Page 139 of Kings Fear No One
There’s a chance he would probably want nothing to do with the situation. Me and the baby.
My heart shrivels up every time I consider the possibility. It weighs on my mind again as I make my revelation to the two men before me.
Potential heartbreak I shove aside for the time being. Right now, I have to stay strong. I have to find a way out for Logan, distracting Abraham long enough for the Kings to arrive… which should be any minute.
Hope had gunned it down the highway. We’d gotten off early, before we hit the traffic that clogs up the highway come early evening. We took back roads at my direction that led us straight into Boulder, mere miles away from the old, abandoned church.
The MC was nowhere in sight by the time we pulled up. I sucked down some air and put a brave face on, pressing forward alone anyway.
“My sweetheart,” Abraham finally says. He opens his arms. “Come to me. Come to me my precious, sweet believer. You have proved your worth to be immeasurable.”
I remain where I am, my hand on my belly. “Please agree to what I said. Please… just cut Logan free. Let him walk.”
The light dims on Abraham’s face. “You know I won’t be able to do that.”
“He has no bearing on the future of our family. I will give you the heir you’ve wanted. Isn’t that more important?”
“Teysha, what the fuck are you talking about?” Logan growls at me, jerking against his binds. “Are you crazy coming here? What have I told you? Get the hell out of here!”
“Untie him and let him walk free. Be the merciful, loving Leader—the father of my child—that I know you can be,” I say gently. “You’ll never see him again.”
Abraham arches a white-blond brow. “Believer Teysha, you know better than to speak beyond your station. You will be rewarded if you have become pregnant with my heir, yes, but that in no way means you can decide Believer Logan’s fate. Come here now. Obey or you will be punished.”
“I told you the truth out of love and respect,” I fib. “I was hoping you would see it as a gesture of good will.”
“The child you carry is mine. Your hopes do not factor in. I will only tell you once more. Come here right now.”
“Don’t you fucking talk to her!” Logan barks.
I gather up nerve, ignoring how my lungs constrict. It’s not easy doing what I am, telling these lies and putting on this charade. The man who really owns my heart is only a few feet away, yet he’s not the one I’m about to make these confessions to. He’s the one forced to listen as I tell a monster I couldn’t want less how I’m here for him.
Though it’s a necessary evil, it tears me up from the inside even uttering the words. I close my eyes so I won’t have to look at him—either of them—and push the words out.
“I wanted to start over with you. I wanted to raise our child free of what happened in the past. I wanted us to be together without the violence and bloodshed. Does the Lord not say he examines the righteous, but the wicked, who love violence, he hates with a passion? Can you find it in your heart to be the benevolent man I know you are?’
“Believer Teysha?—”
“Please,” I beg shakily, “I am devoted to you and our Lord and no one else. I… I love you.”
Uncertain silence spreads around the large room in the seconds following my confession. Opening my eyes, I try my best to give Abraham a soft smile. It’s broken and sad instead, reflecting the distress that’s filling me up on the inside.
But Abraham doesn’t care about authenticity. He doesn’t care about what’s real.
So long as you appeal to his ego, you present him an illusion he can buy into, then it’s good enough.
He slants his head to the side, wearing suspicion on his pale face. “You are speaking candidly, Believer Teysha?”
“Yes,” I gulp down air, “yes, of course.”
Abraham takes another moment to consider what I’ve said. Behind him, Logan wriggles against his binds, creating slack, loosening the rope enough that he’s able to move more. I can’t see what else he’s doing, but his left hand seems to be at work on something.
A knot?
His face is set in concentration, his hard eyes still on me, as if he’s communicating wordlessly. He’s realized what I’m doing and is telling me to keep going.
Keep Abraham distracted.
It’s the encouragement, the strength he offers, that breathes new life into me.
