Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1 (21 page)

“I am so sorry,” we both said at
once. I laughed and pulled away from him. He pulled me back to him and hugged
me tight.

“No Bleu. I was an asshole. I
truly was. I did not totally understand what had happened to you to make you
skittish about emotional stuff.”

“I should not have expected you
to automatically understand something that I did not say directly to you. I
think we both messed up,” I replied. He nodded.

“Wait a second though. Are you
just saying all of this because there is a possibility that I might be
pregnant?” I asked. He looked down at his feet and then back at me, biting his
bottom lip.

“I don’t know. I was so mad at
you. I thought you were just playing me. That I was the rebound guy,” he
answered.

“Well at least you are being
honest,” I replied sarcastically. Abby snorted. I shot her a dirty look.

“I am sorry. Do you want me to
be honest or blow smoke up your ass?” he asked.

“No, I don’t want you to lie to
me. But it hurt so much when you did not talk to me. You would not even look at
me Jack. I did not cheat on you. I gave you something so special, something I
had not given anyone else. I wanted to make sure that it was real, that
I
felt safe. I was not trying to pull anything over on you,” I replied.

“You had to know how you felt,
if you gave that to me,” he whispered. I nodded.

“Holy shit! She gave you her v
card you douche nozzle! You guys are making me sick,” yelped Abby.  Jack
frowned at her.

“I missed you so much. I have
been sleeping with one of your shirts. I miss sleeping next to you, smelling
your skin,” he whispered. I was shocked at this outpouring of emotion from my
tough boyfriend.

“Same here. In fact, I have not
been able to sleep at all. I missed you so much. Abby was so pissed at my
sulkiness, she threatened to strangle me.” Abby nodded in agreement.

“Yeah me too. I have to admit, I
was kind of licking my wounds. I just wish you had told me that you loved me
before you told your brother. But I understand now why you didn’t,” he said. I
looked into his eyes.

“I love you Jack. So much,” I
whispered. He smiled and kissed me.

“I love you too,” he said,
kissing my forehead

“When you two are done with your
soap opera reunion, can we please get this shit done?” Abby sniffled from
the shower, tears running down her cheeks, wiping her nose on a bath towel. I
laughed and she hopped out of the shower. She hugged us and then I was crying.

“You guys are overdramatic
assholes. Lamar gets pissed, we fight, I break something, and then we have
killer make up sex. You guys are like Telemundo, but not as fun,” she muttered.
I looked at Abby and started laughing.

“You seriously need to fix your
hair,” I said with a snort. Abby glared at me.

“Yeah yeah I know I look like a
train wreck,” she responded. Jack shook his head and smiled.

“Something you forgot that we
have to do right??” Jack asked.

“Oh yeah, that.”

"You kind of have to leave
in order for us to do that," Abby said.

"Uh Abby, obviously I have
seen her naked," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"I think I might be pregnant
too you douche," she replied. His eyes widened. He looked at me again and
grabbed me, hugging me tightly.

"Well I am not leaving,” he
replied. She frowned.

"That's fine with me. I
just don't want to hear you bitch when I flash you my beav," she remarked
with a shrug. Jack laughed.

     
“Seriously?” I muttered. We had both peed on a stick and now we were huddled by
the sink waiting for the results of the pregnancy test. Jack was sitting in the
bathtub; she had made him cover his head with a towel when it had been her turn
to take her test.

“It says three minutes. Three
minutes! What the hell is taking so long?!” she yelled. I laughed. Nothing was
happening on the stick, so she grabbed another one and thrust it at me.

“Calm yourself Miss Paragon of
Patience.” She started rooting around at the sink, opening pregnancy test
boxes.

“I think it was broken,” she
said. I removed the foil wrapper, sat on the toilet and did my thing. Why I was
doing this a second time? Sometimes, with Abby, you have to humor her.

“Stop staring at me, you are
making me nervous,” I told her.

“I have seen you in the full
Monty. We took baths together as kids. Shut up and pull your shorts up,” she
replied.  I stood up, placed the test on the bathroom counter and yanked
up my shorts. She grabbed a test out of a box and ripped open the package. She
yanked down her shorts, plopped down onto the toilet and held the test stick
between her legs. Like I said, she was nuts.

“She has lost her mind,”
muttered Jack. I smiled and Abby threw an empty pregnancy test box at him.

“What in the hell??” I asked
her. She finished and placed the stick on the counter, on the opposite side.

“I did not want you to have more
tests than I did," she replied.

"It’s not a competition
Abs. This is not the third grade," I moaned. Jack cracked up from the
bathtub. From under his towel.

She crossed her arms and leaned
against the wall near the toilet. She sighed.

“You are seriously unhinged,” I
remarked.  She laughed.

“Uh I believe I already said
that,” called out Jack. I looked down and gasped.

“Uh Abs..,” I whispered. She
looked up from reading one of the boxes and gave me a puzzled look.

“Hmmm?”

“Yours is done,” I said softly.
She frowned and grabbed her test stick from me. A few minutes passed as she stared
at the stick and her hand started to shake. I put my hand on her shoulder and
she looked up at me...slowly sitting down on the toilet. She looked like she
was going to pass out.

“How is this possible? I took
one last week and it was negative,” she said softly.

“Well, do I need to tell you
where babies come from?” I asked in a sugary sweet voice. She snapped out of
her trance and smacked my arm.

“That’s the Abby I know and
love,” I said as I rubbed my arm.

