Page 29 of Faking With My Grumpy Billionaire

“Hey, it’s me Maya.”

“Hey girl, how have you been?” I could hear the smile within her tone, and it instantly had one appearing on my face.

“Things have been crazy. You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

“Please, try me.” I could practically hear the eye roll.

I knew I was going to tell her everything. It was why I wanted to speak with her. I knew she would be able to keep the secret, and I needed someone that wasn’t Charlie to talk to about the baby. I was still freaking out over it, and I had no idea what I was going to do, other than wait to see if Charlie’s friend came up with any new information against Diablo and Santiago.

“Holy shit,” she said completely stunned when I finished telling her about my deal with Charlie.

“I know. It feels like something from a fairytale or one of those cheesy romance novels you love so much.”

“I am both happy for you and extremely jealous that my ass was not sitting in that bar that night,” she said with a light chuckle.

“Wouldn’t Jason have a problem with that?” I teased.

Jason was her boyfriend. She had met him about eighteen months ago, and it was a huge shock to me that she had one. Not getting attached to anyone was kinda a rule that everyone in the program followed, especially those of us that are lifers. She had met him working at the bar; she was still living in that know nothing town. Jason bought the bar, and one thing led to another with them. She did tell him after being with him for a year her story, and he was completely fine with it. Well, not fine, but his anger was directed towards all the assholes that had hurt her and not that she had lied and kept something that important from him.

I had no idea how they were doing it though, because I would be even more paranoid that something was going to happen. It was one thing to accept being in WitSec and another to put someone in the position of being forced to be in it. I never wanted that for Charlie or Zoey. It was why I felt so strongly that it would be best for me to leave. That way they didn’t get any choices taken from them. Even though I knew that rationally, a large part of me didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay here where I could work, have money, have a roof over my head, and food in the fridge. Especially with being pregnant.

“Naw, he knows I love him,” she said fondly before she continued. “I’m shocked though that you agreed to it.”

“Well, as I said, it took a month before I did, and it was a complete coincidence that we ever saw each other again. I just can’t seem to decide if it’s a good thing or not.”

“You’re only five years in, but there’s a good chance that no one is coming for you. It took me a long time, almost ten years, before I finally settled down somewhere. Not that a lot of people would call this place somewhere. I’ve never even heard of Rose Falls and from what you said about the town, it sounds like the perfect hiding spot. You would be smart to stay there and milk it while you can.”

“I know, but it’s not that simple,” I said with a long sigh before I finally told her the BIG news. “I’m pregnant.”

“You’re … wow. Um … wow.”

I knew she didn’t know what to say because that was essentially the biggest rule you didn’t want to break within the program. It was one thing to bring in another adult, but to mix a child into it was just stupid. Most might not agree, but you had to think logically. It wasn’t all about the sweet baby moments. It was also when they got older. Even if you could live in a small town or a simple apartment, you had to live a life of lies and as an adult it was hard, but as a child it was just cruel.

That child would have to lie for the rest of their lives how they grew up and who their parents were. They would have to go through school knowing that any friend they make they would have to leave ‘em eventually. That they could never bring friends over to the house. They could never get attached to anyone or any set town because at a moment’s notice you might have to leave it. They would have to go by a different fake name in each new town. It was too much for a child to bear, especially when they didn’t come with their parents from the start.

I didn’t want that life for this baby, but just the thought of not having it made my heart feel like it was being squeezed in a vice. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. I always make sure my partner uses a condom; there’s no exceptions. Charlie used one, but for some reason it didn’t matter.”

“Charlie is the father. Does he know?”

“He knows everything now. I had to tell him last night when he found the test. I just found out yesterday.”

“And how did he take the news?”

“At first he was pissed. He thought I was trying to trap him or something, that I had gotten pregnant before sleeping with him which is a dick thing to say, but at the same time we did use a condom so he had every reason to believe the baby couldn’t be his. As for the other part, he was surprisingly supportive. I told him I had to leave, but he didn’t want me to. He has an old friend from growing up that is a cop. He was going to have his friend look into my case and see if the threat against me was still real. I just … I don’t know,” I finished, not even sure what it was that I wanted to say.

“It’s a lot,” Holly easily understood. “He might be right though. Sometimes threats do disappear. It's why we’re supposed to have handlers so they can contact us and inform us that it’s safe to come back home or that we don’t have to keep running. Ours are dead, so we are really just guessing at this point. It is viable that you could be safe to live there. Would you want to?”

“I would. If it meant it was safe for everyone, then yes I would love to continue to live here. I don’t know what would happen in the future between Charlie and me. We’re not even dating, but we will have a child together. I would hope we could raise the baby together, even if we didn’t end up living together past this next year. We have things we need to work out between ourselves. He has to be more open and honest with me, but I do like this town, and Zoey is so fucking cool. It really depends though on what his friend can find out.”

“Hopefully, his friend will be able to give you good news. I want this to work for you. I want you to be able to have the family and life that you have always wanted. I would say stick around and see how it all plays out. Even if there is still a threat against you, Rose Falls sounds like the perfect place for you to hide out. It worked for me. As long as you make sure to take the right steps, you can stay in a town for years without any potential harm to yourself or anyone else. Don’t be so quick to cut and run.”

“It’s not that simple, but I am going to try. Everything in me is telling me to get out of here, but I am trying to ignore that part of my brain. I know part of that isn’t instinct but fear.”

“Exactly. You can’t let fear dictate how you live your life or respond to situations. Think positively and things will work out.”

“I hope you’re right.” I let out a soft sigh before I continued, “Enough about me. How has everything been going with you?”

Talking with Holly always helped me with trying to figure out what to do. It always made me feel better and to feel more like I was in control of my own life. Now all I had to do was wait and hope that Charlie’s friend was able to deliver some good news to me. Simple, right?

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