I have only one option and it’s the last thing I want to do.
I stare at my phone, six days after my missed period. It’s six o’clock at night. I have dinner with my family and pretend like everything is fine, even though it’s definitely not.
My heart is hammering when I’m back in my bedroom with the phone in my hand. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do or what Gavin is going to say. He never signed up for this. He never wanted to get some virgin like me pregnant. He says he wants to see me more, even wants to take care of me and be my Daddy, but he never said anything about being a dad for real.
I can’t put it off. I don’t have other options. I dial his number and wait as it rings.
He answers on the third ring. “Hey, you,” he says. “I was hoping I’d hear from you, Sadie girl.”
“Gavin,” I say quickly. “We need to talk.”
He pauses. “This sounds serious. Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I say. “I mean, yeah, I am.”
“Is it your family?” he asks. “I can come for you right now. Just say the word.”
I blink, a little surprised. “No, it’s not that. I mean, it’s sort of that. Just, listen, okay?”
“Okay,” he says, though I can tell he wants to ask more questions.
I take a deep breath to calm myself. I’m practically shaking with nerves. “Gavin, I missed my period.”
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.