Broken Free (The Broken Series) (7 page)

Chapter Nine

Sofia cringed inside
on the drive back from the airport. She needed to frickn tell Dara already. “Oh hey!” She turned in her seat, big excited smile. “I forgot to tell you in all the excitement that Sarah will be staying at the house until Seth is home.”

At the sudden pin drop silence, she
turned back around and chanced a glance toward Daniel who had his brows raised with a
you didn’t tell her?
incredulity. “I hope that’s okay?” Sofia turned again to Dara, fighting to appear innocent.

“Oh momma, it’s your house honey, of course it’s okay, I have nothing against this girl, I’m sure we’ll become best friends in no time. I’m
even thinking to let her be an aunt, you know?” She followed with hysterical laughter that Sofia thought was a few shades shy of postal sounding.

“Awww how sweet, yes, good idea.”

Daniel laced his fingers into Sofia’s and gave her a few squeezes as though to remind her he was there for support. She squeezed back, grateful.

“Is the baby kicking yet?” Dara asked.

“Oh,
yes
it is and next week is one month before the ultrasound to find out the sex.”

“I want to be surprised, no ultrasounds for me. Where I come from, we do everything at home, child birth is thought of to be a natural process.”

“Oh?” Sofia couldn’t help but feel…weird now.

Like she read her mind, she muttered,
“Don’t worry momma, you’re American, doctors is the way to go for you.”

The weird feeling intensified. Like Americans were made of more fragile materials than Romanians. She thought about it. Maybe they were. The idea of going all natural in child birth with no doctor was insane.

“Don’t they have midwives at least?” Daniel asked, skepticism blaring.

“Yes, yes, of course. That
is why my sister will be coming eventually. But don’t worry, Seth and I will have our own place by then.”

Crap
. She sure sounded confident that Seth was going to just…want to be with her.
Maybe that’s because you haven’t told her about his feelings for Sarah, dummy.
Double crap. But it’s not like she even knew herself. Just because Sarah liked—loved—him didn’t mean he did. She hated being in this position. Maybe she could just…let things work themselves out. Maybe nothing will need saying. Why open a can of worms that may not even be worms?

“Home sweet home,” Daniel muttered, pulling into the driveway. “How about we get down and I’ll come get your luggage in a bit Dara?”

“Sounds perfect,” she moaned.

They opened the door and w
ere greeted by none other than Sarah. Sarah the servant. And the dog, her now faithful companion. Daniel and Sofia were amazed how the dog knew her when she first walked into the house. She’d gasped and dropped to her knees and called him
Dan.
Sofia asked her later and found out that’s what Seth had named him. Wonder if it was short for Danny.

Sarah stood th
ere in that same cute dress she’d had on the first day they’d met. Sofia wasn’t sure if it was all she had or maybe direly special to her. But she never parted with it, not even for a
wash.
Shopping is what Sofia desperately needed to do with the girl. Aside from that, the poor thing had assumed a maid type of position in the house, like
right
away. More like slave. A telepathic slave that tried to know what you needed before you did. It was really sad and sweet and weird all at once. And creepy. But a sad creepy.

“Sarah, hi!” Sofia immediately went into introductions. “This is Dara, my best friend from Romania, Dara this is Sarah. Where’s Gammie?” For once, Sofia needed the woman’s gift of gab.

“Very nice to meet your acquaintance?” Sarah more asked as though she weren’t sure it was correct even though she’s rehearsed it a hundred times.

Dara gasped. “Wow, you didn’t tell me she looked like a
ten
year old!”

Sarah gave a wavery smile seeming unsure of how to respond.
“Miss Rachel is in the kitchen.”

“
Ohhh momma,” Dara gasped again, “English is not her first language either, her and I should get along great!”

“
Here I am, I’m coming, slow as molasses,” Gammie said.

Sofia hurried to help Gammie only to have Sarah beat her to it.

“Hi hi hi Gammie, Gammie,” Dara squealed, hurrying toward her.

Her grandmother studied Dara
as she approached like she were an anomaly in motion.
Oh God, Gammie, please don’t be rude!

Her head bobbed the way it did when she had a lot to say but wasn’t sure
where to begin. “Seth’s gone have himself a brood of kids all at once.”

“Gammie!” Sofia gasped.

She looked at Sofia, mouth slack. “Well it’s true. Sarah over here is pregnant by him and Dara looks like she’s gonna have triplets.”

Sofia jerked her gaze to Sarah who stood by with her head lowered
, then looked at Daniel frozen to the spot with
holy fucking shit
all over his face.

And Dara.
Wow. Sofia had never seen her friend sooooo
pissed!

