Chapter 38

Rhett

 

Thank God.

My heart didn’t stop pounding until I saw Danica’s face relax and she started to agree with me. I half expected her to turn me away or to demand to know my plan, but luckily she didn’t. I wasn’t sure how I would have explained my potentially dangerous idea to someone who I absolutely knew was going to stop me. She wouldn’t like to hear what I had up my sleeve, and I really didn’t want to have to tell her.

“Mom,” Danica shook her mother lightly, trying to wake her up in the gentlest way possible–which was fair enough, because what was to come next was going to be a little brutal. For Lyla to learn the truth about her husband was going to be awful.

As I watched Danica caringly calling to her mom, I saw another image of her forming in my mind–the one of her as a mother, caring for our child. I still couldn’t get my head around how lucky we were, but I knew that I’d be able to digest everything properly once all of this was done, and life returned to normal.

If I allowed my brain to even think about becoming a father, it went into meltdown mode, so I knew that I couldn’t do it until all of this was over. I mean, how was I going to be a dad? How were we going to get everything organized before the baby came? How were we…

No, I couldn’t think about that. Once my dad was out of the picture, then I could deal with everything.

There were still so many unknowns when it came to me and Danica, but I was certain that we would be able to work it out soon enough. The one thing that I was certain of was that we would come out of this on top. Once my dad was gone, nothing would ever tear us apart again.

“Ngh?” Lyla finally sat up, sleepy and very groggy. “Brad?” That was the first person that she asked for, which tore my heart in two. It was obvious that she still loved him despite everything, and I hated that I was going to be the one to ruin that for her.

“Mom, it’s me,” Danica continued with a soft, childlike quality to her voice. “I’m sorry to do this to you, but we really have to go. We need to pack up and get out of here.”

“What? Why?” She jumped up in her bed, really paying attention now. “Rhett, what are you doing here?” She was shocked and confused, and I knew that I needed to dispel all of that quickly so that we could get a move on. I had no idea what my dad would do next, especially if he saw me here with his wife and Danica, and I needed to escape to get my plan into place before he did anything stupid.

“It’s my dad,” I stepped forward, and handed her the stack of papers, knowing that reading it all would make more sense to her than me explaining it. Lyla wouldn’t need me to tell her what was going on in my half understanding kind of way. She was a lawyer and a very intelligent woman. She could get a better grasp of it just by looking, and she would get the implications of dad’s actions much better than I ever could. “

He’s not the man you think he is. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I don’t want you to find out in any other way.”

She scanned her eyes over the documents, much quicker than I could have read it, her face going whiter with every single word. “What does this mean?” she gasped, throwing her hand over her mouth. “Is it…is it what I think it is?”

“I’m afraid so,” I admitted, assuming that she’d at least gotten the general gist. “Which is why we need to go. My dad has been very good at evading the law up until this point, and he knows that I’m on to him now. He’s been following Danica, and he isn’t afraid to use her to get to me–he told me as much himself.”

I suddenly cringed at the implications of this sentence, but luckily Lyla was too tied up in knots to notice. I didn’t want her to find out about my relationship with her daughter in such a shocking way.

“When?” she snapped, sounding angrier than I’d ever heard her before. “When did he tell you this? Have you seen him? Do you know where he is? Why hasn’t he been talking to me?”

“Last night,” I told her, knowing that she was going to hate this part. “He turned up in my hotel room and threatened me. He threatened all of us, really.” I needed them to focus on the danger that faced us, rather than the fact that Brad Fronton was a dickhead–we could all process that much later on.

“That fucker,” she growled, and I couldn’t help but flinch. I’d never heard Lyla curse before, and it was too weird for words. But it proved just how deeply all of this was affecting her. “How fucking dare he?” Her face was red with rage. “I’ve been worried sick about him, and he’s been doing…this!” She slammed the papers down in front of her, and sprang into action. “Right, Rhett. What do we have to do?”

“Come on,” I tried to smile reassuringly at her, hoping that I could at least instil some confidence in her that everything would be okay in the end. “Let’s go. I’ll sort everything out.” I sounded more sure than I really felt, but I didn’t want to give anyone even a second to doubt me. This plan had to go perfectly if it was even going to come close to working!

