Filthy Beast(113)

He doesn’t respond right away. I sit there listening to the silence on his end, not knowing how he’s reacting or what he’s thinking. I’m so afraid he’s going to just hang up and leave me. It never occurred to me until right this second that Gavin could walk away and never talk to me again so easily, and leave me all alone to face the wrath of my family.

“Are you sure you’re late?” he asks.

“I did the math,” I say quickly. “And I’m always on time. I’m really regular. It’s been six days.”

He takes a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll get pregnancy tests. You need to get out of there tonight.”

I blink, a little surprised. “Really?” I ask him.

He laughs softly. “Really,” he says. “We talked about this before, remember? Just start running.”

I nod once, remembering that conversation. He told me that if I really want to get out, I just have to run away. They won’t physically stop me. My father will know I’m gone, but my guards won’t touch me, there’s just no way my father would hire people that would actually physically force me to stay put. They’re there to scare me. I think Gavin’s right about that but I’ve been too nervous to test it.

“Are you sure you want this?” I ask him softly.

“Of course,” he says instantly. “Sadie, I told you I’d take care of you, no matter what. Meet me tonight at midnight at the usual spot. I’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you,” I say, biting back tears.

“Don’t thank me,” he says softly. “I’m your Daddy, Sadie. I’ll keep you safe. We’ll figure this out together.”

“Okay,” I say.

“Tonight. Can you do it?”

“I can do it,” I say.

“Good. See you then.”

I hang up the phone and stare at the floor.

Conflicting emotions roil in my body. On the one hand, I’m terrified that I’m probably pregnant, and now I have to escape from the apartment. But more importantly, Gavin isn’t going to leave me. He’s going to take care of me. He’s going to help me.

I can get away. I know it won’t be hard. Just before midnight, I’ll run out of my room and out the front door as fast as I can. It’ll take the guard by surprise, and I know I can get down the stairs pretty fast. They won’t be able to catch me.

And then I’ll meet Gavin, and we’ll find out together.





19





Gavin





I never wanted to be a father. Well, honestly, I never really thought about it before. I always just assumed I never would have kids. I never met a woman before who I might even consider doing that with.

Having a child wasn’t something I thought about with Sadie, but now that it might be happening, the idea doesn’t scare me nearly as much as I thought it might. Maybe if she were anyone else, I might run away, or something equally shitty. But I could never do that to Sadie.

I care too much about her for that. I haven’t seen her for a month, but our relationship is stronger than it ever has been. We spend so much time talking to each other, that I feel like we’re closer than I’ve ever been with someone.

The only down side right now is my business war with her father. He’s been slowly pecking at my businesses, taking away clients, scaring off partners, and generally fucking shit up. I’ve been able to stop the bleeding for the time being, but he’s not backing down. He’s using every dirty trick in the book to come after me, and slowly but surely, it’s working.

So far, I haven’t lost much, but I will. And I’m afraid of what Sadie will think if I don’t have the sort of money that I did when we first met.

I’ll always be able to take care of her. I’m too rich to ever go back to being totally broke. But I don’t know if I’ll be as wealthy as she’s used to, and that makes me nervous.

One thing at a time, though. I pull up at the usual spot and wait. She’s not there, but I’m not surprised. She has to break out of her prison first. The thought of what her father has put her through makes me so angry I can barely breathe.

If she’s pregnant with my child, she’s not going back to them. No way in hell will she go back into that apartment without me. I’ll fight them all off for her, and I know I’ll win. Because Tillman wants to use Sadie as a pawn in his game, but I want to genuinely take care of her and make her happy.

After a few minutes pass, I start to get worried. But before I can pick up my phone and call her, I notice someone running toward me. It takes me half a second to realize that it’s Sadie.

She gets to my car, out of breath from running, and jumps inside.