Tied - Part Three (The Tied Series) (10 page)
Read Tied - Part Three (The Tied Series) Online
Authors: Ellen Callahan
I shook my head. “I’d better do it myself. But thanks.”
Tonight?
I rested my hands on my stomach. How many times was I going to break this promise to myself?
Tomorrow, the next day, tonight, no, maybe over the weekend
. The longer I put it off, the harder it was going to be. I had doctor’s appointments to think about, plans to make for the future, and I wanted him to be involved.
Or at least, I wanted to give him the chance to be involved. He could still reject me, break up with me and kick me out. Especially after what he’d said that afternoon.
Not tonight. Tomorrow. He’s feeling too low right now, tonight should be about him
.
That was my plan. I doubted I would stick to it.
CHAPTER 10
The days were getting longer. Sunset had only just begun when the three of us split from Lisa and her kids to head home. Lisa had taken a video with her phone and promised to forward it to Lockett as soon as the kids were in bed.
When we found him, though, it was obvious he would have no interest in watching a clip of his niece singing. He wasn’t interested in anything but the drink before him on the coffee table and the cursed cast that bound his leg.
His words slurred when he spoke. “Find those fuckers yet, Mal?”
“No,” Mallet said carefully, locking the front door behind us. “Not yet. I paid Lee a visit, though. He’s on the case, he wants to help.”
“Yeah? How much is he charging you?”
Mal’s face remained still. “Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“One fight.”
“What the fuck?” Alexa demanded, looking between the two of them.
“Can we talk about this later?” Mal asked Lockett, holding Alexa at arm’s length.
“Later,” Lockett scoffed. “Sure. I’ve got all the time in the world now anyway, don’t I.”
“Wait, what the hell are you two talking about?” Alexa demanded.
“It’s nothing,” Mal tried to assure her, but Lockett pushed himself to stand on his one good leg.
“Revenge, sweetheart,” he said, wobbling, “Stay out of the way if you can’t handle it.”
“Jesus, Lockett,” I hissed, rushing to his side. He was going to fall over. “Please, sit. I’ll get you some water, you guys can talk about this in the morning.”
“Why am I the only one who doesn’t know you’re pregnant?”
The room around me froze. The blood in my veins, the very air around me, all was awash in biting coldness. Mallet’s grip on Alexa’s shoulder, Alexa’s fingers digging into his forearm - they stood as if frozen with their eyes locked on me.
Lockett’s own gaze was unfocused. “How did you find out?” I whispered. I couldn’t deny it - I’d just have to admit it again later. The truth was out and there was no bottling it back up. Not something this big.
He spun the laptop on the coffee table, revealing what looked to be some kind of donation page, with his picture right at the top, otherwise covered in terrible clipart of medical symbols and pregnancy silhouettes.
“Friends,” the headline read, “Help An Injured Member of Our Family of Fighters.”
I didn’t need to read more. And I had a suspicion that I knew who did it. “Whitney,” I whispered.
“You told one of those good luck sluts before you said a thing to me,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Are you even sure its mine? Or does it belong to that fuckface Patrick?”
My stomach dropped. How could he think that? “Of course it’s not his!”
Alexa and Mallet finally stirred. “Guys,” Alexa said. “Really Lockett, maybe you should go lie down for a while.”
“No.”
She looked to Mallet. “Maybe you can help him to his room?”
But Mal was still stuck on my news. “You’re seriously pregnant?” I nodded. “I didn’t sign up to live with a kid.”
“Are you fucking serious right now!?” Alexa exploded. “It’s none of your goddamn business! How can you say that to my sister!?”
“Quit shrieking,” he said, shrugging her off to stride toward their bedroom. She chased after him and slammed the door, shutting them both inside. I could hear them continue shouting but I couldn’t make out their words.
“Nice job,” he said, gesturing toward the door, “I thought they were unbreakable. Guess you’ve done it, now.”
Oh God
. I didn’t want this to come between them. I’d been so hung up on worrying about how Lockett would take the news, I hadn’t considered anybody else.
