Untamed (A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance)(109)
“Let me see your neck,” I say. I pull down his collar, see a bruise forming. “Can you breathe?”
“Yeah, Jesus,” he gasps. “You need to control your fucking dog, lady.”
Duncan is on him again in an instant, and I get in between them and push him off. I point at him. “Stop.”
This time he listens. He ceases his advance, walks away with his hands on his hips, breathing hard.
I return my attention to the man who bumped me.
“What the fuck is wrong with him?” He tilts his head at Duncan.
“You knocked into me with your shoulder,” I say, “And you then called me a bitch, and you’re asking what’s wrong with him?”
He doesn’t reply.
“He could have sent you to hospital,” I say, narrowing my eyes at the man. “You owe me one.”
Distantly, I hate myself for saying that. I feel like my father, collecting favors so I can call them in later.
The man snorts, slides against the wall out from under my now-hard stare. He disappears down the alley.
I turn to Duncan, and fold my arms. “What the hell was that?”
“He deserved worse,” Duncan grunts at me.
“You just way overreacted, do you know that? What if there had been police? What if you were arrested for assault? You don’t even know criminal procedure here, your rights. You’re basically a tourist, for crying out loud!”
I lift my palms up, exasperated, shaking my head.
“You can’t be acting this way! If you get arrested, then word might get back to Dad. Then what? Then he’ll know where we are!”
But Duncan doesn’t reply. He just stares off after the man, nostrils occasionally flaring.
“For God’s sake!” I shout, taking his arm and shaking him. “Are you listening to me?”
He turns to me slowly, and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re not hurt? What about the baby?”
“I’m fine! He hit my shoulder, that’s all. And you need to control yourself better.”
“Come on,” he says, taking my hand again. “Let’s go.”
“I know you’re just trying to protect me, but you don’t need to get revenge. What made you so angry?”
“That I missed it.”
“Missed what?”
“A few months ago I would have reacted to that before he hit you. My reflexes are shot. I haven’t been training. I…”
“You’re not a fighter anymore, you mean?”
“I’m distracted. I was thinking about babysitters.”
I blink, shake my head. “Babysitters?”
“When we want to go out on a date, we’re going to need to find a babysitter.”
“And?”
“And so I missed him.”
“He caught us both by surprise.”
“That would never have happened before.”
“Things aren’t the same as before. What is with you?”
But he doesn’t reply again, so we just walk to the car in silence, get in. Before he starts the car, I put a hand on his.
“Talk to me, Duncan. I know there’s something more going on. Even before you wouldn’t have just wailed on a guy in the street. What is it? Just come out and say it.”
“I don’t know, Dee.”
“Are you still angry?”
“Not at you.”
“Then what?”
Bright lights wipe over us, and I squint as a white Mercedes pulls out from the space behind us.
“Then what?”
“I’ve felt powerless before, when I was a kid. Then… then I had some power, control over my life. I could control my training. I could control your father, even, to an extent. I could win the fights. I could make you… happy, feel good, feel beautiful. Now… It’s just difficult for me, this uncertainty.”
“I know how you feel,” I tell him. “But we need to take no risks. Nothing we don’t have to. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s the way it is. You shouldn’t be fighting people on the street, anyway. That’s not you, Duncan. You’re not just some street thug. Isn’t that what you told my dad?”
“Something like that.”
“Come on, it’s fine,” I say, slapping his arm. “Let’s go. It’s fine.”
Chapter Forty
The days blur by. Every day we grow happier together, find our groove again. Before we know it, a month has passed.
We’ve grown comfortable with each other, settled into a rhythm. I went with Dee to a pre-natal appointment, got to see Thom myself on the ultrasound monitor. It took my breath away, seeing that tiny head move ever so slightly, that little nose. It honestly surprised me even more than when I looked at the printout, just how formed the baby is at such a young age.