Page 110 of Three Months Yesterday

The nausea rises, sharp and overwhelming. I want to tell her she’s crazy, that she’s delusional, but I can’t say any of that—not when she’s standing over me with a knife and I’m tied up on my own couch.

I have to play along.

I have to survive.

Another cramp grips my stomach, stronger than before and I gasp as something warm gushes between my legs, soaking through my pants, and terror crashes through me in a cold wave.

“My water,” I choke out. “Holly…my water just broke.”

Her eyes roll before they settle on me. “I’m not falling for that crap.” She settles onto the coffee table in front of me, the knife resting on her knees. “We’re going to talk, woman to woman—about Beckett, about what’s really going on here.”

I bite back every screaming instinct that tells me to fight, to argue, to tell her exactly how insane she sounds. Instead I force my breathing steady and meet her eyes.

“Okayyyy.” I draw out the word, breathing through the pain.

“Aaron hired me,” Holly says like she’s telling me about a job she had in college, not like she’s tearing apart the life of someone I can’t imagine living without. “Beckett was pulling away—getting tired of constantly being on the road and the nonstop nature of the industry—and Aaron wanted him to remember who his real friends were, who always supported him. He wanted Beckett to lean on him again.”

Another cramp hits me, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out. Not just from the physical pain but from the realization that someone who’s supposed to love and protect Beckett would do something like this.

Beckett may have been annoyed with Aaron recently, but he always talks fondly of him, like he’s a brother—someone he loves.

Holly doesn’t notice, her story continuing like it’s any other Wednesday. “But then Beckett and I had a moment. It was a few weeks after I started. We ran into each other at a coffee shop in New York, and everything changed after that.” Her eyes go soft—distant. “We fell in love.”

I know the words are false, that they only exist in the mind of the woman before me, but it doesn’t stop the bile from rising in my throat. Beckett saw this woman in the cottage and had no idea who she was—assumed he’d never seen her before. But somehow Holly takes one encounter to mean they fell in love?

Through the window behind her I catch a flash of movement—Aiden. His eyes meet mine, and the fear I see in them panics me. Aiden doesn’t get scared, at least he doesn’t show it. For it to be so clear I can see it from here…

I don’t let my thoughts go there, and I force my gaze back to Holly—heart hammering, praying she didn’t notice my lapse in attention.

“But he was still struggling with work,” Holly says, oblivious to everything. “So he decided to take a break. He said he wanted alone time to figure things out and I agreed, but then you came along.” Her voice hardens, gaining an edge of hysteria. “You started making him uncomfortable, following him around. I came to town to get you to back off.”

I fight through another cramp, sweat beading on my forehead. “I didn’t know⁠—”

“But you just couldn’t take a hint!” Holly shouts, springing to her feet, the knife gripped tight in her hand. “And every time I tried to warn you, the snake in the field to scare your horse, the package, the fall on the street, you kept pushing, kept inserting yourself into his life, into our⁠—”

Her words are cut short, and I swear the world slows and speeds up at the same time. A gunshot rings out, shattering the window in an explosion of glass. Holly screams, the knife clattering to the floor as her hand flies to her shoulder, blood blooming through her shirt. The front door crashes open, and suddenly the room is full of movement and shouting.

Ian barrels through first, moving straight to Holly. She’s hurt and too focused on her pain to do anything, but that doesn’t stop him from restraining her and moving her out of the house before I have time to register any of it.

Aiden reaches me in three strides. His fingers find the ropes at my wrists and urgently work the knots with a desperation I can feel in his trembling hands. The hemp bites, then loosens before he moves to do the same at my ankles.

“Madison.” His face appears above me, blurry through my tears. “Hey, hey, I’ve got you. You’re okay. I’ve got you.” The ropes fall away and he helps me sit, his arm steadying me as the room spins. “Are you hurt?”

“My head,” I manage, but that’s not what matters most right now. “Aiden, my water broke and it’s too early,” I cry. “It’s too early.”

“Madison, listen to me.” Aiden cups my face, forcing my eyes to his. His voice is steady, calm, exactly what I need right now. “It’s going to be okay. There’s an ambulance outside, we’ll take you to the hospital. You and the baby are going to be fine.”

“I’m scared,” I whisper, the tears falling free. “I need Beckett.”

“He’s already on his way,” Aiden says, squeezing my hand. “He’s coming, Mads. He’ll be here soon.”

I don’t bother looking up from my coffee. Ryan’s been giving me shit since I came out of his guest room an hour ago, and he shows no signs of stopping—not that I really mind. It’s nice getting to see my best friend in the flesh for once.

Tours always take it out of me, no matter how long they are I’m always dragging by the second week and any day off is spent doing absolutely nothing. Getting to spend a day off in the comfort of a friend’s place is an opportunity I never pass up.

“On stage. In front of thousands of people.” Ryan laughs, sinking deeper into the leather couch and shaking his head with a grin that looks almost proud. “Telling the entire world you’re in love.”

Ryan’s sprawled across the sectional in a faded Boston Wraiths hoodie that’s seen better days, looking exactly like the guy who used to play ding-dong-ditch on his neighbors’ house. His apartment is spacious, open-concept with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, clean lines and comfortable furniture. Nothing over the top, just comfortable, just…Ryan. It’s the kind of place that comes from years of professional baseball paychecks managed well, but never losing sight of who you really are.