Page 5 of One Hellion of a Christmas

Everything inside me screamed to pick up my daughter. To hold her close. Soothe her. Erase any fear from her voice. She was my brave, sweet girl. She should never experience fear.

But she was, and I couldn’t comfort her because it took all my strength not to have the freak-out of all freak-outs right in front of her and three hundred strangers.

This wasn’t happening. I felt like I was in a bad dream. Time seemed to hit pause, everyone around me suddenly moving in slow motion.

“Hayat!” I shouted her name, my terrified gaze flickering over the many, many people gathered in the food court. “Hayat!”

“Ma’am.” A security guard stepped up to me hesitantly. Apparently I’d caught the attention of most of the other shoppers seated nearby when I’d started digging through the trash like an insane person. “You’re causing a disturbance. We need you to calm down.”

My breathing was ragged as I continued to glance around frantically, ignoring the guard and his partner, who stepped closer to me, his gaze on Amala. Another contraction hit me, intense and unexpected.

No.

Going into labor wasn’t an option. Not without Hayat.

How the fuck was I supposed to calm down?

My best friend was missing.

“Hayat!”

CHAPTER THREE

hayat

I triedto wiggle my wrists free of the restraints. They were so tight, the cable ties were cutting into my skin. My fingers were numb, the blood having stopped circulating.

“Fucking asshole,” I seethed to the empty room. I could see a camera that looked like it was from the last century. Someone was watching. I could practically feel their gaze, making my skin itch.

Just like every other time I’d left the apartment without one of my rockers with me.

Despite the cold winter temperatures outside, the room I was being held captive in was hotter than the tropics. My hoodie clung to me, sweat soaking through my clothes, my hair glued to my face and neck.

“Dickless coward!” I yelled right at the recording device. “I fucking know you’re in there, you spineless weasel. Hiding behind your little monitor must make you feel like a big man, huh? What the fuck are you waiting on, those little blue pills to start working? Sorry to ruin it for you, but if they haven’t kicked in yet, not even pharmaceuticals can help your erectile dysfunction at this point, my dude. Let’s move this shit alongalready before the nerves in my hands are irreversibly damaged from lack of circulation.”

Probably not my smartest move, but I was on a roll lately with making stupid choices.

Not telling Ky, Sparks, or Jamie I was fairly sure I had a stalker?

Check.

Forgetting to get my birth control shot before and after the summer tour?

Double check.

Hiding my pregnancy symptoms from everyone?

Check all the fucking boxes on that one.

But back to the stalker bullshit…

I’d been standing in line, debating which one of the colorfully iced chocolate chip cookies Amala would like most, when some creep with his baseball cap pulled down low over his face had stepped into my personal space. Between the smells of all the different foods making the nausea worse and the daze I’d been living in since that damn pregnancy test had come back positive, I hadn’t been paying attention to the people around me.Stupid mistake.Before I could snap at him to back up a step, I’d felt the sharp bite of something metal shoved hard against my ribs.

“You scream, you’re dead,” a low, slightly accented voice threatened. “You cause a scene, I’ll kill you right here. Then I’ll find your little redheaded friend and kill her and the kid.”

Fear had squeezed my lungs tightly. Maybe I would have called his bluff if he hadn’t mentioned Abi and Amala. But as soon as he did, my vision got blurry. Nausea roiled in my belly, shooting a blazing trail of stomach acid into the back of my throat.

Stupid goddamn morning sickness.

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