Another three weeks go by. So much has happened in that time, but also, frustratingly, so little. Ethan is a constant in my life. If I don’t see him, he calls as often as he can. It’s sweet. He and Sarah had a little chat. Although she was upset, he let it be known things were over between them. Very much like Kyle, she hasn’t accepted it. I went to court about a week ago and managed to get an injunction. Luckily, Kyle has been quiet since then. It was both relieving and unsettling at the same time.

Today, I go out for my ritual Saturday morning shopping. As I walk back to my car, Kyle appears behind me. “Is it true?”

Spinning around, I see him standing too close to me. He looks unkempt, like he hasn’t showered or shaved in a few days. It actually shocks me to see him this way.

“Is what true?” I ask, feeling a knot in my stomach. As if sensing I could be in danger, I glance around to see if there is anyone I could shout to, but it seems Kyle and I are the only ones here.

Typical.

“About the baby.” My eyes widen. “So it is true.” With a smirk, he steps closer. “When were you going to tell me?”

I back into the car door. My heart is racing, my car keys burning in my hand. I want to get out of there, but I also want to find out how he could possibly know. “What business is it of yours?”

He laughs. “What business is it of mine? Considering we’re married, I would say a great deal, wouldn’t you?”

“We’re only married on paper. For the past five weeks, we have been living separately. If you’d sign the divorce papers, this would be all over.” He starts to edge closer. “If you come near me, I’ll scream. You’re in breach of your injunction order. You’ll go to jail.”

Kyle visibly inhales and exhales, like he’s trying to keep himself in check. “Are you fucking him right now?”

I frown. “Who?” I know who he means.

“Doctor Fuckwit.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. If it weren’t for the baby, we wouldn’t be in contact at all.” With my interest piquing, I ask, “How do you know about the baby anyway?”

Kyle leans against the car next to mine, which makes me breathe a bit easier. I don’t like that he knows I’m pregnant, but I especially don’t like the fact that he seems to be so damn calm about it.

“I feel betrayed that I had to hear it from somebody else.” He pauses for a moment, giving me time to think. The only people who know are Ethan, Sally, and my solicitor. “But you know how it is around here sometimes. People see things and they start to gossip. There’s a woman who works in your office who’s cousins with someone I work with. She noticed that you have been running to the toilet a lot. The guy I work with wished me congratulations, so I asked him on what. That’s when he told me of her suspicions.”

Closing my eyes, I berate myself. I could have denied it and said it was a bug, but where would that get me? Kyle would have found out at some point. I can’t hide it forever.

When I open my eyes again, I see Kyle examining at his fingers. He looks calm. In fact, he looks too calm. Just as he looks up to say something, we hear someone shout.

“Hey!”

We snap our heads to the source and find Ethan walking quickly toward us. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He stops by me, looking me over. “Are you okay? He hasn’t hurt you or anything?”

Shaking my head, I smile. “No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

He turns to Kyle. “I’m calling the police. You’re in breach of your injunc—”

“I was just asking about the baby,” Kyle interrupts. I look over at Ethan, who looks as confused as I feel. “I was wondering why you two were spending so much time together. Now it all clicks into place. Here’s the thing. She’s married to me, but could be pregnant with another man’s baby.”

I frown. “What do you mean could be?”

He looks me in the eye. “I want a paternity test.”

“What?!” both Ethan and I yell at the same time.

He smiles triumphantly. “The baby could be mine. I want a paternity test.”

When Ethan looks at me, I start shaking my head. “No, there’s no possible way. We always used condoms. Always.”

Kyle starts laughing. “I doubt many of them worked. I spent quite a lot of drunken nights hanging them on my dartboard to perfect my skills. You know I hated those things.” I’m shocked. “It’s quite ironic really. I didn’t want to get you pregnant, but I was so against Ethan getting you pregnant, I was willing to do anything to try and stop it.”

“You fucking bastard!” Ethan roars as he rushes toward him.

“Ethan, don’t!” I shout. He grabs Kyle by the collar and pulls back a fist. “He’s lying.”

Kyle looks over at me. “I’m not lying. I could be the father, so I want a paternity test. It’s my right.”

