Page 4

She scribbles off a few lines of what she’ll need to keep everything she touches from looking like a murder scene, along with essentials for the baby.

Diapers. Hand towels. Wipes. Tiny clothes if he can find any.

Every single feminine product he can get his hands on that’s not a tampon.

The last thing she ever wants to do again is shove anything up there.

Olivia’s prepared for a scowl or curse. Her husband would tell her she better control the mess or else , as if she has any control over it whatsoever. Cole only scans the list with a cursory nod and heads for the door.

“Wait! You’re leaving now?”

He pauses, confused. “You need the stuff or not?”

“Yes.”

“Then let me go get it? The stores are all raided by now, only four apartments in this building, but we weren’t looking for any of this when we went through them. Might be some left around here. Won’t be long. Hang tight.”

He escapes like the room is on fire.

It’s not until he’s gone and the silence of the room begins to engulf her in her own thoughts that everything crashes down at once. The baby she carried for months is now out in the world. Wrapping her head around that is mind-blowing, even when the evidence is blinking up at her.

The weight of the last few hours, days…weeks, all shoves at her until she’s clutching Lucy and trying to suppress persistent sobs.

She can’t lose it now. If she starts crying, she’ll never stop.

“Hey, baby,” her words catch as she nuzzles against soft new skin. “I’ve been waiting so long to meet you.”

Lucy hiccups on a wet burp.

“It’s gonna be okay. I promise it will. I’ll take care of you. We’ll be fine.”

This isn’t how she imagined she’d be a new mother. Terrified in a strange place and alone except for someone who may or may not be trustworthy.

“What do you think about Cole? A little gruff, huh? But he’s been kind to us so far, so maybe he’s a good man. Think we can trust him? I hope we can trust him. But if we can’t, it’s okay because it’s me and you now against the world and we can do this.”

Cole’s the only light in her storm and she wants so badly to believe he won’t abandon them. He’s out there rummaging through empty apartments right now to find her supplies and that has to be a good sign…assuming he comes back.

He didn’t have to let them come along, but he did.

She tells herself that as the minutes tick by and her anxiety begins to spiral.

The longer she’s alone, the more she begins to accept she always will be and was a fool to think otherwise.

Better start making a plan for the next steps, but then the front door swings open and Cole breezes in with a bag full of supplies .

She’s never been so fucking happy to see someone she just met.

“Couldn’t get everything, but I grabbed what I found.

Dunno if these shoes will fit you, but you can’t go around barefoot and it’s cold as shit outside so I snagged you a coat.

The diapers look bigger than her, but giant diapers are better than pissing on the floor.

We can cut them in half or something? I dunno… what? Something happen?”

“You came back,” she whispers.

He frowns. “Said I would.”

“Yeah, but you’re the first person I’ve known in a long time who said something important and meant it.”

He softens a bit, nodding like he understands, and maybe he does. She hasn’t cornered the market on receiving empty promises.

She’d almost forgotten she lost her sandals while running for her life. Now she’s got a pair of black boots and a pile of clothing that’s bound to fit well enough once she picks through it. She has the option of switching from the dirty dress to something clean.

He left no stone unturned when it came to feminine products.

It won’t last as long as she needs, but it’s enough to go a few days if she’s lucky and right now she feels pretty lucky.

At least until he disappears down the hall and she is reminded, for a moment, that she promised him she could be useful.

Olivia can’t wait too long to prove her worth, so she settles the baby on the sofa, swaddled tight, and follows him.

“I can do this,” she whispers to herself.

She finds him in the bathroom, both hands braced on the sink, his head hung. He looks stressed, worried, upset…a lot like someone who’s having second thoughts about keeping th em around. That only strengthens her resolve to do what she came in here for.

He startles at her presence, standing up straight and crossing his arms. “What’s wrong? Need something?”

“No, I’m fine,” she lies, ignoring the way her body protests the slightest movement.

She told him she could be useful and while she has few practical skills to offer, there is one thing she can do for him and can’t waste any time in making it clear.

He is strong enough, capable enough from what she’s seen so far, to protect them.

There isn’t a chance in hell she’ll allow this opportunity to slip through her fingers. Her daughter’s life depends on it.

He raises a brow. “What is it then?”

“I wanted to thank you again for helping us.”

He sighs. “It’s fine. I’m tired, can we—”

His words come to a halt when she takes a step forward and reaches for his belt.

She may not be helpful in ways that can keep them alive, but she is infinitely skilled at keeping a man satisfied.

Has given plenty of blow jobs to keep her husband from tossing her in front of a herd to save himself since the world started crashing and burning.

This is her only currency now, and it doesn’t matter that she feels like she got hit by a truck.

She will use what she can to keep herself and her baby safe and protected.

What’s one more blow job anyway? What’s a hundred more? None of it matters. She will make Cole come again and again until he can’t bear the thought of being without her mouth wrapped around his cock. Her only goal is to give him a clear reason to keep her around.

It doesn’t go exactly how she planned, though. He doesn’t smile and drop his pants for her, doesn’t grab her head and shove it into his crotch. He grabs her wrists instead in a hard grip and rips her hands off his belt, his gaze wild.

“What the hell are you doing?” he yells, releasing her to step back, only to bump into the bathtub and stumble, having to snatch at the shower curtain to stay upright and regain his balance. “Can’t go around grabbing people like that!”

Now she’s confused. Her face reddens and her words come out jumbled. “I was trying to…I didn’t mean…I’m sorry. It’s just a blow job, I don’t mind. I want to. I want you to know how thankful I am for what you’ve done for us.”

His face transforms into the most horrified expression she’s seen since the reporters on the news got eaten on live TV. “You want to thank me? By sucking my dick? That’s what you think I expect? There’s a baby on the other side of the wall. I don’t even know you.”

She hadn’t considered that being strangers would matter.

He is a man, and she is offering him the one thing she can, but now she only feels stupid.

Of course, he isn’t interested. She looks more than a mess and he is keenly aware of the fact that she squeezed a human out of her body less than twenty-four hours ago.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, she can’t even do this right.

She backs away. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I thought you would want—”

“Well, I don’t,” he snaps. “Do that again and I’ll leave you both in the middle of nowhere and let the dead sort you out.”

The warning is clear, and she nods, realizing a second later that it means he won’t be leaving them yet. She moves from the doorway, letting him pass and following him back to the living area where Lucy is asleep on the bed.

“You should eat something else.” Abruptly, he shoves another granola bar her way. It’s a clipped suggestion, but the kindness in his eyes softens the edges. “Got a whole box of these.”

She takes it, but exhaustion tugs at her, overriding the embarrassment at her own actions. “Later. I need to sleep for a while.”

“Alright then.”

“Are you sleeping, too?”

“No. Gonna keep watch for a bit longer.”

“When are we leaving? You said we can’t stay here.”

“Real soon,” he replies evenly. “Can’t wait. If we do, then we’ll never leave. Should talk about that safe zone you heard about tomorrow.”

Her eyes already droop as she grabs one of the giant diapers and wraps it around Lucy as best she can before her body stops working and she begins to drift.

Things might be looking up, after all. It’s a weird thought to have, all things considered. A few hours ago she was unsure if she’d take her last breath in that subway bathroom and now she’s warm and relatively safe with her baby sleeping on her chest.

Tomorrow they’ll start a fresh journey to that fruit farm, or the safe zone, or wherever they might end up when it’s all said and done. One thing is true regardless, she already feels safer in the company of a stranger than she ever did with the man she married.