Page 23 of No Turning Back
“But Father told us when he left that he would be gone a while.”
My hands flex ever so slightly around Mari’s body. The fact that Colton was planning to leave Lydia and the kids is obvious now. I want to punch him in the face and make him feel the pain he’s causing those he professed to love. How dare he tell his kids before he told his wife.
“Come on, sweetie, let’s get you some pizza and settled. What movie do you want to watch?”
“I don’t know.”
We move out of the room, and as we get closer to where Tucker and my mom are still talking, Mari gets more excited. Tucker moves toward us without taking his eyes off my mom and their conversation and reaches out without thought to take Mari from my arms. She instantly reaches for him, and he holds her to his chest gently. He doesn’t look uncomfortable at all. He’s not stiff or awkward.
My heart bursts when I see her in his arms. She lays her head on his chest and starts sucking on her fist. He doesn’t care that she’s drooling on him at all. He keeps talking to my mom, who I can tell is also rocked by his actions. She turns to me and smiles, but I see the faintest glimmer in her eyes.
I move away before I start crying from the joy. I know he said he had a nephew, so I should have suspected he would be good with kids, but the fact that Mari is so taken with him too is almost more than my heart and ovaries can take.
I head into the kitchen and pull out the pizza menus and hand them to the kids so they can start figuring out where and what they want.
An hour later, I’m standing in the open courtyard of the clubhouse chatting with Wrenn. She’s gotten so big in the last couple of weeks that I see what she means about feeling like she’s going to burst. Looking over at Aries, it’s not surprising she’s going to have a big baby. And a little boy, to boot.
When Tucker and I walked in, he had his arm around me, his big hand holding my hip protectively. People stopped to look at us, a couple of the women looked at me with squinted eyes and pursed lips. Jealous much, bitches. The question of how many of those women he’d slept with crossed my mind, and I stiffened. He looked down at me, and I pushed the thought away. But now that I’m talking to Wrenn, I can’t help myself.
“I guess some people are upset that Tucker and I are seeing each other.” I nod my head toward a woman who is openly glaring at me. She’s dressed in a short leather skirt and a crop top that barely covers her tits.
“Who is upset?” Wrenn follows my line of sight. “Oh, ignore her. She’s pissed Poseidon never gave her the time of day. Don’t worry. He never saw the same girl more than once, and he was actually very private about it. I only know because Beck mentioned one once.” She pats my shoulder.
“I don’t expect him to be a virgin, but it sucks to know others have been with him and are right here in front of me. It’s like being thrown in my face every time we come here.”
“Oh, I remember that feeling.” She chuckles. “But don’t worry. He’s all about you, and I doubt he’ll let you go. Besides, like I said, he didn’t sleep with many of the club bunnies.” She smiles, and her eyes move across the courtyard to where Aries and Tucker are standing and talking with beers in their hands.
A loud bang like a gunshot sounds through the area, and I dive for the table, screaming. I see him looking at me with a gun pointed right at me. I scream again. My blood is pumping so fast and hard I can feel it. I can feel the blood seeping from my wounds. My ankle is almost useless. I crab crawl backwards until my back hits something. I cry out as I feel the sharp pain in my side. God, I pray my baby is okay. I just found out I was pregnant a couple of days ago.
“Please don’t shoot me. Bahati, no.”
I hear my team members screaming for help, begging for their lives before they are silenced. Engines rev as vehicles race around the camp. The lights cutting through the darkness. Bahati just shakes his head.
“You’ll die, mdogo.” His voice sounds bitter as he calls me little one in Swahili.
Another voice drowns out Bahati’s and breaks through the pain in my ankle and side. I hear his voice and turn around, looking for him. Why is he here? How can he be here? He can’t. He can’t die like they all did.
I push up and start running away into the darkness. Arms wrap around me, and I fight, kicking and screaming.
“Sydney.” My name is whispered in my ear, but I fight harder.
I have to protect Tucker from what is coming. The helicopter is about to take off again, ending it all.
“Please don’t hurt him, Bahati,” I beg.
“Spitfire,” he says, and everything fades away.
I’m in the courtyard. I hear voices around me, and someone laughs. My eyes focus on the woman I was just talking to Wrenn about as she points and laughs at me. My breath saws in and out of my body. Every muscle aches like it did that night. But I don’t hear the helicopter. The guns are silent. I don’t see the fires in the tents but in barrels.
“Baby, are you okay?”
My head drops, and tears roll down my face. I just had a panic attack in front of everyone. I just proved why I shouldn’t be with Tucker.
Poseidon
* * *
I know the moment she has come back to me. Her body goes slack and tears roll down her face. I look up at that bitch Ginger, who’s been chasing me for a long time.
