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I shove the table hard and it crunches into his stomach before he can even react. He flops off his chair and onto the rug, wheezing like a landed fish.
“What the— Listen, man,” he splutters, “I swear, I can handle this. I can handle her. Hey! Maybe if you help me, I can get the house faster. Yeah, I’ll bet that we can get them to?—”
My foot hurtles into his ribs. Shit cracks that isn’t meant to crack. “It’s best you stop talking now, Charles,” I inform him icily. “It’s my turn.”
Charles gazes up at me with raw, animal fear.
“You will not go anywhere near Marie or Laila. And you will certainly not go anywhere near our child.”
Charles’s eyes go wide as he finally puts two and two together. Better late than never, I suppose. “You’re?—”
“That’s right,” I confirm. “And I will be back here to ram that fucking poker through your asshole if I so much as get a whiff of your putrid scent anywhere near my woman. Is that understood?”
He nods so fast that his cheeks tremble from the force.
“Good.” I walk to the ruined door, but stop at the threshold. Charles is still lying on the floor, sweat and snot dribbling down his face and pooling on the carpet. “Oh, and I’m not Laila’s sugar daddy. I’m her husband.”
23
LAILA
“Evelyn, can we give her more pain medication?” I dab Mom’s forehead with the wet towel, but she just moans. No matter how many pillows I wedge around her or how many times I wet this stupid towel, she just writhes. “She needs something.”
Evelyn looks as helpless as I feel. “I can’t give her any more today. She’s already had the max dosage.”
“Has she been like this all day?”
She nods, that detached professionalism taking over as she dims the lights. “The doctors said this would happen, Laila. She’ll have good days and bad. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.”
I take her hand. Her palm is clammy. “Mom? Can you hear me?”
Her eyes flutter behind closed lids, but they’ve been doing that for hours. There’s no sign she even knows I’m here.
“She needs rest right now,” Evelyn advises gently. “It’s not a bad idea for you, either, honey. Go eat something. You’ve been here all day.”
The sad part is that I’m not sure I’ve been here all day just for Mom.
Really, I’ve been hiding.
Had to, ever since I woke up from the best night of sleep I’ve had in years—only to find myself curled against Arsen’s side.
I told him I didn’t want him in my room or in my bed, and yet, I woke up stuck to him like a horny barnacle. I couldn’t face him, couldn’t facethat,so I slipped out of bed and skulked around the far corners of the house until he left.
“I’m not hungry.”
“When are you ever?” Evelyn gives me a sad smile. “I’m paid to take care of your mother, but I’ll give you some advice free of charge: that baby wants you to eat, even if you don’t.”
“But—”
“Go, darling,” she insists, waving me with both hands towards the door. “I’ll take care of your momma. You take care of yourself.”
I sigh and slump to the kitchen because there’s nothing else to do. I pick lifelessly at a plate of cheese, crackers, and fruit until the door opens and Gedeon strolls in.
“Hey, you. Whatcha up to?”
“Trying to find a way to feel less useless.”
He glances down the hallway towards Mom’s room. “How’s she doing?”