Ethan yanks on Kyle’s collar. “You’re only doing this out of spite. You’re a fucking lying, selfish piece of shit. Why can’t you just leave Alice alone? Don’t you think she’s suffered enough?”

“Suffered?” Kyle shouts. “You have the gall to lecture me about suffering? My wife won’t let me back into my own house and, not only that, I find out she’s possibly pregnant by another guy.” He looks at me. “By the way, my solicitor will have a field day over this. You’re divorcing me on the grounds of my infidelity. What about yours?”

I gasp. “You know it never went down like that.”

He smirks. “Yes, but my solicitor doesn’t.”

“You fucking bastard!” Ethan roars, punching him in the face. I watch in horror as Kyle slumps to the ground. Bringing a hand up to his bleeding lip, he starts laughing.

“I’ll let you have that one,” he says to Ethan, sneering, then looks up at me. “If you don’t call the police, neither will I.” He stands up, straightening his jacket. “I’ll go, but know one thing. I will be ordering you to get tested.” He points toward my stomach. “If I’m that baby’s father, I have rights.” He walks past me. “You’ll be hearing from me.”

It’s those parting words that send shivers down my spine. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I don’t like the prospect.

As soon as he’s gone, Ethan rushes to me and places his hands on my face. “Are you okay?”

I nod. “He’s lying, Ethan.”

He touches his forehead to mine. “I know he is. He’s trying to make things as difficult for you as possible.”

Feeling lost, I wrap my arms around him. “Why is he coming after me? After everything he’s done, why won’t he let me go?”

Ethan squeezes me to his chest, letting me inhale his soothing scent. “It’s because he doesn’t want to let you go. He may be hoping you’ll eventually cave and let him back into your life again.”

Pulling away from him, I shake my head. “That will never happen.”

He smiles. “I know that as much as you, but he obviously hasn’t gotten the message yet.”

I moan. “God, how did things get so complicated?”

He strokes my hair. “I know it may feel that way, but you’re not alone in this. It will get better. I promise.”

“Thank you.” Knowing that I need to broach the subject, I bite my lip. “Can you set it up?”

He frowns. “What?”

“The paternity test. I want you to set one up, but with our baby and your DNA. I don’t want anything to do with Kyle.”

“You don’t need to do this for me. I know he’s a filthy, lying piece of shit.”

I laugh a little. “I know, but he’s going to force me anyway.”

He squeezes my shoulders. “He can’t force you to do anything.”

“Still, I would like it done before he requests one. Once he knows, he may decide to leave me alone.” I feel a knot in my stomach. “What if he’s not lying? What if he really did pull a stunt like that? The way he’s behaving right now, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Ethan shakes his head. “I wouldn’t, either, but I just think he’s clutching at straws. He found out you were pregnant, then thought up a plan for revenge.”

I huff. “Revenge. That’s rich.” Ethan nods. “You do know he coerced you into punching him so I wouldn’t go to the police, right?”

Ethan grits his teeth. “Yes, I realise that, but I’m not sorry for doing it. I think you should call the police regardless. Besides, he was harassing you. I was just doing my public duty by protecting you.”

Clutching my hands, I hold them to my cheek on a sigh. “My hero.” I giggle, making him smile.

“Hey, don’t take the micky. I thought I did pretty good.”

“You did. But I’m not going to the police. I hate to admit it, but I think he won this round. He’s successfully placed doubt in our minds.”

Looking away, Ethan shakes his head. “No, he hasn’t. This baby is ours. Not his, not anyone else’s. He can try and place doubt all he wants, but I’m not going to take the bait.”

I lean against the car and cross my arms. “I love that you have so much faith, but the truth of the matter is he’s not going away in a hurry. He’s going to put us through this no matter what. He doesn’t care whether this baby is his or not. If it were his baby, he’d run away. He can’t handle the responsibility. What happened here,” I say, motioning with my hands, “is just a big game to him. Kyle has never fully grown up. I realise all this now. He won’t stop until he reaches that finish line. I know he won’t.”

Ethan walks up to me and places his hands on my shoulders. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath.” I do as he asks as he starts kneading my muscles. “You’re so tense. Try to relax a bit. Keep your eyes closed.” I do, soon melting at his touch. He’s gentle, but firm. Pretty soon, I feel like I’m floating.

