. I have a lifetime of payments to make for what you created. A hundred bucks! Hell, a hundred thousand doesn’t even come close. A million dollars, Caleb. A million dollars a year for the rest of my life.”
I snorted at her ridiculousness. “You’re insane.”
“Am I insane, or do you want to go to jail? If this kid is born without the first million in my account, I go to the cops. Every year on his birthday, I’ll expect a payment, or I’ll be straight down to the police station. If you’re late by even one day, same deal. Do you get the idea?”
I glared at her smug face. The stupid bitch thought she had the entire thing figured out.
Leonn sighed. “Just give it to her, Caleb. You have the money.”
It wasn’t the point. The point was there was yet another weak-willed woman trying to dictate what I did with my life. How I spent my money. How dare she?
“Get her inside.”
“What?” the woman asked sharply. She backed away a step, fear flashing in her eyes for the first time since this whole thing had begun.
I liked that.
I grinned, reveling in her terror. Enjoying watching her realize she’d pushed me too far.
Leonn and Hugh stepped in behind her, grabbing her arms.
She opened her mouth to scream, no doubt, but Hugh was quicker. He slapped his hand over her mouth and dragged her toward the house. I hurried to get the door open and shoved the three of them inside, hoping none of my neighbors had noticed what was going on.
“Put her in the basement. No one ever goes down there, not even the maid.” I shut the door behind them.
Sounds of a struggle floated back but got quieter and quieter as Leonn and Hugh hauled the woman to the basement stairs.
If they were smart, they’d throw her down them.
Hopefully, the fall would kill both her and the bastard baby she carried.
28
REBEL
I got home from my shift at Psychos just after one in the morning to find Kian’s truck missing from its usual spot at the side of the house. I instantly wondered if he was with a woman and then berated myself over the twinge of jealousy that panged inside me at the thought.
Vaughn’s bike and his dad’s car were both there, though the house was dark, so he was likely asleep. I let myself in quietly and trudged up the stairs, looking forward to bed.
Vaughn’s room was dark and empty, the door open enough that I could see straight in at his bed. There was no annoyingly attractive stepbrother inside it.
But a soft light came from beneath the door of his father’s room.
The one room of the house I thought none of us had entered since it had happened.
I hadn’t been ready to go through my mom’s things, and I’d thought Vaughn wasn’t either. He hadn’t brought it up. I’d clearly been stupid to think it was something we should have done together.
I twisted the handle on the door and let myself in.