I sat frozen in the chair, my mind stuck on the single word that had shattered everything: Pregnant. My hands trembled against my stomach, where I knew a tiny life was growing-complicating an already impossible situation.
I was carrying a child, and I didn’t know if the father was Ethan… or Xavier.
The weight of that realization felt suffocating. Either man would view this baby as a possession, another weapon to use in their endless war for power. And me? I was the battlefield.
“Alyssa.”
Ethan’s voice snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts. He crouched in front of me again, his dark eyes locked onto mine. His gun rested at his side, ready for whatever threat might come through the door. But his voice was softer now, concerned.
“Talk to me. I know this is a lot.”
I blinked, struggling to find the words. “A lot? Ethan, this isn’t just ‘a lot.’ I’m pregnant.”
He reached for my hand, his touch surprisingly gentle. “I know. And we’ll figure it out. But right now, we need to keep you safe.”
I pulled my hand away, standing so fast my head spun. “Safe? How am I supposed to feel safe? I don’t even know who the father is! What am I going to do?”
Ethan’s jaw tightened, but his voice remained calm. “First, we survive. Then we handle everything else-together. No matter what.”
“And what if the baby isn’t yours?” I whispered, dreading his answer.
His expression darkened, shadows clouding his features. “Then Xavier can’t find out. Not ever.”
We both knew Xavier wouldn’t just walk away if he thought the baby was his. He’d do whatever it took to claim me-and the child.
The thought made my stomach churn with fear. I paced the room, trying to breathe through the rising panic.
“This is a nightmare,” I muttered. “How did my life turn into this?”
Ethan stood and crossed the room to me, his presence steadying even though everything around us was unraveling. “It’s not just your fight anymore, Alyssa. You’re not alone. We’ll get through this.”
Before I could respond, the sharp buzz of my phone cut through the tension. I froze, dread curling in my chest as I pulled it from my pocket.
A message. From Xavier.
Xavier: We need to talk.
Xavier: I know.
Xavier: About the baby.
My breath hitched. The words on the screen blurred as cold terror spread through me. He knew.
“Ethan,” I whispered, my throat tightening. “He knows. Xavier knows about the baby.”
Ethan’s expression hardened. “How the hell does he know?”
“I don’t know.” My hands shook as I typed a reply, every word feeling like a step toward disaster.
Me: What do you want, Xavier?
The response came almost instantly, as if he’d been waiting.
Xavier: You. Come back to me, and we’ll figure this out.
Me: And if I don’t?
His answer made my blood run cold.
Xavier: Then Ethan dies.
“No, no, no…” I muttered, pacing frantically.
Ethan leaned over my shoulder, reading the messages. “He’s bluffing. He doesn’t know where we are.”
“You don’t know that!” I snapped. “He always finds a way. He’s not bluffing, Ethan. If I don’t go back…”
Ethan grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop and face him. “You are not going back to him. We’ll deal with this. But you’re staying with me.”
“You don’t get it! If he kills you-” I broke off, struggling to keep my voice steady.
Ethan’s gaze softened, and he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “He won’t. I’m not dying, Alyssa. Not for him. Not for anyone.”
My phone buzzed again in my hand, another message from Xavier.
Xavier: Tick tock, princess. Don’t make me come find you.
I felt trapped, suffocated by the weight of impossible decisions. I couldn’t let Ethan die, but going back to Xavier would mean giving up everything-my freedom, my life, and possibly even the child inside me.
I glanced at Ethan, my heart racing. “What do we do?”
His jaw clenched. “We don’t play by his rules. We play by ours.”
“What does that even mean?” I whispered, panic rising in my chest.
“It means,” Ethan said, pulling me close, “that no matter what, you’re not going back to him. And if Xavier wants to start a war-then we’ll end it.”
The determination in Ethan’s voice was both comforting and terrifying. He meant every word. But I knew Xavier too well. He wouldn’t stop until he had me.
The baby complicated everything. It gave Xavier more leverage than I could handle, and it tied me to a future I wasn’t ready for-with two men I couldn’t fully trust.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I whispered, feeling the weight of the truth pressing down on me. “I can’t choose between you and Xavier. And now… with the baby…”
Ethan’s gaze softened, but there was steel beneath it. “You don’t have to choose, Alyssa. You just have to survive.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed again-this time, not with a text, but with an incoming call.
Xavier.
The phone vibrated in my hand, the screen flashing his name like a warning.
“Answer it,” Ethan whispered.
I stared at the screen, my heart pounding in my chest. Then, with shaking fingers, I pressed accept and held the phone to my ear.
“Alyssa,” Xavier’s smooth, dangerous voice filled the line. “I was hoping you’d pick up. I hate being kept waiting.”
“What do you want, Xavier?” I asked, forcing my voice to stay steady.
“You know what I want. Come home, Alyssa. We need to figure this out-together.”
“And if I don’t?” I whispered.
Xavier’s laugh was low and dangerous. “Then Ethan dies. And I won’t stop there. Your uncle, too. Everyone you think you can trust-they’ll all fall. One by one.”
Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them away. “You’re not giving me a choice, are you?”
“I never said you had one, princess. Now be a good girl and come back to me. Or people start dying.”
The line went dead, leaving me with nothing but silence and the cold, hard weight of Xavier’s threat.
I lowered the phone, my hands trembling. “He’s going to kill you, Ethan. If I stay, he’ll kill you.”
Ethan took the phone from my hand and tossed it onto the couch. “Let him try. We’re not running anymore.”
I stared at him, feeling the walls close in around me. I was caught between two men, both dangerous, both relentless-and both unwilling to let me go.
And now, with the baby, the stakes were higher than ever.
There was no easy way out.
And no way to avoid the storm that was coming.