Live In Position (55 page)

"Definitely," she nodded with a large smile.

I climbed into bed next to her and read until she fell asleep. As soon as she was out, I placed the book on the stand, turned off the side table lamp, and snuggled next to her. I wouldn't have to sleep in
his
bed tonight after all.

Chapter Twenty Nine

I thought I was dreaming, but when the bedroom door clicked it woke me from sleep. Collin's arms were under me and placing me into
his
bed.

"What are you doing?" I croaked out quietly.

"Putting you in our bed, where you belong," his clipped tone alarmed me.

"I'm sleeping with Victoria tonight," Defiantly sitting up.

He grabbed my arm and looked down at me.

"Lie down Sophia."

Well hello Anti-Christ, I haven't seen you in awhile.

"Don't order me around. I'm not your live in whore." I stood from the bed.

"Goddamn it Sophia," He growled loudly. "How many times do I have to tell you? You aren't that. So stop calling yourself names."

"Well, why don't you just throw some more money at me and walk away? Isn't that what guys do with their whores?" I quipped.

He stood stoically.

"I'll be in Victoria's room." My jaw was tensed so tight I could barely part my teeth to speak.

"I'm sorry," his hand touched my shoulder. "I reacted badly. I just, I want you so much," his arms wrapped around my waist.

"You have me."

"Do I? Or do I only have you until you leave?" I spun on him.

"I'm not Grace. Stop comparing me to her!"

"Well, I'm not one of those guys you just mentioned, so stop comparing me to those types of men. I love you, regardless of how we met."

I furrowed my brow at him.

"Okay, fair enough." I grumbled a little.

"Please sleep next to me," he motioned to the bed.

I took a deep breath and climbed back into the bed. Arguing wasn't worth my energy or his, especially when there was so much still to happen in our lives.

Connor went directly into a rehabilitation center in Seattle, where Juliette could stay with him. Allison took over Juliette's unfinished business, which delayed her moving out of our house.

Ilene found a townhouse only a block from us and was moving within a week. Collin had been helping her get all of the arrangements made, but was called away for a key speaker obligation. This obligation meant he wouldn't be home when Grace arrived for her first visit with Victoria.

I had my phone meeting with Mr. Stark, as well as a few other Random House employees. He was sending me a copy of the proposed contract, as well as their suggestions for editing the book. The editing was on my mind when Grace arrived to the house.

Her face was smug, but seemed different. I suppose it was the fact that she had straightened her normally curly red hair. Her makeup was still perfection, like always, and I began to feel a bit under dressed. The inferior thoughts were swept from my mind as she pulled her coat from of her normally thin body.

Where her flat stomach had been now resided a small but noticeable bump. Could she really be? I mean a full sized lunch could possibly cause bloating on the poster child for anorexia. This was different. It was surely a baby bump.

The shoving of her coat in my direction brought my eyes from her abdomen to her face. She had one brow raised at me. I quickly took the coat and began to hang it up.

"Just ask it," she said in an annoyed tone.

"Ask what?" I feigned stupidity and hung the coat.

She remained silent. I turned back to her. There was a small smirk on her face.

"Are you truly going to pretend that you didn't notice my stomach?" Her long manicured nails ran through her shiny straight locks.

"It's none of my business if you are," I paused. "Shall we?" I motioned toward the living room.

"Pregnant," she stated.

"Excuse me?"

"The word you were avoiding is pregnant and yes, I'm pregnant." She smiled like she had won a contest.

"Well, congratulations," I mumbled, motioning again to the living room.

Who in the hell was she pregnant to and why would she have another child? She barely thought about her first born.

"Afraid it's Collins?" Her snide remark set something off inside of me.

"No, I'm quite sure where he spends his time, especially his nights," I quipped and then gestured once more with my left hand to the living room.

"Hm," she snorted. "I guess that it's real."

My eyes followed her glare to my left hand. I dropped the hand back to my side and walked into the living room. She could follow or stand out there in the hall for all I care.

"I thought it was just some ploy he schemed up," she sighed out as she sat her boney ass in the high back leather chair across from me. "I guess he's lowered his standards when it comes to woman; though, perhaps in this case, since you're the help it's as high as the standards can be."

The smugness on her face was eating away at me. I wanted to slap it from her face.

Do not hit a pregnant woman…do not hit a pregnant woman. I took a deep calming breath just as my subconscious spoke to me. Her face isn't pregnant, slap that boney slut. Another deep breath was necessary, along with a slap to my subconscious.

Do not hit a pregnant woman.

Now I'm not sure when I got so mean or where it came from, but she brought out the evil in me. Perhaps it was Collin's influence. I mean, after all, I am engaged to the antichrist.

"So, does this child have a father?" Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. "I mean, I hope someone is there when you get bored with this child as well." I forced a fake smile.

"How dare –" Victoria's arrival cut off her angered words. Grace swiftly stood and held her arms open to her.

"Oh baby," she cooed.

Victoria's face bunched up for a second with reluctance before she stepped into her arms.

"Grace," she mumbled her greeting.

"What is this Grace nonsense?" Grace tightened her embrace around Victoria. "You know that I am your mommy." She pulled back. Victoria pulled from Grace's arms.

