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She nods once.
“You’re delusional. They’re lying to you. Let me tell you something, Carla. You will never get Orion back. Never. We’re in love. The four of us. And they will burn the whole of California down until they find me.”
“They won’t find you alive.”
“That’ll make it even worse for you because deep down, you know they’re going to figure it out. Someone betrayed them. It’s only a matter of time before they realize it’s you.”
“They’ll never find out.”
I can’t help but smile again. She has lost her mind, or she is just completely deluded herself into a hole that she will never be able to crawl out of. But I need Carla off her game, and I need to appeal to her humanity. There has to be some of that left somewhere underneath all that fake tan and cakey foundation. It’s a gamble, but I’ve got nothing left to lose, not while she’s got a gun holstered and strapped to her bony torso.
“I’m pregnant, Carla.”
“Huh?” she gasps.
I give her a moment. I can see the realization dawning, her eyes widening. The horror setting itself up in the back of her head, one terrifying layer at a time. “I’m pregnant. What do you think Colton will do to me, huh? What did my babies do to deserve this? Are you that desperate, that crazy about Orion, that you’ll have no problem seeing me and my unborn children slaughtered? Are you, Carla?”
“Babies?” she manages.
“Twins. I had an ultrasound at the hospital after the clubhouse shooting,” I calmly reply. “I obviously didn’t plan for any of this, and honestly, if I survive this, I don’t want to have anything to do with any MC ever again. I didn’t expect to fall in love, Carla. We never planned for any of it. It just happened, and now I’m trapped in this cold basement, likely about to die. And the babies growing in my womb as we speak do not deserve this.”
“Why didn’t you say anything when they took you?” Carla mumbles. The tremor in her lower lip tells me I’m doing something right, so I keep playing the sympathy card, hopeful that it will lead me to a favorable outcome.
“What? That I’m pregnant? And let Colton know so he can have even more leverage over the guys? Orion doesn’t know yet,” I tell her. “Let’s get something straight here. I understand you’re fine with me dying as long as you get what you want. But are you okay with my innocent babies dying, too?”
She shakes her head slowly, but I don’t press her. I give her the minute she needs to process this information, to look around and reach a different conclusion. Carla takes a deep breath and sits down at the base of the steps, her gaze fixed on me. “I’ve lost a couple over the years. All the drugs, the drinking,” she says. “It killed me a little bit on the inside every time. I’ve had to live with myself, but I would’ve liked to have been a mother, you know?”
“What stopped you?”
“Other than my poor life choices?” Carla chuckles, bitterness dripping from her trembling voice. “The hysterectomy. They had to do one when I had my last miscarriage. Otherwise, I would’ve died.”
“I’m sorry, Carla. Honestly, I’m sorry.”
“But you’re right about one thing—I can’t live with myself knowing another baby is going to die because of me,” she says. “Two babies, in this case. No, I can’t do this.”
“Listen, we got off on the wrong foot so many times. We’ve got plenty of reasons to hate each other, and I understand, but—”
“We draw the line at children,” she says. “Your babies are innocent.”
I nod slowly, analyzing the subtle shift in her expression. “I need to get out of here. Once Colton gets what he wants, he will kill me. And whether you’re ready to admit it or not, he will kill Orion, Kai, and Drake, and probably you, too.”
Carla concedes, lowering her gaze in what I can only interpret as genuine shame. “I told myself that if I got you out of the way, if I made you suffer, if I made you disappear, then everything would work out, somehow. You’re right. I am fucking delusional.”
“Will you help me?” I tentatively ask.
She gets up, and my heart starts beating faster, suddenly invigored with newfound hope. “We need to get you out of here. Those three stooges upstairs—”
“Is there a back door?”
“Yes. Keep your mouth shut and follow me.”
I don’t know how the universe heard my prayer, but this sudden shift in Carla’s behavior has me both relieved and suspicious. Then again, she was never prone to psychopathy—just jaded and miserable with herself, clinging to Orion and the guys in the hopes that they might save her. That anybody might save her from her own demons. And if she was telling the truth just now, knowing I’m pregnant may have gotten through to her in ways I never would’ve on my own.
Carla leads the way up the basement steps, careful to make as little noise as possible.
For the first time since I had Kyle’s gun pointed at my face, I feel hope blossoming in my chest again as I climb up with shaky knees. She pushes the door open. I see Kyle before she does. “Carla!” I scream.
A single gunshot rings through the cabin. Carla falls back. I catch her, but I can’t hold her. My legs give out, and we both tumble back on the basement floor. I feel warm blood seeping into my dress. I cry out, but Carla isn’t moving.
