Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“Perhaps it would be best if both of you leave. I’m not sure this fight you two have going on is good for Miss Ford or the baby,” the doctor says, carefully standing between both of us. My gaze moves to Lyla, and I find myself swallowing my pride.
“I-I’d like to stay, Sun—Lyla.”
She stares at me. There’s so much sadness hidden in her eyes, and I hate that it’s there, because I know I’m the son of a bitch that put it there.
“You both can stay, as long as you don’t talk,” she finally says.
I nod, not happy that Ford stays, but grateful that Lyla let me. She has every reason not to. I move even closer to her, while remaining on the opposite side of her father. I watch as the doctor rubs stuff over Lyla’s stomach and then moves a wand-like instrument over the same area. I have to admit it’s all foreign to me. I’ve never thought about what happens when a woman is pregnant. It’s nothing I ever worried about. That all changes the moment the sound of my child’s heartbeat begins echoing in the room. My gaze automatically goes to the screen and the doctor is highlighting this small, little oval shape.
“Is tha-that…”
I stop talking and it’s not because of my stutter. It has more to do with what I’m seeing.
“That’s the baby,” the doctor supplies.
I stand there, listening to the heartbeat, watching the tiny image of my child, and I’m in complete shock. I don’t even realize I do it, but I reach down and find Lyla’s hand, giving it a squeeze. I look down at her, wishing I could tell her everything I’m feeling right now. I know it’s impossible, though. It would be hopeless even if I could speak plainly. It’s just too much.
Lyla’s hand rests in mine, but she doesn’t move it. I turn my head to look down at her. She’s staring right at me and she’s studying my face. I don’t know what she’s looking for, but apparently, she finds something because she finally squeezes my hand back.
I doubt it means all is well, but at least in this moment, we can both take a minute and be thankful for our child.
Chapter 7
Lyla
“Dad’s going to kill you when he finds out you drove me home from the hospital,” I mumble when we get to Thomas’s SUV.
“He already wa-wants to kill me,” Thomas replies with a shrug. He opens the door for me and helps me inside. It’s not the first time he’s helped me in a car, but everything is different now. One thing that hasn’t changed is the way he reaches over and secures the seatbelt around me. I used to think that when he did that, he did it because he thought I was valuable and wanted to protect me.
Wow, was I wrong.
Apparently, he just does it because it’s his natural inclination. I can’t see his dad doing that for his mom, but what do I know? Maybe he does. Anyway, when he does it now, it doesn’t make me feel cared for or special. It just makes me sad.
“Then you think you wouldn’t try to make it worse,” I grumble.
“You c-came to my hotel, Lyla. You ob-v-viously w-wanted to talk.”
“It could have been temporary insanity.” I sigh, feeling lost. I look out the window at the hazy, blue mountains of Virginia and wonder what I’m going to do.
“This is bigger than you an-and m-m-me.”
“I know. You want to stop the clubs from going to war.”
“Th-that’s import-t-tant, but I meant the b-b-baby.”
“I’ll take care of my baby just fine, Thomas. You don’t have to force yourself to be around me because of a baby. It’s my fault, anyway. I should have insisted on you using protection.”
“I should have used it,” he says.
“It’s a day late and a dollar short now, I guess.”
“You’re cu-cute.”
“What are you doing, Thomas? Do you even know?”
He drops his hands off the wheel and turns to look at me. I loved this man so much at one time. Now, I’m just confused and alone.
“I’m t-trying Lyla.”
“The only way to stop my father from going to war is to—”
“Marry me.”
“That’s not happening. I’m not going to take vows before God when it comes to you, Thomas.”
“Th-then what?”
“Club rules,” I mutter, not bothering to hide that I’m not happy with being forced into a corner. “I claim you as my old man.”
“That won’t st-st-stop him, Sun—”
“I told you not to call me that!”
He holds his hands up in a defensive nature.
“Lyla.”
“And it will slow him down enough to try and talk to him. That’s all I got. I wasn’t the one that created this mess, Thomas.”
“I re-remember you being th-th-there,” he says, his voice dropping down. It’s the same tone he uses when he makes love… has sex. That’s all Thomas and I did. It can’t be making love when you’re imagining your partner is someone else. I ignore the pain that I feel in my heart with that sorry fact. I ignore a lot when it comes to Thomas.