Buyer’s Market(181)

If I do nothing else today, I should tell him that he’s going to be a father. Because despite the danger that I’m in, and the hurt that he’s caused me, I somehow still love this man.

“Lucien, I need to tell you something…” I begin, but this time he interrupts me.

“I need to tell you something first,” he says and this time he doesn’t stop or give me a chance to say anything. “I know why you’re here. Are you okay?”

That takes me by surprise. Was he a part of this? No, it can’t be.

“The Deputy Marshall,” Lucien says, leaning closer to me, as if whispering, while actually talking into the phone. “He’s dirty, right?”

I nod. I don’t know if they’re recording this. Lucien glances at the guard to see if he’s gotten any reaction. But the guard simply sits there, watching us. Of course they have the power to tap our conversation, but apparently they aren’t giving any credence to what Lucien is saying. Deputy Marshall must have realized that when he brought me here. He just didn't care.

“Are you okay?” Lucien asks.

I nod again. I wonder if Lucien is part of this.

“Those fuckers,” Lucien growls to himself and I start to think that he had no control over me sitting here. “If I ever get a chance to I’ll kill them myself.”

That’s when I start to believe that most likely Lucien had no intention of bringing me back to this place.

“I need to tell you something…” I try again, but again he interrupts me.

Remind me if I ever get out of this place to tell Lucien how much I hate it when he interrupts me. It’s almost as if I wasn’t—

“I love you so much, Kerri Curtis,” Lucien says, looking at me. His fingers touch the wall that separates us. “I fucking love you so fucking much.”

Well, that stops me short.

I remain silent. Thinking of all the feelings of betrayal. The anger. The Ben & Jerry’s.

“Baby,” I say slowly, not looking at his face. I pause and take a deep breath. Here goes fucking nothing, as Lucien would put it. “I’m pregnant.”

I look up at him to see his reaction. Will it be anger? Joy? Despair at being behind bars?

“We’re pregnant,” I say again to him as his face registers no surprise. “You and I. It’s your baby.”

There’s nothing from Lucien. I start to worry. I mean, most men would have some reaction, right?

Finally, Lucien speaks.

“I know,” he says simply.

I’m silent for a moment.

Okay, that was not really what I was expecting. Not one bit. I mean, am I getting fat already?

“I saw the ultrasound the other day when we were together,” he says simply, his eyes looking into mine. “And when you didn't listen to me about getting out of here, I had to do the only thing I could to make sure I was protecting you. Protecting both of you.”

If he had reached over and walked through the glass I couldn’t have been more surprised.

Lucien…knew?

That’s why he came forward and confessed our relationship and got me fired?

To protect me?

A mix of emotions goes through my head. Rage at not telling me. Embarrassment for ever doubting his love for me. Regret at not telling him sooner.

But overpowering all of that to the point of obsolescence is one single overriding feeling.

Love. For Lucien Stone.

Even as a prisoner with a fraction of the freedoms that I enjoy, Lucien found a way to protect me. And I know in that moment that despite the danger that I’m in, with the Deputy Warden up to something, that Lucien will protect me.

I’m beginning to seriously doubt that he had anything at all to do with the Deputy Warden bringing me here.

“Kerri,” Lucien says and I lean forward, bringing the phone closer as my fingers touch the glass where his are. “I need to tell you something.”

I nod to him. I’m all ears.

“I need you to forgive me,” he says simply.

Forgive him? Did he have a hand in bringing me here?

“Forgive you for what?” I ask.

“This,” he says and before I can figure out what’s happening, Lucien’s already out of his chair and dropped the phone.

I watch in shock as he moves with the speed of lightning, his muscles straining and pulls at the phone receiver. It takes a moment but snaps from where it’s tethered to the wall.

“Hey, what the fuck!” the guard in the cubicle yells, opening the door from his cubbyhole toward Lucien’s side of the room.

But by then, Lucien has already turned around and taken aim and thrown the phone receiver.

It sails through the air with deadly accuracy toward the closed circuit camera that’s recording his side of the room.