"I'd rather call you Grace," she mumbled before walking and taking a seat next to me.

With a light clearing of her throat, Grace took her seat again, across from us.

"I see," her voice reflected her embarrassment and discomfort.

"Why don't I get some Iced Tea and snacks for you?" I patted Victoria's knee before I stood and exited the living room.

Once in the kitchen I released the built up tension with one large puff of breath and set about gathering things onto a tray. I was placing a fruit and cheese plate on the tray when Mrs. Baker startled me.

"Is that Grace?" she whispered from behind me.

I nodded and caught my breath.

"Sorry," she apologized before continuing. "Did I notice what I think I noticed?"

I wrinkled my brow at her confusing question. She motioned a large belly over hers.

"Oh," I nodded, "yes."

"What in the world is she having another child for?" Mrs. Baker complained. "She didn't bother to take care of the first one." Hard lines formed on her face.

I nodded in agreement with a sigh. Mrs. Baker left the kitchen mumbling un-pleasantries in regards to Grace's newly discovered condition.

"I thought the same thing," I breathed out to the empty room.

Gathering up the tray, I walked back to the living room. When I entered, my attention was drawn to the horrible look on Victoria's face.

"You're having another baby?" She choked out.

"Yes," Grace beamed, "isn't it exciting? You'll be a big sister."

I set the tray down and stepped back. Victoria thought I was leaving again.

"Don't leave me mommy," she cried out and unwrapped her arms around my legs. Her cast bit into the side of my thigh.

"Mommy?!" Grace stood from the chair with an anger flushed face. "You are not her mother. I am!"

I opened my mouth, but Victoria unburied her head from my body and turned on Grace.

"No you aren't!" She cried. "Sophia is the best mommy I could ever ask for! Why don't you just go be with your new baby and leave me alone?"

In a flash of red hair, Victoria ran from the room. The sound of her running feet and slam of her bedroom door floated down to the room around us. Grace cleared her throat, which brought my attention back to her.

"I suppose I should go." She walked to the closet and retrieved her coat. She was slipping into it when she spoke again. "Tell Collin I'll call him to discuss visiting our daughter next Friday."

"Next Friday will be fine," I forced a smile.

"Hmm, yes, well I would much rather discuss it with Collin. You know, parent to parent," she smirked.

"Yes, well I can assure you that Collin will agree with my approval for next Friday." I pulled open the door for her to leave.

Just when I thought I would be rid of her she turned around in the doorway.

"Tell Collin, I'll call him later." She smiled wide and then finally left.

I slammed the door and screamed. Once that was taken care of, I climbed the stairs to check on Victoria.

Collin called five times while he was away. I couldn't stomach talking about Grace with him, so I told him the edited version with a promise to discuss it in more detail when he came back on Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon, as I drove Victoria to her dance class, my phone rang. Victoria pulled it out of my purse for me and answered.

"Mommy's phone," she giggled. I laughed and shook my head. "Hi daddy," she squealed out happily. "Uh huh, yep, we're on our way to dance class," she groaned out the last two words. "Okay, hold on," she extended her arm with the phone in her hand, "daddy wants to talk to you."

I brought the phone to my ear and held it with my shoulder.

"Hello?"

"I've missed the sound of your voice."

"You just spoke with me last night," I laughed lightly.

"So?" He challenged. "When will the two of you be home?"

"Um, we are just pulling up to the studio and her lesson lasts about an hour, so I would say no longer than an hour and a half."

He groaned.

"What?"

"That's too long. I miss you." His voice dropped to a husky whisper.

"I missed you too." Victoria made gagging sounds from behind me and I had to fight from laughing. "We'll have time together after dinner and –"

"After dinner?" he grumbled. "I don't want to wait that long."

"Sorry, but it must be handled." I pulled into a spot and parked the car. "Hey, we're here, so I need to get her inside and dressed. I will let you know when we are leaving, okay?"

"Okay. Sophia?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." The smile on my face was wide and not going anywhere for awhile.

We hung up. I scrambled to get Victoria out of the car. Once inside I had to fight with her leotard sleeve to get it over her cast.

"My arm is itchy," she whined.

"I know, I'm sorry. You won't have the cast for too much longer."

She groaned and hurried off to the studio room. I took a seat in the waiting area and read over the book contract for the third time. I only had two more days before it had to be returned to the publisher. My nerves felt like there were firecrackers exploding at the ends.

Victoria's lesson seemed to go by quickly, having been distracted by all the legal terms in the contract. Even with the legal dictionary I bought, I still wasn't positive about a few things. I shoved the contract into my purse, deciding to call Mr. Stark and get clarification.

"My arm is still itchy," Victoria whined from the back seat.

"We'll try to figure something out, okay?"

She nodded and blew out a frustrated sigh. She stared out the window at the passing scenery. When we arrived home, she hopped down from the car and ran to the door.

"Slow down, you'll slip." I grabbed her bags and my purse from the car before following her.

Entering the house the smell of Italian food filled the air. I furrowed my brow and walked toward the kitchen, dropping the bags next to the stairs along the way. Inside the kitchen there was multiple silver foil containers spread out on the counters.