Page 204 of Beautifully Reckless

Ripping free of my club brothers’ grips, I stumble to my knees beside her, taking her cold trembling hand in mine, before she squeezes the fucking life out of it.

“I know it’s too early, Angel. But it looks like your baby is coming…” I glance at Dylan between her legs, and he gives me a nod. “So he or she needs you to be strong, yeah?”

Even though she’s crying and there’s more terror on her face than I’ve ever seen, she nods, panting through what I can only assume is another contraction.

Fuck, I don’t even know. This is all so fucking new to me.

Why didn’t I read a book on this stuff?

Why didn’t I prepare?

I thought I had more time.

I thoughtwehad more fucking time!

“Get a van out here! We can’t wait for the ambulance!” Clive snaps into the phone as Dylan’s hands disappear between Abbey’s legs.

“Abbey, your baby is coming fast,” Dylan warns. “It looks small, so he or she is comingright fucking now.”

“Cam,” she whimpers, taking a shaky breath as her terrified gaze meets mine. “Make sure they save my baby. Promise me.”

I nod, brushing her sweat soaked hair off her face, the strands clinging to her skin, as I swallow the fucking lump in my throat.

“Of course.”

“N-no… you don’t understand,” she sobs, curling in on herself again as pain lashes her from the inside out. “Make surethey save my baby first.Before me.”

I stiffen.

“What?” I fucking squeak so high pitched, I swear I must have lost my nuts.

Did I hear her right?

“Promise me!”

Her scream is excruciating, a sound made of agony and raw terror as she starts bearing down again.

“Okay!” I shout back, because I don’t know what else to fucking say.

How the fuck am I supposed to mean that?

I can’t lose her. Ever!

How can she ask me to choose her baby… over her?

37

Holy shit! I’ve never felt pain like this before.

So gripping.

So suffocating.

So bloody agonising.

I’m beyond terrified. This isn’t how it was meant to happen.

Not on the dirty ground in a pine forest behind a chapel where I was about to be forced into a marriage I never wanted.

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