Chapter 12
T wo months later . . .
Exhaustion made her feet drag as Indie as she climbed off the bus and walked to the small apartment she now lived in with Maggie.
It wasn’t much, but she was so grateful to Maggie and her uncle for making sure she had a roof over her head. The apartment was under William’s name. Indie had no credit history or references.
Plus, if it was under her name Billy might find her.
She shuddered at the thought.
She knew he had to be furious. But Indie was just grateful that she’d managed to get away.
Sure, she might have nothing to her name and she had to work a job where she was paid under the table.
But she was free. Free from Billy, from her mother.
From the guys.
She still thought about them constantly. For the first few weeks, she’d obsessed over them, running everything that had happened through her head over and over.
She and Maggie had hashed things out for hours. Billy must have set her up. Somehow, he’d gotten into Slade’s safe and stolen that information. And he must have doctored the video footage.
How he’d done it, she didn’t know.
Not that any of that mattered now.
What really mattered was her baby.
Finally, she reached the apartment. It was getting cooler now that autumn had hit. Winter wasn’t something she was looking forward to. She rubbed the slight bump of her stomach. By the time winter arrived, she’d be much bigger than she was now.
Well, she hoped.
She’d had a scan a few days ago and Button was a bit on the small side which worried her.
However, the doctor had reassured her that the baby had plenty of time to catch up. And that stress would only make things worse.
Right.
How was she meant to not stress? She still had no idea how she was going to make things work once the baby arrived. How quickly she’d be able to get back to work.
At some stage she was going to have to get a proper job which would leave a paper trail. Was Billy looking for her? Maggie wanted her to be cautious. And the last thing she wanted was Billy coming after Maggie for helping her.
There’s still that cash Rock gave you.
When she’d finally brought herself to count it, she’d realized there was five thousand pounds in that envelope.
That was enough to survive on for a while when the baby came. But she didn’t want to use it. It was blood money. Not that actual blood had been involved but it had still felt like she’d bled on the inside.
The apartment was in a middle-class area of London that she would never be able to afford without Maggie’s help. In fact, she was starting to wonder if Maggie was covering most of it herself .
She wouldn’t be surprised.
Unlocking the door, she stepped inside. They were on the ground floor, thankfully. This building didn’t have an elevator and if she had to walk up to the fourth floor every day, she’d be dead on her feet.
Like you aren’t already.
She rubbed her tummy again. She still didn’t have much of an appetite, however she’d learned that if she didn’t eat the nausea was much worse.
Luckily, the owner of the café where she was working always gave the staff a free meal. Sometimes, she only ate half of it and brought the rest home.
Tonight’s meal was noodles. Indie sometimes worried about Button getting enough nutrients. But there wasn’t a lot she could do about it other than choose healthy options for lunch at the cafe.
Finally, she sat down to eat, turning on the television. Worry filled her as she checked her phone.
She hadn’t heard from Maggie in a while. It wasn’t like her friend. She was currently in Escana, working for her uncle who was taking pre-wedding photos of the Princes of Escana and their fiancée.
Indie sighed. It was all so romantic. A commoner was going to become a princess. And not only that but she was marrying to four princes.
It gave her some hope . . . nope.
It shouldn’t give you any hope at all.
Reverse harems might be the normal thing in Escana, but not here. Here, everyone would be horrified and disgusted if she hooked up with multiple men. She shuddered to think of the names she’d be called.
Better to remain on her own and just dream about it.
Besides, she was dead to them.
Something was going on with Maggie. They didn’t message and call every day. But when Indie did message her, she always answered. And she’d sent several messages over the past two days .
Indie bit her lip. She’d even tried calling William, Maggie’s uncle. But he hadn’t replied. Had something happened to him? But why wouldn’t Maggie call her?
She started scrolling through the internet. Maybe there was a phone number for an embassy at Escana or someone she could call. She knew she was being ridiculous. It wasn’t like they were going to plaster phone numbers on the internet.
But as she searched for information on Escana, photos of her bestie popped up.
With two men.
Two!
Holy moly. Who were these guys?