As he presses into my right shoulder, I moan. “That feels so good.”

I feel him get a little closer. When he does, his smell fills my nostrils, causing a deep yearning in the pit of my stomach. I’m suddenly lost in him...lost to his touch.

“Do you feel better now?” he asks.

Opening my eyes, I look at him with a goofy grin. “Yes. That was perfect. Thank you.”

As he laughs, I realise something. For a brief second, I had crossed a line with Ethan. I can’t develop any sort of feelings for him. I’m not Sarah, but I’m also a very recently single woman who’s trying to divorce her psycho husband.

Snapping out of it, I move away from my car. “Um, I’d better go,” I say, suddenly flustered.

He looks at me with a puzzled expression. “Are you late for something?”

Clutching at my car keys again, I click the button to open it. “Um, kind of. I’m meeting a friend,” I lie.

Ethan moves away from me to let me open the door. “Oh, okay,” he answers, looking a little dazed. “Are you free tomorrow?”

With one foot in the car, I halt and take a breath. This is silly. Ethan’s a very attractive man with a killer body.

No, Alice. Don’t go there. He’s attractive and looks after himself.

God, now I’m talking to myself. What’s next? What happened a moment ago was just a fluke. Ethan could have been anyone and I would have felt the same. All these years of wanting that kind of intimacy must be taking its toll. I just appreciate the way he’s taking care of me. That’s all.

“Yes,” I finally say, chastising myself. I can’t not see him. He’s the father of my child and wants to be there for me. Who am I to say no? He’s just a friend.

His face suddenly brightens. Does he like spending time with me, or is it just because he gets to be near his child? God, this is stupid.

“Can I take you for a picnic?”

I start laughing. “I think it’s a bit cold for that, don’t you?”

He grins. “Not for the type I’m planning.”

“Hmm… I’m suddenly very intrigued.”

Placing his hands into his jean pockets, he smirks. “Is that a yes?”

I nod. “It’s a yes.”

He looks away, then back at me. “I best be off then. See you tomorrow.”

Feeling bad that I kind of rebuffed him, I smile. “I look forward to it.”

He nods before walking away. I climb into my car. As I pull away, my phone pings with a message. I ignore it. I’ll wait until I get home to read it.

Once I park in my driveway, I cut off the engine before pulling my phone out of my bag. I see a message from an unknown number.

Check the basement.

I frown. What in the hell is this? It must be from Kyle. He used to use our basement as his “man cave”, as he liked to call it. He’d sometimes go down there to watch movies on the big screen. On occasion, he would invite friends over to watch a film, shoot pool, or play darts.

Wondering what the hell he’s up to, I get out of the car and walk to the house. Walking inside, I shake my head. He thinks he’s being clever by using another phone. If I tell the police he contacted me, he could just deny it. It’s probably a burner one he’s picked up that he’ll just destroy in a few days.

I look around before closing the door. Lately, I have had the sense someone’s watching. I know it’s stupid and I know it’s because Kyle won’t leave me alone, but it’s still there.

With that thought, I take my phone out of my bag and walk toward the basement. I flick the light on, then walk down the stairs. As I do, the vast room immediately illuminates, the TV, chairs, and games in the far corner visible. It looks the same as it always does. Why would he tell me to come down here? Is it because he wants all this back? I already told my solicitor he can have it. I won’t dispute that because I know how much he loved it down here.

I shake my head. This is ridiculous. All he’s doing is playing games with my head. I start to turn and go back upstairs, but something in the back of my mind tells me to look around. I shouldn’t entertain the idea, but I will do it this time.

Walking around, I look around the TV area, but don’t find anything that pops out. I walk over to the games. Everything is as it was when he left. The pool table has a few balls on it, and the dartboard has a dart in it. When I notice the dart holding something on the board, I walk closer. My eyes widen. At the top of the dartboard is a condom, still in its wrapper, tiny holes all over it.

Gasping, I place my hand over my mouth and look down. On a table next to it are a few more that look exactly the same.

Just as tears start in my eyes, my phone pings with another message.

I know about the baby. We need to talk. We made a deal, remember?