Page 14 of Avenging Devil: Part 2

“But doesn’t that mean, me?” Duke controls me, he’ll control my money. There’s no need to bring a kid into the mix.

“No,” he disputes firmly. “As your husband, I’m not blood, but if it goes to my son or daughter, then I’ll be the guardian. If it goes to you without you having any children, you’d have to sign off on everything.”

Surely, he’d just make me do what he wants? “What if I die without a child? Doesn’t it come to you then?”

He shrugs dismissively. “I’m not blood. It would go to some distant cousin you’ve probably never even met.”

“If I’m worth so much to you, Duke, why did you try to kill me?” The man is stark-raving mad. “You nearly succeeded last time.”

“Nah,” he refutes. “I always stopped. I just liked the thought of you believing I held your life in my hands. That’s why you went to that fuckin’ hospital, to make sure you survived.”

If he was so worried, he wouldn’t have hurt me at all. But like a penny dropping, it all falls into place. Duke wants me pregnant, but once I give birth, I’m no use. Getting pregnant again is a death sentence, though this time for me, and not my child. Maybe it’s what I deserve. Maybe so, but I’ll be damned if I don’t fight to the teeth to prevent giving Duke what he wants. I definitely don’t want to give birth to his child. Not when it sounds like I won’t be around to protect it. It’s the money he wants, not a daughter or son.

But one thing still puzzles me. “If I’d given birth to a disabled child…”

He actually grins. “Wouldn’t have mattered. We’d have proved his birth. If he was that disabled, Grit’s a fuckin’ expert with computers as you know well. We’d have sent him away for specialist treatment, then after a few months, reappear with him alive and kicking. Didn’t even have to be the same baby. Grit’s paperwork would have been indisputable evidence a miracle had occurred. A retarded kid would have suited my purposes, as guardian I’d have complete control. But you, my dear, you’d be superfluous. Now, it appears, as you precipitated matters and got rid of the child, I’ll have to keep and torment you for a little longer.”

He takes out his phone and looks at it, frowning as he reads a text. “Now, Sapphire, I’m going to have to leave you for a while. I hope you don’t miss me too much. I’ve got a new prospect to break in.” His eyes view me sharply, his gaze calculating, as if assessing just how much damage to inflict. “What was the relationship between you and that Black?”

Oh how I want to drop Niran in it. He betrayed me. He’s the reason why I’m here. My eyes flash sparks as I tell him, “Obviously, he wasn’t the friend I believed. It was all a trick to get information to you.”

“You fucked him?”

My eyes widen. “No, I did not.” I don’t know whether he’ll believe me or not, and if the latter, I don’t care. Niran deserves everything coming to him.

“How long did you know him? Any chance you’re carrying a fuckin’ Black kid?”

That wouldn’t suit his purposes. He could get away with a white kid, but not a half-Black baby. If he thinks there’s a chance that I am, I wouldn’t be going to the hospital for any abortion, he’d kick it out of me. Now I’ve got reason to convince him on my behalf.

“I didn’t fuck him,” I say as forcefully as possible. “I was pregnant, Duke, then I had the termination. I wasn’t in a state to want any man near me. Niran just befriended me, presumably to find out what use I was to him. I met him a few weeks back.” Times and dates are getting muddled in my throbbing head. When was it Niran knew I was going to leave again? Had he come around this morning to make sure I stayed put until Duke turned up?Was that why he’d told me Duke wasn’t close to finding me? In my befuddled mind, that makes sense. “He must have been buying you time to come to get me. That’s why he was in my apartment today.” My mouth fills with saliva. I spit it out, wishing it was onto Niran’s face.

He eyes me carefully, something akin to mirth in his eyes. “You really fuckin’ believe that, don’t you?”

“Give me a gun and I’ll kill him myself. I hate him, almost as much as I hate you!” I scream. And, oh hell, my tears start again. I heard the news about my dad without crying, discussed the loss of my son without shedding a tear, heard my death sentence pronounced as though it was happening to someone else, but the thought of Niran’s betrayal cuts so deeply it wounds me the worst.

Duke gives another of his snorted laughs, then I hear his and Slit’s footsteps, the door opening, closing and being locked behind them.

At last, I’m alone.

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