Page 56 of In Her Shadow

Helena steps inside a few minutes later, and when everyone silences and waits for her to reveal what we’re here for, she laughs.

“I don’t know what you’re all looking at me for, I’m not the one who called the meeting.” Her shoulders shrug.

“I am.” All heads turn to the door, and when I see Ren step inside and close it after him, I start to feel nervous.

“I want to start off by praising everyone on what a good job they’re doing. I don’t know squat about running a magazine, but the work I’ve seen since I've been here has impressed even me.” He smiles at the room, and I can sense something coming. “I just wanted to remind those of you who are wasting office time spreading rumours and gossiping...” He turns that killer smile onto Yvonne, “...That they’re here to do a job. For those of you who feel entitled to know, I can confirm that our very talented, junior editor is in fact pregnant, and I’m proud to say that I’mthe father.” I hear a loud gasp and realize that it’s coming from me when I almost choke on it. Every eye in the room is on me now, and I want the floor to swallow me up. “If anyone's got any questions or queries on that, come see me anytime. You all have a good day.” Just like that, he nods his head and marches out, leaving me glued to my chair and facing all the shocked, confused faces.

“Back to work then.” I smile awkwardly as I stand up and make my way back to my desk, trying to tamp down the fireball of rage that’s growing inside me. I’m about to storm into his office and give him a piece of my mind, but I see something on my desk as I pass it, and stop to check it out.

The envelope looks as if it’s been hand-delivered; all it has on the front is my name in big, black writing. I pick it up and tear it open, taking out the card inside and becoming confused when I see that it’s a sympathy card. Slowly, I open it to see who it’s from, and when I see bold capital letters in angry handwriting, I rush into Ren’s office.

“Kitten, I know you're gonna be mad at me bu?—”

“Ren.” I hand him the card, and when he sees the words

‘JUSTICE IS COMING

’ written inside it, he screws it up in his hand furiously.

“Where did you find this?” He comes at me, holding each side of my face tightly in his hands.

“It was on my desk, in an envelope with my name on.” I start to cry because I thought all this was behind us.

“Are you okay?” He checks me over.

“I’m fine, just shaken up and scared,” I admit.

“Course you are, come and sit.” He guides me over to his chair and sits me down, before taking out his phone.

“Ren, please don’t call the police. They’ll have questions, and if they start delving into the past, they might—” I try and get mybreath back, but I’m starting to panic. “I can’t have them take you away from us.”

“Relax. Breathe.” He crouches down in front of me and takes my hand.

“I’m not calling the police. I’m looking at the CCTV footage.

“You have to go to the security desk fo—-” I stop myself when I realize he already has it up on his phone, and when his eyes turn to stone and his hands start to shake, I figure he must see who it is.

“Looks like our little friend is back.” He turns the phone around so I can see better, and there walking down the corridor is a man in a motorbike helmet carrying the envelope in his hand.

“Son of a bitch.” Ren turns away from me, trying his best to collect himself, while I shake in his chair and wonder what this message means.

“I’m taking you home.” He charges back toward me.

“Taking me home?”

“Yeah, Eloise, home, away from here. Away from masked men who want to hurt you but are too pussy to show their fucking faces.” He picks up a paperweight from his desk and tosses it at the wall, putting a dent in it before it thuds to the ground.

“Ren, calm down.”

“No. You're scared, look at you, you're shaking. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Ren, I’m fine. I promise.” I stand up much too fast, and when my head starts to spin, I quickly sit back down again.

“Hey, hey.” He crouches in front of me again, grabbing my cheeks and making me focus on him. “Let me take you home…please.” I see how worried and desperate he looks, and slowly nod my head. I can’t be stubborn, not when I have our baby to think about.

“Okay. Let's go home.” I let his thumbs wipe away my tears, and when he kisses my forehead and whispers me a ‘thank you’, I wrap my arms tight around him and grip onto his shirt.

REN

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