20
Felix
When Larry lunged at me, my instincts exploded like a flare.
I wouldnotallow him to hurt my baby.
Before he ran at me, I slipped out of bed so that my back was to the wall. I didn’t want to corner myself, but I also didn’t want him to pin me to the mattress. At least this way, I was able to grab the bedside lamp to wield as a makeshift weapon.
“What are you doing?” Larry grunted. “Put that down, now, Felix.”
“No!” I shouted. “Get away from me and get the hell out of my house!”
I stepped forward and swung it at him.
“Whoa!” Larry cried, stumbling back. “Felix, you’re being insane! Stop this right now!”
I blurted out the words like venom. “Fuck you.”
That angered him again. He reached for me, like he was trying to restrain a tantrum-throwing child, but I swung every time he got close.
“Calm down. I’m not gonna hurt you,” Larry growled. “You’re just confused! Come back home with me, okay? Everything’s fine now, see? Youcanget pregnant. That fixes everything. Don’t you want to live in a nice mansion with me again, Felix?”
“I swear to god if you don’t get out of my house--”
“It’s notyourhouse!” Larry snapped, his face twisting into something ugly again. “This guy’s just using you for sex, Felix, can’t you see that? He might as well be a pimp!”
Another swing, this time barely missing him. “Shut up!”
The front door crashed open. Soon a cacophony of barking echoed through the house, followed by a furious dog standing in the room with his hackles raised and his teeth bared. A red harness still clung to his sides. I gasped.
“River!”
“What the hell?” Larry snapped. “Go away, dog!”
If River’s here, that means--
I opened my mouth to shout for Elijah, but Larry beat me to it. He took advantage of my lowered guard and slapped a hand over my mouth to silence me. At the same time, he caught the lamp in my hand and threw it aside, out of my reach.
Panic coursed through me. He had the upper hand. I screamed into his palm and slapped at his arm, but he only winced and bore it.
“Stop screaming!”
River lunged closer, but didn’t touch Larry. His fur stood on end like needles as he barked continuously. He was rebelling against all his training to be a quiet, calm canine citizen--just to protect me.
A storm of heavy footsteps from the hall made my heartrate plunge into overdrive. Elijah was right outside the door.
Larry pushed his weight into me, pinning me to the lower wall.
“Just say the word, Felix,” he panted. “I can handle this. Tell me you want me back. I’ll take you, understand? I’ll take you back to the mansion and we can forget this ever happened.”
“I know all about you and your manipulative ways now,” I muttered. “Elijah told me everything. He told me about the drugs. You probably made yourself infertile because of your own decisions. I had nothing to do with it, and I regret every moment I wasted by your side.”
Larry smiled thinly. His patience was deteriorating.
In a soft voice, he said, “I’m not infertile at all. You must be confused. This baby you’re carrying must have been a fluke. Who knows if it even belongs to Elijah? After all, we had enough sex to make a baby, didn’t we, Felix? This could beourchild inside you right now. Wouldn’t that be amazing? It would right every wrong. It would solve everything . . .”
He reached gently for my belly.
