Defending Bridget - P.J. Fiala Page 0,18

think of right now.

Then Sophie's eyes landed on him and held. Soon the others in the room began looking at him and his mind went completely blank for a moment. Bridget probably just told her they had spent the night together and that's why she didn't want to come here. She'd turned him down quick enough yesterday when he asked her to dinner. But, now she might be in danger, it was no time to be stupid. Though, it was likely because her boyfriend, Aidyn, didn't want to stay somewhere where he was. He'd better do a damned good job of keeping her safe then, or Axel would go and find him and make him pay.

13

"Promise me you won't say anything."

Sophie stood, then whispered to Gaige, "I have to take this privately."

"Hang on, Bridget, I have to move to a different location."

Bridget waited on the other end of the line. Her heart hammered in her chest. She'd never said those words out loud before. She'd never even told her mom about this. She'd actually planned to go to her grave never saying those words to anyone.

She swallowed the saliva that had gathered in her mouth and she walked into her office and softly closed the door. Aidyn was in his bedroom and her mom was helping him get dressed. Once she'd gotten the call from the police this morning, asking her questions about class and Sydney and Jennie Lee her mind had reeled with the events going on. She was sufficiently scared out of her wits since she'd been followed and now her clients had gone missing.

She'd have to have a talk with her mom and tell her to stay here for the time being. She would forbid Aidyn to leave the house; she'd simply die if anything happened to him.

"Okay, I'm in my bedroom now and can talk freely."

Sophie sounded winded, but she was likely walking as fast as she could and being pregnant, no matter how great a shape a person was in, she was carrying quite a bit more weight than she was used to.

"Okay. I don't know where to begin."

"Begin at the beginning. When did you meet him? Where? Why didn't you say anything?"

Taking a deep breath and keeping her voice low so no one would hear her through the door, she answered.

"Sophie, remember about five years ago when we had our girls’ weekend in California? You and the other girls left, but I couldn't get a plane out until the next morning. I was in the bar in the hotel that night. I had just had dinner and wanted a glass of wine before heading up to my room. He was there. At the bar. The way he looked at me, God, he melted my panties with just a look. So handsome, strong. Powerful, even in a suit jacket. I can't explain it, I wasn't drunk. He was just so magnetic."

Sophie giggled on the other end of the line. "He's handsome for sure, but I guess I've never found him magnetic."

"Shut up. You've pined for Gaige for years, so you know what it's like. You know what it means to just meet someone and know they are different from all the others. Anyone else you will ever meet."

"Yeah, I do know that."

Sophie sighed on the other end of the line and Bridget smiled to herself. She was thinking of Gaige and all the years she'd pined away for him. Those two had such an epic, if not sad, love story.

"Anyway. Epic night. Epic. But the next morning I felt him get out of bed and quietly dress. He told me he was there on business and he had to meet someone to deliver a package. The way he said it, made me think he was probably married and sneaking out of the room to get home early. He said he'd be back, but I had this feeling in my stomach that he was lying. Then I watched him walk out the door and he had a guilty look on his face. And I felt like a fool. I'd been duped by a handsome, strong, powerful man. My kryptonite. I'd let my guard down and paid for it. So, I got up, showered, made a cup of coffee, packed and left."

"Oh, no."

"Right. A couple of months later, I found out I was pregnant. I tried looking for him, but he told me his name was Robert Beckman. The only Robert Beckman I found was a deadbeat.