****

“I need to talk to you,” Daniel said the second his father answered.

“Danny? Is that you?” Deep laughter. “What a
surprise.
Pleasant though, what brings your fingers to dial your ole man’s number?”

Hi
s father’s deep gravelly voice scraped along Daniel’s spine and tickled like spider legs in his ear. “I want you to pull some strings and get Seth out of jail.”

“Why the fuck would I want to do that, little piece of shit killed my brother.” His voice had dropped
to those familiar ominous octaves Daniel’s psyche had been scarred with. He fought to keep it from intimidating him.

“Because he’s my brother and your son.”

“You got a point pussy face?”

“I got an eight millimeter film that I confiscated from your brother’s house that has a fine point. I also have my own eight millimeter playing in my head of all the shit you’ve done to me that I’m more than willing to charge you with. My lawyer says crimes like this don’t have a statutory limitation and I promise you, I will spend every dime I have to see you rot in jail if Seth isn’t out real fucking soon.”

A brief silence preceded low rumbling laughter. “Now, you didn’t have to
threaten
me Danny. You coulda just asked real nicey nicey.” His tone echoed sure retaliation but Daniel was past the point of caring even though he was already mentally kicking his own ass for this.

“
Just call this number when it’s done,” Daniel said.

“I ain’t callin
’ shit.” He erupted in noisy coughing, sounding like he was living on half a lung. “But I’ll do it.”

“How will I know you did?”

His breath rattled like a bucket of phlegm waited to be hacked up. “When you see your precious pussy faced brother, that’s when. But this here is gonna cost you.”

“How much.”

He chuckled, the sound of pure evil. “Not how much, but
what?”

Daniel
’s guts froze. “Tell me what the fuck you want.”

“Hey, I just want
to be involved in my son’s life,” he sang like a fucking saint.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

His laughter erupted like joyful insanity. “Nothing rapturous or parabolic, that’s for fucking sure. I heard you got a new wife. I’d like to meet her.”

Fuck. Daniel closed his eyes.

What the fuck was he thinking? No. He was safe from him, his father couldn’t hurt him or his family. Not anymore. “Fine. You’re officially invited to Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Ohhhhh, ho-ho-hooooo.”

Daniel realized his old man hadn’t expected that degree of generosity. Motherfuck, he should’ve just offered to meet at a coffee shop or some shit.

“You got yourself a deal
son.”
He chuckled, knowing the word was nothing but a mockery to both of them.

Daniel
ground his teeth, fighting his fury. He was a breath from saying never fucking mind. He conjured up images of his brother’s sad little mouth in those videos and held on to his focus. Seth needed him to be strong. He could do it. For him.

Chapter Ten

“What am I supposed to do?” Sofia choked out on the way to the doctor’s visit. Daniel had managed to talk Sofia into going alone on this trip. It hadn’t taken much and he knew why now. She needed to vent.

“Do about what?”

“About what? Dara, Sarah, Seth! Babies!”

“That’s not your issue, that’s Seth’s.”

“No, it’s kinda my issue too Daniel, with Dara being my best friend, you know?”

“All you can do is be supportive.”

“How? She
hates
Sarah now. I am not good at handling that, I mean I don’t think it’s fair to Sarah that she treats her bad but I don’t know how to stop it.”

“How is she treating her bad?”

Crap. Sofia had a suspicion that Dara only did it in front of her. “She just…she treats her like a slave, like a second class citizen, mocking her English in a “funny way.” Sofia quoted the air with fingers. “And I know Sarah sort of presents herself that way but I mean it’s not right, she’s just confused. Sometimes I think I should show Dara that video just so she quits treating her like shit.”

“
Don’t you dare,” Daniel said, his voice hard.

“I know,” she mumbled, undoing her seatbelt and looking around
the parking garage. “Are you sure this is the right level? Isn’t it on the fourth floor?”

“Yes, but remember they don’t have an entrance to th
e building on that level?”

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting.”

“Hold on, let me help you out.”

Sofia opened her door with a snort as Daniel hurried around
the car.

“Gee thanks,” he said, taking her hand and helping her out.

“What? I just
opened
the door! I’m kinda sick of everybody running to do everything for me and I’m only four months pregnant.”

He pulled her into his arms and moaned like he hadn’t touched her in forever. She melted in his
embrace, letting the roam of his sensual hands relieve her. She wrapped her arms around him and rested against his chest. “I love you baby,” he said next to her ear.

The amount of emotion in his voice just…

A sob escaped her and Daniel pulled her even closer, wrapping more of his arms around her as he rushed to soothe her with various cooings, his tone sounding like she were the most pitiful thing ever. She felt ridiculous but that didn’t register with her emotions, the more he cooed the more she gushed.

