Chapter 25 #3
Mr. Davis hesitates. “The baby’s… kicking?” His nose wrinkles and he turns to his wife. “Is that even possible?”
“How far along are you, dear?” She studies me, frown deep. That false politeness is all gone. There’s no care in her expression anymore, only a predator’s anger. “And when did you say this little… event with Peter happened?”
“And aren’t you married? To that man… what’s his name?” Mr. Davis eyes me, suspicion written all over him.
Well, shit. My story’s falling apart.
“It was a mistake.” I put a hand to my belly and stumble away from them, the other hand pressed to my forehead.
“What a foolish mistake… I’ve been so unhappy!
You can’t imagine the pain I’ve been in!
Then there was Peter like a knight in shining armor.
He was charming and kind at first, and here I am, just a vulnerable fool—“
“Wait a second.” Mr. Davis grabs my arm.
His grip is surprisingly strong and for the first time since coming here, I wonder if I’m actually in physical danger.
I had assumed these two ancient, withered husks wouldn’t be a problem, but there’s a real power in the way he’s holding me.
“You’re saying Peter, our grandson, was charming?
Again, when exactly did you two have your affair? ”
“Darling, something feels off about this. Why don’t you go check on Patricia?”
“Actually, maybe we should call this girl’s father. Wouldn’t Haik be interested in this story?”
I don’t have to fake the terror. I shake my head wildly. “Don’t call Papa. Please, I’m begging you!”
“Are you really fucking pregnant?” Mr. Davis’s grip tightens painfully. “Or is this some trick you and your thief husband came up with to rob us?”
“He made me do it!” I say frantically, trying to pull away. “We need the money, that’s all! Peter told me to come here and spin this story! Please, don’t hurt me! Oh and don’t hurt the baby!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Mrs. Davis says, throwing her hands in the air. “This is ridiculous.”
“You thought you could fool us.” Mr. Davis lets me go.
I stagger back, rubbing my shoulder. “You came here and debased yourself in front of us for a pathetic ten thousand dollars? What is going on in the Sarkissian household? I was bluffing about calling your father before, but now I think I really might.”
Time to go. I’m supposed to wait for my phone to buzz, but I can’t hang around anymore. I have to hope Brenden’s done or nearly done and he’ll be able to get out on his own.
“Papa doesn’t give a shit about you two nasty old freaks.” I shove past Mr. Davis, knocking him into a sideboard. He grunts in pain as it rams into his hip. I’m tempted to hit him again, but he’s rounding on me. “You’re both sick and I hope you rot in hell!”
“Bitch!” Mr. Davis lunges for me, but I’m already running. I careen into the hallway, turning toward the back. Mr. Davis follows, Mrs. Davis wailing for Patricia again.
I angle to the kitchen. I can’t do the front door since Arsen’s watchers are probably back.
Instead, I yank open the sliding glass door, surprised at how familiar the layout is, but I was here not that long ago.
The garden party, meeting Brenden in the office—we’ve gone through a lot together in this place.
It almost makes me nostalgic.
“Nasty slut!” Mr. Davis screams as I haul ass toward the back fence.
Brenden
“Nasty slut!”
I freeze on the drainpipe. Below me is thin white hair, and streaking past him, is my wife.
I watch her go in astonishment.
This wasn’t exactly the plan. I have no idea what went down but clearly she had to do some improvising of her own. Mr. Davis shouts more curses at Tallie but he eventually heads back inside, which gives me enough space to crawl down the pipe and to sneak out after her.
I don’t know when they’ll find the woman in that office, but I hope it’s soon. When I left, her heart was still beating.
I find the spot where Tallie went over and climb behind her. I land on the sidewalk and nearly turn my ankle when a blur rams into me. I grunt, smashed to the ground, the pavement biting into my side and arms.
“You old—oh, shit, Brenden?” Tallie stops hitting me in the face.
“Did you think Mr. Davis was going to climb after you?”
“I kind of hoped! Crap, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She moves to get off me, but I grab her with one hand against the small of her back and push her in closer. I kiss her hard, biting her lip with a smile.
“What’d you do in there?”
“It went a little sideways, I’ll be honest.” She presses her hands to my chest. “Did you get it?”
I grin and slip the ledger from my jacket. “It matches.”
“Are you sure?” She takes it breathlessly and flips through. A laugh bubbles up from her throat. “Holy shit. It’s real, isn’t it?”
“It’s real,” I confirm. “And it’s our ticket out of this nightmare.”
I don’t mention that I only had to possibly kill a woman for it.
“Come on. Let’s run before the Davises call the police.”
“Seriously, what did you do?”
“Well, I think unfortunately we won’t be getting any Christmas cards from them anytime soon.”