Chapter 27
Dayton
She’s pregnant.
Andi is pregnant.
The woman my delusional mind has dreamt up a future with is carrying another man’s child.
Albeit a dead man, but that fact remains either way.
The DNA of that twisted motherfucker is coursing through the life inside of her, and something about that hard-to-swallow truth makes me want to pay a visit to the local morgue, rip Tobias’ cold and lifeless body from the drawer he’s currently chilling in, so I can inflict some damage of my own.
It’s unfair of me to burden her with expectations she isn’t even aware of.
A few flirtatious interactions don’t warrant her undying love and loyalty.
I mean, how well do we really know one another?
Just because she’s made a point of spending time with me, carving out a space in my life that fits her perfectly, doesn’t mean she owes me anything.
And yet all those sound and logical reasons do nothing to dissuade my irrational need to claim her—mind, body, and soul.
It was completely reasonable to assume that Briggs had a hand in her current predicament.
He’s been lusting after Andi since the day he stumbled in from that week-long bender, dropping his dirt-ridden, strung-out body at her feet like a fucking offering.
They’re barely apart these days. Somehow, he’s managed to fool her into thinking he’s a better man than he is.
I should want more for him, for this page he’s seemingly turned to be the one that sticks, but rooting for his success would be counterproductive to my own plans.
No part of me feels the least bit bad about slamming Briggs against a wall.
He deserves far worse, in my opinion. I don’t make a habit of giving people the benefit of the doubt more than once, but he’s had a slew of chances to prove me wrong, just to fail epically every time.
Col might be blind to his tactics, but I’ve come to anticipate the inevitable atrophy of his willpower.
Sooner or later, the ticking time-bomb of his addiction is going to detonate, and I refuse to let Andi be in proximity to the shrapnel his self-sabotaging will undoubtedly inflict.
She doesn’t deserve to be a casualty of his poor choices.
“Back to the point of this whole show-and-tell,” Briggs deadpans, waving his hand in the general direction of Andi. “Ada Stillwater is going to be a problem, in more ways than one.” His ominous words send a chill down my spine, but Col beats me to the punch, voicing our collective concern.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I was taken aback by her being there today. It was instinctive, touching my stomach. Like I could protect this baby from the cruelty of her gaze alone,” Andi confesses, tears gathering along her lower lashes once more.
“She knows I’m pregnant. Doing that, showing any sign of defensiveness, was equivalent to waving a red flag at a bull.
One that’s had her life ripped apart by the woman she’s hated long before she had an actual reason to. ”
“And now her son is dead,” Raiden states absently.
“So her attention has been diverted. She has something else to fixate on, instead of the grief she’s likely overcome with.
She’s going to channel her heartbreak into rage.
” My gaze flits around the room, scrambling for a way to discredit his train of thought.
“She’s going to see this child as a means to an end.
Veritas is dead in the water, so to speak, but if she can play the part and convince the courts she’s nothing more than a victim to their extremist beliefs, Ada’s going to do everything in her power to build back what they’ve lost. She’ll have the next generation of a Stillwater to bend and mold, and if she gets her hands on this baby, I’m certain she’ll create something even more monstrous than Tobias ever thought about being. ”
The crack in Andi’s voice makes a violent tremble skate across my skin.
I’ve always been a go-with-the-flow type, content to sit back and allow things to play out the way nature intended them to, but Satan himself would hand me the keys to Hell after watching what I’ll do to that decrepit bitch if she so much as thinks about using Andi’s kid for her own nefarious advantage.
I’ll delight in showing Ada how wrong she is about the demonic entities walking this earth, because my eyes look nothing like Andi’s, but I promise it’ll be my hands that snuff the life from hers.
“We’ll never let that happen, Andi,” Royce promises, the vehemence backing his words giving me a slight sense of relief, knowing she has an army at her disposal.
“The system might be flawed, but I have faith they’ll get it right.
There’s too much at stake for them to fumble such a nationally recognized case.
” His faith might be a bit blind, but I’m confident they’ll reach the right verdict, if for no other reason than to salvage what’s left of Chaplain’s good name.
“Well, I think it’s best we don’t borrow grief from the future,” Rita chides lovingly, her gaze boring into each of us, willing us to understand what she’s not outright saying.
“Let’s focus on one thing at a time. There’s too much uncertainty, so how about you take control of what you can, and trust the rest will fall into place when and how it’s meant to?
” I love Rita–I really do–but sometimes her glass-half-full mentality puts my own placid nature to shame.
“For starters, and there’s no wrong answer, sweetie,” Rita emphasizes, squeezing Andi’s hand before continuing. “Are you planning to keep this child?”
My lungs seize painfully, waiting with bated breath for Andi’s answer.
She glances at Briggs, the slightest smile curving her lips.
It enrages me, fueling the notion that he’s more connected to Andi than the rest of us, privy to her innermost thoughts, while I’m blundering on the fringes.
Why the fuck do I keep getting sidelined in my own goddamned life?
I’m seconds from saying something I shouldn’t when her words cut through the silence, shock washing across Brigg’s features and making me question if he’s been just as unaware of her intentions as the rest of us.
“Yes.” Her soft response is accompanied by a tentative smile, like she’s fearful of how her decision might be received.
“I’ve been struggling with what to do, and my emotions are on a constantly swinging pendulum, pitching from one extreme to the next, but I knew the moment Ada laid eyes on me and that lightbulb inside of her wicked little brain went off, that I would do whatever was needed of me to keep this baby safe.
It might be a naive and foolish way of thinking, considering I have no expertise to pull from, but I trust myself more than anyone when it comes to this child’s well-being.
” I think it goes far beyond her not trusting anyone else to give the kid a fighting chance, but I’m smart enough to keep my mouth shut and let Andi come to that conclusion on her own.
“Thank fuck, Angel,” Briggs huffs dramatically, making a show of how relieved he is.
I roll my eyes, content to ignore his existence as much as humanly possible.
Andi yawns, drawing our attention to how exhausted she looks.
Her eyes are rimmed with dark circles, a testament to how taxing this whole ordeal has been with no definitive solution on the immediate horizon.
“Why don’t I run you a nice hot bath?” Rita offers, tugging Andi to her feet before she declines the offer.
“Warm bath,” Briggs corrects. “She can have a mildly warm bath.” His stern order causes Rita to roll her eyes, but I know she’ll listen. None of us could ever deny that Briggs was one hell of a doctor.
“Get some rest, honey.” Royce pulls her in for a quick hug, looking every bit the doting father Andi should’ve had.
I want my own private moment with her, but I know now’s not the time.
I’ll need more than a few stolen seconds to say everything I need to.
To pry back the protective layers she’s ensconced herself in, that I thought I was making headway with, but maybe I’m just a fucking fool.
We watch in silence as Rita leads her towards the bedroom, staying as still as statues until we hear the click of the door closing.
“You selfish prick.” Raiden rounds on Briggs, his voice harsh and unforgiving as he struggles to keep quiet. “I deserved to know. I’m busting my ass to keep her safe, and had I known she was pregnant, she would’ve never stepped foot in that fucking courthouse today.”
“Exactly,” Briggs retorts condescendingly.
“Do you think caging Andi is going to endear her to you? It wasn’t your place, or mine, to make that decision for her.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, then you must not be paying very good attention–she isn’t seeking permission from anyone.
The best way to keep her safe is to give her the freedom she craves, or at least the illusion of it.
” Never, and I do mean never, have I agreed with anything Briggs has had to say, but it’s impossible to forget the day Andi and I officially met in person.