Page 19

CHAPTER 19

MIRIAM

I don’t have time to answer Kevin’s unasked question I know he wants to ask by the way he’s looking at me. The shock from Tatum’s arrival has that vile woman freeing my hair from her grip, so I scramble out of Kevin’s arms and find my feet.

Deciding to say fuck my things, I dart for the door, yelling out, “ Ustedes son unos malditos pendejos! ” Because they are all crazy fucking assholes!

“Don’t let her leave!” Ezra shouts, and goddamnit, fucking Tatum steps in front of me with arms open wide.

“Hey, pretty girl. Can you just hold on a minute so we can figure things out?” His tone is warm, but it’s his pleading eyes that have me losing my fight, if only for a moment.

Closing my eyes, I march back into the living room, staying far from Ezra, and take a moment to compose myself. It’s clear these guys had planned another weekend of fuckery and I won’t lie to myself saying it doesn’t sting. She’s gorgeous and everything I’m not. Tall where I’m short, thin where I’m curvy, and her face doesn’t seem to have any imperfections.

I’d never tell them that, but it feels like a deep blow on top of all the others I’ve been hit with over the past few months. One that hits every hidden corner of my insecurities.

“So,” I say, done with my wallowing. “Let’s figure things out as quickly as possible. I’d like to get the hell out of here so you can do what you’re all here to do.” I stare extra long at the blonde when I say the last part and find pleasure when her cheeks flush red.

Honestly, I’m not sure why she thinks she’s any better than I am in the grand scheme of things, aside from looks, considering it’s pretty obvious we’ve both found ourselves in the same position.

Tatum strolls into the middle of the room and looks around at his friends in the same way I do. “Wait, what the hell are you all doing here? I knew Ez was here?—”

“How’d you know I was here?” the man mentioned, asks.

Tatum looks at him with pride. “I turned your location on, you dipshit.” Then he laughs when Ezra’s mouth drops open, like a kid caught stealing cookies.

Pulling his phone out, Ezra taps a few times, then settles back on the couch, completely relaxed. “Fixed.”

“Can we all go back to Miriam being here and pregnant? ” Kevin asks loudly, arms crossed tensely as he stares at me.

I immediately get pissed by his attitude because I’ve sent him multiple emails and left messages. Just as I go to light him up, Ezra proudly states, “I’m going to be a dad!”

“When the hell did you see Ezra enough times for him to get your pregnant?” Richard scoffs, glaring at me as if I’m responsible for ruining his weekend.

“Well, I don’t know for sure if he’s mine,” Ezra quickly states. I clench my jaw, growing more aggravated that no one is letting me speak.

I open my mouth to bite back, but this fucking bitch opens her red stained lips with, “Wow, you were that irresponsible you didn’t protect yourself? Even I?—”

Rolling my eyes at this woman, I cut her off. “How are you even part of this conversation, perra ?” I glance at Ezra when he starts giggling, figuring he must have heard that word at some point. Luckily, Victoria is clueless.

Instead of answering me, she turns into Richard’s side and tilts her head back, murmuring, “Is there anywhere I can go freshen up? I’d rather not be around while you guys put out the trash.”

He doesn’t get points for stepping away and scowling at her, but I might give him half of one for keeping his tongue in check by not agreeing with her. Being called trash does nothing to hurt me, it’s not as if I haven’t heard it before in my life. That’s what happens when you’ve always worked for minimum wage or done jobs people deem as beneath them.

Leaving him to his new girlfriend, I decide to ignore my kidnapper and narrow my eyes at Kevin. “To answer you , capitán , you sure have a lot of nerve playing dumb right now. Thanks for that, by the way. Makes a woman feel real great when she realizes that she’s more reliable than four grown men.”

I don’t miss the flash of confusion slashing across his face, but Tatum moves in my line of sight, blocking my view from everyone else. “Are you really pregnant?”

“Uh, yeah. Considering I’ve been puking my guts out for weeks and my tits feel like they’re on fire. Oh, and you know, the positive pregnancy test and doctor’s visit really helped it sink it.” I lean to the side to glare back at Kevin. “Which I fucking told you in my email.”

Snorting, the blonde involves herself once more. “So classy. Could you be anymore disgusting or crude?”

I swear to God, if this woman doesn’t shut her fucking mouth, I’m going to kill her.

Finally, I turn to Ezra, who sits up under my attention. “If someone doesn’t get her out of here while you all hold me hostage, I’m going to scream until the windows shatter. I’m sure our buddy, Dick, over there won’t appreciate the draft.”

“Anything you want,” he purrs, then stands as if he’s an uncoiling snake, ready to strike at his prey.

“Knock it off, Ez,” Richard snaps. “Can we please get this dealt with? Ezra, congrats on becoming a father. Would you please leave my cabin since you broke in, uninvited?”

My pulse feels as if it’s pounding through the skin of my neck, and a headache is building behind my eyes. “Or we could congratulate you.”

That renders everyone silent once more, freezing Richard. I swear I see fear and want battling within him, and I’m curious as to why. It’s no secret this man despises me.

