Page 10

CHAPTER NINE

HAP

“Get in the damn truck,” I sigh.

She folds her arms across her chest defiantly. “No, I don’t want to go to your house. I have a job, and I have commitments. I can’t just up and leave,” she argues.

I’m surprised she hasn’t fought me more. When I’d told her to sit and eat, the fire that hit her eyes… Fuck, I thought she was about to tear me down, even being as sick as she was. I know the only reason she hadn’t was because she was so fucking hungry. I’m still pissed at myself and at her for not calling me to tell me she was sick and struggling, but it’s more on me than her. I should have checked in with her sooner, but I wanted to make sure the house was ready. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I wasn’t stupid. I knew I had to prove myself to her. She was a beautiful, smart woman, and if I wasn’t careful, I knew she could take my kid and herself away from me to go and live the perfect life with some other successful guy. Fuck, just the thought of that pissed me off. I wasn’t sure what it was I felt for her, because at this moment in time all I felt was fucking frustration because she wouldn’t do as she’s damn well told.

“If you don’t get in the fucking car, I will pick you up and force you in there myself,” I threaten.

“You’re threatening to kidnap me?!” she screeches. She glances past me towards her neighbour. “You can’t. There are witnesses,” she snaps.

I shouldn’t have fed her. What I should have done was just put her in the damn truck when she was sleepy and weak, then fed her at mine. I arch my brow at her. “Does it look like I give a shit about witnesses?” I counter.

“Well, Gill would call the cops on you,” she huffs. I hear footsteps approach, and as I glance to my left, I see Gill, the fucking nosey neighbour that can’t seem to mind his own fucking business, coming over to see what the commotion is all about.

“Er, Alina, is everything alright?” he asks, clasping his watering can like I’m about to steal it. I look him up and down. The guy has to be in his forties, and he dresses like a fucking sixty-year-old librarian. He pushes his glasses up his nose, his eyes flickering back and forth between Alina and me.

“No, Gill, it’s not. He’s trying to force me to go with him,” Alina states firmly with no hint of fear in her voice.

“Do you want me to call the police?” he asks, his voice cracking with nerves.

Sighing, I step into his space. I have at least a foot on him as I glare down at him. “Listen Gill, she is coming with me. You are going to scuttle right on back to watering your fucking flowers and back to minding your own fucking god damn business. You will do it without calling the police. I do not hurt women, but I do hurt interfering, nosey cunts like you. Now fuck off,” I growl in warning.

He practically pisses his pants and runs back to his house.

I smirk and turn around to face Alina. “Get your ass in the car,” I demand.

Surprisingly, she does it without a word of protest. Although the look on her face has me thinking I will be on the receiving end of her anger at some point. I get in the car and look over at her. She has her arms crossed, and she’s busy staring out the passenger window to avoid looking at or acknowledging me.

I smile wide. Fuck, this shit’s going to be fun.

On the drive to the house, she pulls out her phone and places it to her ear. “Becky, I need you to cancel all my meetings and get Lance to fill in for, well all of it. I won’t be coming into the office for a while.” She sighs, pausing. “I’m fine,” she says quietly. “Remember the biker?” she whispers. “He’s kind of kidnapped me. I don’t know where I will be!” she hisses.

I reach over and snatch the phone from her ear, placing it to mine.

“Hey!” she protests.

“Becky, this is Hap. How are you darlin’?” I ask smoothly.

Becky clears her throat. “I’m good, thanks. Er, where are you taking her?” she asks.

“I bought a house, and I’m taking her there. She has an office set up, so she can still work, just remotely. Can you make that work?” I ask.

“Yeah, of course, that’s no problem,” she states.

“Good, because she needs to take it easy. I will get her to call you in the next day or so once she’s settled,” I state. I hold the phone out to Alina, who is glaring daggers at me. “You can say goodbye,” I add.

She snatches her phone from my hand. “Oh, can I? How fucking kind of you,” she says sarcastically, and I laugh. “Becky, yeah I’m here,” she mutters. “No, he doesn’t sound hot!” she hisses down the phone. That just makes my grin deepen. “I will call you soon,” she says before disconnecting.

“She seems nice,” I comment.

“Piss off,” she mutters before she turns her back to me and looks out the passenger window.

The drive takes us around an hour, and it was around twenty minutes ago when I noticed that Alina had drifted off to sleep. I pressed the button for the gate to open and I reached over, gently stroking the back of my fingers down her face.

“Baby, wake up,” I coax softly. She lets out a soft moan, and as her eyes blink open, she sits up straighter.

“Where are we?” she asks.

“Home,” I answer as I drive through the open gate and up the drive to the house. Her eyes are wide as she takes in the house. “This is your house?” she asks in disbelief.

I know it’s a big looking house, I know exactly how much this cost me, and by the look on Alina’s face, she has a pretty good idea of how much a place like this costs too. I put the truck in park and jump out, quickly walking around to her side and open her door. She just sits there with her mouth open.

I smirk. “You going to get out of the truck, or are you going to come inside?” I ask. She rapidly blinks and closes her mouth before she removes her seatbelt and jumps down from the truck. I slam the door shut and take her hand in mine, leading her up the steps to the front door. After I unlock the door, I keep her hand firmly in mine as I lead her inside. Her steps falter as she looks around, and when she spots the playpen I had set up in the lounge already filled with toys, a bouncer, and teddies, she looks surprised.

