Page 146 of Deceit

Emmy tucks her arm under Marty’s and guides him down the busy hallway full of nurses and doctors. Kyson and Mills follow a bit behind, leaving me to level out my racing pulse and jittery heartbeat.

It’s been another month that’s gone by that I’ve purposely stayed away and focused on my own family that I’m reconnecting with.

Four weeks where Emmy’s stomach has gotten bigger on Instagram, and I’ve been fumbling in my own head.

I’m broken and numb.

There’s no other way to sugarcoat how my heart convulses and my body feels like it’s not really here, living and operating.

Every time I check her shit, I tell myself it’s the last. But the next time is to make sure she’s happy. To watch her from afar to make sure that I don’t have to put Alexander on life support just so I can bring him back to life and practically kill him again.

The clicking of heels draws my chin upward, locating Emmy in a baby blue dress and nude stilettos. The sway of her hips, her long curls of whitish-blonde hair that bounces off her shoulders, and the confidence that radiates of Emmy Lou Rhodes still make her the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

“First panic attack at the hospital down,” she jeers with a small smile developing along her face as my heart slows to a critical pace. “How many did he have in the car?”

“Two, according to Reagan.”

Her honey-browns light up. She seems fine.

Iwanther to be fine. I just also want her to be with me.

“Where is she?”

I nod towards the hallway she just came from. “In the room with Stormi.”

“Do you know what they’re having?” She stops within a foot of me and I wish she wouldn’t.

It’s too close.

Just like she was too close at that stupid ass dinner Kyson guilt tripped me into going to.

It took everything in me not to drag her out of that restaurant and break Alexander’s hand for touching her.

“A girl.”

“No shit.” She lets out a little scoff. “He purposely kept it from me like an asshole. And I wasn’t going to put Stormi in the middle of that debacle. Lord knows I would’ve won.”

Yeah, I know.

Marty felt like Emmy would lecture him to death about future boyfriends and how he couldn’t go offing them all, so he kept it to himself to buy him a few months of peace.

“It’ll be perfect,” Emmy proceeds with a widening smile, her hand falling mindlessly onto the top of her belly. It makes my own writhe in discomfort.

I need to go now.

I don’t do this sort of thing. The boys don’t need me anyway, and I can’t stand around hanging out with Emmy alone like nothing has happened when everything did.

I can’t breathe while looking at her. It’s too painful. I’ve always thought I was a decently strong man who could handle shit, but this is downright torture.

“He needs to learn to be able to be soft when the time allows,” Emmy carries on. “Then he can be his normal asshole self the rest of the time. I was daddy’s little girl growing up. There is nothing like a father-daughter relationship.”

My body lingers back, demanding some personal space. “It was good to see you, Ems. I’m going to go—“

“Bish.” Her arm reaches out for me, and without even touching me, I flinch.

She notices.

I can’t handle any contact from her right now. I’m not looking to go backward when I’ve already served this much time.

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