radicalducati Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Kara looked out the frosted glass of the front door to the bronze sedan sitting in the sun. It wasn’t the hottest but it couldn’t have been comfortable sitting out in a car that day. She opened the door and walked out across the pristine gravel as it crunched just under her flip flops.
“Hi!” Kara approached the car with all its windows open as the private investigator sat in the driver’s seat eating a sandwich.
He swallowed what was in his mouth quickly. “Afternoon.”
“How’s it going?” She asked, stopping just beside the door and crouching over to look inside at him.
“It’s alright…” He turned down the radio as it went through a few sports highlights.
“Do you like football?” She asked.
He perked up. “Yes.”
“Do you want to come in and watch the game? Watch my husband with me?” She laughed it off and how it just didn’t sound normal even if it was for her.
He tried not to show any real excitement but he had. “That’d be great but I’m afraid it’s not too professional.”
Kara smiled. “I won’t tell anyone.”
He hesitated. “Well, I guess either way I’m doing my job.”
Kara laughed. “Yep.”
He turned the key over and did up the windows as she stepped back to wait for him. Over the past month she’d gotten to know Edward on a level most people wouldn’t be acquainted with a stranger after only four weeks. He was always around either to give them an update or check the property for anything that could tip him off to Tom—but so far all that had lead to nothing but a budding friendship between them.
He brought the remainder of his lunch with him.
“I was going to offer you lunch too.”
“Oh, no need. My daughter makes sure I eat.”
Kara walked with him toward the front door. “You have a daughter?”
He nodded once. “Amanda. She’s fifteen.”
“Oh!” Kara opened the door and he followed her inside. “I had no idea.”
“Her mother passed during childbirth. She’s grown up and taken it upon herself to realize I’m not all that good at taking care of myself.”
Kara gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was a long time ago.”
The conversation waned as they neared the living room.
“Grab a seat. I’m going to get something to eat.” Kara turned away and walked to the kitchen. She hadn’t been all that hungry that day, only snacking here and there. This time was no different as she grabbed a box of crackers to nibble.
Edward had sat on the couch where James always did and Kara sat at the opposite end.
“Your husband’s done well this season.”
Kara unmuted the television. “So everyone says.”
“You don’t agree?”
“James is…” Kara thought for a moment. “He’s good at whatever he wants. Sometimes I don’t think he has to try very hard to do it.”
“Well, he’s very good at football, I must say.”
“Talented and dedicated. His coach loves him.”
Edward smiled at her. “He makes up for the incompetence of some of the other players I’ve noticed. I wonder if his Alpha-blood helps at all.”
Kara paused under that statement. “What do you mean?”
He watched the television as the game started. “An evolutionary advantage of the Alpha-bloods with their enhanced strength and stamina—it’s got to play some part in his talent, don’t you think?”
Her heart started to pound as his supernatural ability became the centre stage of the conversation. Something she hadn’t put much thought into, came rushing at her from all sides.
“So he’s only this good because of his blood?”
Edward glanced at her. “I’m not trying to discredit his talent.”
“I know you aren’t…” Kara took a breath. “But you think it makes him better than everyone else?”
“I think it makes him better at many things. Not just football.” Edward clarified. “I knew his father and he was just as…”
Kara waited for him to think of the word.
“Let’s just say, Kevin should have been Coven Alpha and James has all those qualities and more.”
“What’s that? Coven Alpha?”
Edward’s eyes left the television and went to hers. “You mean whom? Malcome Clarke at the moment. The man that was second in the initiation rounds to Kevin Dray before the accident.”
Kara blinked. “Huh?”
“You don’t know any of this?”
Like usual, she knew nothing but this time it hit a new level of nothing.
“No, James never says much about his parents.”
“I see.” He thought a moment before continuing, “But this is common knowledge among Elites. Everyone knows Malcome had lost to Kevin and that the plane went down on the way to the anointment for Coven Alpha. Clarke had never stood a chance. Kevin had everything, the mental gains, the strength, the ability to shift for a length of time that would kill most men. He seemed invincible but falling out of the sky will kill even the invincible it seems.”
Kara gulped. She wished she’d known even a smidge of that information but she hadn’t, other than the plane accident at a very shallow level. “Do they know why it went down?”
“A private jet like that? It was The Coven’s but they deemed it a mechanical failure, however I don’t think much was ever confirmed. Malcome Clarke took Coven Alpha as runner-up and the investigation fizzled out.”
