Page 55 of She's Mine

“I’m sorry I snuck out. None of this would have happened if I’d just stayed in the cabin, like you’d asked me to,” I sobbed into his shoulder. I felt the guilt pressing down on me, along with the relief at David actually being here. And then, at the back of my mind were thoughts of the baby – I’d barely eaten since Joseph had brought me here, not to mention the stress I’d been under. I was terrified that the whole ordeal had somehow harmed my unborn child before I’d even gotten a chance to tell David I was pregnant.

Part of me wanted to tell him the good news now, but I was also worried he wouldn’t be happy, especially given the circumstances.

David took the matter out of my hands when he asked, “Whydid you sneak out of the cabin?”

It was impossible to lie to him, so I admitted, “I needed to buy a pregnancy test.”

The room fell silent, and I could hear Joseph just outside the door, as well as the annoying drip-drip-drip of water coming from some unseen corner of the cellar.

“David, please, say something. I know this isn’t ideal, but—”

“You’re pregnant?” David repeated, his voice a mixture of awe and shock.

“I am,” I confirmed, hoping David would say or do something more than just stare at me blankly.

“But how? We always used protection—” He began, and then comprehension dawned on him. “Apart from that first night after the club. I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m sorry, Alyssa. I should have been more concerned about your safety and your virtue.”

Despite the desperate situation, I laughed and said, “Don’t give me all that chivalrous crap now. We both consented. We both knew what we were doing. I could have asked you to use protection at any time, but it never crossed my mind, either.”

“What are you going to do? I’ll fully support whatever choice you make -- if you want to get a termination—”

“Actually, I wanted to keep the baby, David.Ourbaby. I kind of hoped you’d raise the little one with me.” My voice trembled as I spoke, and I held my breath waiting for David’s answer.

Slowly, the confusion lifted from David’s face, and was replaced by another dazzling grin. “Of course, I want to raise the baby with you, Alyssa. I love you.”

My heart almost burst out of my chest hearing David’s declaration of love. “I love you too.”

“Well now wereallymust get out of here. You’re certain that your brother won’t help us?”

I shook my head sadly. “No. He doesn’t see us as family anymore. Hernández has completely brainwashed him.”

“I’m so sorry. I know how difficult losing him was for you. And now to have him back, but him being this shadow of himself.”

I shook my head. “I’ve been thinking about thisa lot, trying to reconcile the current Joseph with the Joey I remember and love. But the horrible truth is, my brother died a decade ago, andnothingwill bring him back.”

I laid my head on David’s shoulder and sobbed for the brother who’d never get to be an uncle to their niece or nephew. But knowing I had this new life to fight for made me even more determined to defeat the Bloodline and avenge Joey’s murder.

“If we can’t get past Joseph, we need to search for another way out. I can hear water dripping somewhere. There might be a hole in the cellar or something.”

I pushed up off the cot, my legs hardly feeling strong enough to bear my weight. I stood still for a moment, giving my body time to adjust, and then I offered my hands to David.

“Getting these cuffs off you would also help,” I said, taking a few tentative steps forward. “Maybe there’s some tools laying around.”

We stumbled blindly in the darkness, heading in the direction we could hear the water dripping coming from. As we tried to navigate the cellar, with our limited sight, I crashed into a cabinet and some of its contents dropped out onto the floor. For a moment, I was so concerned that Joseph would hear, and know me and David were looking for an escape route, that it didn’t even register that something had fallen on my foot.

I covered my mouth as pain coursed through my body.

“What’s wrong?” David whispered in the darkness.

“Whatever fell out of that cabinet landed right on my foot,” I explained, bending over to see if I was badly injured. My body was stiff from laying on the cot for who knows how long, and it took a little longer than usual for me to reach down to my toes. But when I did, I almost burst out laughing when I realizedwhathad landed on my foot.

“Talk about luck, huh?” I said, holding up a pair of bolt cutters.

Even though my foot nowthrobbedwith pain, and I was pretty sure I’d broken something, I was still able to use the bolt cutters to remove David’s handcuffs.

With his arms now free, he wrapped them around me, and stroked my stomach tenderly. “I love you so much, Alyssa. I’ll do whatever it takes to get us out of here and protect you and the baby.”

“I know you will, David. And I love you too.”

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