Big Bad Boys A Romance Collection - Penny Wylder Page 0,166

me into a ball, to nod and agree and let him win.

This isn't his choice to make, Syl! It's yours.

“Get rid of the baby, Sylvia. It's in our best interests if you do. Before you tell anyone else, and crush your mother's soul, just get it done. I can set you up with someone, we'll do it quietly, keep it out of the press.”

“No, Daniel,” I say, shaking my head. “I'm not doing that. I don't care what you think, I'm keeping this baby.” Placing a hand on my belly, I can already feel the life inside me.

It's strange. The second I laid eyes on the double lines on that strip of plastic, it was as if new air washed over my body. Everything changed in that split second. Nothing is about me anymore, it's about this baby.

“Sylvia—”

“No, Daniel! You don't get to control this—not this.” Baring my teeth, rage fills me. It starts in my chest and spreads down through my arms, coiling around my hands and turning them into fists.

He always has his hand in everything I do. Ever since I was a child, he's had to place his stamp of approval on my life.

It's going to stop and it's going to stop now.

Daniel's face turns bright red, and his mouth falls into a heavy frown. “Listen to me and listen to me good little girl, you're not in charge, not in this, not with anything. You've always done what I said, and you'll continue to do what I say.”

He takes a step toward me, forcing me to take a step back. He isn't even that close, but the look in his eyes is making my hair stand on end. I'm just watching him, the way his eyes turn dark and his eyebrows crawl across his forehead like caterpillars.

I don't want him anywhere near me or the baby growing in my belly.

Clenching his teeth, his nostrils flare. “Your entire life I've been there for you, even when your own father abandoned you like trash. I've given you what you need to be successful. I've held your hand and made your name shine like gold, and this is how you treat me?” His voice teeters on the edge of insanity.

“Dan—”

I can't even finish saying his name. He throws his arm at the door, eyes turning to slits as he yells, “Get out! Go! Get the hell out of here!”

I do. I leave. Quickly opening the door and closing it behind me before he chases me into the hall and demands I cut off a limb for him as punishment.

There's no way I'm getting rid of this baby. He can order me to do a lot of things, but that isn't one of them.

With my head down, I speed walk through the office, not looking up at anyone. Glancing at Claudia's office, the light is off and the room is vacant.

Claudia is still avoiding me, she won't answer my calls, my texts. She goes the opposite way in the hall and disappears before I get there. I can't get her to give me even one second of her time to explain myself.

It sucks. Because I could really use her right now.

The next two days I spend gazing at baby clothes and toys in stores. Phade's been busy training for the final, so we haven't seen each other as much as I would like.

Checking my phone, I open the tab for Claudia, wishing to see a response. Nothing.

'Browsing the mall and grabbing lunch at Panera. You in?' I send her a quick text. Maybe she'll have a change of heart, I don't know, but I'm not giving up on fixing our friendship.

I'll keep trying, until she either blocks me or gives in and hears me out. I'm persistent, and she knows it.

Dropping my phone back into my bag, I flip through a rack of tiny outfits. I can't help but smile at the dog designs, the pink ruffles, the happy dinosaurs, and all the bumble bees. Only in baby clothes will bees ever be cute.

Tiny shoes line a few shelves. Sneakers, miniature slippers, shiny red dress shoes with itty-bitty heels. They're so small I can sit them in my palm like they belong to a doll.

My stomach growls. It's loud, echoing like someone threw a rock into a cave. I glance over my shoulder, curious if anyone else heard it. No one seems to notice the hunger pains gurgling inside.

I'm not buying anything yet for the baby because I want to