Heart of a Stripper (19 page)

“So, by your answer I gather you
are
pregnant.” He barked.

“Let me go.” She snapped.

“Answer me!” he shouted, sending fear through her.

“Yes!” she screamed back.

“Is it my son’s?” he asked disappointed, not letting her go.

He wasn’t giving her the opportunity to run.

“What do you care?” she cried. “We’re not together anymore.”

“
And I’m here to make sure you keep it that way.” Bruce made clear. “I’m not giving you the opportunity to get another dime from my family.”

“I never took money from you!” she shouted.

“True, but I’m going to pay you to get rid of this child.” He offered.

“You’re a monster.” She cried. “You have no right to ask me this.”

“It wasn’t a question. You
will
get rid of that—
thing
inside of you!” He snapped.

“Stay away from me!” she shouted as she pulled
to try and get free of his grip.

Tussling with her for a moment, he lost grip on her and watched as she stumbled back and tumbled down the s
tairs. Dread seeped through him as he stared down at her. There was so much blood seeping from her.

Adam fixed his tie as he drove up to Kate’s apartment building. Parking in the lot, he headed inside and up the elevator to her floor. She was of course in a high rise and had a stunning view. Hopping off the elevator, he headed down to her apartment only to hear voices in the hall. As he got closer, he realized they belong to Kate and Bruce. Stopping, he peered around the corner as he listened to their conversation. He didn’t want to be rude and interrupt. Truth be told he wanted to know why he’d dropped by so late to see her.

“Bruce, she called him today. Thank God he left his cell phone home.” Kate snapped.

“Look, I’m sure we won’t hear from her again.”

“I just want this nightmare to be over with! I never expected him to leave me for someone else. You promised he wouldn’t.” she responded.

“He hasn’t has he? You’ll be wearing his name in a couple of weeks. Just be patient.” Bruce insisted.

“Is she really—God, I can’t even say the word.” She scoffed.

“Don’t worry. I went to see her today, and I took care of it.” Bruce retorted.

“So she’s going to get rid of it?” Kaitlin asked.

“Kaitlin, I promised you everything will be fine and it is.”

“Bruce, just tell me!” Kate snapped.

“She had an accident—” he started as he heard noise. Adam had brushed up against the table and it made noise.

Bruce turned and peered down the hall. Walking towards Adam’
s direction, Adam ducked deeper into the corner. He heard Bruce’s footsteps grow closer and knew he would be busted. His heart hammered against his ribcage as he held his breath. Luckily a couple was coming down the hall after coming out of their apartment, so Bruce stopped. Smiling at them, he walked back to Kaitlin as Adam slunk from the corner. 

“Look, I’ll talk to you later. Just focus on keeping
Mitchell happy with
you
.” Bruce replied stalking off.

Chapter Seventeen

Adam pounded on
Mitchell’s door and waited. The door sprang open and Mitchell had an evil glare on his face that instantly melted away when he saw Adam.

“Why are you pounding on my door like a maniac?” he asked walking inside and Adam followed, closing the door behind him.

“Mitchell, we need to talk.” He replied standing near the kitchen counter.

He watched
Mitchell stop right before he got to the bare Christmas tree. He had obviously planned to decorate it because there was a box of ornaments and lights scattered on the floor. The tree was white, not a traditional green.

“No.”
Mitchell said shaking his head. “Every time someone starts a conversation like that with me it’s always bad news. I can’t take any more bad news.”

“I’m sorry
Mitchell, but I got to tell you this.” Adam said walking over to him.

Mitchell
sucked in a hard breath and held it before he nodded.

“I saw your dad and Kate together tonight.” He started.

“Again?” Mitchell asked heart broken and Adam cocked his head to the side confused like a dog would.

“What do you mean
again
?” Adam inquired.

“She promised she wouldn’t do it again!”
Mitchell shouted before turning and throwing the green ornament he was holding in his hand.

It flew clear across the room and shattered on impact as it hit the wall. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he panted angrily as his best friend watched in wonder.

“Mitchell, tell me what you mean.” Adam insisted.

“I know all about their affair ok? The night of the party, that was why I left. I saw her and my dad—together. They had no idea I was hiding in the bathroom.”
Mitchell answered turning back to his friend.

Adam’s jaw dropped and Nevaeh’s warning suddenly made sense. Gritting his teeth, Adam wanted to shout at the top of his lungs. He knew Kate was a bitch, but he never pegged her to be that bad.

“Then why’d you take her back?! And why didn’t you tell me?!” Adam barked.

“I wasn’t—but when Nevaeh ended things, I had nothing else to lose.” He mumbled looking down.

“Do you love Nevaeh?” Adam asked.

Mitchell
looked up with trepidation in his eyes. It was obvious he was afraid of his own answer. Just by the look, Adam knew the truth.

“I’m not allowed to love her. She’s younger—”

“I didn’t ask you about morals or what everybody else will think. I want to know if my best friend is in love with a girl who left him.” Adam insisted.

Looking at Adam,
Mitchell sighed.

“It doesn’t matter if I love her or not. We’re not together.”
Mitchell responded sucking up his emotions.

