Chapter Eight

Noella

My arms flew up and shoved Hegan away. Jumping off the counter, I swiftly grabbed my clothes from the floor. Jerking my head up, he was watching me with a smile. His teeth shined, skin tinted a light pink, muscles still beating as they cooled down.

Huffing under my breath, I said, “You're an asshole.” Jumping on the balls of my feet, I slipped the jeans up over my hips in one quick tug.

“Wow, that's harsh, don't you think? I show you a good time, and I'm an asshole?” His body shifted against the granite, elbow jetting out to the side to hold him up.

“Fuck you,” I hissed, pulling my shirt over my arms. The thumping of my heart beat like church bells against my ears, drowning out my own voice.

“I think we just did that. You were there, don't you remember?” He chuckled loudly, muscles tensing with each inhale of air.

The anger surged through my body. I hated him and was even more pissed at myself for letting him pull me in. I was repeating in my head how he had lured me here, paid my boss for me, and now this.

What did I do? Noella! What the hell were you thinking?

Tossing my hair from my face, my hands came down to land on my hips. “I want to leave. You can't keep me here. You got your sex, now I'm ready to go.”

Hegan laughed, rolling his eyes, head following in suit. “I told you it was more than that. You can't leave, I won't let you.” Shaking his finger, it wagged in my face. “I'm not done with you yet, Copper.”

Veering my stare, I felt my face burning. I wanted my words to turn into knives, cutting through the air and into him. “I won't stay. I'm done here, done with you.”

“Unfortunately you don't have a choice. If you leave now what are you going to do about your mom?” he asked, arching a single brow.

Standing silent, he might as well have just thrown a brick at me. The weight barreling down on my chest made it difficult to breathe. How does he know about my mom? What does she have to do with any of this? “What did you just say?” Shock filled my voice, my throat struggled to find the air to speak.

“Yeah, sweetheart. I know all about that. And if you go now...” His words trailed off. Shaking his head side to side, each vein bulged with the contortion of his neck. “Gloria is going to pull out. Maybe you should have read that contract, huh?”

I could feel the blood drain from my face, an ice cold sweat trickled down between my shoulders. Why? Would she really stop helping me? There was only one more treatment left, one final borrow from Gloria's pocket. And I've been paying on it every night since I started working for her.

Suddenly I felt very small, the room around me grew like a fungus. The air had thickened to a harsh paste, the brightness now dulled as my head spun with questions and fear.

“Why? Why would she do that? How did my mother get brought into this? This has nothing to do with her.” Gritting my teeth, I could feel each one grinding together. Swallowing hard, I was certain the sandpaper sensation was bits of broken teeth scraping my throat.

He had no business interfering with my mother, and the care she needed.

Hegan shifted his gaze to the floor, eyeing the dark stained wood. “It doesn't have to involve her, not if you just stay and do what I paid for.” His hand ran through his hair, a single strand making its way back down. “At this point, nothing is changing for your mom. But if you leave, it all will.”

“This isn't fair. It's wrong!” Red started to drain into the back of my eyes, my feelings turning from confusion to rage.

How dare he try to control her and her treatment! He couldn't do that. Could he?

“Then stay and do as I ask. That's it. And your mom, your family, you'll all be set for the rest of your lives.”

“I had sex with you! What more do you want? How long do you need me for?” I spat between my teeth, hands flailing around wildly. I couldn't understand what else there could be.

He had his fun, made his way into my pants. There was nothing left for him to gain from this, from me. I gave him the only thing I ever kept away from my job, sex. Hegan had been the one and only guy to ever make me cross that line.

I'd found myself caught between hate and a lust filled desire. He was hot, had muscles that wrapped every inch of him. The small dimple in his chin, his green eyes that sparkled when he smiled. All that pulled on me, pulled me into him.

A loss of control that I've never had before.

“Copper, I need you for something bigger than that.” Bridging the gap between us, he stepped behind me. His thick fingers stretched over my shoulders squeezing firmly. Bringing his lips to my ear, he softly said, “You're going to carry my child.” The hot whisper flamed inside my skull.

What did he say? Did he really just say I'm supposed to have his baby?

The room began to spin, the static walls now whirling around each other. A purple fog began to fill my vision, weaving in and out of my eyes. The sweltering haze coated my body, a thin tunnel transformed in front of me, and then...

Black.

***

Bright light filled the back of my lids. A buzzing sound radiated around the inside of my head, the noise extending to a dull voice in the distance.

Slowly my eyes peeled open, blinking rapidly, my mind was a page of blank pictures. Forcing my vision to clear, Hegan's face hung just above my nose. His mouth was moving but his sound was a mess of blurred words.

Shaking my head, the dark images seeped back in. Where I was, who I was with, and the words that crushed my soul.

'Carry my child.'

'Carry my child.'

The three words clammed together playing on repeat. Over and over they imprinted themselves like a tattoo in my head. Branding the idea, the sick joke he had to be playing on me, into one giant burn.

Have his baby? Was he serious? He can't be, that is the most obscene demand anyone could impose on a human being.

“Copper, are you alright? Copper?” The words strained against his tongue, forced out anxiously. A look of worry was painted on his face. His eyes were popping out to their limit, brows standing straight up.

I pushed myself up from the floor, scrambling back on my hands. Resting my back against the cupboards, a searing pain surged through my neck and shoulders. The back of my scalp stung, rubbing the area I could feel a knot swelling beneath my hair.

