Page 40 of Lose to Win: Lost Trilogy: Part 3
“I love that you’re opening up to me, Em,” he finally says. “But you’re not telling me what I need to know right now. We can talk about all this other stuff later, once it’s all over.”
I nod in understanding. He is right.
“On the day I went to the cemetery, I was kidnapped.”
His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t comment.
“They took me to a warehouse. Steve was there.”
“I thought as much,” he mutters.
“And then…” I let out a long puff of air. “And then Bricks came out.”
The glint in dad’s eyes is murderous.
“He wants everyone dead,” I continue before I lose all courage. “You, Arlene, Dylan, Becca, Sully… Puck.”
I almost choke on the last name. My husband’s. He can’t die, not if I can help with anything.
“There’s more,” I whisper as I wipe a tear that’s rolling down my cheek.
“Go on,” he encourages when I stop talking.
“David was there, too.”
The storm brewing in my father’s eyes threatens to suck all the oxygen out of the room.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I wipe at my face again. “He didn’t look so good, dad. I’m not sure what Bricks has on him, but he has something. David was like his lap dog.”
The tapping of his fingers on the desk is almost too much for my overloaded senses.
“I was supposed to break up with Puck,” I hiccup. “Then go back to Steve and marry him. For some reason, that was really important to them. I got the call from the doctor that I was pregnant right before they knocked me out and took me away from the cemetery.”
“He’s been insisting on marrying you.” Dad starts thinking out loud.
“Yes. Obsessively so,” I confirm. “Also, getting me pregnant was a priority as well.”
My hands go to my belly without me even realizing it. I’ve been trying not to think about it, but my belly has gotten just a tad bigger lately, a constant reminder of how much my future has changed.
Suddenly, I feel… connected. I can’t stand the thought of hating a tiny human being that is growing inside of my body. Also, I trust Puck with my life. I know he will be a good father.
“History repeating itself,” dad interrupts my musings about the baby.
“What is?”
Dad just stares at me, wheels turning in his head, and I can almost see when the last missing piece falls into place.
“Bricks had Arlene drugged, then raped. That’s how she got pregnant, and she married the father of her baby.”
“Bricks,” I whisper.
“Him doing this to you now is his way of getting revenge for me finally taking Arlene from him.”
“But how is it the same?” I exclaim in distress. “She wanted to leave, didn’t she?”
“For years,” dad confirms. “But Bricks was always the type of person who, would do things out of spite. He never wanted Arlene, not like I did. But once he knew she was mine, he manipulated his way into her life, breaking us up for good.”