“Oh…” Kara thought it all over. “Do you like him?”
“Who?” Edward asked.
“Malcome Clarke.”
“He’s my boss…” He chuckled. “He’s a pompous prick.”
Kara sighed. “That’s too bad.”
“With any luck, one day, your husband will take it. Then he can finish what his father never got a chance to.”
“Which was?”
“Dray blood for Coven Alpha. It’s been almost a hundred years, I believe or more.”
Kara stared at him as her stomach flipped. “What?”
He arched his brow. “Perhaps you should talk to James about it—”
“No.” Kara shook her head. “Please, tell me.”
“There’s not much to tell… with only seven Alpha-blood families left in the world, you’d think the family with the most money, longevity and no truer blood to The Coven would have stayed in power like it had for centuries. But Oliver was never interested and Kevin’s chance was taken from him.”
Oliver… Kara bit her bottom lip. “Oh! James’ grandpa!”
“Yes, that would be him.” Edward gave her a side glance. “Not sure if I’m speaking out of turn but it’s said something was never right about Oliver, always seemed like he was hiding something. Maybe that’s why he had my job for a good portion of his career with The Coven, it’s an easy way to stay in the shadows. Maybe he liked that ability, you sure don’t have that if you’re Coven Alpha.”
Kara nodded. “Oh…”
“It’s all speculation, rumours… I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Kara stood as the information overwhelmed her, just like any bit of information about James ever did. “Do you want something to drink? A beer?”
“I’m working. Remember?” He winked at her.
“Oh yeah…” Kara nodded, looking at the television as her eyes caught the soccer ball moving across the screen to her husband, in what seemed like a perfect pass and ended in a score. “Pop?”
“Sure. Thanks.” He smiled and she walked to the kitchen for the needed break. All the information that had just been given to her with ease, felt like anything but. She found it hard to take, like how she’d ignored every odd side comment and sly teasing about his family the past nine months and now… it was all true.
She looked to her stomach and felt a dull ache that radiated down her hips. It was a new pain, an odd pain. To get her mind off it, she reached for the fridge and found Edward a last can of pop on the shelf. They didn’t drink too much pop, James preferred a beer after practice so that’s what she kept stocked more than fizzy drinks.
With a deep breath and a bit of courage, she walked back toward the sitting room to watch her husband’s football match.
Kara woke to the sound of high pitched beeping. Her head pressed to the pillow of the couch. The TV off. The room dark. She’d fallen asleep after Edward had gone back out to his car after the game. That meant it had to be close to midnight and when she looked at the clock, it confirmed it.
She groaned as her stomach cramped. Still the beeping persisted and she knew she had to get up to figure out where it was coming from.
She followed the high pitched down the hall and towards the front door and saw it was the alarm system, flashing red on the wall near the front door.
“Damn.” She rolled her eyes and walked towards it. The screen appeared locked down and required a passcode. She wasn’t sure what password it needed though.
“Dumb thing, it’s just a tree or something!”
It had gone off more than a few times in the last month but James had been home to shut it off all those times.
She walked to the kitchen and grabbed her cell phone—thankfully charged, she waited as it rang.
“Hello.” He was on speaker phone in his car and she could hear the purr and shift of the engine in the background due to that.
“That stupid alarm is beeping again!”
“What does it say on the screen?”
She walked back down the hall. “I don’t know. It’s on that lock screen.”
“I’ve told you the code how many times?”
She rolled her eyes at his annoyance with her. “I don’t remember, James, what the fuck is it?”
She punched in the numbers he said, and it stopped beeping but kept up its flashing. “It’s still flashing.”
“Go into the information screen.”
She squinted and scrolled through the options, another screen popped up. “Security breach, what a surprise.”
“Where?”
“Uh…” She scanned the screen. “The west gate, it says.”
His pause came with a deepening of his voice. “Go into the cameras and look at it.”
“Cameras?” She huffed. “Are you going to be home soon?”
“Yes, I’m almost there. Can you look at the camera now?”
“I don’t know how.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll just leave it till you’re home.”
“Get out of the security breach screen and select the camera icon.”
She groaned. “Why—”
“Kara, do it.”
She fumbled with the screen and finally found the cameras. “Now what?”
“West gate.”
She selected it and waited as it loaded up the video surveillance.
“Well?”
