Kenzie

 

Things had been surprisingly quiet since Matteo had released the documents about Xavier. Kenzie had expected to be interviewed by the police at any moment, but she’d heard her father shouting behind his office door about some legal holdup from an attorney. She had to smile at that. Someday, she would the attorney creating a holdup for men like her father.

 

But even though she had been left alone for a few weeks, she quickly realized just how difficult it was going to be to get away from Matteo. Kenzie was able to sneak a few items out of the house once or twice a week to sell them, but the women who worked at the consignment shops were starting to raise their eyebrows at her. They thought she was a thief, and she couldn’t blame them. Most girls didn’t have such a large stash of high-end clothes and shoes. Besides, if Kenzie left the house with a whole suitcase full of things to sell, it would quickly call attention to what she was doing. Still, it had been a good start.

 

She tried to work a little harder for her tips at the bar, smiling more and wearing tops with slightly lower necklines. But it was draining her energy to put on such a show, and by the end of the night she was so exhausted that she didn’t even care what kind of money she made as long as she could just get through her shift.

 

“You sure you’re all right?” Candy asked as Kenzie sank down on a rickety chair behind the bar one night. “You look a little pale. Maybe you’re getting sick.”

 

“I’m not sick,” Kenzie insisted for the tenth time. She’d wondered that herself, but she hadn’t had a fever or any other symptoms. She was just so damn tired. Her black eye had healed to a pale yellow, but there were still dark rings under her eyes no matter how much she slept. “I think I’ve just been overworking myself.”

 

“Then take a break. If your daddy owns the bar, he can’t really deny you any sick time. I can just get one of the other waitresses to cover your shift,” Candy insisted.

 

“No.” Kenzie pushed herself to her feet, felt the bar spin around her, and sat down again. If she didn’t work, she wouldn’t get any money, and she needed it desperately. She’d started only turning in part of her tips and stashing the rest in her bra, adding it to the money she’d made from selling clothes. “I can do it. I’m fine.” She heaved herself upright and forced her way through the rest of the night.

 

When she woke up the next morning, she wished desperately to go back to asleep. She wanted to escape not just her life, but her body. Kenzie had always been young and healthy, but her body was suddenly betraying her. Her stomach churned incessantly, and her limbs didn’t seem strong enough to hold her up. She staggered to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face, but her limbs were so weak she only ended up leaning on the counter. She fell to her knees as her stomach churned and emptied her guts into the toilet.

 

Kenzie closed her eyes to hold back the tears. She couldn’t be sick. She didn’t have time for it. But she threw up again, and with the vomit came the startling realization that she had felt nauseous at about the same time every day. It went away after breakfast, but then it was only replaced by complete exhaustion. “No,” she whispered desperately as she vomited up what little her stomach still held. “This can’t be happening.”

 

But the pregnancy test she smuggled home in the bottom of her purse after class confirmed it. Kenzie stared at the little pink lines with horror. She couldn’t be having a baby. Not with Xavier. He was just some rebellious biker. How had she been so careless? But it had been a night of passion, not one of thinking about the future. She couldn’t even protect herself from her father, so how could she take care of a baby? How would she manage to go to school or put herself through the police academy. More tears threatened to leak from her eyes.

 

“That’s fine,” she said to herself as she pulled in a deep breath and tried to calm her shaking hands as she picked up the phone. “I don’t have to do this.”

 

It was easy enough to make an appointment, and the kind-voiced woman on the other end didn’t ask too many questions. But she did explain to Kenzie how much the procedure cost, and she paused. Kenzie thought about the cash she had stashed in the bottom of her jewelry box. It wasn’t going to be enough, and she couldn’t sell the rest of her clothes fast enough to come up with the difference. “I’ll call you back.”

 

Kenzie paced her room, trying to figure this all out. Her father would be furious with her, and that was a kind of rage she wasn’t interested in dealing with. It was all his fault anyway, but he wouldn’t see it like that. If she had to take care of a child, she would be stuck under his thumb until the day Matteo died.

 

With a sudden realization, Kenzie grabbed her purse and headed downstairs.

 

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” her father asked as he came through the living room.

 

Kenzie plastered a bright smile on her face. “I’m heading out to the mall to meet a few of my friends from law school.”

 

His eyebrows twitched, but he smiled back. “All right. Have fun.”

 

She shot out the door, got into her car, and took off.