“Let it out, that’s it, you don’t want to keep that in, this is good baby,” he whispered
, “you’re fine.”

Sob sob sob.
Sob.

Good grief. Good
, good, grief.

After
Sofia finally got her shit together she went through the doctor without any more break downs. It was difficult with the way Daniel spoke so tenderly toward her and about her. Like she were just a fragile thing. Made her feel fragile.

The doctor counteract
ed it with exuberant confidence and bubbly energy. It helped keep her together.

“What do you think we should do about Sarah?” Sofia asked on the way back home. “Oh, can we stop for orange
sherbet? I’ve been so hungry for it.”

“Absolutely. What do you mean do about Sarah?”

“About her wanting to visit Seth?”

“Oh. Right. Well, I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Sofia looked at Daniel,
wondering why he was so confident. “Oh?”

“I called my father. He said he’d make a few calls. He’ll get my brother out.”

Sofia’s mouth dropped and she stared at him for endless seconds. “How?”

“He’s got the pull and the connections, that’s how.”

Sofia couldn’t believe her ears. “When…I mean how…”

“I never told you because I was hoping to not involve the bastard. I also never told you that the lawyer said that movie isn’t going to help right away. If she confesses, she’ll go to jail and await trial along with Seth. And the video is no guarantee either of them will be acquitted.” He sighed. “So I called him.”

“What…did he say?”

“That he’d do it.”

Sofia waited for the rest of the story, annoyed he wasn’t coming out with it on his own. “Hello? Details please.”

Daniel glanced at her like there wasn’t anything else to tell. “He’ll make the call.”

“Just like that? No…strings attached?”

“No, no strings attached.”

Sofia chuckled dryly. “Baby, I love you and I hate to say this, but you’re so lying to me, I can hear it in your voice.”

“He asked to be in my life.”

Sofia’s jaw dropped again and her tummy flipped. “And…what did you say?” He squeezed the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. “And just to let you know, I’m totally okay with that,” she added.

“Well I’m fucking not.”

“But you agreed?”

“Yes. I agreed. Like an idiot.”

“No. No Daniel, like a hero. You put your feelings aside for your brother, that’s what I love about you, that’s the man I’ve always seen in you.”

“Yes for him. And that’s
all.
”

Sofia’s heart ached at hearing the pain in his voice. Likely pain Daniel didn’t even notice. The pain of not having a
dad that loved you. “So…how do you plan on accommodating him?”

Daniel gave one bitter laugh. “Can you believe I invited him to Thanks Giving?” The muscle in the corner of his jaw ticked. “
Fucking angelic, right?”

“You did what you had to
sweetie. I love you. I’m proud of you.” Sofia turned in her seat a little, excited. “Oh my God, so when does he get out?”

“When he gets out. That’s what the dipshit said.”

Sofia gasped, unable to stop smiling. “And so you’re thinking soon, that’s why you’re thinking Sarah doesn’t need to go visit.”

“Yes.”

Sofia squealed her excitement and pulled Daniel’s hand to her lips and kissed it. He flexed his fingers, pressing them into her mouth, seeming to want much more. “Are you excited honey?”

He gasped. “That’s an understatement. But it’s hard to be too excited until I see him home.”

“Wow, Dara and Sarah are going to be…thrilled.”

“Listen. A
bout Dara.”

Sofia turned to him, waiting, her stomach uneasy with his tone.

“How…sure are we that she’s actually pregnant?”

“
Whaaaat? What do you mean how sure?”

“I mean she says she is but how do we know she’s…”

“Not
lying?
Daniel, I don’t think she’d stoop to that level, I mean she’d know we’d find that out, why would she even try?”

“I don’t know, why would she say she lost fifty pounds when really she’d gained seventy-five?”

“She’s
pregnant!
”

“
Baby nobody gains that much weight in
two months.
Jesus Christ.”

Sofia flopped against her seat not knowing how to respond to that. “Well she’s pregnant, that’s all I know.”

“Can you talk her into a doctor visit?”

Sofia gawked at him. “No! That’s her decision, I’m not interfering, spreading my
American
doctor need disease on her.”

“She’s
nuts
to not go to a doctor, that’s pure voodoo bullshit she’s blabbering about, all that custom this custom that?” He glanced from the road to her repeatedly. “Only, here in America, we call it neglect of a child’s well-being. We call it preventive medicine, we call it technology, the twenty-first century. We also call it my brother’s son or daughter if she is pregnant for him and that means she needs to consider what he’d want.”