It’s her that jerks everyone back. I’m shocked to find her standing only a few feet from me now, unsure when she moved closer. “What’d you do? Think he’d be a nice paycheck? Oh God, did you baby trap him?”

I should feel ashamed because I’m not typically a physically aggressive person, but I’ll blame the hormones for my violence over the past six hours.

Snapping my arm out, I strike her across the face, hard; the sound reverberates through the room. It’s Tatum who bands an arm around this woman’s waist and drags her away, screaming like a rabid hyena. “Toss me your keys, Rich.”

We all sit quietly, listening to her screams as the two of them move further from the cabin, then a door slam after a car engine starts. It’s a few minutes with muted arguing. I assume she and Tatum are arguing through the window, but eventually the car leaves.

Fucking great. That’s one less car I can escape in.

Tatum returns, throwing a punishing glare at Richard as I sink into the chair behind me to bury my face in my hands. I just need to press on my eyes to alleviate this headache, but it intensifies when fucking Richard opens his fucking mouth again.

“Christ, she’s fucking crying now.”

Growling to myself, I squint against the light to kill him with my eyes. “I’m not crying, you fucking moron. I have a goddamn headache. Your banshee really knows how to hit those ear-piercing notes and now I’m paying for it.”

Coming closer to me, he jabs a finger in my direction. “Considering you weren’t invited, I don’t think you have anyone to blame but yourself.”

“What part of I was brought here unwillingly do you not understand?” Turning to Tatum, I ask, “Is he really this oblivious to his surroundings? I worry about his clients.”

The corner of Tatum’s lip curls up, pride filling his face. Instead of answering, he just shoots me a wink, then sits on the ground in front of me when I lower my head a bit, but keeping them all in view. There’s a sharp pain knifing its way through my temples now and I’m actually concerned I’m going to puke.

“Right, like Ezra actually kidnapped you and brought you to this cabin.” He side-eyes Ezra, who’s nodding his head quickly, proud of himself.

Kevin rubs his temples. “Fucking hell, Ez.”

“Can we just focus on the most important thing right now?” Tatum calls out, eyeing me worriedly. “How are you feeling, Miri?”

“Pregnant,” I bite out, then sigh. “Look, I’m not going to beat around the bush. Obviously, someone in this room has some powerful swimmers to break through my birth control.”

Richard and Kevin decide to sit, now that the energy is less volatile in the absence of their guest. I don’t miss the warning glare Kevin delivers Richard with. Hopefully it means to play nice. He turns to me. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

For the sake of my head, I temper my anger. “I did try,” I bite out. “I called your office multiple times, left messages with your receptionist, and sent emails. You,” I direct to Richard, “I called, but lucky me, I was threatened with a lawsuit which I can’t afford because, you know, I have to save for a fucking baby now. Dick move, by the way.”

“You didn’t try contacting me?” Tatum asks. I’m not sure if he feels hurt, but I explain because I just don’t have the patience tonight for soothing egos.

“I didn’t know where you worked, but I did my best to search for both you and Ezra on social media. He doesn’t have anything out there, but I did message you a few times.”

His eyebrows raise, and a sheepish look grows when he rubs at the back of his head. “Yeah, I’m not really on those anymore.”

“I gathered.” Looking around at all of them, mixed feelings across the board, I feel disappointed. I’m just not sure why. “Look, I tried to tell you all, but this is a thing. I’m sorry it worked out this way. If any of you want to keep in contact until the baby is born, give me your numbers again so I can unblock them on my phone. Otherwise, I’d really like to go home.”

Kevin clears his throat. “I know it’s not ideal, but would you consider sleeping here tonight? It’s pretty late and you’re a long drive from here. It’ll give us all a chance to absorb this and we can talk in the morning? I’ll drive you home myself once we’re done, if you’re comfortable with that.”

“That’s fine. I just need a break,” I tell him.

Ezra jumps up, grabbing my bag from behind the couch, and throws it over his shoulder. “Come on, petal. I’ll put you up in my room with me.”

“Absolutely not,” I snap. “I’m not sleeping in the same room with someone who thinks kidnapping is… just, no.”

His face falls and I feel as if I kicked a puppy, but he has to know what he did was terrible.

“I needed to protect you.”

Tatum stands and slaps his friend on the shoulder. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, buddy. Come on, Miri. I’ll carry your bag up.”

“Miriam,” Kevin calls to me. Lifting my head, I wait to see what he wants. “Would you forward me those emails you sent to my personal email?”

Nodding once, he comes close and holds his hand out for my phone. Glancing at Ezra with a raised brow, I wait until he begrudgingly drops my phone in his palm. He quickly types it in a note, then hands it to me, our fingers brushing for a breath before we disconnect.

I feel their eyes on me as I leave the room, following Tatum to the room I slept in two months ago. There’s a sense of familiarity when I stare at the bed after Tatum leaves me alone, but also so much disappointment in the men who changed my life in here.

Kicking my shoes off, I crawl on top of the duvet fully dressed and will away the ache still pounding through my head.

At least they know now.