Page 51 of Wine, Whiskey, & Lipstick 2

“Well, you’re pregnant.” Palmer tried to laugh through the tension. “Nothing you can do about it now.”

Dillyn could not look either of them in the eyes. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do.”

Cat knew immediately what Dillyn was referring to, but Palmer seemed a little slow to get it. “What do you mean,what you’re going to do?”

Slowly, Dillyn turned to face them. She took a deep breath before responding. “I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep this baby. I’m not far along, and termination is still an option.”

The horrified look on Palmer’s face made Dillyn sick to her stomach. She could only imagine how Ben would feel if she felt this way. It was then that Dillyn knew she would have to make a choice. Ben or the baby. She would not be able to have one without the other.

“You can’t be serious?!”

Dillyn focused on her hands, “It’s my body. My choice.”

"Are you going to stand there and play in my face like that?”

“Palmer, my decision has nothing to do with you.”

“Girl! I just made an appointment with a sperm bank. I want a baby so bad that I’m willing to use a stranger’s sperm to do it! And here you go, taking the gift of life for granted!”

Dillyn was fighting back tears, “You, of all people, should understand why I would never want to have children.”

“C’mon guys,” Cat said, hoping to calm the rising temperature in the room. “Each of your situations is different. There’s nothing for us to do but support one another regardless of how we might feel about it.”

Palmer spoke as if Cat hadn’t said a word, “You’re not the only person who had a fucked-up childhood.”

Dillyn raised her eyes to Palmer’s, “Fucked-up childhood?! Is that what you call it? That’s rich coming from you.”

Palmer didn’t know what Dillyn was talking about. “What does that mean?”

“You had the perfect childhood. The perfect parents. You can’t even imagine the horrors . . .” Dillyn’s voice broke, and the tears started to overflow, “Your daddy took you to daddy-daughter dances and shit like that! He didn’t rip your innocence away from you like mine! Mine destroyed me before I could even have my first period! It’s unbelievable that I can even conceive a child. How the hell am I supposed to raise one?” Dillyn’s heart was about to explode. She didn’t need Palmer judging her. Anybody else but not Palmer. Her throat was about to close. She felt like she was suffocating.I’ve got to get out of here.

Dillyn rushed out of the kitchen before she had a full-on meltdown and said something she might regret.

Chapter 22

Dillyn had never fought with Palmer or Cat. Not like that. She worked hard to keep her emotions in check but didn’t think she would succeed.

Focus. Focus on work.It had always been her saving grace. Instead of replaying their argument over and over again in her head, Dillyn went into her bathroom and splashed some cool water onto her face, hoping to gather her composure. She closed the lid on the toilet, sat down, and hugged herself while taking several deep breaths.

This is your life and your choice.She reminded herself.No one else can make this decision for you, and you don’t have to make it now. Take things one step at a time.She spoke the words softly,and hearingthem out loud helped Dillyn to feel a bit more in control. After another minute, she left the bathroom and returned to her computer.

How often had Dillyn used her talents to help her through a tough time? Too many to count, and today was no different. Codes, patterns, and numbers had always been her savings grace. Probably because there wasn’t any ambiguity in them. They were what they were.

It didn’t take long to find her place and resume from where she’d left off. Dillyn immersed herself in this problem, making everything else fade away. She retraced her earlier footsteps and carefully entered the network of her cyber attacker, making sure to catalog and screen-shot everything along the way. She had no idea what might be useful later.

Dillyn sat up straight as an arrow. “What is this?” It was an encrypted file marked with Steven’s last name–Havenhurst. Tentatively, Dillyn clicked on it, and when the folder opened, she almost fell out of her chair. There were a shit ton of photos of both her and Steven from before they met and once they had become a couple. There was a copy of their marriage license, birth certificates, financial records, and even photos of Steven’s mistress!

Her hands shook.These bastards have chronicled our entire lives in these pictures!Why did they have all this stuff?Why had they built a dossier on them? Her fingers paused over the keyboard while her mind tried to keep pace with everything she’d seen. Then, a thought struck her.

What if they found my connection to Syntax?

Dillyn’s heart was racing. She snapped out of her haze and started typing as quickly as possible. If she was going to figure out who was behind all of this, the smoking gun had to be in these files.

Slowly, she inhaled and then exhaled.

You’ve got this.Dillyn quickly skimmed the information in the files. She was familiar with the financial records except for . . .Was that a hidden folder?Who would hide it from themselves?This shit was getting stranger by the minute.

Dillyn moved her mouse to hover over it. She clicked the file, and it immediately opened. Inside was the name of a bank Dillyn had never seen and an account number. Just as she was about to dig a little deeper, the timer on her watch chimed.

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