Bled Dry (27 page)

“He’ll want the baby, Brittany. He’ll want to raise the child, groom him for power. You are carrying his grandchild. He’ll see the possibilities and want to act on them.”

Damn it, that’s what she’d been hoping he wouldn’t say.
“No, Corbin, no. No, no, no.
We can’t let him do that.” The thought of that man with her child—influencing her, keeping her from a normal, nurturing life—made every cell in her body vibrate in protest. It made her want to dissolve into a full-fledged hysterical panic. But she couldn’t. She needed to act, and it seemed there was only one obvious solution. “Shit. I just need to leave, don’t I? I need to change my hair, my name, start over somewhere else. Hide from him. Never let anyone know.”

Corbin stopped clicking and deleting, and slowly rubbed his forehead. “
Mon Dieu.
Brittany.” He turned to her and his face was hard, eyes agonized, a rich cobalt blue. “Maybe that would be the smartest thing to do. At least temporarily. If anyone asked, Alexis can just say her sister had moved to California or something. And then you can go to Atlanta or Boston, somewhere far from California. Hell, maybe Europe or India and get lost in the crowd.”

Wet washcloth wrung between her hands, Brittany nodded. “I’ll have to tell Alexis and Ethan, but no one else.”

“I’ll destroy all evidence of the biological connection. I will move my other files, then destroy this hard drive. It will take me a few hours.”

“Can you stay awake?” She knew how hard it was for vampires to function during the day.

“I’ll have to.” He nodded. “It will be fine. Everything is fine. You go and pack and I’ll pick you up tonight. We can leave immediately.”

That stopped her. Her mind had been racing ahead, mentally picking a replacement for her dental practice until she could sell it, trying to decide where she’d want to live, what her name might be. How she would need Ethan’s help to establish a new identity for herself. An identity by herself.

It had never occurred to her to take Corbin with her.

While part of her wanted to fling herself into his arms and let him fix everything, her pride, her independence, and mostly, her maternal instinct told her Corbin couldn’t leave with her.

“I was planning to go alone.”

He stopped clicking on things long enough to stare at her, mouth wide open. “Alone? No, I am going with you. I will protect you. Watch over you and the babe at night when you cannot.”

Brittany made note there was no mention of love or devotion or how he couldn’t picture his life without her.

But regardless of that, even if he did love her, which he clearly didn’t, he still couldn’t go with her. It was dangerous, she sensed that. Felt it instinctively. “Corbin.”

“Yes? Explain this to me. I cannot let you go without me.”

“You have to. No one knows you are the baby’s father, remember? That is the key to our success. No one knows about the baby. Or if they do, they will assume the father is mortal. That was your plan all along, and it was a good one, even if you didn’t tell me. If I leave, alone, no one will think twice about Alexis’s half-mortal sister moving to another state. No one will bother to check to see if I went where I said I was going. No one will care. If you leave with me, everyone will want to know where you went. And they will start to put two and two together and wonder if we left together. If vampires start asking questions, they might find answers we don’t want them to. They might get suspicious. They might eventually find us.”

He shook his head. “But... I cannot just let you go off into the night by yourself. I cannot.”

“You have to.” She swallowed the massive lump in her throat. “I know you want to protect us, and this is the best way. The same reason you wanted to marry me before is the same reason you can’t marry me now.”

It was a solid minute before he answered her. She could see the agony on his face, but she knew by the set of his jaw he had made the right decision.

“You are right.” He shook his head. “I hate it. I despise the idea of letting you go without me, but you are right. Brittany, I am so sorry that I have brought this all upon you. It is all my fault.”

“Hey, I was there that night, too.” And while she was terrified, she wasn’t sure she’d undo anything. She was having a baby, the child of the man she loved. That was worth any sacrifice, any inconvenience. And she would battle the devil himself to protect her baby. “Recriminations are a waste of time. I admit, I’m very angry that you didn’t disclose the danger of the situation to me, and it’s possible I’ll have a hard time getting past that, but it has nothing to do with my rationale here. We both know this is what we have to do. And I promise to let you visit if it’s safe, and I’ll send you updates and contact info through Ethan and Alex.”

At that, he stood up, and she realized that her words of reassurance had just undone her previous logic. In two seconds, he was on top of her, expression fierce and passionate, pulling her tight against him.

“There has to be another way, damn it.”

Brittany closed her eyes and let her face rest against his chest. “You know there isn’t another way.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and breathed deep. Touching him calmed her, and she savored the moment, knowing this might be the last time she was this close to him. “We have to think about the baby. That has to be our priority.”

Hands in her hair, he said, “Just promise me... ” His voice cracked. “Promise you will tell our child who her father is when the time is right. Explain that I would have been there for her if I could have.”

Brittany felt the tears rise all over again at the pain she heard in those words. Pulling back, she blinked hard. “Hey. Don’t worry about that. You are the father and our child will know all about you. I promise you that.”

“
Merci.
I appreciate that.” He stared at her, eyes wandering over her face, hands on her cheeks. “I love you.”

