I was close to getting Willow to leave with me. I felt it. She knew damn well Morgan was nothing short of a liar and a manipulator. Willow was mine the moment I saw her.

“Come home, Willow. Tell me what’s been on your mind. Tell me the things I need to do to make you that vibrant, happy person I saved in this alley that day.”

“You really are a good man, Darien. But Morgan—” She glanced back over her shoulder.

“If you really think she’s going to hold to her promise, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

“But she hasn’t released the video yet,” Willow argued, trying to find some reasonable explanation to keep herself away from me.

“There is no video.”

The damn video was the reason she left? God, if only I’d known that was the problem, I wouldn’t have had to suffer, watch Ariel suffer, so long without her.

“Yes, there is!” she snapped in exasperation. “She showed me, I heard it. She said if I didn’t go away, she’d release it to the media!”

“She told me that too,” I said, “the day after you and I first made love. I went over there to tell her to leave Ariel and you alone, and she showed me.”

“But you─”

“I destroyed it. I destroyed her whole phone, and I’m completely sure there is no backup copy. She wouldn’t have thought of it, because she was fixated on gloating, but I had my security team check on it anyway.”

She crossed her arms in front of her. “I don’t understand.”

I shrugged. “Morgan is a liar. Did you actually see the video?”

She squished up her face, trying to remember. Damn, she was so cute, even in the midst of all this chaos. “I─ I guess not. I mean, she flashed it at me, and then I heard, you know, sex sounds.”

“Yeah.” I grinned at her. “The original was pretty hot, probably hotter than whatever junk she pulled off the Internet to trick you into believing she still had a tape. But she didn’t show you that original video, because she couldn’t.”

She shook her head and lowered herself down to sit on a crate. Damn, I should have thought of sitting her down first. “It doesn’t matter, though. She’ll use me to hurt you and Ariel, any way she can find. Now she’ll use this baby too, or even hurt it. I just need to stay away from you.”

She was pregnant with my child, like hell that was going to happen. If anything, I really needed her by my side. If Morgan was watching her like I thought she was, the only safe place for Willow would be with me. I wanted to protect her. Protect our baby. Protect our family, which included Ariel.

I still couldn’t believe Willow was going to have my second child. A feeling of pride and happiness welled up inside me before I remembered to stay focused on the issue at hand.

“I’m not saying that she’ll never be a problem again,” I conceded. “And she’s probably looking for some new way to hurt us. She definitely can’t be trusted— all the promises she ever made ended up being indicators that she’d do the exact opposite.”

“Huh, you know, you have a valid point right there,” she admitted, tapping her foot on the grimy ground of the alley.

“But I can handle her,” I insisted. “She’s got nothing to hurt us with if we stick together.”

Willow dropped her arms to her sides and smiled.

The door to the bar opened and out came a portly man with a thick mustache and heavy accent.

“Hey, Willow, there you are. We need you in here or else I have to give your shift to Bradley,” he said through his crackled up voice.

He must’ve been a cigar smoker. Jerry was too, and his voice sounded the same.

Willow smoothed out her apron and sighed. “You can do that, Mr. Brent. I’ve got to go home.” And I knew what she meant by that.

“All right, kiddo. Be careful, ya hear?”

“Yes, sir. Good night!” She turned to me. “I just have to run in and get my purse. Be right back!”

“Hurry. I’ve missed you. Ariel will be so excited to see you again.”

A few minutes later, she ran out the front doors and I seated her carefully in my car. Once I was in beside her, I held her hand that rested in her lap. She squeezed mine back.

“You don’t think Ariel will be mad at me when she finds out she might be getting a brother or sister, do you?”

“She’ll get used to it. Plus, that means you’ll be her mommy after all!”

“I guess so,” she chuckled.

Willow looked out the window and leaned back in her seat. I was thrilled that she was beginning to relax, and to remember that she could trust me.

“Did you know she just dumped me off in the middle of the city?” Willow said. “She was driving a Rolls Royce Ghost.” She rolled her eyes.

Yes, I did believe it. Surprised she didn’t do worse.

“She bought that with my credit card shortly before I initiated the divorce.”

Willow sucked in through her teeth. “Ouch. That’s a lot of cash.”

“Not really. But it did irk me that she didn’t tell me she was doing it. I thought someone hacked my account until I saw that gaudy thing sitting in the drive way.”

A terrible squeal filled the night, and then─bam!

A car rammed into us from the side, pushing my car yards past the intersection and spinning us halfway around. We came to a stop and I unbuckled my seatbelt and checked on Willow. Her side had taken the brunt of the hit.

“Willow! Damn it, open your eyes! Willow!” My head was still spinning, but Willow—she needed me.

“H-huh? Dar—”

“Don’t speak, you’re going to be fine.”

I looked around as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. The car that had hit us was speeding off, and was already too far away to get the plate number.

I called 911 and held Willow’s hand until the EMTs arrived.