 

***

 

After much discussion about where we were going to go next–a location for which I didn’t mind, as long as it was far out of the way–I ended up dropping Lyla and Danica off at Lyla’s sister’s home. I vaguely remembered Danica’s Aunt Catherine, or Cat as they all seemed to call her, from the wedding, but I hadn't had the opportunity to speak to her too much, which made meeting like this a little awkward.

As I listened to Lyla explain to her sister about why they needed a place to crash, I kept feeling her scrutinizing gaze upon me. She was obviously trying to size me up, to see if I was as much of a scumbag as my father, and I was desperately trying to communicate that I was nothing like him and that I was innocent without saying a word.

When they finally went inside, leaving Danica and me alone, I felt an odd mixture of relief and sadness. I was happy to have protected her and her mother from what was about to come, but I didn’t like leaving them behind. I knew that I didn’t have a choice–it was what needed to be done–but that didn’t make it any easier.

As I stared into Danica’s eyes, I felt like I could end up losing her all over again. I’d only just gotten her back into my life, and despite the circumstances I didn’t want that to end.

“I’ll message you,” I insisted, needing some sort of communication to bond us together. I wouldn’t have been able to cope without it. “Every half an hour, and you do the same. That way we can know that we’re both safe.”

“Okay,” she nodded, looking about as unhappy as I felt. She clearly didn’t want me to go, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I absolutely had to, then I might have allowed her to convince me to stay. “Look after yourself, okay? And, I’ll see you very soon.”

We hugged tightly, and I found myself wanting to say lots of things to her. I knew that it wasn’t the time or place, but if I was totally honest, I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure that we would get another shot. The feelings that I’d been experiencing for a very long time came bubbling to the surface and I could no longer keep them inside.

“I love you,” I mumbled into her ear, feeling free as those words finally spilled past my lips. “I love you so, so much.”

I could already feel the wetness on her cheeks as she replied, “I love you, too. I have since the very first day I met you.” I’d made her cry, but as I pulled back to get a look at her face I could see that it was from happiness rather than despair.

I thought of us back when we first met, sitting in that orientation room next to one another, tentatively flirting, having no idea what we go on to mean to one another. Who knew that we would go on to fall in love, to be having a baby, and to be having all of this madness surrounding us? It seemed totally unthinkable at the time; I had just thought that she was a very beautiful girl.

Now, she was my everything. I didn’t know what I would do without her, and I hoped never to have to find out.

“I won’t be long,” I promised, knowing that I truly meant it. I had to get this done quickly, to get back to her now so that our real lives could finally begin. “You stay safe indoors, and I’ll be back to get you soon. When I do, things will be different. We will finally be free.”

“I wish I knew what you were doing,” she smiled morosely at me. “I think I’d feel better if you would just let me know. I’m worried enough; I honestly don’t think that you could make it any worse.”

“I can’t,” I shook my head firmly. “I’m sorry; I’ll tell you all about it when it’s done. I promise. I just… I need to do everything within my power to keep you safe; you know that.”

“But I can’t keep you safe,” she whined, looking sad enough to break my heart.

“Yes, but I have to think about both of you, don’t I?” I rubbed her swollen stomach gently, feeling a rush of love wash over me as I considered the child inside of her. She was carrying our miracle, and I needed to ensure both of their safety. “You and our unborn baby.”

She nodded, finally agreeing with me, seeing that I was being reasonable with this one. “Be quick?” she pleaded, and I agreed.

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

I stared into her eyes for a few moments, wishing that I didn’t have to tear myself away, but then the darkened face of my father popped into my mind, and I remembered what a madman he was. I needed this done now before anything else could happen, and for that I had to go. So I forced myself to let Danica go, and I span on my heels and made myself move.

As I sat back in the front seat of my car, before I switched on the engine, I fired off a text to my dad, smiling smugly to myself.

This was going to work; it just had to. Brad Fronton was such a proud man that I knew this would drive him crazy. He wouldn’t be able to resist stumbling straight into my trap.

‘I have taken Danica and Lyla back to my hotel room, so you better not try anything. Leave them both alone. Forever.’

I knew that he wouldn’t reply, but that didn’t matter. I didn’t need him to text me back; I needed him to get himself tied up in knots. So far, everything had gone exactly as I needed it to, and I was starting to feel a little more confident that I might just be winning at last.