Page 88 of Slayin Villain
Then I asked, voice raw, “And what happens the next time you get scared?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, honest and broken.“But I’ll face it with you.If you’ll let me.”
The screen door creaked behind me.
My mama’s voice, soft and curious.“Everything alright, baby?”
I cleared my throat and wiped my face.“Yeah, Mama.Just an old friend.”
Villain looked down at his boots like he’d been called out in church.
I turned back to him.“You need to go.”
“Rachel…”
“Let me finish,” I said.
He bit his tongue.
“I can’t promise anything,” I told him.“Not today.Not tomorrow.Maybe not ever.But if you really want to be a part of this baby’s life...you’re going to have to prove it.Day by day.With actions.Not just words.”
“I will.”
“And if you so much as look at another woman like you looked at me…"
“I won’t,” he swore.“Never again.”
I nodded, eyes still wet.“Then maybe...maybe...we’ll figure this out.”
I turned to go inside.
And then I paused.
“I’m due in September,” I said over my shoulder.
“I’ll be there,” he whispered.
And I tried to believe him.
Chapter 39
Villain
I never thought I’d be nervous walking into a doctor’s office.I’ve walked into gunfights calmer than this.Fists don’t scare me.Blood don’t faze me.But stepping into that waiting room, knowing she might still shut the door in my face?
That shit sent lightning down my spine.
The place was too damn clean.The walls were some soothing blue, like they thought painting it calm would make bringing a human into the world less terrifying.It smelled like lemon disinfectant and baby powder.
Rachel was already there.Alone.
She sat in a corner chair, her hands folded over the swell of her belly like a damn angel with battle scars.She was reading a pregnancy magazine, but I could tell she wasn’t actually absorbing a single word.Her eyes flicked up when the bell over the door jingled.
She froze.
I gave her a tight nod and walked over, careful not to get too close.
“You said you’d be here,” she said.Her voice was guarded, but not cold.
