Page 34 of Secret Baby Daddies
“Who hurt you?”
I jerked back as if he’d punched me.
“Excuse me?”
He stopped right in front of me and gripped the back of my neck.
“Someone hurt you. The way you act about money, it’s not normal. Most people don’t recoil when they find out the father of their baby is wealthy enough to take care of them. You do. Why? What rich asshole made you like this?”
I glared up at him with the urge to run clawing at me.
“Back off.”
“Ex-boyfriend? Daddy?” His nostrils flared. “That’s it, huh? What did your rich daddy do to you?”
I shoved him away and busied my hands with cleaning up scraps from my workstation.
“None of your business.”
“If it’s stopping you from giving us a chance then it damn wellismy business, Harley.” He pinned my hands to the table and leaned down so we were eye-to-eye. “Tell me, sweetheart. Tell me and I’ll do whatever I can to make it better.”
It was the way he said ‘sweetheart’ that nearly broke me. He was still demanding things but there was a desperate edge to his voice that made me think he actually cared. Before I could let everything spill out, I heard the front door open and managed to gather myself.
I pulled away from Jace and by the time I got to the front of the shop I was in control again.
CHAPTER 27
Harley
“I don’t know, Harley. I think you’re freaking out and need to stop and breathe.” Reagan was doing her best to calm me but it wasn’t working. “Nothing’s going to happen tonight. You’re home from work, you’re locked in your room, and they’re not bothering you. Even if they were, it would just be for sex or food. What’s so bad about that?”
I pulled the heavy blanket over my head and hunkered down in the bed even deeper. “I can’t do this. I have to get out of here.”
“No, you don’t. Harley, listen to me. Breathe. There’s nothing wrong. Don’t you know that if I believed for a second you were in danger that I’d already be on my way to get you? All this shit with your dad is coming back up now and I’m worried that if you don’t deal with it, you’re going to hurt your chance at happiness.”
There was a soft knock on my door and I whimpered.
“Someone’s here. What do I do?”
I heard the soft swish of the door opening and gasped.
“So much for a lock.”
“Go talk to them. Tell them about your dad, Harley. I love you.”
The edge of my blanket was lifted and Maddox’s blue eyes were peering in at me.
“Hey, bunny.”
I hung up with Reagan and bit my lip. “Hi.”
“Can I come in?” He saw my hesitation. “Or maybe you’d like to go out to the greenhouse with me?”
Out of the three of them he was the most laid back. He didn’t go around barking out orders at me and that made him safer. I took a deep breath and blew it out.
“I’m kind of freaking out.”
He smiled. “I thought so. Either that or you’d suddenly turned into a kid trying to stay up past your bedtime.”