She hadn’t expected him to say that. It shattered her composure. “Don’t... ” If he was exaggerating to make her feel better, it wasn’t working. If he was sincere, then it only made her feel worse. It was better to leave it unsaid, to not know what they were giving up.

“Yes. I must say it.” He brushed his lips over her forehead. “Know that even if there were no baby, I would love you. And I would marry you just for being you, if I could.”

“Corbin.” She was sobbing now. She felt relief, glee, that he felt what she did, felt the pressure of her hurt dissipating, yet it only made her regret, her pain, her understanding of her future loneliness increase tenfold. It would be impossible to move on, to forget him, knowing he loved her in return. “I love you, too.”

The kiss he gave her was passionate, but tender. She opened her mouth for him, almost cried at the sweetness of his tongue sliding across hers. It was a good-bye kiss and they both knew it.

Brittany couldn’t stand it. If he kept touching her, she wasn’t going to be able to leave. Breaking the kiss, she pulled away and wiped her cheeks. “I should go.”

“Go to Ethan. He’ll help you make arrangements. Do what you need to. I’ll finish this up then I’ll come over. Do not leave until I get there.”

“Okay.” Brittany suddenly realized she had no car. “I didn’t drive here. You picked me up.”

“You can take my car. I’ll find a way there tonight. The keys are on the kitchen counter.” He gave her hand a last squeeze. “I’ll see you tonight. I’ll be there before midnight, all right?”

She nodded, and went to get dressed. By the time she was dressed and flipping him a good-bye wave, he was back at the computer, popping CDs in and out of the drive, working on all three computers at once. It amazed her he was that technically savvy. He always struck her as resistant to modern amenities.

And she wasn’t sure if she was glad he had the capability to decipher who her father was or not. Walking down the hall and out the front door of the apartment building, she knew she’d certainly been blissfully ignorant not knowing her biological origins. On the other hand, now that she knew Donatelli was her father, she was better prepared to protect her child.

The morning was hazy and chilly. Crossing her arms and rubbing, she tried to remember where Corbin had parked his BMW the night before. All the rows looked the same, many of the sedans a similar black or blue.

She didn’t see the man until he was standing in front of her. Then she jumped and gave a little shriek of surprise. Corbin had said this wasn’t the best of neighborhoods, but her thoughts of muggers died when she realized it was Ringo. His hair was longer, and his eyes bloodshot, his hand twitching in a disturbing tick.

Instinctively, she knew he wasn’t there for a social call on Corbin. Turning around, she started to move back to the building.

“What’s your hurry?” he asked, blocking her path.

Oh, God. Brittany couldn’t believe this was happening. Maybe Ringo just needed money. He looked high as a kite. A skinny, creepy, dangerous kite.

“I just realized I forgot my cell phone.” It was a total lie but she wanted to feel out his intention before she panicked. Maybe she could just give him what he wanted. Maybe it had nothing to do with the baby.

“That’s a shame. But you weren’t going to be able to call for help anyway.”

Ringo grabbed her arm before she even saw him move. “What do you want?” she asked, trying to yank out of his hold. He was too strong. She couldn’t even make his arm move with her violent attempts to jerk herself away.

“I want money.”

“Oh.” She sighed in relief. “I have a hundred in my purse, and if you go upstairs, Corbin can give you some, I’m sure.”

But he shook his head slowly, a small laugh rolling out of his mouth. “No, that’s not what I mean. I need money, so I’m doing a job. You’re the job, sweetheart.”

Okay, no use holding back on the panic. It was there, full force, and it propelled her into action. Brittany kicked him in the shin and opened her mouth to scream.

Ringo slapped his hand over her mouth, his vampire strength so intense Brittany felt her lips start to bleed from being ground against her teeth. “Be nice. I’m not going to kill you. I just have to take you to someone who wants to talk to you. Now will you be good? Keep your fucking mouth shut?”

She nodded her head, sucking in air when he let go of her. “Where’s Kelsey?” she asked, as he dragged her across the parking lot.

It didn’t make any sense, but in her head she kept thinking if Kelsey was okay, then somehow she would be okay, too. If he could care about a woman, he could care about her unborn child.

But his face darkened. “We had a bit of an argument.”

Wonderful.

“Which car is yours?” Ringo demanded, ripping the keys from her hand.

“The blue BMW.” Brittany tried not to cry. Now Corbin wouldn’t even notice she was missing with his car gone. In her head she called to Corbin, hoping like hell their mind-connection still had some kind of power.

Otherwise, she was screwed.

“What do you mean, she called off work today?” Alexis asked the receptionist at Bright Smiles. It was six o’clock, Alexis had just gotten up for the night, and Brittany should be doing her end-of-the-day bullcrap in her dental office.

“I mean, she called off work today,” the receptionist repeated dryly. “I guess she’s sick.”

“Thanks.” Alexis hung up and dialed Brittany’s house. No answer. She tried her cell. Nothing. She frowned. “Ethan!”

“What?” her husband answered, voice still sleepy.

“Do you have Corbin’s phone number or address?”

“In the address book on my computer.”

Two minutes later she impatiently waited for Corbin to pick up the phone.