Page 22 of Cruel Savior

"We aren't partners," he said through gritted teeth.

"My words exactly. He even implied that you might not believe what you were told about our baby. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you think I secretly had her and didn't tell you? I would never do that to you. She died, Axel."

"Stop." His tone deepened to a threat I could clearly hear. Whatever it was JD thought he needed to hear, he clearly didn't. Did I get smart and let it go? Of course, I didn't, because I'm a fucking idiot when it comes to Axel. Always was and always would be.

"She's gone." I wish I could have cried then. Maybe it would have made a difference. But I couldn't and we'd never know.

"I said,"—he grabbed me by the shoulders and marched me backwards until my back and head slammed into the door. It didn't hurt like you would think, but it did stun me.“Stop! I can't hear another word from you. It was enough to hear it from your father. Now you're telling me it was a little girl? What the fuck made you so fucking cruel?"

The anguish in his voice ripped something inside me. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to—"

He cut me off by covering my mouth with his hand.

"Fuck you, Amanda. One more word about it and I won't be responsible for what I do. So just stop.Now. Because I will never—neverforgive you for killing our baby. Legally, that might have been your right, but I deserved to hear that decision from youbefore,and not after the fact, and not from your fucking father. "

Chapter Thirteen

Amanda

Ten years ago

"Get in."

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and blinked at the car in front of me.

Oh boy. This couldn't be good. What was my father doing in this area of town? I was only half a block away from the Sins of Wrath compound, where I was supposed to meet Axel in five minutes.

With one last look in the direction I'd been headed, I reached for the rear door handle and pulled it open. I slid inside and closed the door behind me. My father didn't exactly approve of me hanging out with Axel, let alone me being out here with what he called ruffians. Kind of a weird word to use when referring to the club of outlaws. My father knew as well as I did that a lot of illegal shit went down with them.

Houston's father was even currently on trial for accidentally killing his wife.

I spared a glance at my father who remained facing forward as the driver pulled away from the curb. The only sign of emotion was the tight set of my father’s jaw.

Yeah, this definitely wasn’t going to go well.

The ride home went by in silence as I considered pulling out my phone and sending Axel a text. He’d been expecting me so we could talk about the baby. Only today had gone to shit from the beginning.

Now I was going to have to tell my father the truth before he learned from someone else. We lived in a small town where scandalous news traveled like wildfire.

We turned through the gates of our ranch, but instead of continuing to the house like I expected, the car rushed to the helipad my father often used.

“Are you going somewhere?” I asked, assuming my father had a business trip to take.

He didn’t answer right away, and I frowned. This silence wasn’t like him. If he was unhappy about something he rarely held back. A man of silence he was not.

The car slid to a stop in front of the hangar, and fifty feet or so away, his personal helicopter was gearing up for an obvious take off.

The driver hopped out of the car, went to the rear hatch and retrieved what I assume was my father’s luggage. But when he approached the pad, I recognized two of the suitcases as mine.

“What’s going on?” I stared out the window as my stomach twisted with nerves.

“You’re going away.”

“What? Why? I—I can’t.” I couldn’t contain the panic rising in me.

“You can and you will. I heard the news about your pregnancy today. Do you have any idea how horrifying that was to hear on the street? My own teenage daughter, who I didn’t even know was dating anyone, had spread her legs for a criminal.”

“What? No! It’s not like that. He’s not like that. We’re in love.”

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