“It’s loading, James,” she snapped as the screen popped up and she squinted at the dark gate. Her eyes widened at what she saw. “Oh.”
“Oh?” he echoed.
“It’s open. The gate’s open.”
“Actually open?”
“It looks like the locks were broken. Isn’t that like a chain and a padlock?”
“It’s better than that.”
Her heart sped up. “I don’t know, James!”
“Get Edward and go to Blackwell.”
Kara swallowed. “Really?”
“Now. I’ll meet you there.”
Kara sighed and looked out the window to the sedan as she heard a few muffled grunts and groans. “Shit…”
“What?” James asked.
She pressed her forehead to the glass to look through the darkness as she saw two silhouettes tumbling to the ground. She stiffened away from the door in fear. “I think he’s outside.”
“Who?”
“Tom.”
“Get upstairs. Go hide.”
“Ed…”
“Leave him. Listen to me, go now!”
Kara turned away from the locked front door and ran for the stairs. Her cramp wouldn’t subside that time and it made her buckle to her knees as she reached the top floor.
“Kara…”
She heard James’ distant voice from the phone now skipping along the floor boards. The tears started before she could stop them, reaching for the phone and hearing the door as it was slammed into. It wouldn’t hold back any angry male that possessed the ability to shift into a large wolf and she knew it.
She got to her feet barely, grabbed the phone and ran to their bedroom, shutting herself inside, even locking the pathetic little knob lock. It would all become a false sense of security as she heard the heavy drag of footsteps inside the home. Her ears honed in on it and it made her panic. She went to the small walk-in closet and shoved herself inside, under the clothing hanging near the ground. A few flew off, falling onto top of her head and making her yelp.
“Kara…”
She put the phone to her ear. “He’s in the house. I can hear him.”
“Be still, my love.”
She bit her bottom lip to hold her breath.
“I’m almost there…”
The crack of wood sliced through the silence and the bedroom door was broken from the hinges.
She shut her eyes tight, taking the phone from her ear and clicking it off. Her heart might have felt many things but one thing was clear and true, that this was it. All the things she’d ever ran from, all the things she’d ever enjoyed and loved, hated or cried over—now it wouldn’t matter. Not once she got there with Josh, met him where he was, where Tom would put her after all she’d done to him.
“I can smell you!” Tom’s voice boomed above her humming thoughts. “It’s changed but it’s still you. Just come out and it’s all over now, Kara!”
She hadn’t breathed in well over thirty seconds but she kept her eyes and mouth shut of any noise. James would want that. He would want her to at least try and she had.
His boots, covered from the dirt of their garden and a few leaves stained the white carpets as he stepped into the closet.
“Oh, Kara…” He crouched down to the clothes she hid behind and pulled them back with a laugh. “That was a shit game of hide and go seek.”
Her eyes went to his as he loomed over her. His black hair dishevelled and plastered across his forehead. He looked burnt out and pissed. She’d never quite seen him so crazy eyed.
“Your body guard sucks, by the way.”
She let out a whimper with the guilt, picturing Edward outside, out cold—if not dead.
The corner of Tom’s mouth lifted to a twisted smirk. “Congratulations though… look what you’ve done to me! Or should I thank your husband? Does he really bring you that much pleasure?”
She tensed as he inched toward her, searching her peripheral vision for anything she could use to club him with.
“This is a very nice house. Even your fucking lamps are expensive.” He grabbed her shoulder, right where his mark was and dug his fingers into the scarred flesh.
“How’s your neck? Does it hurt like mine? Did it flatten you on the floor while you let him fuck you! But you’ve always submitted, I bet you submit all the time to him, don’t you?” He snorted in disgust.
Kara whimpered as the baby in her grew restless and she tried to soothe her, putting a hand to her belly as his grip increased, she called out. “Please, don’t hurt me… the baby!”
“No more begging! You’re really good at it. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…” Tom’s villainous stare etched her fears. “Up!” He yanked her to her feet and she fell back to her side, letting out a cry from the pain. It had started to become unbearable.
“James is coming—”
Tom rolled his eyes and pulled her back up. “I’m going to kill him, you and that baby tonight. So, more the merrier.”
“You say that, but you waited until I was alone—”
“I’m not afraid of your pathetic husband! Still trying to figure out how some blood diluted cross like you even gets with an Elite like him. This guy is an Alpha-blood and he’s got Coven members out for me everywhere! Then you play games like last night. Enough is enough.”
