Page 162 of Slaughter

She just stares up at me blankly, tears still falling down her cheeks. Seconds tick by that turn into minutes. And I begin to think that I’m missing something.

Finally, I break the silence. “I had Kayn do a medical report on you.” I know she remembers me showing it to her. “It states that you had a hysterectomy.”

She takes in a deep breath. “When I woke up from my coma, Lance told me that I had lost the baby and had to perform an emergency hysterectomy. But months later, I found out he had just said that to scare me.” Her eyes drop to the floor. “When I found out it was a lie, I got an IUD. I’ve had one ever since.” She sniffs.

“Wait a minute.” I drop the pregnancy tests. “How is that possible? How was your information not updated by other doctors?”

She shrugs. “How do they twist shit? Money.”

I run a hand through my hair trying to wrap my head around all of this. “So, we’re having a baby?”

Her eyes instantly tear up again, and she shakes her head. “It’s … it can’t be…” She begins to sob so hard she can’t talk. “I think …”

I lean back down and cup her face. “What? You can tell me.”

She swallows. “I haven’t had it removed.” I frown at her words. “I remember Lance checking me before I passed out …” Her voice trails off, and I begin to understand why she is so hysterical. “He must have taken it out. And your father …” Her voice trails off and I stand up. “I didn’t think he had raped me.” She hiccups. “But I was in and out of it a lot. Maybe I just don’t remember.”

“No,” I say.

“What if it’s …?”

“He didn’t rape you that time,” I say and my jaw tightens.

“But what if …?”

“He didn’t rape you!” I shout.

Silence fills the room, and she stares up at me. “How do you know? You weren’t there.” Her voice rises with anger.

I take in a deep breath and say. “Because your brother sent me a tape. He recorded everything that they did to you for those forty-eight hours.”

She slowly stands, a look of disbelief on her face. “You watched another tape of me?” I stay silent because I already told her that. “You didn’t tell me.”

“Bunny …”

“What the hell Avery?” She yells my name.

“I didn’t think you needed to know.” It’s that simple. Contrary to what she thinks, I don’t like hurting her.

“I’ve been sitting in our room for the last three hours trying to decide how to tell you that I could be pregnant with your father’s baby to find out that it wasn’t even a possibility,” she screams.

I reach out for her, but she pushes me away. “Don’t touch me!” She shoves me out of the way and stomps toward the door.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“To bed. And don’t bother coming after you’re done torturing some sorry bastard,” she snaps. “You can sleep in your dungeon!” She opens the door and then slams it shut.

I spin around and slam my hands down on my desk, making everything rattle.

We’re fucking pregnant. I didn’t even know it was possible. We never spoke about it, and now we’ve got a baby on the way. It’s the best fucking news I’ve had in a long time. I don’t care if she’s mad at me for keeping the video from her. I care that my father, once again, managed to fuck with her. For three hours, she thought he had raped her again and knocked her up. That’s why he wanted Lance there. He had checked her and removed it. He said he was supposed to keep her alive. Was Victor planning on knocking her up, but he just didn’t get the chance? I don’t put anything past that sick bastard.

That sorry piece of shit will pay with his life. And that can’t come soon enough. Especially since Bunny is pregnant. I can’t let him find out.

I storm out of my study and make my way back down to the cellar. Walking in, I remove my shirt and toss it to the floor. “Now. Let’s try this again. Where is Damon and Victor?”

“I don’t …”

I punch him in the face, and his head snaps back. “I can do this all night.” I laugh. Because my wife has probably locked me out of our bedroom. I’ve never slept on the couch before, and I’m not about to start now.

THE END