Chapter 26

Grace

Everything hurt as I lay on the couch wrapped up in a blanket, my heart broken and life shattered by a few stupid decisions. I should have gone with Erik out of town when he asked me to that night, but I knew the consequences of that. His father wasn't anything like him. He would find us and kill us both.

The asshole knew he was sending Erik to kill my brother. He was probably the one who had Cole bring me to the frat house that night. But why? Tears dripped down my face, and I cuddled up tighter on the couch. What had I done to deserve such hatred?

Did Lucien really not want Erik to find love? To be secure in a relationship outside of theirs? A soft knock at the door had my heart skipping a beat. Jenna? Had to be.

Thomas was visiting our parents for the holidays, but I faked a sickness to keep from going. My mother would see my baby bump and watch me vomit a few times and know exactly what was wrong with me. She'd demean me and make me feel like I was nothing more than the whore I was. It wasn't happening.

I got up and walked toward the door, ignoring the tiny tank top and boy shorts I had on. Jenna wouldn't care. "Coming."

Shock rolled over me quickly followed by horror as I opened the door. Erik stood on the other side of the door, his beautiful face black and blue, his eye swollen shut and lip busted pretty bad.

"Oh my God." I reached for him and pulled him into the apartment. "Baby, what happened to you?"

"Nate stopped by." His voice was low, his tone dead. "He said you're pregnant. I came by to see what you wanted to do with it."

"Erik." I reached up and touched the side of his face tenderly. "Sit down and let me put something on this. It looks infected."

He sat down on the coffee table and clasped his hands in his lap looking nothing like the man I fell in love with. He was broken, darkened, lost. He didn't say a word as I dropped my blanket and jogged back to the bathroom, stifling a sob.

It was my fault. Him getting beaten within an inch of his life was all my fault. I hated myself like never before. After getting the supplies to clean up his face, I paused and pressed a towel against my lips, shoving a little into my mouth as I screamed as hard as I could a few times. My insides were going to burst open with the level of emotion that raged through me.

I forced myself to calm down, breathed in deeply and walked back into the living room to find him in the same position he was before.

"When did this happen?" I sat down and moved closer, snuggling between his open legs on my knees before him.

"A couple of weeks ago." He gripped his thighs and stared down at me. "You need money for an abortion?"

"What? No." I grabbed some cotton balls and soaked them in rubbing alcohol before lifting up and patting the side of his face. His dark eyes bore into my soul as he watched me. If he loved me before, he didn't anymore.

"Where's your brother?" He turned his head, ignoring the fact that I was trying to patch up his face.

"Sit on the couch and stay still." I moved and pointed toward the couch.

He got up and pulled his shirt over his head and walked to the window, opening it and standing there a minute. "It's fucking hot in here."

Dark yellow and black bruises covered his beautiful back and stitches ran down his side and over his chest in several places. He avoided my stare as he moved to the couch and dropped down.

"You're running a fever. We need to get you to a hospital."

"No," he barked. "I'm fine. Just tell me about the baby, and I'll be gone. I didn't come here for your sympathy, Grace. I made my choice." He narrowed his eyes. "And you made yours."

I sat back on my heels as sorrow welled up inside of me. I'd never been enough for anyone, and yet for him, it seems as though I was. The one thing I wanted in my life sat in front of me, broken and bruised because of me turning away.

"What choice did I have? You had a gun pointed at my brother's head." My eyes filled with tears again. I had no clue how I still had enough water inside of me to cry anymore. I'd done nothing since losing him two weeks before. "Would you have chosen me over Delaney, Erik?"

"I don't know." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, letting out a painful sigh. "I'm so tired, Grace. I knew what to do before, what I wanted and how to get it. Now... I just want to lay down and sleep. Forever."

I dropped the cotton ball and moved into his lap, straddling him. I ran my fingernails softly over his thick chest and avoided the sores. "What can I do? I'll do anything to take your pain away."

He opened his eyes. "Leave town and never come back."

"What? My life is here. You're here. My friends are here."

"Get rid of the baby." He ran his hands up my thighs, squeezing softly as he lifted his hips. "He doesn't deserve any life where he belongs to me. No life is better than this one."

I moved closer, laying my head on his chest and pressing my lips to his neck, kissing him softly over and over as I started to cry, my heart in anguish to the point of death.

"Please don't say that again." I reached up and cupped his face, moving in to kiss him on the good side of his mouth. "I had no choice but to try and protect you, Erik. You know that."

"And I returned the favor. We're even, angel. Nothing owed from me or you." He pressed his hand against my back, forcing me to fall against his chest. The soft groan from him sounded like a mixture of pleasure and pain.

"I love you. I'll always love you, Erik." I wrapped my arms around his neck and rolled my hips, massaging the budding erection rising beneath me.

He cupped my ass and slipped his hands into my shorts, petting the most sacred parts of me, places only he'd touched. "I'm sorry to hear that." He kissed the side of my neck and rimmed my opening before taking a deep breath and releasing me. "Get off me, please."

"No." I clung to him, my heart threatening to explode in my chest. "Don't do this. Let's get out of here and run. You know that's our only hope."

He chuckled and moved up, putting me on the couch beside him as he stood. "There's no hope left, Grace. Go back to your life and find a man to make you happy." He walked to the door and paused. "I'll be watching from the corner of the library. If anyone ever touches you or our son without your permission, I'll kill them."

"How do you know it's a boy?" I stood and ran my hands down my abdomen, watching him.

The light in his eyes was completely gone, but something sparked a little as he reached out and pressed his palm to my stomach. "We Bertinellis always have boys first. It's a family curse." He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Take care."

"Erik." I walked behind him and reached out, grabbing his shirt. "Please don't do this. We can leave together and raise this baby like he should be."

He turned to face me and nodded. "And always watch behind us, never truly knowing freedom until one day they find us." He smirked. "And they force me to watch while you're raped and torn in two and then they-" his voice broke as tears swam in his beautiful eyes, "and then they turn to my son. They don't ever give up, Grace. Vengeance and hate force them to keep killing, to keep taking, to always destroy. It's the world I've been born into." He lifted his hands. "The one that will always belong to me."

"No." I reached out and touched his chest. "It doesn't have to. I can heal it for you. I can protect myself. I'll do anything."

He reached out and touched the side of my face. "Then do what I asked you to do. Get rid of the baby or get out of the city and change your name. You're a dumb bitch if you don't."

I stepped back, appalled as he turned and walked down the hallway, leaving me there with nothing more than a broken heart and a destroyed spirit.

He wasn't the man I thought he was. He was his father's son.