Page 243 of Wicked Brutal

“I wasn’t hiding it from you.”

“You were hiding it in this house.”

That shuts me up. Because she’s right.

Mom looks down between us. Her hand lifts. Stops. “Can I?”

My throat closes. I nod. Her palm settles over the small curve beneath my sweater. For the first time, someone in this house touches my stomach and I don’t feel like I need to protect it.

Mom starts crying again. “My grandbaby.”

I cover her hand with mine. “Yeah.”

Her thumb moves once. Then fear crashes back into her face. “You have to leave. Ally, you have to get out of this house.”

“We’re working on it.”

“How soon?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“Mom—”

“If your father finds out—” The certainty in her voice scares me. Her eyes drop to my stomach. “And Victor can never know.”

“I know.”

“No.” Her fingers tighten around mine. “You don’t understand. This changes the agreement. Everything your father has planned. Everything Victor expects.”

“What does he expect?” She looks away. “Mom.”

“Not now.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because there are things I can’t explain standing in this kitchen.”

Her eyes snap back to mine. “You take Tobias.”

“We take Tobias.”

“And you go.”

“We go.”

“Ally.”

“All three of us.”

Her face crumples. “You have a child to protect now.”

“And you’re my mother.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to leave me.”

“And I’m telling you I’m not.”