“Rob.” He moved toward me, and despite the hostility of the situation, he walked with nauseating smoothness. He held out a scarred hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Parker.”
The way he said my name sent shivers up my spine.
I stared at the offering, bile rising up my throat. “Why are you here?”
He waited a few seconds longer before dropping his hand to his side with a sigh. “Right to the nitty gritty, huh? Just like your father. Before he kicked me out of his life, that is.”
I simply kept staring, scared to trigger him and unwilling to make conversation.
With another sigh, he went on, “I’m here to get that inheritance.”
My brows instantly pulled together in confusion. “What inheritance?”
“From your father’s passing.”
I tried to remember if any money had ever come up, but the assisted living facility he’d been staying in before he passed had sucked his bank account dry. Anything that was left went toward the funeral expenses. “He didn’t have anything to give.”
Rob scoffed. “Bullshit. The man was loaded.”
I shook my head. “He rarely worked. We…” I trailed off, not wanting to tell him even the tiniest bit about my childhood. But it was also too much to explain. “There’s no inheritance.”
His eyes dropped to my stomach as he took a step forward, and I instinctively moved back a step.
He stopped and held his hands up in mock surrender. “Woah, now. I don’t want to hurt you.”
For obvious reasons, I failed to believe that. “There’s no money here for you. So please leave.”
He clucked his tongue, his head cocking to the side eerily. “Parker, Parker, Parker. I’m not a fool. I’ve been to prison, and you come to learn a lot of tells there.” He moved into my space again, and I forced myself not to flinch. “You’re lying.”
“My boyfriend will be back soon,” I blurted, hoping that would scare him off. I feared if I kept denying the money aspect, it’d only make him angry.
“Roads are icy. He’ll be gone for a while.”
I swallowed the panic building in my stomach. I was alone, pregnant, with no weapon or phone. Rob wasn’t just here to grab some money and go. He’d brought a gun for a reason.
My hands covered my stomach, fearing the worst.But I’d never let anyone hurt my baby, no matter how hard they tried. His motivations might be strong, but my instinct to protect this baby was unsurpassable.
Rob seemed to think hard on something as he narrowed his eyes on me, then he shrugged and spun around, surveying the space. “You’ll be coming with me then.”
My heart nearly fell to the floor. “What?”
He swiveled back toward me, and this time, when he faced me, he held the gun in his hand. He gestured the tip of the barrel at my bare feet. “Put some shoes on.”
“I—” I blinked. Shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
“If you’re claiming there’s no inheritance, then I’ll just get money from the state for your baby.” He made a fake pouty face. “Poor Parker died in childbirth, and her only remaining family has to raise the baby. The state will throw money at me like it’s fucking raining.”
I didn’t bring up the fact that if that were to happen, Beckham would likely raise my son. Or if it really worked in the sense that my child went to family, Axel would get him before any felon did. But I didn’t know the logistics, and I wasn’t about to waste time trying to figure that out—because it wouldn’t be happening.
My head shook back and forth. “No. That will never happen.”
His eyes snapped to mine a moment before his gun followed suit. “I said put some shoes on. Otherwise, you’re going barefoot, and the snow is about six inches deep right about now. Probably deeper where we’re going.”
I had to force my breathing to calm as I tried to think of a way out of this. But with the gun, and his adamance…I was stuck.
The longer we stared each other down, the more tempted he looked to pull the trigger and settle for robbing the place.
Finally, I snapped. “Okay.” My hands flexed, fingers stiff with anxiety. “Okay. I’ll go with you. But my boots are down the hall.” I stepped back in that direction, and he followed my movements.
