“Good thing I didn’t hold my breath.”
He huffed. “Yeah. The past six months has been nothing but drama, Kitten. I’m not sorry for leaving you out of it, but I am sorry for letting it go on for so long.”
I leaned away from the warmth of his body and into the cold cushions, squaring my shoulders toward him. “Why did it take so long? How could she fight the annulment, anyway?”
My cell phone rang, waking me from a deep sleep and forcing my eyes to pop open. Anticipation rushed through me as Marc’s name appeared on the screen. “Hey, Marc,” I said, my voice groggy.
“Jack, we have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” I asked, scooting my back up against the wall.
“She won’t sign.”
“Huh? Who won’t?” I stopped short before continuing. “What do you mean, she won’t sign? I thought this was a done deal? An easy fix?” My heart slammed itself against my rib cage.
“Her lawyer’s stating your claims are ridiculous. That no fraud was committed and therefore his client won’t sign under those terms.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? What terms will she sign under?” I fought to keep my anger under control.
“She won’t sign an annulment. But she’ll consider signing divorce papers, although his client would rather work things out.”
“Work things out? Are you fucking joking?”
“I wish.”
“You have to fix this, Marc. She faked a pregnancy to force me to marry her. How is that not fraud?” I threw the magazine sitting next to me against the wall and watched it fall to the ground.
“It is. But the burden of proof is on us.”
“So, let’s prove it then,” I insisted.
“We’re going to have a hard time doing that since she has plenty of documentation supporting her claims,” he sighed.
“What kind of documentation?”
“Well, doctor’s reports, for starters.”
Fuck.
I’d forgotten about the fact that Chrystle had doctor’s prescriptions, appointments, and paperwork.
“Can’t we sue the doctor for malpractice or something?”
“We would have to prove that he lied as well, which would be extremely difficult given the circumstances.”
When people allege that anger has the ability to shoot through them with such force that they see red… well, it’s true. I saw red. Literally.
“This is so fucked up. What can I do?”
“Nothing, Jack. Right now I want you to stay where you are and let me handle this,” he said, his tone calm and professional.
I gripped the edge of the mattress, my fingers digging into it. “All my stuff’s still in Alabama.”
“Don’t step foot in that state until I tell you it’s OK. You hear me?”
I cringed as he told me what to do. “We’ll see.”
“Jack, it’s my job to look out for you. For once, let me do that. Please.” His voice sounded strained, and I sighed.
“OK.”
“I’ll call you soon.”
I pressed the End button on my cell phone and threw it against the wall. Why the fuck was this girl so hell-bent on ruining my life? I can’t move past this one mistake if I can’t put it in the past. Why couldn’t she be a decent human being and sign the damn papers?
Knuckles rapped on my bedroom door. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah.”
Dean walked in and glanced at the phone on the floor before closing the door behind him. “What’s going on? I heard you yelling.”
I looked him straight in the eyes. “You were right. She won’t sign the papers.”
He moved toward my bed, sitting down at the opposite end. “Shit, Jack. I’m sorry. So, what does that mean?”
I closed my eyes, pinching the skin at the bridge of my nose to relieve the stress. “I don’t know. Marc’s working on it.”
“Do you want to go out or something? Get out of the house for a bit?”
“I need to be alone right now.”
Dean stood up from my bed without another word and left my room. I grabbed the notebook sitting on my dresser and flipped it open to a blank page. How quickly this whole letter-writing thing turned into habit. It helped to put my thoughts somewhere when all I wanted to do was pick up the phone and dial Cassie’s number.
“Oh my God. That bitch! She had a doctor give her falsified pregnancy paperwork?” My eyes widened as the shock and anger sunk into my bones.
“Yep,” was all he managed in response.
“No wonder you believed her,” I said, shaking my head
“What do you mean?” His body tensed and his jaw tightened.
“Well, I never really understood why you believed that she was pregnant in the first place. Without checking or making sure, I mean,” I tried to explain.
Jack cracked his neck as tension visibly poured from his body and rolled onto mine. “You thought I just stupidly accepted her at her word? Married her without any proof? Why didn’t you just ask me?”
His bitter tone shocked me, causing my defenses to rise. “I don’t know. Maybe because I was too caught up in my own heartbreak to ask you when I had the chance. And it’s not like we were really talking at the time.”
He reached a hand out to touch me, laying it on my leg. That one single movement shattered my defenses and I wanted to take back everything I’d just accused him of. “I’m sorry, Jack. It’s just…”
“Don’t. I’m sorry.” His hand raised in a defeated gesture in the space between us. “You weren’t there. You didn’t know what was going on. I’m sure it looked shady as hell from the outside.”
