Page 86 of Slayin Villain
Someone else replied.“Rachel’s mama lives over that way.She’s been nesting HARD.”
My chest squeezed tight.
There you are.
I dropped the bottle, staggered to my feet despite the pain still gnawing at my ribs.
I didn’t have a plan.
Didn’t know what I was gonna say.
But I knew what I wasn’t gonna do.
I wasn’t gonna sit here and let her raise that baby thinking his daddy never tried.
Not anymore.
Chapter 38
Rachel
The knock came just as I set the baby book down.
I’d been flipping through pages of cribs and strollers, all those pastel lies that promised everything would be fine as long as you bought the right thing.My mother was in the kitchen humming over a pot of chili, and the soft bubble of country music floated through the house.It was quiet.Safe.
The knock shattered it.
Three firm raps.Like thunder on a clear day.
My pulse kicked up.
I wasn’t expecting a delivery.My mom hadn’t ordered anything either.And no one knew I was here, not anyone from Royal Road, not the girls, not him.
Unless...
No.
I didn’t even let the thought take root.
I crossed the small living room slowly, my breath tight in my chest, one hand resting over the curve of my belly out of habit.
I opened the door.
And there he was.
Villain.
Standing on my front porch, bruised and battered, like a tornado had taken him and spat him out and left him right where I could see him.
His leather cut hung open.His knuckles were scabbed over.His eyes, those baby blue eyes, held something like regret, something like pain, and maybe something worse.
Hope.
“Hey,” he rasped.
I didn’t move.“How did you find me?”
“Facebook,” he said, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck.“Saw you tagged.Saw the comments.Figured it out.”
