Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) (29 page)

“Yes, Toby and Knox got him out of here. The police are on their way though. Old woman Billings next door peeped her nosy ass into the apartment and said she called due to all of the commotion. You should have seen the look on her face when she saw how bloodied up both Nic and Rownan were.”

It was when I leaned my hands against the sink to try and gather my composure, that I saw the pregnancy stick that had fallen between the sink and the toilet. Kelly’s eyes zeroed in on the stick laying on the floor about the same time that I did and reached down to grab it. When she stood back up, she flipped the stick over to reveal the results. Her eyes grew wide and she brought her hands up to cover her mouth.

My heart pounded forcefully in my chest. Did I want to see the results? Was I prepared to bring a child into this world where I was surrounded by people that were forcing me to make horrible decisions? Or could I take the baby and Kelly far away from here so that she could live and we could escape all of our problems?

Rownan entered the bathroom and tried to mumble something about the police being here while he tried to keep his jaw in one place. His brows furrowed together when he took in Kelly’s shocked and my anxious expressions. Kelly looked up at him from staring at the stick in her hands.

Rownan nodded towards the test in her hands and she returned her gaze to it briefly before she handed it to me. I closed my eyes and accepted the tiny plastic indicator of what my future would hold. Letting out a long breath that I was holding onto, I opened my eyes to read the results. All the air left my lungs to where I had felt like I was punched in the gut, knocking the wind out of me. Sweat formed on my brows and upper lip as I saw the one word that would change my life forever.

One week, five days, and fourteen hours have gone by since I found out I was carrying Dominic’s child. I placed my hand over my belly in a protective move over my child, the tiny bean that I saw in the fuzzy black and white photograph that I held in my other hand. Something so small, so significant that I couldn’t help the feeling of pride that washed over me.

A mother.

I am going to be a mother.

I haven’t told Dominic that I was pregnant. I made Kelly and Rownan promise to keep it a secret with the promise that I would tell Dominic prior to the trial.

Two days after I found out I was pregnant, I made copies of the video and had one sent to Asher. I told him that if he ever threatened me again, I would go straight to the police with my copy. I never heard anything back from him or Drake, for that matter, since then. However, that still didn’t help the situation I was in. I got one person off of me, but now I had Victoria to deal with. She constantly taunted me by sending me pics of her and Kelly out and about hinting that she could take care of Kelly at any time. Kelly trusted her too, which made it even more difficult. If I tried to warn Kelly away from Victoria, she would question it and wonder why, and I couldn’t give her an explanation for it. Kelly was the type of person who would confront you in a heartbeat over something and I couldn’t tell her to avoid Victoria without her asking Victoria why I thought she should.

I just left the doctor’s office. Rownan had offered to go with me, to be my comfort, but out of respect for Dominic, I didn’t want to do it. I loved Rownan, more than anything, but not in the way I knew he was hoping that I would. He still offers nearly every day to help me raise the baby and to let him take care of me, or us I should say. I was fortunate enough to convince Rownan not to file charges against Dominic for their fight. Also, I was very pleased that Rownan’s jaw wasn’t broke, just severely bruised.

The trial started tomorrow. I had until then to come up with a plan to get out from Victoria’s influence or I was going to be seriously in trouble. I was pregnant. I couldn’t go to jail, and that is exactly what was going to happen when I had to get up on the stand tomorrow and say that I lied about the whole situation and that I had planted the file for evidence.

I drove on autopilot to the studio for my art class. I told Ginny about my pregnancy because sometimes the materials that we used gave off a foul odor that would send me to the bathroom to puke. Morning sickness was kicking my ass. Rownan always made sure I had some ginger ale or saltine crackers nearby. He and Kelly had been pretty wonderful these last few days, but I could also feel Kelly growing distant, as the trial date got closer.

After class, I went to the art studio to help Rownan set up the rest of the gallery for the exhibit that he had there later tonight.

I found Rownan in one of the back galleries putting the finishing touches on some of the decorations. I was welcomed with a firm hug as he folded me into his tanned muscular arms. I welcomed the warmth of a man who in the absence and distance between Kelly and I, had become one of my best friends. Even though I knew that his feelings for me went beyond just friendship, I had come to lean on him for support, needing someone to fill the void that was left in my heart from this fucked up situation I was in.