“It does matter. What I’m about to tell you is what I wanted to talk to you about.” Adam retorted.

“Something about Nevaeh? So it wasn’t about Kate and my father?” he asked embarrassed as his cheeks turned a rosy red.

“I saw Nevaeh yesterday and she told me to tell you she needed to talk to you.” Adam said. “I told her to leave you alone.”

“Why would she need to talk to me? Why did you tell her not to? She has been missing school the past few days.” He said pacing back and forth. “Do you think her dad hurt her?”

Mitchell
was livid and Adam could see fire behind his glare.

“I don’t know. All I know is
, I found her crying outside and I gave her a ride. She got sick to her stomach and hopped out of my car embarrassed. I didn’t think anything of it ‘til today.” Adam replied.

“Today?
Why, what happened?” Mitchell asked impatiently.

“I went by Kate’s place because we were supposed to meet up to
go over details of a surprise party for you. When I got there I saw her and your dad in the hall talking. It was obviously about Nevaeh. Mitchell, I think she’s pregnant.” Adam said seriously.

“Pre—pregnant?” he asked sinking into the couch behind him. “Are you sure?”

Adam nodded as he let his friend gather his thoughts.

“How would they know and not me?
Even if she is pregnant that doesn’t mean it’s mine. She started dating another guy.” He said placing his face into his hands.

“
Mitchell I’m sure your dad and Kate wouldn’t be talking about her if it weren’t yours. I overheard Kate say that Nevaeh called you, but she answered because you left your phone home. I’m guessing that’s why Nevaeh really wanted to talk to you. But that’s not all, I heard your dad say she had an accident.” Adam replied bearing more bad news.

“An accident?
What kind of accident?” he asked shooting his glare up to Adam.

Before he could answer, the front door opened and Kate walked in. She had a
huge smile planted on her face, and that pissed Mitchell off more.

“Adam, I thought we were meeting at my place.” She said.

Mitchell shot to his feet angrily and stalked to her, making her feel uncomfortable.

“Tell me what you need to tell me.” He barked, bawling his hands into fist.

“Ok, we were planning a party for you.” She said walking past him. “I thought it was supposed to be a secret Adam.”

“Not that!”
Mitchell shouted, turning and looking at her.

“What the hell is your problem?” she snapped.
  

“
You are! You’re such a deceitful bitch!” he growled.

“How dare you—”

“No, how dare you?! Tell me the truth for once Kate. Tell me what you know about Nevaeh or so help me…” he replied trailing off.

Swallowing hard, she glared at Adam, then
Mitchell.

“She called you yesterday.” She sighed.

“What about?” he pushed.

“She didn’t say, she just hung up and that’s the truth.” She insisted getting teary eyed.

“Tears are for the weak.” Mitchell barked coldly. He sounded just like his father.

“What did my father do to her?” he growled.

“I don’t know.” She sniffled.

“Tell me!
” he shouted.

“I don’t know!” she screamed.

“For your sakes I hope not.” He replied turning to leave, but she caught him by the arm.

“Please don’t go
Mitchell.” She begged. “Stay with me. Don’t let her ruin our relationship.”

“You did a pretty good job of that, not her. I want you out of my house by the time I get back.” He said pulling away from her and leaving. Adam followed him quietly.

Adam drove Mitchell to the strip club, only to run into Honey. She’d told him what had happened to Nevaeh, and Mitchell nearly buckled. Just to know she had fallen down some stairs had killed him inside. After calling around to a couple of hospitals, Mitchell had a bit of luck. Adam had driven to see her. Making it to the right floor, he had run into her doctor. Telling him that he was her fiancé had been the only way they allowed him to see her.

“
How is she?” Mitchell asked as they stood near the waiting area.

“The fall she had was pretty bad. She lost a lot of blood, and hasn’t woken up yet.” Dr. Ferguson responded.

“Will she be ok?” Mitchell asked nervously. “Is the—” he didn’t know how to phrase the question about the baby.

“
I’m sorry, the baby didn’t make it.” Dr. Ferguson informed and Mitchell fell to his seat as the news seeped in. “Being that she was in the early stages of the pregnancy, the placenta detached from the uterine wall during the fall causing her to miscarry.”

“Oh God…” he mumbled.

“We haven’t told her yet so—”

“I’ll tell her. It will be better coming from me.” He whispered as Adam to
uched him on the shoulder to show his support.

“
You can go in and see her. But as I said, I don’t know when she’ll wake up.”

“Thanks.”
Mitchell mumbled gathering himself before getting up.

“I’ll be out here waiting.” Adam replied and
Mitchell nodded.

Walking into the room, he saw Nevaeh lying peacefully in the hospital bed. His heart shattered into a billion pieces as he walked over to her.
Leaning over her, he kissed her cheek and then her lips.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered in her ear, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him.

Sitting in the chair beside her, he grabbed her hand and kissed it. He felt horrible about the situation even though he had no clue what truly happened. But all in all he felt guilty.

“I knew I’d find you here.” Bruce’s voice replied, startling him.