Kara tried to back away, knowing she had no strength to fight him. “Please, Tom, don’t hurt the baby—she’s innocent.”
“Innocent…” He brought his calloused hand to her chin and gripped it, turning her face from side to side. “On second thought.” He took her by the throat and slammed her head into the wall, making her vision blur and black. She gripped the wall for support as another cramp wrapped her back and she knew now what that meant.
“No…” She cried. I’m definitely in labour.
“Look at me!” Tom wrapped his hand around her neck, tightening just enough to make it hard to breathe. “That little hybrid baby inside of you is going to be worth a lot of money on the black market, maybe I will keep you alive, just long enough to have that Elite baby in my possession.”
She gasped for air and out of desperation to save the child said, “It’s yours. Not his.”
He paused. “What did you just say?”
“The baby.” She tried to shove him away but he kept her pinned.
He paused, looking down at her belly. “That’s bullshit!”
Kara swallowed. “Don’t kill your baby.”
“I’m supposed to believe this? Really?”
“Do the math,” Kara gasped for breath. “I wasn’t with James…”
Tom dropped the hold on her. “Bullshit again!”
She touched her tender neck. “I’m in labour. I need to go to the hospital.”
Tom’s eyes darkened. “Not a chance a pretty-boy Elite like him would marry a half-breed knocked up with a Recreant’s baby.”
Kara swallowed. “Yeah, I guess that bond does mean a lot to him.”
Tom flew forward on her and grabbed her again, dragging her across the carpet. “Fuck of course that’s what this is! True bonds.” He pinned her to the floor after a few tumbles. “You dirty little whore… gave me the run around, knowing you’d have the protection of an Elite like him—no matter how you fucked up! He’s a blind idiot. Now, I want to kill him more.”
“Good luck killing him. Pretty sure you’re not an Alpha-blood.”
Tom’s face twisted into a smirk with a head tilt. “You never did know when to shut your fucking mouth…” He stepped up to her, kicked her flat to her back and put his steel toed work boot to her throat, where the crushing ensued at a slowness that would make anyone see their life flash before their eyes and Kara saw hers. Tom had only been a small part of it, James more, Josh even more.
“I’ll cut it out of you. Right after you’re dead. He’ll like finding you like that, won’t he?”
She took her last breath of air as his laugh broke across the room and her vision darkened. The boot left her throat and the air filled her lungs and the crash near her head, made her eyes flash open.
She saw the new entanglement and broken wood from the nightstand as James had Tom levelled on the floor, his forearm bearing down on her ex-boyfriend’s neck as he wreathed above, cursing under his breath. His jaw had set in a way Kara hardly recognized.
“Kara, go!”
Tom struggled against him and Kara saw his slipping expression from the lack of air James kept from him.
When she didn’t move, James looked at her.
“Go!” He shouted loud enough to scare her into action.
She used the bed to propel herself up and she ran from the room, hardly able to scale the stairs as another labour pain came on, she stopped to let it pass but fell down the next four stairs on her side instead.
“Kara!” Edward ran toward her from the front door. His face bruised and all kinds of swollen but he was alive.
“You’re okay?”
“Come. You need to leave.”
She shook her head. “James… go help him.”
“I assure you, your husband has this under control. Now, come!” He hauled her to her feet and pulled her toward the open front door. Her feet stepped over the broken glass of picture frames Tom had broken as he’d let himself inside the home and she could feel the blood seep through her socks the further she stepped.
Edward got her outside. “What’s the matter? Are you injured?”
“I’m in labour!” She called out as the pain made her collapse to the entryway.
“What?” He took her arm and helped her back up to her feet, supporting most, if not all of her weight.
“I can feel it,” her tears started again as a loud bang and crash came from the upstairs and Tom tumbled down the stairs, James with him and they both settled on the tile of the hallway below.
“Bloody hell,” Edward muttered. “Come with me.”
Kara’s eyes stayed on James as he paused from the blow he’d taken to the back of his head during the fall and then Tom was on top. “James!”
Edward’s pull did nothing and then he picked her up in his arms.
“No!” She shouted. “Help him!”
The man ignored every request she begged of him and he put her inside the backseat of his sedan, about to close the door when Tom threw James from the front door of the house. Her husband rolled across the gravel and slid to a stop on his side.
Edward shut the door and Kara grappled her way to the window to watch in vain.