“So how did the appointment go?” Rownan asked me as he released me from our embrace and rubbed one of his hands on my belly. I smiled as I reached into the back pocket to retrieve the ultrasound photo that the doctor had given me. He took the photo from my hand and a gorgeous smile crossed his face. The next thing I knew I was lifted into his arms and he swung me around in a big circle before planting me on my feet again.

Laughter and happiness that seemed so foreign to me nowadays burst forth from me as we both once again glanced at the tiny little bubble on the fuzzy photo.

“She said I am six weeks along, which is why I have been getting so sick. It is about the time when women who have morning sickness start to feel the symptoms. She said it was important that I eat often and drink lots of water to keep from getting dehydrated.”

“Ah, yes. I remember Colleen getting sick all the time. She used to keep saltines and ginger ale next to the bed at night so she could eat them first thing in the morning. It helped her from getting sick so often,” Rownan said as he remembered his late wife. The smile that he had been bearing soon fell from his face as he remembered. In natural Rownan fashion, he shook it off, as if putting the memories back into a compartment in his mind.

“Ashley, love, I am so happy for you. You have told me how you have always wanted to be a mother, and now you are getting your chance to be one,” he paused as he looked me dead in the eyes and a serious look crossed his face. His gorgeous eyes shined bright as he looked at me with intent. He placed one of his big hands on my cheek in a soft caress.

“My offer still stands. I will gladly help you with this baby. I would take care of both of you; all you have to do is say the words.”

My heart melted once again from the sincerity and thoughtfulness of this man. I cannot say that I hadn’t developed deeper feelings for him since we had been spending so much time together, because I had, I just couldn’t let go of my feelings for Dominic. I froze in place as his name crossed my mind and thoughts of the trial beginning tomorrow. There was a good chance that the prosecution wouldn’t call me to testify tomorrow, so I was still safe, but I felt so anxious and worried because I still had no way of getting out from under Victoria’s threat. Having to choose between my best friend and the man I loved was almost more than I could bear. But in true Ashley fashion, I was once again sacrificing my wants and needs for others, whether forced or not.

“What’s wrong, love?” Rownan said as he took in my sudden change in mood.

“The trial starts tomorrow. I-just don’t know what is going to happen. I promised I would tell Dominic tomorrow that I am pregnant. I guess I am just afraid of the outcome.”

I was once again wrapped in the comfort of his arms. I snuggled into his chest as the sobs threatened to escape from my chest. It was harder with these damn pregnancy hormones to keep my emotions under control. Rownan placed a tender kiss on the top of my head.

“Remember, no matter what, I am still here.”

I nodded into his chest as the silent hot tears rolled down my cheeks. No one knew about Victoria, not even Rownan. It was too great of a risk to involve anyone. Especially since seeing how demented Victoria was, I knew she would put actions behind her threat.

The only thing I could do was hope for a miracle.

I made my way over to Dominic’s apartment to meet up with him, Knox, Toby, and Victoria so that we could all go to the courthouse together. I hadn’t spoken to Ashley in a few days, and keeping the pregnancy a secret from Dominic, was nearly killing me. He had a right to know that she was pregnant with his child, but she promised me that she would tell him today.

I had no clue how this trial was going to go. Finding out that Nic thought that Ashley was the one who put the fake evidence in the file cabinet at The Celtic Knot devastated me. Ever since her divorce from Jared, Ashley had become a whole new person. Someone I no longer recognized as my best friend. It was getting more and more difficult to try to choose between my love for her, and a man that I was falling in love with. Sure, Knox still held me a little at arm’s length, but I could tell by the way that he looked at me that he cared for me more than he even realized.

I guess you could say that I was a girl with “daddy issues.” Meaning, I didn’t have one, at least not in my eyes. He ran out on my baby brother, my mom and me when I was seven years old. My mom tried to tell me that he had an important job that would keep him from us for a while and that he loved us very much. I believed her at first, until year after year went by and not a word from him came. Mom finally told me the truth on my sixteenth birthday that he told her he had met someone new and that he realized that he wanted to go out and live life with her, and not be tied down with burdens, like his kids. She also told me that the woman was fifteen years his junior. I watched year after year as my mother busted her ass, sometimes working two or three jobs at a time to provide for my brother and me. So that is how my trust in men had become compromised.