Chapter 6 #2
I closed my eyes, listening to the memory of my mother’s voice echoing through my mind as if she were crying out to me at the end of a long, dark hallway.
“I can do hard things,” she had always told me. I had always listened to her, I had always succeeded because of her, but why could I not believe her now?
“Adams? ADAMS!”
I jerked my head to my left to find Beau glancing at me as he drove.
I looked down and plucked at the seatbelt cutting between my breasts.
Somehow, I had made it back into the passenger’s seat of Beau’s truck.
The tall buildings of the cityscape passed us on either side as we made it through downtown.
“Christ, Adams,” Beau snapped as he shook his head. “You’re white as a sheet. If you’re going to get sick, warn me to pull over so you don’t ruin the leather upholstery.”
I frowned and pulled the bottom of the seatbelt below the swell of my belly. Of course he was only worried about his precious upholstery. Twins weren’t a financial death sentence for him.
“When was the last time you ate?” he demanded.
I shrugged. “Can’t remember.”
He scoffed and flicked his turn signal. “I’m finding the nearest smoothie place so I can at least get something in you. No wonder your blood pressure was so low.”
“It was?”
He shot me a quick, disbelieving look. “How do you not remember?”
I hissed out a breath but kept my eyes on my belly. “Maybe if you had the slightest bit of emotional intelligence, you might understand how this situation could be quite overwhelming for a person.”
“Damn it, you’re not taking care of yourself!” he said. “First you let your IUD expire, then you let your car go to shit, and now you’re not keeping up with your nutrition. Neglecting yourself is bad enough, but now you’re carrying my babies—”
“YOUR babies?” I snapped.
“Yes, my babies.” He pointed at my belly as he took a turn down another street. “They are the only heirs to the company, the family land, the Fontaine name—”
“Heirs? What century are you living in? And don’t you think they’re getting your name because—!”
“My point is that neither of us can just think about ourselves anymore.” He glanced toward my belly. “They need us.”
I folded my arms across my chest and leaned away. “Us? There is no us! I don’t need or want you to—”
“Somebody has to remember what the doctor says—so, yes, there is an us,” he argued. “You can’t do this alone and I won’t let you try.”
Heat flared across my face. “Don’t you dare say that I can’t do this. I will get through this pregnancy and I’ll do it without you!”
“Oh yeah? Do you know what you can and can’t eat? What about how much water you have to drink every day? And how are you going to get it all without a car or a job?”
I clutched myself tightly and stared out the window. “I’ll figure it out. I always do.”
The truck slowed down as we reached the beginning of the suburbs.
Beau let out a long, tight sigh. “Adams, for once in your goddamn life, don’t be so fucking stubborn. Dr. Ornelas said that twin pregnancies are much harder than normal ones, and from what I hear, normal pregnancies are already awful. You can’t win this.”
How many times had men just like him told me I couldn’t win? I tightened my grip on my arms, ready to scream at him.
“You’re going to hurt the babies if you don’t accept help,” he added.
My chest deflated, as if my iron constitution had instantly turned to marshmallow.
Maybe he had a point. After all, Ashley’s parents were divorced but her dad had still played a small part in her life.
He at least paid child support, which kept her from knowing what 11 p.m. hunger pangs felt like.
Beau was an insufferable ass, but I could let him help a little.
“Fine,” I said in a low breath.
I wasn’t going to rely on him. I wasn’t going to let him have access to any part of me ever again. I was still going to be completely independent and—
“You’re not going back to your apartment,” he said. “You’re moving into the manor so I can keep an eye on you during your pregnancy.”
I snapped my head toward him.
“The hell I am!” I shouted. “Just because you got me pregnant doesn’t mean you own me!”
“I didn’t say that! Quit fucking putting words in my mouth—”
“You called me a liar and an extortionist to get away from me, and now you’re suddenly doing the opposite because of the babies you didn’t even believe were real? This isn’t about the twins, this is about control.”
He shook his head. “Before you villainize me, take a look in the mirror. Maybe then you’ll see just how selfish you’re being.”
“Selfish?” I turned to glare at his profile. “Let me be very clear, Beau Fontaine, I don’t want your money, I don’t want your time, and I don’t want you.”
A cruel smirk flicked up the side of his face. “You should have thought about that before you wrapped your legs around me and made me finish inside you. You can’t get rid of me now.”
My hands balled into fists at my sides. “Why can’t you just accept that I’m giving you what every man wants—the opportunity to just walk away!”
The seatbelt slammed into my sternum as Beau hit the brakes and I gasped. The truck came to a sudden stop in the middle of the street.
My hands flew to my belly and I looked up. “Beau, what the fuck are you doing?”
He didn’t answer. He stared straight ahead, his hands wrapped around the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Cars honked around us, but he didn’t even blink.
My heart pounded. “Beau…? Beau! Get out of the middle of the street you jackass!”
His voice was low and tight. “Adams, I’ll make you a deal…right now. If you can name one person, one single fucking soul in this city, who can help you through this pregnancy, you will never hear from me again.”
“Done,” I agreed.
“But if you can’t…” Those blue eyes gleamed and too late I realized that I had sprung a trap. “…we’re packing your shit and going back to Elren. Today.”
I clenched my jaw. Ashley could help me…
but she had Miss Kaye’s house to renovate, her own kids to take care of, and Elren was an hour and a half away from my apartment.
Beau said my person had to live in the city.
All the attorneys I used to drink with wouldn’t drive me to a 10 a.m. doctor’s appointment.
I could dredge up some men from my dating apps…
but that was too dangerous for me to even consider.
I gritted my teeth and held my arms tighter. Anybody else in my position had parents, or grandparents, or even a cousin to help them out. But me? I had no one.
I had dealt with years of empty seats at graduation and silent apartments at holidays, but never had the absence of family felt more like a slap in the face.
But I could still beat Beau at his game. I could make up a half-sibling that I could rely on, he’d never know. I bit my lip, silently inventing a fake name and a fake address when Beau let out a low laugh.
“That’s what I thought,” he said with a smug smile. He took his foot off the brake and started to drive as my heart sank. “Figure out what kind of smoothie you want. I suggest getting something with protein—you’re going to need your energy for all the packing ahead.”