Page 41 of Burned

Chapter Fourteen

Sadie breathed a sigh of relief when Daisy had to fly back to LA to deal with one of her clients she referred to as ‘the brat’, some young hotshot that Hollywood touted as a bad boy. Daisy had been more than a little perturbed to have her vacation cut short, but apparently, her client wouldn’t stop blowing up her cell phone. She left with the promise to return as soon as she could.

Sadie was sad to see her go, but happy at the same time because her sisters still attempted to coddle her to the point where she wanted to scream. Lily still came by on a daily basis, but at least she eventually went home at nights. Rose, on the other hand, was in between contracts and had arranged her schedule so that she wouldn’t have anymore big photo shoots for another few weeks. Sadie didn’t mind too much because Rose was the most laidback of her sisters and tended to not hover as much, although she too could getoverbearing if she wanted to.

It was kind of nice having someone around to talk to, to shop with and to take her mind off of the mess she called her life. And Sadie was getting used to doing everything one-handed. The downside to having her arm in a cast was that it itched like a son of a bitch, and the simple things she took for granted like dressing herself was a pain in the ass.

At Sadie’s insistence, she went back to work. Getting back into a routine also gave her relief from thoughts of Rhys. By the end of her full week back on the job, Sadie knew she had to tell him about the baby. There was no point in putting it off because the end result would be the same whether she waited to tell him now or later: they would still be apart.

Her heart still ached for him and she missed him more than she thought possible, but she had her child to think of and its safety. Even though she’d come to the realization that he had every right to be upset with her for slapping Carys, especially since from his perspective felt it was unprovoked, she wouldn’t let that monster anywhere near her baby. In retrospect, Rhys had shown a great amount of restraint, more than she would have had the roles been reversed.

When they had been dating she’d familiarized herself with his office hours and would sometimes stop by his department on her breaks so she’d made a mental appointment to show up when she knew he’d be available. The planning was the easy part, when she had to stand in front of his office door and knock was the hard part. She must have stood there for at least ten minutes, five of those minutes she considered turning around and walking away, but finally, with a burst of bravado she tapped on his door and braced herself.

“Come in.” She missed that sexy baritone voice and how it made her feel when they made love.

Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob and stepped inside his office. He didn’t look up at first so she got a chance to observe Rhys without him noticing. It had only been a couple of weeks since she’d last seen him, but he looked as if he’d lost weight and there was at least three days’ worth of stubble on his face. Rhys had always kept his appearance tidy so it broke her heart to see him like this. He was just as broken as she was and she didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse.

“Hi, Rhys.”

He brought his head up sharply when he recognized her voice. The color drained from his face as if he’d seen a ghost and then it turned beet red. “What are you doing here, Sadie?”

“I think it’s time we had a talk.”

“About what, Sadie? How you attacked my daughter? How she’s torn up and blaming herself for our breakup?”

She could barely keep herself from rolling her eyes. The only thing Carys was probably upset about was not having Sadie around to torture anymore. “I owe you an apology for what happened. There are no excuses and if I had done things differently, then it would never have come to that.”

He frowned. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly what I said. May I sit down please?”

He shrugged. “You plan on staying that long?”

Her cheeks flamed at his less than welcoming words. But what did she expect? “Okay, if you prefer that I stand fine, what I need to tell you shouldn’t take that long. And I’ll get out of your hair.”

He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me. Please have a seat, Sadie. How’s your arm by the way.”

“No. That’s okay. My break won’t be much longer so I won’t keep you. And the arm is getting better thanks. There’s really no sense in beating around the bush so I’m going to come right out and say it. I’m pregnant and it yours. I’m not telling you this because I’m looking for money. I’m capable of looking after myself and the baby, but I thought you had the right to know.”

If he had any color remaining, it had all drained out of his face. “I beg your pardon?”

“I’m pregnant, Rhys.”

Slowly he stood up. “I thought you were on the pill.”

“I might have forgotten to take them a couple times, I don’t know, but I didn’t deliberately set out to trap you if that’s what you’re inferring.”

He narrowed his gaze and flared his nostrils. “What did you expect me to say? Hallelujah? Should I be happy that you have the chance to abuse another child?”

There were many things he could have said to her but this was by far the lowest. And here she thought her mother was the master of emotional paper cuts. Her first reaction was to leave the office and run, but she refused to lay down and take this. Fuck it. She was tired of being everyone’s doormat. “I apologized for what I did to Carys. Besides my hitting her, my only mistake was not telling you sooner that your daughter is not as innocent as you think she is.”

He balled his fists his sides and took a step toward her but stopped. “Don’t make my opinion of you lower than it already is. You have no right to say anything against my daughter and furthermore, if you really are pregnant, perhaps I should file for sole custody to ensure you don’t harm this child as well.”

Sadie brought her hand up to hit him but stopped herself.What the hell was she doing? What was with the Edwards family that provoked her to violence?

Rhys smirked “Go ahead. That seems to be your M.O. these days doesn’t it, Sadie? Or should I saw ChrysanthemumFlowers? You’ll be hearing from my lawyer of course.”

“And you’ll be hearing from mine. There is no way I’d have a child of mine around an asshole like you and that demon seed you call a daughter.”

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