Page 129 of Challenged by the Single Dad

Joey’s smile barely tipped up the corners of his mouth, and it sure as hell didn’t venture any further north on his face. “But I did get fired. I madeonemistake. Oneharmlessmistake and Hawke tossed my ass out. And nowyouhave my job. How convenient.” He slowly crept toward her. The lights flickered again at the same time a harsh gust of wind hammered the window outside, rattling her bones and making her heart leap into her throat.

Her eyes darted for the door and she quickly calculated the likelihood she’d be able to make it to freedom without him catching her. But then, she had no car. The kids had her car. She was stranded. There was a storm outside, a bad one, and it was dark. A sudden heaviness, a numbness almost, filled her chest. She was trapped here with Joey, and he was … unpredictable.

A glance up into his eyes made her knees buckle so hard she had to reach out and grab the desk to keep herself standing upright. His pupils were blown, he was sweating—that wasn’t just the rain on his face—and it was almost like his facial muscles couldn’t hold still. Was he on something?

“P-please, Joey. I didn’t want your job. M-maybe w-we can talk to Hawke and you can have it back. I don’t actually want it. I only took it to help him. He was supposed to find a replacement for me by now.” Behind the desk now, she opened the one drawer, hoping something like a stapler or a machete jumped out at her. But there was nothing besides pens, notepads, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Acid crawled up her throat, and she swallowed thickly, retreating back another step, continuing to survey the area for anything she could use as a weapon.

Her gut rolled with all the crazy, terrible things Joey could do to her, and nobody was there to stop him. And with the storm and empty hostel, nobody—not even the neighbors half a mile away—could hear her. Not only that, but Dom was presumably on the other line listening.

A tear slid down her cheek. “Please. I … I’m pregnant.”

Something she couldn’t put a label on, and wasn’t sure she wanted to, flashed in Joey’s muddy brown eyes. The lights flickered again casting even more menacing shadows across Joey’s face. His eyes were dark vacuous holes, enhanced by thick, charcoal-colored smudges above his sharp cheekbones. “And that’s supposed to mean something to me?”

She gulped. Her racing heartbeat formed an ache in her chest and she clutched at it, struggling to breathe.

Maybe her being pregnant didn’t mean anything to Joey. Her free hand, the other hand still clutching the phone, fell to her lower belly. But it meant the world to her.

It meant everything.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Themomentheheardher gasp and say the word “Joey,” fear flooded his body and nearly dropped him to his knees.

He repeated her name over and over again into the phone, getting more frantic and louder each time as his stomach turned rock hard.

His brothers gathered at his panic, and stood in front of him, terror on their faces. He put it on speaker so they could all hear. Chloe’s fright settled into all of their bones.

“Where is she?” Clint asked, his blue eyes wide.

“Hawke’s,” Dom said.

“We’re ready for you,” came a shaky old voice from the doorway into one of the conference rooms at the community center.

“I have to go,” Dom said, torn between staying because he’d made a commitment to his brothers, to their business, and his family, and getting to Chloe. Ultimately, there was no choice. Hehadto get to Chloe.

“Is something wrong?” Sunflower Patrick asked, her sky-blue gaze bouncing between all of them.

Wyatt shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sunflower, but we have to go.”

“No, you guys stay. Do the proposal. We can’t—”

“Shut the fuck up and get in the truck,” Wyatt said, shaking his head. “Dumbass.”

Clint clasped Sunflower’s hands in his, gave her a quick smile. “I’m sorry, Sunflower, but there’s a family emergency. We have to go. Hopefully, we can reschedule. If not, well, give it to Hardwood Distillery. They need it most after us.” Then they were all running out the door, into the dark, and to Wyatt’s brand-new truck that he bought last month.

It was easily the biggest, nicest, and had the most amount of engine power. Plus, it was a hybrid.

Dom was about to jump behind the wheel, but Wyatt shook his head. “Nope. Remember when we needed to run and save Vica, and I was in no headspace to drive? Same-same, bro. Other side.”

Grunting, but in the end agreeing, Dom climbed into the front passenger seat while Clint, Bennett, and Jagger all crammed themselves into the back.

Luckily, Hawke’s hostel and campground were closer to the community center than the pub, so they had even less of a drive.

Rain pounded the windshield, and the wipers were no match. Combined with the darkness and lack of streetlights on the bumpy island roads, and it was near impossible to see more than a few feet in front of them. Swaying evergreen trees towered on either side of them, the sound of the wind in their branches competing with the torrential rain against the vehicle.

Focused straight ahead, the rain in the beam of the headlights looked almost like static on a television, and they all jumped and swore when a loudthunkhit Dom’s side of the truck.

“What the fuck was that?” Jagger asked.

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