“Well, I’m sure she will when Seth is home.”

“Ahhh, that’s
right,
” Daniel said, like problem solved. “I’ll talk him into insisting she go to a doctor.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“Easy, just list one of the hundred ways she could lose that baby from not seeking medical attention.”

“Really?”

“Of course! There’s a dozen issues they can prevent, fix, stop, or alter if caught early enough. She’s insane and irresponsible to not go to a fucking doctor. And baby, I swear if she treats Sarah like a dog in front of me one more time, I’m going to call her out on it. So you better warn her.”

“Me! Daniel don’t put me in the middle of that.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to her, you’re right.”

“No, no! I’ll talk to her.”

“No, you’re right, you shouldn’t be involved, I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Well, I don’t trust you not to be rude. You’re as bad as Gammie with her.”

“It’s
hard
with her.”

“Yeah, and you’re all lovey dovey to Sarah, I think it’s getting kind of sickeningly obvious who’s your favorite person here.”

Daniel was quiet but Sofia felt his constant assessing glances at her, no doubt trying to understand her tone. “Let me help you, yes, I’m jealous. There.”

She finally looked and found him with this huge dog looking grin. “Great,” she mumbled, “you
like that.”

He laughed. “I can’t help it, it’s like…dejavu but in reverse.”

“What are you talking about,” she muttered.

“How I was with Seth and you.” The reminder was emphatically giddy. Ridiculous
, but sweet man.

Sofia nodded.
“And this pleases you?” He pulled her hand to his crotch and Sofia’s vagina erupted with electrical surges at feeling him rock hard. She squeezed him and gasped. Her need to suddenly have that inside her made her weak with infinite agony.

He groaned and rolled his hips, pushing his cock into her hand, causing the tingling to throb hard between her legs. “You like that,” he observed with lust.

“I like this,” she rubbed his cock with a desperate grip. “I want to suck you Daniel.” It was suddenly the worst craving she’d ever had so far in her pregnancy.

“Fuck baby,” he gasped.
Like
now?

“Find some place to stop, please.” Her beg was pitifully desperate, but she couldn’t help it.

He gunned the engine and Sofia suddenly felt too hot for her clothes. She had on her cute yellow pregnancy sundress. While Daniel drove like a calculated madman, she put her feet on the dash and let her knees fall open, exposing her white lacy panties. She stroked over her aching folds, pushing against the fabric.

“Are you wet?” he asked, sounding winded.

“Yes. Very.”

She pulled the fabric aside and slid her middle finger inside herself with a
moan and thrust of her hips.

“Oh fuck,” Daniel
said, finally parking at the extreme edge of a grocery store lot. He shut the car off, watching her. Sofia got out of her seat belt and he turned. “No, don’t stop. Let me watch you.”

Sofia
put her right foot on the dash, facing him, giving him a nice open view. In no time, she was lost to the heat in her clit as she plunged her finger in and out.

“Fuck that sounds good.”
Daniel reached and flicked her nipple through the thin fabric.

“Oh God,” she gasped, arching into the feeling. It never failed to spark that savage urge to have his cock ramming in and out of her until she screamed. Made her horny out of her mind
. “Finger me,” she demanded on a gasp, staring at him through a lust haze. “Finger me deep. And fast. Do it really fast.”

He couldn’t comply
quickly enough. It freed her hand and Sofia flicked the tip of her nipple through the fabric. She cried out when he thrust his finger in, his hand pressing hard against her butt. He flicked her core and she thrashed her head under the pleasure wave. God, yes.

“Rub your clit, come for me, I’m watching you.”

Jesus. She slid down lower, not caring about the door rest in her back, just needing to have more of his finger. He began plunging in and out of her at a frantic pace. “Oh God, oh God,” she gasped, picking up speed on her clit. She was at the edge, no stopping. “Yes, yes!”

Daniel’s mouth was suddenly on her clit, his hands gripping her ass, holy hell, yes, yes. Sofia cried out and
jerked as he sucked her clit until she trembled from the intense current flooding her body. Glorious pleasure, hot endless waves washing her of everything, rebooting her soul it seemed. Incredible.

When Sofia came back to Earth, she realized her fingers were
clenched in his hair. His winded breaths were warm and delicious on her tingling skin. 

His turn.

A buzzing came from the dashboard even as Sofia’s hands worked at his pants.

“Shit, I need to see who that is.” Daniel gave her a lusty kiss, deliberately making her taste herself on him as though reminding her who she belonged to. It made her womb clench with that need to fuck him fast and hard right where he sat. She envisioned herself sitting in his lap and bouncing up and down.