Page 77 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

“Where are we going?” I ask her.

“We’re going somewhere safe for you to call that someone to come pick us up,” she bluntly replies. “I can’t take us back to my car because they might tail us there, too. So, we have to lose them first. Come on.”

I’m stunned by her courage and audacity as she drags us across the pub and through the service corridor. We go straight into the kitchen, baffling the cooks and the waiters along the way.

“Hey, you can’t be here!” one of them says.

Alexandra can’t be bothered, though. I look behind us, and I can’t see the three guys anymore, but I doubt we’re out of the woods yet.

“Keep moving,” Alexandra says, completely ignoring the staff. “Don’t look back.”

“Alexandra, this is crazy.”

“Don’t hesitate,” she insists.

Oddly enough, her active approach adds a kick to my heels, too. I find myself practically gliding through the kitchen with her by my side as we slip through the back door and stumble into a narrow, damp side alley.

From here, I follow her lead. We make it to the end and turn left into a crowded marketplace.

“Oh, wow,” I whisper, realizing this is the perfect place to lose our pursuers.

The smell of freshly caught fish and baked goods fills my nostrils. My heart beats faster while I try to register everything unraveling around us. Merchants and visitors pack the marketplace. The loud music overwhelms my senses as does the occasional shouting of prices and discounts. Alexandra stays focused, her hand gripping mine as she takes me in a zigzagging pattern between the stalls.

Finally, we reach another high street, farther away from where we last saw those men, and we disappear inside a coffee shop. She stops by the counter to order us a couple of hot teas, nodding at me.

“Now would be a good time to call for help,” she says. “We can wait for them here.”

Instinctively and without even thinking twice about it, I immediately call Nathan and ask him to come pick us up.

“Do you know who they were?” Alexandra asks me again, her green eyes searching my face.

I shake my head, noticing the tremors in my limbs fading. The adrenaline must be wearing off.

“No.”

Well, I might have a clue, but she doesn’t need to know about that.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything. You were so quick to respond, to do the right thing.”

Alexandra offers a shrug. “I have a great sense of self-preservation. Not to mention, you’ve got a baby to protect.”

My hand instinctively cradles my still-flat belly. She’s right. I have a baby to protect, and I will do everything in my power to do just that.

24

Christa

Once Nathan finds us at the coffee shop, he takes us both back to Alexandra’s car, where Cassius and River are waiting.

“We checked and made sure nothing’s out of order,” River says. “Since we don’t know what’s going on here, we figured either one of you could be a target of those stalkers.”

“So, no explosives under my car then?” Alexandra replies with a wry smile.

River gives her a slight nod, then takes me in his arms. I lose myself in his embrace, welcoming his care and affection. I feel Cassius’s hand on the small of my back and Nathan’s touch on my shoulder.

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