Page 73 of The Model

“We were never right for each other,” I said in a soft, soothing manner.

“In the beginning, we were perfect.” The anger subsided a tiny bit.

“In the beginning we were, but then the newness wore off, and you found—”

“I lost myself. Couldn’t you see?” he barked.

I hadn’t, and I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I kept quiet and took a sidestep, for every step I took away from Ben, he took one toward me. I wasn’t enjoying this cat-and-mouse game he was so keen on playing.

“All of this could have been avoided if you had just given me what was mine.” He pulled at his hair. I was surprised he didn’t pull out any hair with how hard he pulled. “You have no idea how much trouble I’m in or the people I’m dealing with.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t, Ben.” I wanted to tell him he was stupid for getting mixed up with drugs and whatever else, but it didn’t seem like a smart decision. I needed to keep him calm and hopefully talk him out of whatever he came here for.

“I’ve been hiding from the cops and the men who have been after me for so long, I don’t have anywhere to go.” He scratched his arm with his long dirty nails to the point I was sure he was going to draw blood.

Whatever he’d been doing, he’d done a good job at evading everyone who was after him. Hopefully, after today, I wouldn’t have to worry about him any longer. It had been so long since he’d been a problem; I thought he’d moved on, not continued to stalk me, and wait for a chance to get me alone.

Sirens sounded in the distance, and as they grew closer, my hopes of being saved soared. Ben didn’t seem to notice them, which was a good thing. Probably because it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, and he had no idea that I’d hit the panic button. After the sirens passed, and there was no knock on my door, I wanted to break down and cry. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep Ben talking. Taking in a cleansing breath, I tried to keep calm and rational. The police wouldn’t come with their sirens blaring on a silent alarm. They would know someone had triggered the alarm.

Taking another two steps back, I held onto the chair that was now between us. It felt like a shield even though I knew it couldn’t protect me. Ben didn’t seem to like the space between us. He quickly moved until we were toe to toe, and his rancid breath blew in my face. One whiff and bile rose up. Now that I wasn’t in control of my body, I wasn’t sure if I could keep it down or not.

A dry heave wracked my body as someone pounded loudly at the door. Ben looked from me to the front and back again. “What did you do?” he seethed.

“I hit the silent alarm.”

“Just when we were starting to have fun,” he mumbled to himself. “I’m not sure how I’m going to get out of this one.” I wasn’t either, and I certainly didn’t want to have to keep looking over my shoulder until he was finally behind bars or dead.

“This is the LAPD. We’re coming in.”

Ben and I turned to look toward the voice. One second, I was waiting for a swarm of police officers to come in, and the next, I felt a blinding pain on the side of my face. I turned to look at Ben as I started to fall. I don’t know why I thought he’d help me when he’d just punched me, but I did. Instead, he watched with dead eyes as I fell on my hip with a resounding thud. My face and hip hurt, and I had no idea what Ben would do next. When a blinding pain unlike anything I’d ever felt before tightened across my abdomen, I let out a sharp cry.

No, I couldn’t go into labor now. She had to wait until her daddy was here. Ryder would be devastated if he missed her birth. Clutching my stomach, I closed my eyes and prayed for the pain to go away. I heard lots of scuffling and grunts around me, but I had other things to worry about. I felt wetness seep into the fabric of my underwear, and I knew she wasn’t going to wait.

Slowly I started to uncurl myself from the floor and tried to get up as I held my face with one hand and my stomach in the other. “Lexie,” I heard Raine’s hysterical voice in the background. She continued to call my name, but all I could see were three police officers who had Ben on the ground and were trying to cuff him. He was putting up a damn good fight.

“Raine,” I called out to her as another shot of pain sliced through my stomach.

“I’m here, but they won’t let me through.”

“I need an ambulance and for someone to find my phone so I can call my husband!” I yelled back.

All three police officers' heads turned toward me at the same time, and Ben started to fight back harder. “Husband? When the hell did that happen? You can’t be married. You can’t!”

Using the arm of the chair, I pulled myself to my feet and started to frantically search for my phone while trying to tune out Ben’s yelling. When I spied it under the couch, I lost it. I didn’t want to think about getting down on my hands and knees to grab it. Tears streamed down my face as I turned toward my ex. “What have you done? If anything happens to my baby, I will hunt you down and kill you. Mark my words.”

“Lexie,” Raine ran toward me. I wasn’t sure how she’d made it past the police officers, and I didn’t care. I’d never been happier to see my friend. She rushed over to me and pulled me into a big hug. She may have been tiny, but she gave fierce hugs. “Are you okay?” Pulling back, she started to look me over. Her gaze stopped when it landed on my legs. Looking down, I gasped when I saw blood trickle down my calf.

“My phone’s under the couch. Grab it for me, please,” I begged. “I need to call Ryder. He has to get on the first flight. Can you—”

“I’ve got it.” Raine held my phone in her shaky hands. “You call him while I hop on your computer to see when the next flight is.”

“Thank you, Raine,” I cried. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Pulling up my favorites, I hit Ryder’s number and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer. Of course, he wouldn’t have his phone on him during a shoot, and he had no reason to think he’d need it. I didn’t want to leave him a message saying I was in labor, so I hung up. Searching through my contacts, I looked for Lars. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he didn’t have his phone on him. Hitting Lars’ number, I let it ring and ring, and when it went to voicemail, my body slumped against the chair.

I wasn’t giving up, though. I hit Lars’ name over and over again with each time going to voicemail. Raine watched me from behind my desk with worried eyes. I was sure she was thinking what I was thinking. Ryder wasn’t going to find out he needed to get here until it might be too late.

Hitting Lars’ number again, I gasped as another contraction hit me. Where the hell was the ambulance and the EMTs? Maybe I should have Raine skip finding a flight and drive me to the nearest hospital.

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