Chapter 24
I stayedin the hospital for two days, and tried not to think about the medical bills. My vagina felt like it was on fire, and my milk had come in like a tsunami, so my boobs also felt like they were on fire. I couldn’t sleep.
And none of that mattered, because Bobbi-June was the most perfect baby that I could ever ask for. I wished Buck could have seen her. He would have adored her; I knew it. He probably would have preferred her to be a boy, but he still would’ve loved a little girl.
I’d received a huge balloon bouquet from everyone at VANT Racing, and another one from Vanessa Sumich herself. A gift basket from Hayes’s parents also arrived, which had made me cry again. I would be glad when my hormones were my own again.
There had been someone here almost the entire time I was awake, but right now, everyone had gone home. Jesse and Hayes needed to shower and feed Norton, and Will had to work, as did Colin. I smiled as I thought about them cooing over the baby. Bobbi-June was going to be the most loved child on the planet.
There was a knock at the door to my room, and I looked over quickly to make sure the sound didn’t wake Bobbi-June. “Come in.” The door swung open, and my heart stopped.
In the doorway was Brick Willtot.
Fuck. Fuck.
I reached out and grabbed the buzzer in one hand, the crib in the other. Not that I thought Brick Willtot could just walk out with my baby, but I wasn’t being rational.
“Tally.” His tone was cool and calm, but I knew this man. The cooler he appeared, the more rage-filled he was.
“Brick. How’d you get in?”
He looked over at Bobbi-June, but didn’t get any closer than a few feet away. “I told them I was here to see my grandchild, and money makes the world go round. My sources said you were having a boy.”
I tried not to think about who would have been feeding Brick information. “What are you doing here, Brick?”
He sneered in my direction. “Don’t be ridiculous, Tally. We both know why I’m here. I can do simple math. This baby is Buck’s. The last piece of my son that you stole.”
“NASCAR stole your son. I had nothing to do with it,” I argued, though I knew it was pointless. “You aren’t welcome here,” I added for good measure.
He tilted his head at me. “You’d keep my grandchild from me?”
Fuck yeah, I would. “This isn’t your grandchild,” I lied.
“Don’t insult my intelligence. That doesn’t look like a premature baby, and I can count backwards by nine.”
“I don’t give a shit what you think.”
He stepped toward me, his cheeks beginning to flush. I pressed the buzzer in my hand. “You’re nothing but a whore, Tally Palmer. I know that baby is my grandchild.” He leaned closer. “When I’m done, you’ll never see her again. I’ll have my lawyers paint you out to be the fickle slut that you are, and I will seem like a benevolent saint in comparison. Someone who can provide that child with all the love, care and opportunity a destitute single mother can’t. The best education. The best opportunities.
“You’re a mother who already tried to keep that baby away from its biological family. You’ll have no job, no prospects, no money. When I’m done with you, you won’t have a box to live in. I’m going to ruin you, and people will let me, because I’m rich and important, and you are noth?—”
“Are you okay, Tally?”
I looked past Brick at Rocco. I’d never been so relieved to see anyone in my life. “Brick was just leaving.”
“Like fuck I am,” the man in question growled, lurching toward me. Rocco was immediately there, stepping between Bobbi-June, me and Brick.
I couldn’t see Rocco’s face, but every muscle in his back was tense and ready. “I suggest you leave before I get security to do it for you. And then the police.”
Brick took a step back, but the expression didn’t leave his face. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers, Tally. I’ll get a DNA test ordered, then that baby is coming home with me.”
He spun and left as the nurses arrived, barging them out of the way. “Excuse me!” the nurse snapped, then she looked over at me. “Is everything all right?”
“I want that man banned from this room,” I told her. “I… I don’t want to see him ever.”
The nurse frowned, but determination firmed her jaw. “I’ll tell Security. He won’t get past our desk again. Is there someone you want me to call?”
I shook my head. I’d message Hayes and Jesse myself in a moment. The nurse left, and I let out the breath that had been burning in my lungs. I wanted to collapse into a ball beneath the blankets, but I was far too aware that Rocco was still here in the room with me.
“Deep breaths, Stellina.”
I covered my eyes, pressing the heels of my hands into their sockets until I saw stars, and sucked in oxygen. Bobbi-June was still oblivious to the tension in the room, and for that, I was thankful.
“You’re okay.” His voice washed over me, that absolute confidence that it was fine, and I let myself delusionally believe him for a moment. I looked up at him, and he was staring down at the baby. “Bambolina. You got your mama’s beauty, didn’t you?” he said softly. He looked back up at me. “You’re glowing, Tally.”
I gave a slightly hysterical laugh. “Liar. But I appreciate it.”
He presented me with a huge bunch of pink and purple hydrangeas. “Congratulations.”
I grabbed the giant bunch of flowers and laid them across my lap. “Thank you, Rocco. For these, and for before.”
He waved a hand, like it meant nothing. Maybe to him, it was nothing. But it meant something to me. He sat down in the chair. “They tell me at work that everything went well.” I nodded again, because this was a little awkward. “Bobbi-Giugno.” He pronounced it almost like Juno, and I laughed.
“Bobbi-June. Like the name, not the month.”
He grinned. “Beautiful name.” He looked back at the door. “And the man? He was the father?”
I tried not to dry-retch at the thought of fucking Brick Willtot. Ew. I mean, he might have been handsome if he wasn’t so ugly on the inside, didn’t have a beer belly, and wasn’t as mean as a rattlesnake.
“God no.” I hesitated, but I guess the secret was out. If Brick managed to get a DNA test, he was going to find out the truth. “His son was Bobbi-June’s father. He died on the race track.”
Rocco nodded sadly. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
I blinked at him. He was the first person to give me their condolences, except maybe Hayes and Ty back at Daytona, when I first came off the track. No one else had ever acknowledged that I’d lost anyone at all, even though Buck and I had been seeing each other for six months.
It had gotten lost in the rest of the bullshit.
“Thank you. I feel sad that she’ll never get to know him.”
Rocco reached into the crib but paused. “May I?” I nodded, and he stroked a steady finger across her cheek. “So small. Her nose is the size of my fingernail,” he said softly. “That is sad, but she will have you to look up to. As well as your lovers.”
Squinting in his direction, I tried to work out if that was a jab at my lifestyle or not. It didn’t appear to be, though. “They’re more than lovers. They’re partners.”
“They are very lucky to call this bambolina theirs. And you.” He gave me a crooked grin, and his dimples did something to me. Honestly, this was the most I’d ever heard him say, and this soft version of Rocco Passero seemed totally at odds with the man who was featured on the covers of magazines. He stood, giving me one last smile. “I look forward to seeing you when you return to work.” With that, he left.
I was still sitting there, kinda stunned and confused about the last thirty minutes when the nurse reappeared. She gave me a soft smile and took the flowers from my lap. “I’ll put these in water, shall I?”
She disappeared back out of the room, and I reached into the crib and gently picked up Bobbi-June. Bringing her to my chest, I nursed her. As I looked down into her tiny face, with her weirdly shaped head, I knew deep in my soul that I would stand in front of a bullet for her over and over again.
I would definitely protect her from Brick Willtot and his lawyers.