Page 31 of The Moments You Were Mine
“Baby store. You know anyone having a baby?”
I flung myself out of the chair, barely reaching the trash can in the corner in time. All that came out was a stream of acidy liquid.
Holy fuck. Holy fucking fuck.
JJ had thought I was pregnant—or that I might be. But how? We’d used a condom every single time we’d had sex. Once we’d started sleeping together, I’d tried birth control pills, but I’d hated the way they made my body feel and the headaches they’d given me. When I’d told him I didn’t like being on the pill, we’d agreed there was no reason for me to put chemicals in my body when condoms worked. But what if they didn’t… What if he’d made sure they didn’t? What if he was poking holes in them?
My stomach twisted nastily once more, but I fought for control. Only, I couldn’t stop the shaking. The tremors in my body had a mind of their own.
When I turned back to the table, Kenya’s face was concerned. “Are you pregnant, Fallon?”
“No.” In my head, I saw the tampon box crashing into the mascara tube. He’d been so disappointed. A sick laugh gurgled into my throat that I barely caught before it escaped. He’d made a new life for us, and I’d thwarted him at every step, from the moment I’d said no to his marriage proposal all the way to starting my period.
I forced myself back to the table, pulling the list of loans and leases back toward me. He’d rented the condo two weeks before he’d proposed. He’d expected me to say yes. He’d expected me to want thereallife he’d carved out for us. He’d thought I’d be happy to have a new apartment in an exclusive building. It showed just how little he knew me. I’d hated Dad’s fancy penthouse in Las Vegas and absolutely preferred the simple two-room house Mom and I had spent my high school years in over the behemoth of a mansion I’d lived in during my childhood.
JJ must have felt me slipping away after I’d declined hisproposal. Maybe my running home to take care of Mom had scared him into thinking I wouldn’t come back and that I’d drop him to return to the ranch before he could convince me to stay in San Diego. And that was exactly what I’d decided yesterday morning, wasn’t it? So he’d changed course, knowing how I felt about kids, how I’d insist on being married before a baby was born.
He’d bought the baby stuff three weeks ago. Hadn’t we fought that weekend? It had been about our relationship and what we saw in our future. As always, I’d seen the ranch and the large animal rescue. He’d seen an exclusive veterinarian office in an upscale San Diego neighborhood and weekends on surfboards. Vacations to Australia and Tahiti and Popoyo.
Fury finally found its way in over the sick confusion. I dragged the anger around me like a warm coat, forcing the tremors to stop. My voice found the icy reserve Mom had taunted me about as I demanded, “What do you need from me? What do you need to prove it was him and not me?”
After that, I told them everything I could think of that would point away from me, including the fact I’d been at an equestrian competition on the day the most recent drugs had been taken from the clinic. I couldn’t have been the one to do it, but JJ had worked my shift that day.
As I talked, rage reigned inside me, twisted with disgust. My faith in myself was shaken to the core. As a teenager, I’d prided myself on seeing the truth about all the adults in my life. I’d been the one to uncover my uncle’s betrayals. I’d been the one to call Dad out on his shit and Mom out on her addiction. And yet, I hadn’t seen the true JJ.
Parker had hated him, and I’d simply wanted to believe it was born out of jealousy.
Dad hadn’t cared for JJ either, and I’d told myself it was just a father unhappy to see his daughter with anyone.
But they’d seen the real him, and I hadn’t.
I had to find my way back to the Fallon who saw past the lies, including my own. The Fallon who defended what she wanted and the things she loved. Who fought for herself and her loved ones with a fierceness that rivaled a mama cougar’s.
I wasn’t sure how I’d ever trust myself again, but I had to try.Otherwise, the undertow that had been dragging me under would win.
? ? ?
Hours later, I was walking out of the interrogation room with Kenya at my side when the door down the hall opened, and JJ emerged, flanked by two officers. His eyes landed on me, and his face contorted, the golden retriever becoming a feral German shepherd with its teeth bared. “I was building a beautiful life for us! I was giving you everything you deserved.”
“What you deserved, you mean. I didn’t want any of it!”
He scoffed. “Of course not. Angel Fallon was willing to walk away from millions just to prove she didn’t need them.” His eyes narrowed. “You disgust me. You didn’t even bat an eye before you turned on the father of your child, scraping me off your heel as if I were nothing. You’ll regret it. I promise you.”
I saw red, anger leaping inside me like flames. “And what you did to the person you hoped would be the mother of your child is so much better? Thank God I’m not pregnant. But even if I were, I’d never keep it. Not if it was yours.”
“You bitch!” When he tried to lunge, the officers blocked him.
A twinge of terror winged through me. JJ looked just like Ace had two years ago at the beach. Like Theresa Puzo had when she’d pointed a gun at me ten years ago, and Sadie had stepped in to stop her. It was a look full of darkness. Evil.
A shiver ran up my spine, but I found the courage and strength to turn my back on him. I was almost at the exit door before JJ changed his tune. His tone turned smooth, attempting the charming lure that had always gotten me to give in. “Fallon. Come back, baby. I’m sorry. We can still figure this out together.”
My chest ached. Tears stung my eyes, but I kept moving forward.
“Fallon!” he called before a door behind us slammed shut, and his voice finally disappeared.
Detective Harris stepped up with a keycard in hand to unlock the exit door, but he turned to me with grandfatherly eyes filledwith compassion and regret.
“He wanted to trap you,” he said softly. “He wanted to control you and your money through marriage and a child. He didn’t say that straight up, but I caught the drift.”