A shudder ripped through me. I never again wanted to be on the “outside” of anything when it came to Jack Carter. “But I shouldn’t have just assumed.”
“You didn’t know.”
“So, she had doctor visits and stuff?” My mind still raced to wrap around the elaborate plotting and lies. How could one girl be so malicious?
“Appointments, paperwork, vitamins, baby books, charts, schedules—she had it all.” He exhaled, and I grabbed his hand in mine, our fingers intertwining as I leaned back into him.
“Can I ask you something else?” My voice sounded muffled against his chest.
He kissed the top of my head. “Anything.”
“Did you ever think the baby wasn’t yours? I mean, I get that you thought she was pregnant, but did you ever think it was someone else’s?”
“She was a very convincing liar. She agreed with no reservations to do a DNA test after the baby was born. I honestly thought that if she were lying, she would have been nervous, or at least fighting me on the whole thing, but she encouraged it.”
And then he took me back to when his world first started crashing down around him. When he was living in Alabama and playing on the Triple A team for the Diamondbacks. The night after he pitched his perfect game when Chrystle came on to him at the bar where he was celebrating with his teammates and he finally stopped resisting her. He gave in to her advances that night, and my life as I knew it would never be the same. I shuddered as I remembered the way my world started to spin around me and my heart felt like it was shattering inside of my chest when Jack called that afternoon to deliver the news. Not only had he cheated on me, but also the girl he had slept with was pregnant.
I ignored the knock at the apartment door, assuming that one of my roommates would answer, and continued folding my clothes. When I heard the sound of Chrystle’s voice filtering through the entryway and into my room, my whole body tightened. So we’d had a drunken one-night stand, and I threw her out when I came to my senses. What was she doing here?
She tapped on my bedroom door before walking in and closing it behind her.
“What are you doing? Get out of my room,” I snapped, refusing to give her the time of day.
“I need to talk to you.” Her voice shook as she spoke.
I exhaled through my nose, my impatience clear. “What is it?”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.
“So? How is that my problem?” I asked before the realization punched me square in the gut.
“Because it’s yours,” she said before sitting on my bed.
I sucked in a breath, my mind refusing to believe her. “Bullshit,” I shot back.
“Bullshit nothing, Jack! I haven’t been with anyone else since you. Ask anyone if they’ve seen me around. Or if they’ve hooked up with me. I haven’t.”
“I will ask. I’ll fucking ask right now.” I stormed out of my bedroom and into the living room, where three of my teammates were eating lunch and watching TV. When I asked them if Chrystle had been with any of them, they all shook their heads and threw their hands up in the air in denial. I asked if they’d seen her with anyone lately, and once again, they all answered no. And then they proceeded to inform me that come to think of it, they hadn’t seen her around at all the past few weeks.
Shit.
My legs trembled as I stepped back into my room. My world spun around me as I willed my stomach to stop twisting. I didn’t want this. Not with her. Not now. Not ever.
“It’s yours, Jack. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never wanted this to happen.” She buried her head in her hands, her body shaking with each sob.
I lacked the desire to comfort her, so I finished folding my clothes. “What are you going to do?” I asked, my tone cold.
“What do you mean?” She peered up at me, her face red and wet.
“I mean, are you planning on keeping it?”
I watched as her jaw dropped open. “Of course you’d ask me that.”
“We don’t even know each other. Why the hell would you want to keep it?” My temper flared in a vain attempt to drown out the fact that I was scared shitless.
“Because it’s a baby, Jack! It’s a life, and I’ll love it even if you won’t!”
“I need you to leave.”
This cannot be fucking happening. Please don’t let this be happening.
She stood up, wiping her eyes with her hand before saying, “Way to be a man about this.”
The heat flooded my body as I stepped toward her, my fists clenched in anger. “Oh, I’ll be a man about it, alright. I’ll drive you to the clinic. I’ll pay for it. And then I’ll even drive you home. What do you say?”
“I’d say you’re an asshole.” She tried to push me aside, but I refused to budge.
“I am an asshole. An asshole who doesn’t want to have a baby with a complete stranger.”
“Well, it’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”
My room circled around me as the life that existed five minutes prior disappeared from view. Terror consumed me. “Don’t do this, Chrystle. Please don’t do this. Don’t ruin both our lives over a drunken mistake.”
I watched as she winced, pulling back her head with disgust. “I’m not ruining anything.”
