Page 72 of Filthy Business

We left the men in the living room, and I followed my mum into the kitchen.

As soon as the door shut, she turned to me with that look only mothers have.“Are you sure everything’s alright? After everything that happened?”

I nodded, even though my throat tightened a little.“Luke ended up in Spain, but he got arrested trying to smuggle drugs. And the last we heard of the Whorehound… she was advertising herself on some high-end escort site.”

Mum’s mouth dropped open. I almost reached to gently shut it, but she blinked and found her composure. Her eyes, though, were tinged with that familiar grief.

She was thinking about Dad.

“It’s over, Mum,” I said, softer this time.“They can’t ever hurt us again.”

Daddy never found Josie. I have no idea what happened to her. But it looked like karma was taking care of both mother and son.

I stepped in for a hug. My belly got in the way like it always did these days, but she didn’t seem to mind. We held onto each other, and a quiet peace settled over me. It felt like my dad was watching over us.

???

Nick had the car ready. My bags were already packed in the boot. Daddy was on the couch, flicking through channels.

“What do you fancy watching, sweetheart?” he asked, taking off his glasses and eyeing me suspiciously.“What’s wrong?”

“I need you to stay calm.”

“I’m always calm, sweetheart. Hit me,” he said, patting the seat beside him.

“My water broke,” I said, counting to three.

Nothing happened.

He just stared at me like I was speaking Klingon.

His brow furrowed like I’d told him we were out of milk. Then his eyes dropped to the carpet. Back to me. Carpet. Me again.

“Here?” he asked, voice a full octave higher.

“Yes, here,” I said flatly.

He blinked.“Right. Okay. No problem. Just… minor uterine rupture, standard stuff.”

He stood up, then sat back down. Then stood again.“Where’s the bag?”

“In the boot with Nick.”

“Boot. Yes. Car. Keys. Wife. Baby.” He rattled off the words like he was assembling IKEA instructions.

I grabbed his glasses, shoved them into his shirt pocket, and took his hand.

“Let’s go before you pass out, Daddy.”

“Don’t call me that right now, sweetheart,” he muttered, staggering toward the door.“My blood pressure can’t take it.”

???

Daddy barrelled through the hospital doors like he was storming a battlefield.

“The water has broken!” he bellowed, waving his arms like a deranged fire marshal.“The baby is coming! My wife is leaking!”

Two nurses looked up from the desk. One dropped her pen. The other calmly slid her coffee away from the edge.