“Now’s about when I say we should shift and finish this like men!” Tom walked from the house, rubbing a hand under his bloody nose.
James got to his hands and knees, standing with a surprising level of composure.
“She told me!” Tom boomed with pride. “Told me all about that baby inside of her. How does that make you feel?”
James spat some blood from his mouth, turning his cheek to Edward just behind him. “Take Kara and go.”
“Yes, sir.” Edward went for the driver’s side.
“Not so fast!” Tom shouted. “She’s mine and you’re dead.”
James looked back to him. “You think you’ll kill me?”
Tom snorted. “I know I will.” His eyes flashed silver and Kara knew what that meant, seen him do it before. He pushed forward into the air and landed only feet away from James as a big brown and grey wolf, snarling and drooling like the animal he was.
James held his ground, looking to Edward one last time. “Leave now!”
Edward ran around the car as Kara watched his eyes flash that same silver and her palm hit the window.
“No!” She screamed through the glass as James went from the lean, tall man she loved into an animal twice the size of Tom with the blackest of black fur and teeth so white, they reflected moonlight on that clear summer’s eve. He held a beautiful and powerful presence. Everything about him was startling and astounding, even frightening.
Edward got in the driver’s seat in a hurry.
She stared out the window as James grabbed Tom around the neck but motion was interrupted when Tom fought back. He levelled her husband on his back along the hood of the car and she gasped from the way the blow sounded.
“Oh god…”
Edward went to reverse away.
“No!” Kara cried as James rolled, falling off the side and Tom took his place. He put his large front paws to the windshield, snapping and drooling as he eyed her through the glass. She knew what he wanted, what he would get if James didn’t win.
The window cracked beneath his weight and she screamed, reaching for the door locks to free herself from the attack.
“No, Kara, we’re leaving!” Edward put his foot to the gas and Tom slipped off, not without a screech of Tom’s large nails scratching the paint with his giant paws.
She looked out the side window to see him, shifted as a black wolf—still fighting. It made her want to scream as the fear-filled memory of him dragging her from that hell dimension all came rushing back. Josh died the same moment that James had saved her and she knew that he would save her again the same way if given a second chance. The memory ended right as James got Tom pinned to the ground, his jaw only releasing the wolf’s throat at the last possible second to look at her.
Kara’s heart filled with adrenaline, every emotion coursing through her, but something else was going on inside her as well.
She felt her neck begin to burn and the pain increased. Trying to breathe, she gasped, pushing her hand to the mark but it didn’t help.
The scene in front of her got serious fast. James’ wolf turned back to a limp and heaving Tom and his life succumbed to her husband’s deadly jaw power.
A vicious snap echoed inside her skull as the gate rolled across the gravel drive.
Edward drummed his fingers to the steering wheel. “Come on, come on!”
Kara pressed her face to the glass as Tom let out one final yelp, and then it was just the sound of crushing bone and tendon as James tore through his throat.
She took a last look at the scene. Tom was dead and her husband had been the one to kill him—just like he’d promised her. James always kept his promises. She saw the common theme right then and there that he didn’t care what he had to do to keep a promise to her.
Edward stepped on the gas and careened the car out onto the country road. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered to her.
“You’re sorry?” Kara let out a gasp as the pain made her want to push.
“I fell asleep in the car. He caught me off guard.”
She shut her eyes from the burn, a feeling she didn’t recognize. “Just get me to the hospital, please!”
“Yes.” He drove and she fought through the pain into Manchester but once they got to the hospital, it all became a blurry, foggy aura of pain and relief at the same time. Her life would change in minutes because her baby—finally, would be in the world with her.
Edward helped her into a wheelchair and the nurse took over.
“What’s her name?”
Kara shouted aloud as she stopped fighting the need and pushed. “Kara… Dray…”
The woman paused. “The footballer’s wife?”
Kara rolled her eyes. “Yes! Fuck, it hurts!”
“Can you please do something of usefulness!” Edward demanded at the nurse.
The woman gave him a peeved glare before she wheeled Kara away into a nearby room. They helped her onto the bed as the doctor, who introduced herself, snapped gloves onto her hands.
“How long have you been in labour?”
“I don’t know…” Kara moaned, pushing her hand through her hair as the pain got stronger. The entire drive had been a blur, nevermind the past hour of her life. “It’s hurting a lot!” They undressed her, they did everything and she hardly noticed.
“You’re lucky you showed up when you did, this baby is minutes away.”
