“I left you and Ava alone, and we both know you’ve been going at it like rabbits.The way you two look at each other, there is no way you’re not fucking.Anyway, sex leads to babies, and well, your whole career is killing people or taking care of them.Are you shitting yourself at the prospect of becoming a dad?”
Knox laughed, but then he looked toward Marshal, before glancing across the park into the darkness.
“I don’t even know if she’s pregnant yet.This could all be bullshit.You know that.”
“Yeah, I know that and you know that, but that doesn’t stop the panic, does it?”Marshal asked.“There is a chance you could be a father.The odds are like one in however many sperm you release.”
“Let’s not talk about sperm.”
“I hear it’s time to talk about it,” Marshal said.“You’re freaking out about being a dad, and I’m freaking out about being alone, and yeah, I wanted to blame my parents for not being there, because it’s easy.”He sighed.
“There are good and bad people in this world, Marshal.It’s up to you to decide which you want to be.”
“Just like it will be up to you what kind of dad you want to be.There, or not there.”
Knox laughed.“Does it matter?If I’m there, I could be over-fucking-bearing.If I’m not there, I’m fucking absent.Shit, what the fuck am I turning into?”
“A man that cares.Does this mean you’re going to make an honest woman out of Ava, and marry her?If so, can I please organize the wedding?”
He looked at Marshal, and he couldn’t believe that this man, a client, had actually become his best friend.
“Sure,” Knox said.“Now, are you coming home, or staying here with your pity party?”
“I’m going home.”
Chapter Ten
Marshal’s favoritefood was meat spaghetti with cheese.Ava didn’t know why it was his favorite, but it was something he asked her to cook often.He loved to have it with a mix of cheese.There were also times he loved it spicy, other times mild, but always flavorful.
Ava grabbed some cream cheese out of the fridge, along with some Gouda and Cheddar she thought would be really nice.After chopping up some onion and garlic, she placed them in a pot with a couple of tablespoons of butter, and got to cooking.She stirred the onions, adding some salt and pepper, and her mind drifted to Knox.
Three years was not that long ago, and yet it felt like a lifetime.Ava had gone to a bar.She didn’t even know why she had gone, but after a long day working in a law firm, listening to one bullshit after another, as she cleaned up the mess and was treated like dirt, she decided to do something radical.After seeing what alcohol did to people, she was never interested in touching the stuff.But that day, something called to her to go to a bar.
She took her drink, and even to this day, she didn’t know how the guy was able to drug her.She figured the bartender had been in on it too.Either way, a sip of her drink and the next moment, she was strapped to a human dartboard, waking up to actual fucking darts imbedded into her skin.The man had left her bra and panties on.Ava didn’t know why she hadn’t panicked.No matter what she had been through, she had always wanted to survive.
Her kidnapper had expected her to scream and beg for mercy.The truth was, she’d been frozen to the spot.She could have argued that she was in her predicament because she was a kid, because her parents didn’t love her.There were so many different excuses, but as an adult, the only person she had to blame was herself.
