Page 42 of Burned

Rhys turned bright red. “Get out of my office!”

“Gladly, Mr. Edwards, but before I go, I think you have to be the dumbest son of a bitch on the face of the Earth. Why don’t you ask one of your old girlfriends about your sweet princess? I think they’d agree with me.”

“I said get the fuck out!” he roared.

She shot him one final glare, before turning on her heel but as she made it to the door, it was flung open and in stepped a stunning blonde. “Is everything okay? I heard yelling down the hall.”

“Don’t mind me, I’m just leaving.” Sadie brushed past the other woman.

As she walked out the door and took a couple steps away from the office, she heard the blonde ask, “Who was that?”

“Nobody special,” was Rhys’s cold reply.

Sadie stopped unable to suppress the urge to eavesdrop.

“Oh, well in that case, how about we go to lunch today? I’ve been dying to pick your brain since I started here.”

“Maybe another time Delilah. I have a lot on my plate right now. Can I take a rain check?”

“Sounds good. And don’t think I’ll let you out of our lunch date. Or we could make it dinner.” The blonde’s voice dropped several octaves lower with almost a husky quality to it. It was obvious to Sadie that Delilah wanted to do much more than pick Rhys’s brains.

Not waiting around to hear Rhys response she hurried down the hall and out the building. She refused to shed tears even though they were threatening to spill. Even from the beginning of the relationship, she knew Rhys would have the power to hurt her far more than any man ever had and she was right.

Sadie was so over it. Tired of being pushed around and hurt and it was time to start taking care of her. Yanking her cell phone out of her purse, she pressed Daisy’s number on speed dial.

Daisy answered on the second ring. “Hey, little sis, what’s up?”

“I need the name of a good family lawyer in my area.”

“What happened honey?”

“I told Rhys about the baby. He was less than thrilled. Our meeting was contentious, to say the least, but let’s not get into logistics. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Do you need me to come back?”

“No. I need to handle this on my own. And I’m dead serious. I don’t need you, Rose or Lily to fight my battles. I’m going to be a mother soon and I can’t teach my child to be self-sufficient if I have you guys playing white knight every time you think I need rescuing.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line followed by a sigh. “Okay, Sadie. I have a few names for you. I just need to get their contacts and I’ll give you a call tonight with the information.”

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”

“Okay, I have a meeting with the partners in two minutes.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hold you up.”

“Sweetie, you know there’s nothing more important to me than my sisters. Okay, talk to you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Sadie disconnected and put thephone back in her purse.

Rhys reaction had knocked her for a loop, but this was one fight she refused to back down from. If it wasn’t over between them before today, her confrontation with him had sealed it. Sadie and Rhys were no more.

* * *

Rhys sat in his study that night with the lights off, his third glass of gin in hand. It was Friday so he could afford to get stinking drunk if he wanted. Carys had gone to bed over an hour ago.

I’m pregnant and the baby is yours, played in his mind over and over again. His reaction that followed shamed him. If Sadie had followed through with that slap, he would have deserved it. Regardless of how things had ended between them, he could have been more civil, but seeing her only made him hurt again. He wished he could turn off his feelings as easily as turning off a tap, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

He was going to be a father again. He and Sadie would be connected for the rest of their lives through this child. It was his. Even though Sadie was not the person he thought she was, her words were too genuine for them not to be real. He didn’t know what to think of it. What kind of life would the child have if he and the mother couldn’t get along? What about Carys? How would she feel knowing he had a biological child on the way?

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