Page 173 of The Catalyst

“Absolutely, I will,” he admits without hesitation as I put on my seatbelt.

“Was he about to hurt me?” I ask, hating how meek my voice sounds.

The car is silent for a while before… “Do you want the hard truth, or do you want me to sugarcoat it?”

“Hard truth.” My words crack as I fix my sleeves back into place.

“Yes, he was going to hurt you…really fucking badly.”

My heart hammers and rattles around in my chest as I try my hardest to calm my breathing. “Thank you.”

Silence deadens the air as he yanks his wheel to the right, turning onto a back road leading to the central part of Grove Hill.

“You shouldn’t go against what he says. It’s a lot less painful if you go with the flow. He knows what he says is law, and he will hurt you if you go against it. The last thing I want is for him to hurt you, Beth.”

Martin just saved me from his father even though he’s still mad at me. He put himself in harm’s way to protect me and I’m still harboring a secret from him.

No more.

No more lies.

“I need to tell you something, but you can’t tell anyone. I mean, not a soul. It doesn’t leave this car.”

His head snaps to me, confused, before he looks back out at the road. “Shoot. Your secret is safe with me. You know that.”

I take a deep breath before I speak it into existence. “I’m pregnant.”

He jumps the gas before settling back at his normal speed. His eyes widen and he looks pale. Martin speeds into a gas station and parks at the pump before turning to face me.

“What? What did you say because I could’ve sworn you said you were pregnant?”

“I…did. I mean, I am. A blood test, ultrasound, and a very incompetent obstetrics specialist confirmed it.”

He just blinks over and over as he stares at me, not saying anything, like he’s waiting for me to say something else.

Then, he opens his mouth. “Is it…mine?” he asks, his words choked up.

It probably seems strange that he went through this with Casey a few weeks ago and now we’re having a similar conversation, but he isn’t flipping out on me about it. Is that simple because he has romantic feelings for me and he didn’t feel that way about her?

“No,” I admit. “The doctor said I conceived seven weeks ago so it’s a toss up if the father is Oliver or…Nigel.” I frown while pressing my hand to my lower stomach. “I don’t know what to do, honestly. I’ve just been ignoring it, like that would just make the situation go away. I’m waiting on a paternity test to make a decision on what I’m doing.”

“What do you mean by make a decision?” he presses as he reaches across the car and presses his hand over mine. The single move makes me relax.

“Whether or not I terminate the pregnancy,” I admit.

His eyebrows fly to his hairline, but I don’t give him the chance to say anything.

“Ican’thave a baby with Nigel. After everything that has happened, I don’t think he would be a good father and…I just can’t.”

Martin wraps his arms around me like a security blanket and I melt into his side. “We’ll figure this out, okay?” I nod against his shoulder before sighing.

“I’m scared,” I admit.

“I know. Me, too, but we’ll get through this. I won’t sugar coat it…This is really bad. The best thing you could do to have the least amount of issues would be to terminate the pregnancy. I know that sucks, but my father won’t let you keep it. He’d rather kill you than let that happen. Doesn’t matter if the baby is mine, O’Reilly’s, or my cousin’s. He’ll kill it just to hurt you.”

“Because hurting me hurts you?”

“Yeah.” He runs his fingers through my hair as tears collect in my eyes. I hate this, but at least I have Martin here.

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