Lucas stepped forward, pushing Maxie away from him. “First I want your word we’ll never see you again.”
Bernardi let out a chilling laugh. “That’s your issue? Man, hand it over and I’m out of your life for good.”
She shoved her hand into her pants pocket and pulled out the drive, smacking it into his beefy hand. He accepted the drive and walked away. Out of their lives for good.
* * *
A week had passed since Maxie had turned the flash drive over to Vincent Bernardi. She couldn’t help but keep a lookout, check all the usual corners and places he’d been lurking. But no one was around, no tail, no big man making his presence known. He had kept his promise and disappeared.
Still, Lucas had kept the security detail on Maxie and his family through last night, until he finally felt comfortable letting them go, and she appreciated him being extra cautious. But she could finally breathe easily on that score, at least.
There was another matter that had her completely panicked, and she’d had a very difficult time hiding her emotions from Lucas. But tonight he’d gone to the gym with Derek and Kade, so she stopped at the drugstore on the way home and bought a pregnancy test. Panic didn’t begin to describe the feelings swirling inside her, from the butterflies in her stomach to the actual nausea still plaguing her to sheer fear.
She didn’t want to be pregnant. She was petrified of going through another almost full term, getting attached to the life inside her, only to lose everything to something beyond her control. To be plunged into the black hole of depression once more.
Alone in the bathroom, she pulled out the box with shaking hands and proceeded to follow directions, although she’d done this before. She knew it was smarter to take the test in the morning, but she was alone tonight, so she was going to get this over with. She’d been nauseous long enough, her breasts hurt, and she just had a gut feeling. Still, she needed confirmation before she fell apart.
The waiting took forever. She couldn’t even kill time online on her cell phone, checking the clock every few seconds.
Finally, the timer went off.
With her heart in her throat, she looked at the stick. She’d purchased the brand that said Pregnant or Not Pregnant instead of a thin blue line to confirm. So when she glanced at the test, there was no doubt. No question.
She was pregnant.
The damned condom had failed her. She put her face in her hands and cried. After the day of worrying and working herself up for this moment, she needed the release.
What a freaking mess. She was just getting her life together after Keith had destroyed the reality she’d known. She had no savings, a job that needed her to be present and focused, and her push for being independent felt like a big fat sham. Because she was tied to another man because of a baby. Except she loved Lucas. It wasn’t his fault she was in no mental state to handle a pregnancy or a baby.
God, what was she going to do?
She wrapped the box and stick in the brown bag and buried it in the kitchen garbage before heading back to the bathroom. She washed her face and patted her burning eyes, staring at her face in the mirror, wondering why things couldn’t go her way for once.
Her cell rang and she glanced down. Lexie’s name flashed on the screen. She sighed, cleared her throat, and answered. “Hello?”
“Maxie, it’s Lexie.”
“And Kendall,” another voice added into the phone.
“Hi,” she said, smiling despite the despair she was feeling. “What’s up?”
“Since Kade is out, Kendall and I decided to go out for dinner. We want you to join us,” Lexie said.
She really wasn’t in the mood to go out and be with people. On the other hand, she didn’t want to sit home and dwell either. She had decisions to make, but none had to be made tonight.
“Where are you going?” Maxie asked.
A half an hour later, she’d pulled herself together, put on some makeup, and headed out to meet the twins at a restaurant near her apartment. Because the location wasn’t far, she decided a walk would clear her head. The last thing she needed was for Lucas to come home to find her with a blotchy face and red eyes and ask questions. She needed time, and keeping busy tonight would buy her some.
She walked out the building’s front door and into the cool evening air, feeling better as soon as the air hit her face. There was something refreshing about an outdoor walk, and if she was lucky, a miracle answer would dawn on her.
She drew her jacket around her and started down the street. As she passed the corner mini-mart, a man called her name.
She turned to see Vincent Bernardi quickly catching up with her. Her heart began to race. “What are you doing here?”
He grasped her elbow. “Keep walking,” he said, pulling her along at a steady clip.
“I thought you said you’d leave me alone.”