Page 58 of Surprise Baby for the Enemy

“How would I even tell them where I am?” I ask. “I haven’t had my phone for days. If they’re tracking me through anything else, I don’t even know about it.”

My mind flashes back to his file in Thomas’s study, and my stomach does a sickening flip. Oh… oh no…

“Derrick…” I say, my voice almost too quiet. “I don’t think they were tracking me. Not this time. I… I think they’ve been tracking you.”

Derrick’s hands are so tight on the wheel that his knuckles have turned white. “Of course they’ve been keeping an eye on me. But we left the city suddenly, and under the cover of night, and no one knew my destination exceptyou-”

This will ruin any chance I have to prove my own innocence, because I really should’ve thought of this sooner, but I have to tell him. He deserves to know. “No, Derrick! In my brother’s office there’s a folder with your name on it. It’s got records of your daily movements, everywhere you’ve been and everything you’ve done. I- I looked inside it when I thought you might be working with Silver.”

“And you didn’t bother to mention it, naturally,” Derrick bites out.

“Once I realized you weren’t working with Silver, I didn’t think about it,” I admit, guilt twisting inside me.

“Convenient.”

“I swear-”

“You swore things last night, too,” Derrick cuts me off. “I’m not falling for it anymore.”

I bump my head back against my plastic seat, choking on fury, nausea, and a pain in my chest I can only imagine is heartbreak. “Derrick,” I plead. “Do you have your phone on you right now?”

“I threw it against the wall after your brother threatened my mother’s life.”

I grit my teeth and close my eyes tight. The cruiser goes down a shallow hill, and it feels like my stomach rises inside me. I’m punching Thomas in the face before this is over, more than once if I can get away with it.

“You said… you said you were taking me back to the estate,” I manage. “That’s not all he asked for, is it?”

“Of course not,” Derrick scoffs. “He’s also decided he’s sick of putting up with me. When I drop you off, he’ll take the opportunity to kill me.” His voice lowers. “If he can fucking catch me.”

My breath catches, my nausea momentarily forgotten in my shock. “I won’t let that happen,” I tell him.

“I’m not giving you the chance to step in,” Derrick says. “When we get close enough, you’re walking the rest of the way, and I’m leaving.”

Leaving. Like I planned to leave. Where does Derrick plan to go? Does he even have a plan yet, or will he buy the first available ticket and disappear.

Will I ever see him again?

“Please,” I choke. “Don’t. Let me fix this. I’ll talk to Thomas-”

My stomach finally rebels. I clamp my mouth shut as bile forces its way up my throat, pressing myself up against the cold window of the back seat even though this door can’t be opened from the inside. Derrick must see my struggle and realize quickly what it means, because he jerks the cruiser over to the side of the road.

Once again, I’m about to heave up my guts on the side of the road while the man I want is pissed at me. Wonderful.

CHAPTER 32

Derrick

I throwthe back door open for Raleigh, and she lunges out past me just in time to puke in the grass. The deja vu is not lost on me. Except yesterday she wasn’t handcuffed in the backseat. She was in what would be my partner’s seat if I had one.

I stalk away from the cruiser, crossing my arms over my chest like I’m throwing up a shield. The sound of her retching twists at my heart. I want to take her hair in my hands. I want to rub her back until her nausea is soothed. No matter what she’s done, she’s still the mother of my child.

Unless she isn’t even that? I felt movement last night, and she’s definitely suffering from morning sickness, but again I come back to the fact that I have nothing but Raleigh’s word that the baby inside her is mine. That could’ve been just another part of her ploy to gain my sympathy, to convince me to keep her with me just a little bit longer.

But then why also try to convince me to let her hop on a plane and disappear…?

No, I can’t keep questioning my own logic. I’ve been doing that since Thomas punched my face in, and look where it’s gotten me? I need to dump Raleigh on the steps of the Warwickestate and hope I get a fair distance away before Thomas starts chasing me.

Then I’ll be the one to hop on a plane and disappear.

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