I screamed as loud as I could.
“Shut up,” he growled and put a hand over my mouth, stifling the noise. I tried to keep screaming but he held his hand there hard, muffling the noise. “I don’t care who knocked you up, you filthy slut. It doesn’t matter. We’ll get married tomorrow and that baby will be mine, and you’ll be mine. If you want a chance at a decent reputation, you’ll do what I say, and if you ever cross me, if you ever step out of line, I’m going to—”
The door burst open. It knocked into Stuart and sent him staggering. I fell to the side, landing on my knees on the thick carpet. A man came into the room, and I blinked rapidly, feeling dizzy—
It was Gian. His eyes were wide with rage as he looked from me to Stuart.
“What the fuck?” Stuart asked, glaring at Gian then down at me. “This is him, isn’t it? You disgusting—”
Gian smashed his fist into Stuart’s face. Stuart’s head snapped back and blood bubbled up around his teeth as he fell backward, like Gian had turned his power off. He crumpled to the floor.
Giant knelt next to me. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded, staring at him, and Jack came into the room a second later. “What the hell’s going on?” Jack asked, looking around wildly. He stared down at Stuart’s unmoving body then at Gian. “Did you kill him?”
“No,” Gian said. “He’s out cold though.”
“Shit,” Jack said, and started toward Stuart, but stopped when he saw me on the floor. “Ash? What’s happening?”
I stared into Gian’s eyes and he looked back, and in that moment I knew everything, I knew what I had to do. I knew what my future would be if I stayed here, but with Gian, that future was uncertain. With Gian, there was a possibility of something.
I didn’t know if I wanted it. I wasn’t sure if I could trust Gian, or if he’d only use me for my money and my power. Maybe he was worse, and I was leaving one psychopath for another, more dangerous one.
But I had to take a chance.
“Let’s get out of here,” I whispered.
Gian nodded once and scooped me up into his arms.
“What are you doing?” Jack asked as Gian pushed past him. He carried me into the hallway and Jack followed to the door. “Come back, goddamn it. Ash, what the hell are you doing?”
Gian kept going, carrying me down the hall, to the door, and down to his truck. He put me inside, then got behind the wheel, and peeled out. Jack stood on the front stoop and stared down at us with his mouth hanging open. He shouted something, but I didn’t hear.
We drove in silence for a while. Once we were back in the city, Gian looked at me, reached out, and took my hand.
Sobs wracked my body. He held my fingers as he drove back to his place.
“You can get yourself together,” he said as he helped me inside. “When you’re ready, we’ll talk, okay?”
“Right,” I said and put a hand on his chest. “Thanks for what you did back there.”
He nodded once. “Nobody should hurt you like that, Ash.”
“I know.” I smiled sadly then pulled away.
He was right, of course. But years and years of training taught me to be a good little girl, to keep my mouth shut, to obey my parents and the men in my life. That meant Stuart, my brother, my father.
Even if they hurt me, I had to obey.
That was my role in the family.
But I’d broken away. My parents would be furious and my brother would be confused. Stuart would be on the warpath now.
I didn’t know what would happen.
I climbed Gian’s stairs and stepped into the familiar room. I shut and locked the door behind me.
My phone buzzed. It was my mother. I turned it off.
I wasn’t ready for that, not yet. I was sure Stuart told them some story, some partial truth.
And I was sure it involved my pregnancy.
God, this isn’t how I wanted this to happen. Maybe if I’d been able to explain things, maybe this didn’t have to happen.
But there was nothing I could do about it. Gian saved me from Stuart and took me away, and now Stuart could control the narrative.
Not that it would matter anyway.
I’m supposed to be good. Demure, kind, quiet.
Instead, I was pregnant, and living with a stranger.
My life as I knew it was over, forever.
6
Gian
She was up in that room for a while. I sent a quick text to Dean, letting him know what was up. The Adamson girl’s with me, don’t worry about it. He only responded with, You pain in my ass, which could go either way, but he didn’t seem angry about it. I figured he’d pass that along to the Don and then I’d see how the old man reacted.