“I have to go call Lamar! Oh my
god!!” she screeched as she flung open the bathroom door and ran from the
bathroom. Shaking my head, I bent down to pick up all the empty boxes that held
the pregnancy tests. The test stick on the counter caught my eye. Mine. Taking
a deep breath, I peered over at the result window on the test.  Positive.
I was pregnant. Pregnant? I was pregnant! Holy shit! Jack stepped out of the
bathtub and came over to me. I handed him the pregnancy test and he looked at
it and then squeezed me so tight. He started kissing me all over and I giggled.
Axel raced in.

"What the hell is going
on?!" he asked. Abby was squealing in the living room. Jack handed Axel
the pregnancy test. He looked down and his eyes widened.

"You're going to be an
uncle!" I said with a smile.  This was going to be okay. I could do
this, right? Axel shoved Jack out of the way and enveloped me in a bear hug. I
was crying and I am pretty sure he was too.

"Shit sis, now I am
crying," he said softly.

"Good job Bleu, you’re
going to make his eyeliner run," snorted Abby. Axel pushed her lightly.

"Watch it buddy. I am
knocked up too you know.  Oh and your sister peed on that stick," she
said softly, tears in her eyes. Axel dropped the test stick on the counter and
wiped his hands on his jeans. He pulled Abby in for a hug and Jack too. Kumba
fucking ya.

“When all this shit with your brother Axel is taken care
of, you need to get checked out,” Jack told me the next morning in our bed. We
were in our bed, together. Kind of naked. I kissed him softly and nuzzled up to
him. My phone buzzed and I grabbed it from the night stand.

“Hello?”

“Hey honey its Dad.”

“What’s going on Dad?” I held my breath.

“Everything is fine. Axel handed over the money and this
Cyrus asshole tried to shoot Axle and the police got him,” he replied, his
voice sounding clipped.

 “Is he in jail Dad?” I asked. There was silence on
the other end.

“No. The police shot him honey. He’s dead. He apparently
fired on Officer Banks, and his partner shot Cyrus.”

“Wow, piece of cake right? Just like Officer Banks said,”
I remarked sarcastically. Dad laughed.

“Like something out of a crime show on TV huh?”

“Yeah, something like that,” I replied.

“Your brother is in the hospital. That jackass got shot
in his foot,” he said after a minute, laughing.

“Really? This has been some month!” 

“Well when are you planning on coming back to work?” he
asked.

“I am back here with Jack and Chloe. Things are much
better. And I have some news for you. How about we meet up for breakfast
later?"

“You are so much like your mother. She would worry
herself sick over the people she cared about the most. There were so many
nights that she would pace the floor, worried about someone or something. She
used to drive herself crazy and no matter what I did or said, she would do it
anyway. You were so worried about your brother, me, and everyone else, that you
did not take care of yourself honey. “

“I know Dad, but that was how I dealt with everything, I
guess,” I said softly.

“Well you did a good job.”

“Thanks Dad.”

“Okay sweetheart I have to get going around here, I will
see you soon,” he said and hung up.

 “Was that your Dad?” asked Jack. I looked up and
wiping the tears off of my face, nodding.

“Yeah. Axel got shot in the foot and Cyrus is dead. He
tried to shoot the cops.”

“I am, glad that is over. This has been some past few
months!” he said with a laugh.

“Yeah well at least Axel can bring his daughter home now.
And I can spoil her!” I said with a laugh.

“And I get to spoil you right?" he said. He kissed
my lips, and then moved lower to kiss my belly.

“Hi baby,” he said softly. God I loved this man! I pulled
him to me and kiss him deep and with all the love in my heart.

Before meeting up with my Dad, I wanted to talk to Axel.
Jack drove me. We pulled up to my brother’s house. Candi was sitting on the
porch with my brother. Jack put his hand on my leg. Axel had this boot thing on
his foot and crutches were propped up next to him.

“She is helping him Bleu. Play nice,” he whispered. I
stuck my tongue out at him. He gave me an evil smile. He kissed me and drove
off, to the shop. My dad was going to pick me up here.

“Hey sis!” called out Axel. Candi gave me a shy smile and
I waved a bit. What the?

Hobbling up to the porch, I sat down on the bottom step
and watched Jack drive away.

“How you doing sis?” asked Axel.

“Peachy,” I replied darkly. He sat down next to me.

“What is she doing here?” I asked. Axel smirked.

“Someone is acting real mature,” he remarked.

“I am here to apologize,” replied Candi, coming over to
us. I looked up at her.

“Really?”

“Yes really. All that I did, that was an act. We had to
make sure that you were safe. If I showed that there was discord, we were
hoping that they would leave you alone,” she replied.

“You’re not a gallery owner are you?” I asked. She shook
her head.

“I am a detective. I have been working undercover for a
year. Cyrus was my target. He and his family were heavily involved in a meth
production and delivery business. Once I saw that he was also targeting your
brother, I pulled him in. Cyrus was also responsible for multiple counts of
rape and murder, including his own sister and his mother,” she replied.

“I am shocked to say the least,” I muttered.

“That’s understandable. And I am sorry if you felt that
you were deceived. But it was necessary to do it not only to maintain my cover,
but to ensure the safety of everyone involved,” she replied.

“Well thanks for telling me. I guess I can’t hate you
anymore,” I replied. Axel put his arm around me.

Candi grabbed her purse and car keys.

“I will see you later. Hope you both heal up,” she said
walking to her car.

"I am glad things worked out
with Jack sis," he said after Candi had left.

"I was not sure there for a while. I almost gave up
hope there," I said.

“Just don’t give up so easily alright? I gave up trying
with Anna; I figured she had her family. I was wrong. If you listen to me about
anything, let it be this,” he said softly.

“I had no idea that you loved her that much Axel,” I
said. He nodded.