Picking up her phone, she tried to call her again. Then she tried calling William.
Nothing.
She was just going to keep trying until she got through to someone.
Indie opened her eyes, staring around her apartment in confusion.
What was that noise?
It sounded like someone was taking a jackhammer to her door. And who was yelling?
Her body protested as she moved. God, she felt like she’d been run over by a truck. What kind of idiot fell asleep in an armchair?
And then she remembered that she’d been trying to get through to Maggie.
Now her phone was dead and someone sounded like they were trying to break her door down.
She stood and the world tilted, her stomach rolling over nauseously.
Bollocks!
Indie raced to the toilet and vomited what little was in her stomach. The banging at the door continued, but she couldn’t do anything about that until her stomach calmed down.
Finally, she managed to stop vomiting just as she heard a loud bang.
Fear flooded her.
Oh God.
Was that the door? Had the person broken in?
Run! Get away!
Her breath coming in harsh pants, Indie glanced around.
The bathroom window. She reached up to open it, although how she was going to get up there and through it, she had no idea.
But it didn’t matter because she was too late.
Hands grabbed her from behind, dragging her out of the bathroom before she was flung to the floor. She landed with a pained cry.
The baby.
Oh God. She had to protect the baby. She put her arms over her stomach as she stared up into Billy’s enraged face. He didn’t even look human. His eyes were almost bulging out of his face, and he couldn’t seem to focus as he gazed around the apartment.
How had he found her?
And how was she going to get away from him safely?
His hands clenched into fists, then released. She watched them, entranced until she shook herself out of her stupor and dragged herself back.
Get away.
Get away.
It was a mantra pounding through her head.
She had to escape him before he could hurt the baby.
“Thought you could run from me, didn’t you, Indie?” he yelled. “Thought that you could hide! I must admit you did a better job than I thought you would. But I knew that you’d eventually slip up.”
“H-how?” she whispered .
“Hospital records are pretty tightly sealed, but not when you know the right people.”
Oh God.
The scan.
Did he know about the baby?
Her worst nightmare was coming to fruition.
“Is it mine? Or is it those fucking assholes?” he asked. “Hmm? Whose baby is it that you’re fucking carrying, Indie?”
She whimpered as he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her onto her feet so he could shake her.
“Whose baby is it?” he roared.
“Yours.”
“Liar!” He backhanded her before shoving her against a wall.
Indie stared up at him in horror as he wrapped a hand around her neck, cutting off her airway. Was he trying to kill her?
“You’re a fucking liar. It’s theirs, isn’t it? But they don’t want you, do they? After your betrayal.”
She tugged at his hand desperately.
He laughed manically. “My client wanted to win that bid and getting it for them meant a nice payday for me. But that wasn’t even the best part for me.”
She scratched his arm, drawing rivulets of blood.
He let out a yell, letting go of her throat and she gulped in deep breaths.
Protect the baby.
She had to protect the baby.
“You’re such a stupid bitch, Indie. Thinking that you could get away from me? Well, you can’t! I own you. You are mine and they can’t have you.”
Well, more fool him because they didn’t want her. He’d seen to that. He’d isolated her. Hurt her. He’d turned her into a shell that couldn’t function.
Until she’d discovered she was pregnant.
Then everything changed.
He threw her again and she slammed into the wonky coffee table before landing on her knees. She curled into herself to keep her stomach protected as he kicked her in the side.
Searing pain stole her breath and it took her a long moment before she was able to scream. But she screamed as loud as she could.
It was the only thing she could think to do.
“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” He kicked her again. “Shut up! Shut up!”
Pain shot through her scalp as he grabbed her by the hair and pulled. Another scream erupted out of her as tears streamed down her face.
Was he going to kill her?
Then she heard someone calling out.
Billy let go of her and she lay on her back, trying to figure out how to breathe without passing out.
“Leave her alone! I’ve called the police!”
“Fuck! This isn’t the end, Indie,” Billy warned. “That’s my baby in there and you aren’t going to raise my child.”
And then there was blissful silence.
Just her and the pain.
She laid her hand over her tummy.
Please be okay, Button. Please be okay.