Page 37 of Sassy Surrogate
“That was unnecessary,” I say quietly, anger a breathing entity inside me.
“What is unnecessary, Ms Brand, is the situation your father has put us all in with his constant lies.”
“What do his lies have to do with any of us? He is not a part of this family. In fact, he’s not been for an exceptionally long time.”
“That may be so in your eyes, but it would seem it isn’t in his, and that’s all that matters to me. Because it will still teach him a lesson. He didn’t quite get the first one, so I guess I’m going to have to up my game.”
At his words, my father speaks up. “What are you going to do, Roberto?”
“Wait and see.” He pivots to face the door and calls out to someone I’m assuming is waiting outside.
Where the hell are Heath and Kieran? They should have been back from the office by now. Heath said he’d only be gone for a few hours.
“I don’t care what my father owes you or that he’s lied to you. That doesn’t make you anything special. He does it to everyone. I just want you out of my house. I want nothing to do with him, or you.”
One of the biggest men I have ever seen in my entire life steps into the foyer. “Ah, Ciro. There you are. I’d like for you to meet Julian’s lovely family.” He waves his hand around the room as if making social introductions. Then he points at me, and his next words have the blood freezing in my veins. “This is the lovely young lady I’m particularly interested in you making acquaintance with.”
“No, Roberto. Not her. Please. She’s pregnant. You can see that. I’d rather you kill me than hurt a hair on her head. Please, I’m begging. Don’t do this.”
“Very well. As you wish.” Roberto makes a come here gesture, and Ciro reaches into his jacket, then places a gun into Roberto’s outstretched palm.
The sound of the single shot is loud as he fires at my father. I didn’t see where the bullet hit him, but he falls to the ground without a sound. A pool of blood spreads rapidly from under him where he lands.
I’m not even aware of moving, but the feeling of running into a solid wall stops me in my tracks and has me seeing stars. Shaking my head to clear it, I see Ciro’s fist headed toward me, and I know it’s going to hurt. I attempt to protect my unborn baby as best I can, not worrying about myself.
Blows rain down on me. The pain is enormous, and I have to fight the natural urge to cover my head as he continues to hit and punch my head, face, and chest. All that matters is keeping baby safe. A particularly hard blow to the temple takes my legs out from under me. As I fall, I pray that this will be over soon.
My thoughts turn to Heath and what he’ll be coming home to. And then there are no more thoughts.
* * *
HEATH
Danica’s going to kill my ass when I get home. I promised her we would be back in time to get the barbecue going before Graham and his family arrive. Rebecca and I had some last-minute changes we needed to make to a contract for a new client that couldn’t wait.
But we’re finally heading home, and since Rebecca’s staying the night, she’s opted to travel back with me and will travel to the office with me in the morning again. When my phone rings, interrupting our conversation about the new client, I think it’s Danica wanting to know where we are. But it’s Graham’s name that appears on the screen.
“Hey Graham. What’s up?” I can hear crying and absolute bedlam over the line.
He clears his throat. “Heath, are you still at the office? Because if you are, you need to get yourself home, like yesterday.”
I can feel my body lock at his words. “Where are you?” Even as I ask the words, I fear I know the answer.
“I’m at your place.” I hear someone speak in the background, and he tells them to hang on. “Heath, I don’t want to go into detail over the phone, but I need to warn you to be prepared. It’s not pretty.”
“Graham, you’re freaking me out here, man. What the hell is going on?”
I hear him sigh. “The family and I arrived to find the front gate and door open. It’s not something I want to get into over the phone, but I’ve had to send Soraya home with the kids. I’m waiting for you here at your house. Just get here.”
The line goes dead.
I look up to find both Rebecca and Kieran watching me, the man’s eyes bouncing between me and the road.
“What’s going on, Heath. Is everything all right?” Rebecca asks.
“Kieran, we need to get home. Fast. Whatever the hell’s going on is bad. That was Graham. He’s sent Soraya and the kids home, but he’s waiting at home for us. He wouldn’t say what the problem is, but it doesn’t sound good, whatever it is.”
To his credit, Kieran does as asked. Thankfully, we weren’t far away when the call came in, and it takes us minutes to get there at the speed he drives. The sight that meets us as we pull into the drive has my heart about stopped in my chest.
