Page 15 of Last Resort

The next test was one of the smart tests, so when the timer went off, there were no lines, just a single word...

Pregnant.

Pregnancy had never been in her plans. She wasn’t fit to be anyone’s mother.

And Chance... Just the thought of him had her stomach lurching. She barely made it to her knees in time to throw up in the toilet.

He was going to think she’d trapped him. How could he not?

Now he was stuck in her life forever. After all the effort to keep him away from her, their lives were intertwined all because she was keeping this baby.

Amazing how no other option even boded consideration. Even if he didn’t want anything to do with her and the baby, she still wasn’t making any other choice.

You’re going to be a terrible mother. You’ll ruin your kid like you ruined your life.

She tried to fight back against the malicious thoughts, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know anything about motherhood. Her own mother used her as an ATM.

Maybe Chance might fight her for custody. Maci thought about what had happened to Brax’s wife, Tessa, and how she’d briefly lost custody of her own child.

No, Chance wouldn’t do what Tessa’s ex had done. That had been lies and manipulation.

But maybe he would decide she wasn’t worthy of his child.

There’s nothing to do about it yet. Focus on the pregnancy and work—

Work. Of course, what should have been a great day had ended in such chaos. The plan for Stella’s protection hinged on her and now she was pregnant. She didn’t know whether to quit the plan already or...

“No. I’m doing this,” she told herself, hunching over the sink to wash her face. “I’m going to decoy for Stella because she needs it, and I’m not going to worry about it. Chance will keep me safe just like he always has, and when everything’s over, I’ll tell him about the baby. It’s going to be fine.”

Maci stared at herself in the mirror and wished for the first time in ages that she had someone she could call. A real mother who could give her advice.

But she didn’t have that.

She straightened, taking a deep breath. She may not have any parental figures in her life, but she didn’t drink or do drugs. She was organized and clean and would do her damnedest to take care of this baby.

Feeling marginally better, she pulled out her phone and made an emergency appointment through her doctor’s scheduling app for in the morning. She needed to get an official test done and check how far along she was. Then she needed to see if self-defense training was going to be a problem.

She walked into the kitchen and pulled out her food. She wasn’t hungry, but not eating now wasn’t an option. Then she grabbed a notebook from the junk drawer. Between bites she listed everything she needed to ask the doctor before she went to work in the morning.

She’d just follow the list, stick to her plan, and everything would be okay.

She hoped.

Chapter Five

The next morning, Chance was getting the plan ready for Maci’s training when she texted about a last-minute doctor’s appointment. Good. He hoped she could get some meds for that bug she had.

Or, even better, that bug would mean she couldn’t take part in this plan at all.

Chance had always been logical and strategic in his thinking. That, combined with his protective instincts, had meant he’d spent a lot of time taking care of the younger kids at the group homes he’d lived in before being adopted by Sheila and Clinton.

He’d been the one to plan things out and make sure everyone had what they needed. He’d been the one able to anticipate unexpected events and pivot to plan B, C or Z.

Those logical and strategic parts of his brain knew that Maci’s decoy plan was the most likely to be successful. Wasn’t the fact that she and Stella looked so much alike the reason he’d been compelled to take the case in the first place? And despite the fact they fought all the time, he knew Maci was intelligent, competent and situationally aware, like his brothers had argued.

But the logical and strategic parts of his brain weren’t what he wanted to listen to. He wanted Maci as far away from potential danger as possible.

And if the safest place was in his bed—him with her—was that really a bad thing?

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