Page 18 of Fall

I know she still hasn’t told anyone about the baby, but she did listen to me when I suggested registering with the local doctors and hospital. I’m hoping she is going to say something to Izzy tomorrow when she goes out shopping with her. There’s no way the siren can hide this from everyone forever.

“A week of him following her around like a lost puppy. I’ve never seen you so hung up on a girl,” Luke comments, and I glare at him.

I go to reply when my phone rings, and I pull it out of my jacket to see Arthur’s name flashing on the screen.

“What?” I answer, not wanting to talk to him right now, or ever. We have five fights left, that’s it now, and then my family will finally be free of him.

“I had an idea,” Arthur says, he sounds cold and calculating.

“I’m waiting,” I reply, standing up and walking away from Luke and Blake.

“Five fights left now, and I want one of you to fight five guys, one after another,” he says, and there’s a moment of silence as I pause in shock. He has to be fucking kidding.

“That’s fucking crazy. There is no way any of us could win that,” I shout, and he laughs.

“I’m done with you King brothers, and I want this over. I will set up the fight and text you the details. I expect you to be there, Harley, or maybe that pretty, red-headed roommate of yours might go missing,” he tells me, and then the line goes dead.

“For fuck’s sake,” I say, throwing the phone across the room and watching as it smashes into pieces across the floor.

“What happened?” Luke asks, coming over, and I run my fingers through my hair and mentally groan as I look at Luke. I don’t want to tell him anything, but I know I won’t be able to hide this from my brothers.

“Arthur has decided to do the last five fights one after another. And only one of us can fight them all,” I say, and Luke shakes his head. He knows the chances of any of us surviving that are low, or impossible. It only takes one of them to hit too hard, or another to bring a weapon in, to change the odds.

“Fuck, no,” Luke says as Blake comes over.

“He’s setting you up to fail, it’ll be suicide walking into that fight!” Blake comments, hearing the conversation.

“I don’t have a choice. I’m the only one with any hope in hell to finish this,” I say, sighing.

I would never let any of my brothers do this for me. I would never let them die because of our father’s mistakes. The fact he threatened Tilly is another matter entirely.

“You’ve always protected us, Harley. We aren’t going to let you fight this and die to protect us,” Luke says, grabbing my arm.

“It’s my choice,” I tell him, pulling away.

Except, it really isn’t my choice, and when I think about Tilly, I know I can’t be with her now. Not like I want to be. It will break her heart if I don’t walk out of that cage, and I can’t do that to her. I already like her too much to hurt her. For a second, I thought I had my happy ending; the girl I want and a future with a child that isn’t mine, and I would do anything to help bring the baby up. I can’t even have children myself, not after one of my past fights destroyed my chances to have children in one attack. That’s why I help with Jake as much as possible because I know I’ll never have that chance to hold a baby. But with Tilly, I could have been there for her and her child. Now, being there can only hurt her more.

I walk out of the office and down the two flights of stairs and into the garden. I open the greenhouse up after walking across to it and pulling out a shovel. I need to dig up the old soil by the tree and put some new soil down before planting the flowers. I shove a bag of soil into the wheelbarrow and add the shovel before pushing it out of the greenhouse.

Digging the shovel into the ground, I get to work. The clouds above are dark, and it almost looks like it may rain later. I don’t let it disturb me, though, because this is a distraction I need right now. I like gardening because it takes my mind off of everything, and I can just work. I have most the soil dug up by the time the first bit of rain falls, and I shove my stuff back into the greenhouse just as the heavens open up and it begins to pour down.

I am making my way back across the garden when I see Tilly looking at me from the window. She smiles gently at me, her eyes drifting over my soaking wet top and how my hair is down. I don’t think she has seen me like this before. Tilly and I just stare at each other before I get to the back door and I’m forced to look away. I wonder if she feels like I do, how all I want to do is walk into that kitchen and kiss her, screw the consequences.

Chapter Nine

Tilly

“That one is cute,” Izzy says as she points to a red top that’s on sale.

I love it, but I know it’s pointless to buy anything when I’m only going to get bigger. My bump seems to have grown in the last two weeks, and now, it’s no longer easy for me to wear tight dresses or tops.

I saw the doctor and a midwife yesterday, who checked the baby’s heartbeat and booked me in for a scan. They think everything is going well and that I’m just one of those lucky women whose pregnancy bump doesn't show. In some ways, I’m glad I didn’t show until now. For two days, Harley has avoided me, making small talk and pretending the moments we had together didn’t happen. I don’t know how we went from cuddling on the sofa to small talk over dinner. It’s gotten to the point where he walks out the door when I walk into a room sometimes. I’m so confused by him. I look at my friend, knowing I’ve been avoiding her, myself, for the last week.

“We need to talk,” I tell Izzy, who stops moving tops across a rack. I nod my head in the direction leading out of the store and go to sit by the fountain outside. I sit down on a bench, and Izzy sits next to me.

“Come on then, I’m worried,” she says, nudging my shoulder a little, and I take a deep breath.

“I’m pregnant,” I tell her quietly. She doesn’t move as she stares at me. Izzy pulls me into a tight hug after a long pause between us, and I wrap my arms around her. We don’t say anything for a while, just holding each other, and I’m sure she is working a few things out in her head.

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