CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Ella
S ince we’re running massively late, we put the baby talk on hold. Balor showers alone, and I quickly cook our breakfast, making egg sandwiches we can eat in his car on the way to my school.
Balor stays quiet during the drive. The time factor hijacked our little stand-off. He thinks he can force me to marry him. I assume it’s not the end of the discussion.
My mind races with so many scary thoughts. The worst is being held captive in his townhouse by a guard with no chance to escape. Triggers from Wes screaming at me that I couldn’t see Hannah or Val ever again make my stomach turn over.
How did I get here?
“Are you okay?” Balor squeezes my hand. “Your face just drained of all its color.”
Which must be noticeable since I inherited my mom’s light-bronze skin tone. “I assume it’s the...you know.”
His jaw tightens as his eyes stray to the new driver, Denton. With no partition, because his Rivian isn’t a limo, nothing we say is private. And when Balor doesn’t finish my sentence, that I’m pregnant, I take the hint that he doesn’t want anyone to know either.
“When you’re done with school, I’ll pick you up and we’ll spend the rest of the day at home.”
“Home?” I squeak.
“My home.” His lips part as if he’s ready to declare it my home, too.
But he doesn’t.
These few hours, however, will give him a chance to arrange for my confinement. Whether literally with chains or through pressure and manipulation.
I just smile and rest my head on his shoulder as I often do in the car. He cups my face and presses a kiss on my forehead. “We’ll figure something out. But Ella, I told you even before this. You’re mine.”
Nodding, I take a few deep breaths.
We arrive at Fredricks Elementary and Balor studies the building differently from the other times he dropped me off. I’m carrying his child.
Game changer.
Balor taps my knee. “Let me get the door.”
I usually let myself out, but his possessiveness and protectiveness take over.
When the door opens and his hand reaches in for me, I grasp it.
“Do you have a safety-resource officer?” he asks, helping me out of the Rivian.
“We do,” I answer to ease Balor’s mind, but leave it at that.
Wes had that job for a while. He’s a sergeant now and works somewhere else. It’s the only reason I felt safe going back.
Once I’m safely on the curb and Balor gives the school a glance to make sure it’s not ready to combust into flames, he lets me go.
“I’ll be here at noon.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “Ella, I—”
Shaking my head, I say, “Balor, there was a reason I asked how you felt about me before I told you about the pregnancy tests. Don’t dig yourself into a hole with words you don’t really mean.”
He bristles at my tone, but gnawing on his lower lip, he just nods. “Consider all the other words I’ve said to you. How I miss you when you’re not in my bed. And my physical reactions to you. Or how I grab you when you wake me up every morning.”
Closing my eyes, I admit, “I know. This caught us off guard. Please, can we take it slow?”
Rubbing his jaw, he says, “I don’t think slow is a speed option when it comes to things like this. “
It’s all happening so fast, but I nod.
He kisses my forehead again. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
A mother with one of the students in the special ed program passes us and does a double take at Balor.
“That’s Jory’s mom. He gets very agitated during drop-off. Let me help her.” I turn away and hoof it to the school’s entrance under a burgundy portico.
I take Jory from his mom, who always looks guilty.
“I’ve got him,” I say and head to the back of the classroom to look at the huge saltwater tank filled with exotic fish swimming in a donated aquarium.
A few crabs on the bottom scurry across the green and white gravel. Tapping on the glass makes the crabs move back and forth faster and Jory laughs, getting them to move. I hum a soft melody while he watches all the movement.
Soon he’s calmer, and we join the rest of the class.
The day passes without incident and when the head teacher announces for aides to get the kids ready for dismissal, I check my watch, surprised three hours flew by so quickly.
No, it’s only been two hours.
Did Mrs. Seyfried mess up? Get the kids in a frenzy for nothing?
I sheepishly step toward her. “It’s only eleven.”
Smiling, she says, “We notified the parents last night. The classrooms on this floor need to have the water turned off so the city can do some main work nearby.”
With Jory safely in the hands of his mom, I do something incredibly stupid.
Dark and reckless.
I go home.
And don’t tell Balor where I am.