Hegan asked me again, “Are you okay? You hit the floor like a sack of rocks.” Raising up onto his knees, he leaned in closer. “I've never seen someone go down so fast, except for when my fist's involved.” Cracking a smile to his ear, he gripped the edge of the counter and lifted to his feet.

Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “How can you joke right now?” My fingers spun across the floor, following the grains embedded in the wood. The other hand continued to massage the egg growing at the base of my skull.

“Let me get you some ice.” Hegan filled a baggie, the sound of the ice bouncing against each other as they fell inside echoed through the headache I had forming. Pinching the edge of the plastic closed, he lowered back down to me.

I didn't want to look at him, fear I might throw up on the floor if I looked into his eyes churned inside my gut. It was hard to swallow the thoughts filling my mind. He had told me he hired me to have his baby.

What is wrong with him? I'm not doing that. He's crazy if he thinks I'm going to have his child!

“I'm not doing it,” I said sternly.

“A thanks for the ice would have been nice.”

“I'm not having your baby. I don't even know you. And I don't care about the money, that's too much to ask of me.”

“I'm not asking. You're doing this, you don't have a choice.” He tossed the bag of ice down onto my lap.

“Everyone has a choice.” Forcing myself to look at him, his face was still as stone. Every muscle sat in a temporary suspension, the cold glare fixing firm on me.

“How are you going to help your mom if you walk out of here? My deal with Gloria is set. She's banking on you having the baby. If you do, like I said before, your family will be set for life.” Folding his arms across his chest, he thumbed his chin. “If you don't, Gloria still makes out fine, but your mom's treatment will have no more green going into it.”

How could he do this to me? He didn't know anything about what we went through, or how much of a toll the illness had already taken on us. This was a callus move, a bold way for him to throw his power down.

I didn't want my family to suffer. To have gone this far only to watch the entire ordeal be for nothing... Could I do that? Could I leave my mother to suffer gravely?

I wasn't really sure I could.

Or would.

“Why? You still haven't answered that. Tell me why you need this. I deserve that, don't you think?”

His lips formed a thin line, eyes wildly searching the ceiling. Scratching his forehead, he leaned onto the island in the center of the kitchen. “You want to know why.” Hegan rolled his thumbs together, scrunching his nose. “Because I don't have a choice. If I don't do this, then I'll lose everything too.”

A softness had emerged over his face. He looked lost, like a small boy in a store looking for his mother. The strength and confidence that had spewed from every inch of him was shrinking.

I could tell he didn't like this anymore than I did. He wouldn't look me straight in the eye. They zigzagged side to side, up and down. His hands rolled together, fingers twining around each other.

Exhaling a labored breath, he slapped the island. “Well, we have a big day today. We're supposed to meet my parents for lunch later. You should go get cleaned up.” Spinning on one heel, Hegan turned and walked out the door in the back of the kitchen. Dipping his head back in, he said, “Oh, and don't mention any of this to them.”

Before I could speak he was gone. Sitting motionless on the floor, ice held tight to my head, I was still in shock. Reliving the entire ordeal and what he expected me to do. I had a decision to make.

Run, run far away and never look back, or do something that could change my parents lives and in the process... My life forever.

There's no way he can be serious. This has to be some type of test or challenge. Right?

If Hegan actually thought he could blackmail me with money to have his baby, then he had to be fucking crazy.

But, if he's serious...

Do I risk my mother's health, her treatment, her life?

My head was spinning wildly with questions and a fucking headache.

I didn't want to see everything my mom had already been through be for nothing. And Gloria, that fucking bitch. She only cared about the money, that's obvious now. If she was willing to pull out, Hegan must be offering her double what I owed her.

I don't know if I can risk this. Gripping the counter, slowly I pulled myself up. The room spun slightly as I shook my head and closed my eyes. Holding tightly on the granite, I followed it to the edge.

I don't think I've ever fainted before. I feel hung over, the room's spinning and a damn truck's driving over my brain.

And now I'm having lunch with his family. This is like something I'd see in a movie, not in real life, not my life.

Using the wall for balance, I made my way back to my room. Get yourself together Noella! You're not weak.

And I never will be.

Closing the door behind me, I slid down the wood. Resting my back against it, my head hung in my lap. I didn't know what to do, or what to think. I had just been slapped with a life changing decision.

Pressing my fingers into my forehead, my mind was a jostled mess. Get yourself together! You have to think clear, figure this shit out.

How stupid was I?

I had sex with him, unprotected, condomless sex. And that's just what he wanted.

Hegan needed a baby, but why? His answer was useless. He seemed to have everything; what was he losing?

Sure, I could have sat there, dwelling on the asshole that just threw a fist in my gut, and his cock in my pussy. But I decided not to.

Pulling myself up, I inhaled a deep breath. I had to relax, get control of myself. Obviously he wasn't letting me go just yet. I wasn't going to let him think he had gotten to me either.

If my mom's care was on the line and her health was in his hands, I had to think things through.

Maybe, just maybe, this could be my answer.

Am I ready for a baby? No.

But what do you do when your own mother needs you?

You do whatever it takes.

Would she want me passing this up? Would she risk her life for me to leave empty handed?

My throat was coated in a sour taste, stomach rolling with nerves and toxic waste. I had to figure this shit out.

One way or another, I knew my mom wasn't going to be the one suffering.

Not by his hands.