Page 63 of Little Liar

I pause my fingers and glance over at the screen to see the text. Since Malachi reconnected his phone, he sends me messages all the time, even when I’m right beside him. Right now, he’s obviously just bored.

Malachi: I hate kids.

I roll my eyes and type back a response.

Me: They can be cute sometimes.

Malachi: They’re screaming in the waiting room. Why the fuck do they need to be so loud? What do they have to cry about?

Malachi: Please never make me a father.

My smile drops. Even though we already agreed not to have kids when he offered to get me pregnant, it still stings for some reason when he says stuff like that. You’d think someone who never wants to become a parent would use a condom all the time, but he loves the thought of his cum inside me. He does, however, obsess over my birth control pill.

Me: I won’t.

Malachi: I debated getting you pregnant as a way to keep you with me. Thought you should know. Never for long though. Promise.

Oh…

Wow.

I wonder how I should respond to that. There’s a small, lonely part of me that secretly loves the idea of a tiny human by my side, but I’d never force that upon him.

Me: Remember to pick up the rest of your meds after your appointment.

His final reply makes me smile.

Malachi: Such a bossy little sister.

Holding my breath, I switch chat boxes to the one that’s been burning a hole in my phone since I received the first message four days ago.

Asshole: I’ve given you a few days, brat. You signed a contract, remember?

Asshole: So it’s the silent treatment then. Good. It seems you want to make this harder for us both. You embarrassed me in front of everyone. It won’t happen a second time.

Asshole: I know who you’re with. Does your family know you’re fucking you own brother?

And the most recent one this morning. Malachi nearly saw it while I was doing my makeup in the mirror.

Asshole: I’ll be back in a few days. Unless you want my cock to rip apart your insides, don’t make me chase you, and don’t fucking ignore me again.

The main reason I’m keeping these messages from Malachi is not only because I’m worried about his current state of mind, but also because we’ve been good. We’ve been having fun. We’ve been in our bubble—Xander throwing threats at us will cause him to react, and I don’t want that at all.

It’s wrong of me to hide this, but Malachi can’t control his anger, and he’ll either whisk me away where no one can find me, or he’ll do something unhinged.

I’m terrified he’ll get himself into trouble again. He’ll definitely do something to Xander if he finds out, and a huge part of me wants him to.

That part needs to shut up.

In my peripheral vision, I can see someone marching towards my office through the glass of my door. I take a deep breath, tucking my phone into my bag and awaiting the storm that’s crashing in three… two… one…

“What do you think you’re playing at, young lady?”

My eyes close, and I take another deep breath in through my nose and release it from my mouth. “Morning, Mom.”

“I’ve had the Reznikovs on the phone to me every hour for the last week!” The door slams, and she stands in front of my desk, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. “Where were you?”

“You know where I was,” I reply calmly, dragging my eyes to my computer screen and pretending to click on things to calm my nerves. “I have quite a lot of work to do. Can we discuss this later?”