Alexa was right, though. It was none of Mal’s business. I’d move the hell out of if I had to, but otherwise, it wasn’t his business at all.
“Let me see that page,” I said, lifting up the laptop and stepping out of Lockett’s reach. I turned my back on him - I couldn’t take that accusing look in his eyes.
It was a charity page, all right. No wonder he was in such a great mood. The man had refused to use two crutches, wouldn’t let anyone help him even with his whole leg immobilized - and here was a page begging for donations with his face right at the top.
Phrases jumped out at me as my eyes blurred with tears. “Never fight again,” “may never walk again,” “manipulative girlfriend got pregnant on purpose.”
“Manipulative?” I hissed as I turned, nearly dropping the computer. “That witch! I thought we were becoming friends!”
He scoffed. “You’re dumber than you look, then. How can a girl like you be so naive?”
“A girl like me,” I repeated. I hefted the laptop and asked, “Do you believe this? You think I did this on purpose?”
He shrugged. The tears I’d been holding back finally burst from my eyes with one painful sob. There was no fixing this. He did believe it - that I did this on purpose. And that maybe I’d had sex with Patrick. Who knew what else. Why else would he have spent the evening drinking heavily and staring at the webpage?
We were broken beyond repair. I’d been foolish to think anything could survive between us. Not after all the difficulties we’d faced even before his ankle was slashed.
“I was falling in love with you, you know,” I said. I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, regaining my composure. “I knew I should have told you sooner. But I really believed we could work it out.”
“How the fuck could you believe that?” he growled. He slammed a fist against his cast. “Look at me.” His lip curled in a sneer. “What were you thinking? An alcoholic and a cripple would make decent parents?” He took a long swallow of his drink, never peeling his eyes from my face.
“You don’t need to be so cruel,” I said. I placed the laptop back on the coffee table. “You’re heartless, Rob Lockett. I loved you. But if this is how you really feel…” I shook my head and I drifted into my room. I didn’t even slam the door. The energy had drained out of me. I closed it with a quiet click, shutting him out, shutting him away.
Orange light from the setting sun slanted across my bed. I stared at it, fixed, stuck in the moment. That wasn’t a rejection. That was an accusation. He’d jumped to every worst conclusion and clung to it like truth.
And the worst part was, I couldn’t blame him for having such a low opinion of me. Knowing who I was, the things I’d done - anyone would assume the same. I rested my hands on my stomach.
How could I have been happy about this?
How could I begin to imagine that I’d do right by the life that grew inside me?
His ankle was wrecked, his body would never be the same, but I was the one who was truly broken.
He knocked softly on my door. It had to be him - I could still hear Alexa and Mallet arguing in the next room. I dove for the knob and locked the door.
Then, with shaking hands and a heavy heart, I pulled my suitcase out from under my bed and laid it out on top of my mattress.
Home
. This was only ever almost my home. I’d never really felt it. This was Lockett’s life - and Alexa’s and Mallet’s. Not mine. I’d intruded on their world and ruined everything. My sister’s enraged shouts next door were more than enough evidence of that.
My leaving was the solution to all of their problems. All three of them.
Home called. My nightmare and my salvation. I’d tried to start a life of my own and I’d made an irreparable mess of it. I didn’t even want to talk to Patrick - not after what Lockett had said. It would feel like a betrayal to call him up so soon, with Lockett right there on the other side of my door.
All I wanted to do was leave.
This was the second part of the four-part series, Tied. Get excited - the rest of Katherine’s and Lockett’s story is coming very soon!
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Ellen’s very first series is available on
Amazon and on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited!
Follow Alexa’s and Mallet’s story:
She's a college grad trying to find herself in NYC; instead she finds him - the cocky MMA fighter with the filthy mouth. One wink is all it takes to turn her world upside down.
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A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Hello, readers and romance fans! Thank you so much for checking out my book - I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it!
It’s a tough world out there for an indie writer and there’s a whole lot of competition. If you enjoyed this story, please share it with your friends or leave me some love right there on
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