“Touché.” He sips his water. “Do you plan to leave him?”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Like?” He considers. “No. But it would amuse me.” He puts the water bottle down. “Whatever Ryder has dangled in front of you to get you back, I can match it.”
He has no idea what Ryder’s offered. I highly doubt Anthony would claim my baby as his just to keep it out of Shaun’s reach. Besides, who would believe it was his anyway? “Seems like the people who don’t like Ryder tend to be pretty predictable.”
Anthony arches an eyebrow. “Did you get another offer?”
“Yes.”
A mild amusement lights his eyes for a moment. “Let me guess. Julian.”
I say nothing. He can guess all he wants.
“Ryder’s father has always been an asshole,” Anthony says.
That I can agree with, not that I’d let him know.
“You see…you have a weak point that makes Ryder’s enemies think they can use you.”
“I don’t have a weak point.”
“Oh, please.” His gaze drops to my stomach. “Your baby. It is the weakest of points for mothers, highly exploitable.” A sardonic smile twists his mouth. “Well. Most mothers anyway. And I have a feeling you’re one of the typical ones.”
“You won’t be able to use it to get back at Ryder,” I say.
“If I wanted to get back at him, to even the scales, as it were…I’d’ve made sure you lost it.”
I suck in a sharp breath. My hand flies to cover my belly protectively.
The muscles in his jaw grow taut as he looks at my hand. “Oh yes. I lost a baby because of him.”
The harsh announcement hits me hard. “What…?”
“Lauren was pregnant when she finally told me about Ryder. At that time, I begged her to keep the child, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Said she couldn’t afford to fritter away a career opportunity with something as inconvenient as a baby. Now that I think about it, I don’t even know if it was really mine, but back then I thought it was.” The skin around his eyes tightens, and his entire face looks like a mask.
Suddenly, the evening takes on an ominous tone. I start shaking. “Are you going to hurt me to get back at Ryder?”
“Perhaps I should.” He turns the bottle in his hand, studying it.
My blood turns to ice, and I clench the hand over my belly until it’s a tight fist.
“Except…I didn’t feel even a kernel of satisfaction when I heard about your hospital visit.” He looks up and locks eyes with me.
A moment passes before I lick my dry lips and rasp out, “That makes you a good person. It isn’t something to be conflicted about.”
“But I don’t want to be good, Paige.” He closes his eyes for a moment, then gets off the stool, walking over to a window and a view of the city outside. “I want my pound of flesh.”
I don’t have an answer for that. Telling him it’d do his soul good to give up his revenge just seems corny, a cliché from a badly written redemption flick.
“I want to know how much pressure I can exert before your relationship implodes and you decide he isn’t worth it. After all, that’s how Ryder got Lauren to leave me…by convincing her I wasn’t worth it.” He doesn’t turn to look at me. “Make yourself comfortable. I need to get going.”
“Thank you,” I say automatically, even as my mind is reeling.
“Oh, don’t thank me. I’m not doing this to be nice.”
The door closes behind him.
* * *
TJ arrives soon after Anthony leaves. The bouncer is huge, with big muscles like pale slabs of butcher beef and an even bigger attitude. He doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a bad ass and he knows it.
Of course I’ve known him for a few years at Z, so none of that impresses me.
His gaze doesn’t drop below my neck. “You okay? Need me to call a doc or something?”
“I’m fine.”
He grunts and lowers himself onto the other couch. “Lemme know if you need anything.”
My phone rings. It’s Bethany.
“My gosh, are you all right?” she says the second I hit the green button.
“Yes,” I say even as I wonder how many more calls I’m going to get. There’s Mom and Simon…Renni too.
“I was wondering what was taking so long, then my coworker told me he saw you on YouTube! I can’t believe it! Did you call the police? You should press charges. They need to pay. It’s unacceptable. They weren’t just hurting you but your baby too. It’s like double assault!”