Chapter 35
Claire
Nico’s strong grip tosses me into the dingy bathroom that’s on the loft level. That’s going to leave bruises.
Nothing has hit me yet. Not that Nico is alive, not that he’s taken me to a place I’ll probably never be found. Not that my stomach keeps tightening periodically since he shoved me in the car.
Shit. I need to find a way out of here.
Looking around, I don’t find anything that could help. Nothing sharp, no windows.
I’m stuck.
God dammit, it was so fucking stupid to leave my door unlocked. I know better. I got too comfortable, and it gave this psycho the perfect opportunity to snatch me.
“Get up.” His voice from the door I didn’t even hear opening startles me.
“How are you alive?” I ask the first thing that comes to my mind. I struggle to stand, yet Nico offers zero help.
“Well, that was quite easy. Cano thought he was working his way up, but in reality, I was a sort of mole for the LP Group.” He nudges me down the stairs.
“What?” I don’t even know what group he’s talking about.
“Do try to keep up.” His voice is completely different, more sophisticated. “I work for Lorentz and Page. Well, them and others.” He smirks.
“Then why am I here? I know nothing.” My hand goes to my stomach as a cramp hits me hard.
“You know far more than you think. And you are surprisingly smart. I was given the directive to bring you in so we could use you in the research department. We’ll call it justice that I get to rip you from Chris, or should I say Adam?
Taking something from him is just a cherry on top of the sundae.
And to find out you’re pregnant? Ha!” He claps his hands.
“I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.
” He gestures for me to sit at the lone table with a computer on it.
Okay, so he’s not going to kill me because they intend to put me to work?
“And how am I supposed to have this baby?” I ask, knowing it’s stupid to even ask. My stomach tightens again, stretching to my lower back. I wince but try desperately to hide it from the man who tricked all of us.
“Not my problem. I’m to hold you here until Hunter gets back into town.”
Those fuckers. They got off on bail and are allowed to just galivant around like nothing happened.
“And when is that supposed to be?” I snark.
“When he gets here.”
“And I’m just to sit here?” Does he actually have a plan? Did I give him more credit than I should have?
“No, you’re going to start researching. This is your first artifact.” He slams down a small rock, making me cringe at how rough he is with it.
I carefully pick it up, curiosity getting me more than anything, and find that it’s a small vase stuck in stone. He’s lucky he didn’t shatter what’s exposed.
Nico grabs a chair and sits across from me, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest.
I glance around, hoping there’s something in the main space I can use to contact Adam or Lex. Maybe I can incapacitate Nico with something. Lord knows I wouldn’t be sad about doing that. But this place is spotless, unlike the bathroom upstairs.
My stomach tightens again. Why couldn’t I be the type of person who wore a watch?
There’s a sense of urgency to time how far apart these are, although I’m convinced these aren’t real contractions.
I’m only thirty-six, almost thirty-seven, weeks pregnant.
It’s too early, so I assume these are Braxton Hicks.
I blow out a breath, closing my eyes as it finally passes.
Fuck. Why is this happening right now? Is it the high-stress situation? Because this whole damn pregnancy has been high stress. My body should be used to this shit by now.
Apparently, I’m destined to just be incredibly unlucky all the time.
I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop with Adam, and what do you know?
I’m about to be kidnapped and forced to give birth alone, with zero medical help.
Without Adam, who is going to be so crushed he wasn’t there for any of it.
Tears well in my eyes, and I pray they don’t fall. I refuse to give Nico any kind of gratification from this.
“I don’t hear any typing,” he grumbles, not moving an inch.
My fingers make a point to be obnoxiously loud as I type random letters. I need to think, and research isn’t fitting into that agenda right now.
How do I let Adam and his team know where I am? Adam has to know I’m gone by now. He wasn’t all that far away to begin with. But he thinks Nico is as dead, as I did.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
There’s no plan. No way to help Adam and his team. My throat closes, trying to hold in the tears that want to so desperately fall.
A ringing phone slices through the silence.
“Yeah?” Nico answers almost immediately. “We’re here and ready.” Then he hangs up. “Looks like we’ll be out of here soon. Boss is five minutes out.”
“Great,” I mumble. That tight-clenching band across my back and stomach happens again, stealing my breath.
“No one asked your opinion,” Nice grunts.
Five minutes is almost up when I feel tremendous pressure.
“I need to use the bathroom.” My words are strained as I try not to show Nico how fucking freaked out I am right now.
Nico rolls his eyes and waits. “Let’s go. We don’t have all day.”
His intimidating stature follows me back up the stairs, where I eventually end up back in the small, disgusting bathroom.
Then I feel this weird, tight pop deep in my pelvis.
I immediately think I’ve peed. Looking down, there’s a wet spot in my pants.
I’m frozen, not sure how to even handle this or how to proceed. Do I tell Nico? Do I just wait until Hunter Page shows up?
I need an adultier adult to handle all of this.
My hand goes to the wet spot, realizing it might be my water breaking. I tentatively bring my hand back up to my face and sniff, hoping to God it’s not pee. When there’s no scent, my body feels like it drains of blood.
I can’t be in labor.
I can’t have my baby in this gross-as-fuck bathroom, only surrounded by the asshole Nico and Hunter—whenever the fuck he shows up.
My breathing gets quicker, on the verge of hyperventilating.
A rough pounding on the door scares me.
“Hurry the fuck up. Page just got there.”
“Uh, just give me a minute,” I call out shakily.
What do I do?
Another contraction hits—I feel like I can call them that now—and I burst into tears at the same time I hear a big boom from somewhere down below. My legs decide to stop supporting my weight, and I clumsily lean back onto the wall and slide down.
Somewhere in my ridiculous brain, my thoughts turn to the fact that I most likely won’t be able to get an epidural. I didn’t agree to no drugs, and now I’m being forced to have this baby without them?
I cry harder. I want relief from the crushing pain, but more than that, I want Adam.
“What the fuck?” Nico yells as I hear the pounding of footsteps on the stairs.
I don’t have it in me to worry about their shit. Not when this baby decided today was the day to enter the world.
Pounding on the door barely registers until I hear a frantic yell.
“Claire! Please tell me you’re in there!” Adam pounds on the door again.
“I am,” I croak through another contraction. “I can’t get up to open the door, though.”
Emotions slam into my chest, blinding me to anything the happens for the next period of time. Tears and pain mix to the point where I just disassociate from it all and hope this baby gets here safely.