Kara wanted to scream but she controlled herself enough to make a final demand, “can I have some pain medication?”
The doctor smiled at her. “Oh, no, you’re much too far into this now. You’ll do fine. Your body can do this.”
Kara arched her head back and screamed as another push came on.
“Chin down, Kara,” the doctor directed as she brought her feet into the stirrups.
She felt a burning grow and it scared her. “What’s going on?”
The doctor looked up to her. “Push when you can.”
“W-where’s my doctor?”
“We didn’t have the number…” The nurse told her, “Plus, no time.”
Kara wreathed from the frustration of the birth plan going all terribly wrong—thanks to James and Tom. She pushed as her body shook and convulsed. The pain became overbearing. She wouldn’t last much longer.
“There’s the baby… get the blankets,” One of the nurses’ snapped at another.
Kara stopped hearing anything after that. The buzzing in her ears overtook the rest of the moment and then the silence hit. The pain in her body subsided and she felt the instant relief as she drifted between consciousness.
“Here’s your baby, Mum!”
She opened her eyes as the nurse approached with the small being wrapped in blankets, squinting from the bright lights above her.
“It’s a girl.”
But Kara already knew that. A bright blue-eyed child was placed in her arms. Tears formed and lazily drifted down Kara’s cheeks. She wasn’t sure she deserved that moment, but her baby did.
The buzzing ears hadn’t let up but the child’s pint-sized hysterics crackled through it. It was a sweet, sweet sound to Kara’s ears. It heightened her love of the baby, even if she didn’t understand why. Those cries were just what she needed at that moment in her life.
“Beautiful.” The nurse gave her a smile.
“She looks very healthy.” The doctor said from across the room with a smile.
Kara cradled her close, kissing the baby, tears stinging her eyes again as the child cried. “Oh, I’m here, Emma, I’m here.” She ran her fingers along the baby’s soft cheek. The nurses busied themselves cleaning her and working around them.
She smiled at her daughter. “I love you…” The baby nuzzled her and she kissed the top of her head as the child opened her eyes to reveal the astonishing bright, bright blue colour again.
A nurse was near her and looked down. “Wow, I’ve never seen a pair of newborn eyes so blue before.”
Kara swallowed and kissed her head again, cooing to the baby as the nurse walked away. Rocking the little girl in her arms, she brought her in close as she started to cry, nuzzling her.
“Are you hungry?” Kara ran her fingers along her baby’s forehead and unwrapped her, just like the books had told her to do. She lifted her and put her to her chest, the small thing frantically searching till she found what she wanted. Kara let out a soft breath, held her close and watched the baby enjoy her comfort.
Kara, are you alright?
Startled, her eyes flashed around the room, searching for him and realizing he wasn’t there. James.
Are you okay? He repeated the question to her through their linked thoughts.
She breathed, staying quiet, tightening her grip on the child.
Kara, I know you can hear me.
She cringed, knowing she had to say something. We’re fine.
We?
Kara took a staggered breath. We… She looked at the baby in her arms.
I’m so sorry I’m not there.
She ran trembling fingers along her baby’s brow. When will you be? She needed time to prepare.
I’m stuck in the shift for twenty-four hours, I’m sorry.
She let out a breath of relief. It’s fine.
Can you tell me what she looks like?
Kara sighed, thinking over his request, trying to process some words about the child to give to him. She didn’t know how to describe something so perfect.
Please, love.
Kara thought another moment about it. She’s… got blue eyes and she’s super tiny. I never thought I would hold something this small… this fragile. She’s beautiful.
I can’t wait to meet her. His voice echoed with hurt and despair.
She looked to her baby who had figured out how to nurse with little direction.
She was in love with her daughter, but she couldn’t shake the fear of the man responsible for their survival. She was married to someone who was powerful and fierce in both body and social status. Perhaps she should be thankful that he wanted everything she was, but his dominance, his temper and his growing responsibility to the life he led was far above what she thought she could live up to. Especially now with everything that had transpired.
I’ll see you tomorrow. I have to go to Blackwell.
She looked around in the silence, accepting her loneliness for the time being.
I love you, Kara, so much. I hope you know that.
She sunk into the hospital bed, snuggling her tiny baby close, knowing that once tomorrow came, she and the child would be under a whole new sanction, and she knew she wouldn’t be ready—no matter how safe being under James Dray’s reign could be.