“Come on, let me show you the kitchen,” I say, tugging on her hand. I walk her into the kitchen, pointing at the high chair sat at the dining table. “There is also a bottle warmer, and I have a steriliser in the cupboards,” I add. Leading her upstairs, I open the door to the nursery. “Everything the baby will need is in here,” I state as she slowly wanders into the room. “The only thing I haven’t bought yet is the pram and clothes, as I figured you’d want to choose those.” I sigh, shoving my hands in my pockets as I watch her trail her fingers along the white crib. “Do you like it?” I ask.

She turns her attention to me, and I swear it feels like a kick in the gut seeing her face so soft and full of emotion, her eyes brimming with tears.

“It’s perfect,” she sobs.

I walk towards her and pull her into my arms, holding her tight as I kiss the top of her head. She wraps her arms around me in return. “Shit, I didn’t mean to make you cry,” I say into her hair.

She sniffs. “I know, it’s just my hormones, and this is just so sweet.”

I smile, relieved that she likes it. “Come on, let me show you your room,” I state as I lead her out of the room, walking her to the room next door. “I’ve given you the master bedroom, and it’s got its own bathroom,” I say, pointing to the bathroom.

“My room?” she asks, confusion in her voice.

“Yeah, I figured you would want your own space,” I say with a shrug.

She nods slowly, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Thank you,” she says, giving me a small grin. I frown confused, thinking she would be more enthusiastic about it.

“My room is down the hall if you need me,” I tell her. She nods, avoiding eye contact with me. She stands there for a moment, nibbling on her bottom lip. “What is it?” I ask her.

Her eyes come to mine, but she shakes her head. “Nothing. I’m just...” She pauses. “Overwhelmed, I think,” she says, giving me a small smile.

“You want to go for a lie down?” I ask her. She nods and walks further into her room. I walk to the window and close the blinds as she climbs into bed. She curls into herself, and as she pulls the covers up and over her shoulder, I lean over and place a kiss on the side of her temple. “Rest for an hour. I will come and wake you when dinner is ready,” I state. She keeps her eyes closed, not responding to me, so I turn and leave, pulling the door shut behind me.

I walk out to the truck to unload her stuff. Pausing, I pull out my phone and hit call. “Hey, sweetheart,” Queenie answers on the second ring.

“What’s the best thing to cook for dinner for a pregnant woman that has bad sickness?” I ask.

“Well, I mean, it depends from woman to woman.” She pauses. “Hold on,” she adds.

I sigh and rub my face. “Hey, Daddy,” Star coos down the phone.

“For fuck’s sake,” I mutter. “This is why I didn’t want to ring Queenie,” I tut.

“Why? Because we are family and we love you, and we will try and help you any way we can,” Star argues.

“It’s just, I’m trying to make her feel settled, and she’s been really fucking sick. She looks pale and weak, and fuck, I got all the stuff. I bought all the damn baby stuff the woman at the store said I would need. But how the fuck do I take care of her?” I rant, overloading the worry that I had locked down from seeing her so ill. “Fuck, I found her on the bathroom floor. I thought she was fucking dead. I thought the hard part was looking after the baby,” I add.

“Oh, hell no. The baby part is easy in comparison. They eat, shit, and sleep. If they are crying, it’s either because they are hungry, need burping, or need changing. With pregnant women, sometimes they don’t even know what’s wrong with them. Hormones are crazy. One minute you’re laughing, the next minute you’re crying, or so angry you chase the delivery guy with a frying pan for knocking while you are trying to have a nap.” She sighs. “Anyway, you want to just leave her be. Make her feel safe, ask her how she is, but not too much that it becomes annoying, and whatever you do, do not tell her how big she’s gotten or use words like blooming or glowing. That shit is just a nice way of saying you don’t look so bad being fat. When the truth is, you’re tired, your ankles are ballooning, you are scared to laugh in case you piss yourself, and you miss seeing your cooch.” She pauses, taking a breath.

“Darlin’, if I hear you call another man ‘Daddy’ and talk about your fucking cooch again, I will spank your ass so hard you won’t be able to sit down for a week,” I hear Ghost threaten. Jesus Christ, just what I need to hear.

“Sorry, baby. How about you bend me over your knee later, and I promise to only call you Daddy?” Star purrs.

“Hello, I’m on the fucking phone,” I yell in protest.

“Oh right, sorry. Look, just cooking her something nice and simple. Just some good home cooking. If she throws it up, cook something else. I need to go,” Star says, her voice coming out all breathy.

I hear muttering, then the phone being picked up. “Sorry, she snatched it from me, but what she said is right. You can’t go wrong with meat and vegetables,” Queenie adds.

“Thanks, Queenie,” I mutter.

“You want me to come out and cook you something?” she offers.

I smile and shake my head, “No, you’re good, thanks though. Tell Ghost to call if he needs me, but I want to spend a couple of days here with Alina,” I state.

“Sure thing. Call if you need anything,” Queenie says before disconnecting.

I place my cell back into my pocket and unload the cases. Something tells me this is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.