Renewed (Awakened #2) (18 page)

“My sweet Annabelle,” he said, looking at my belly. Annabelle kicked again, causing me to place one hand on the side of my belly. We sat there for a moment, laughing as Annabelle followed Stefan’s touch on my belly.

“I love you.” Stefan whispered, kissing the back of my head.

Our breathing became intertwined, and we both drifted to sleep.

Chapter Eighteen

When I woke up Friday morning, Stefan had already left for work. I went into the kitchen and fixed a bowl of fruit before going into my office to catch up on a little work. I was only working a couple of more weeks, and then I was going on maternity leave. We had all the furniture set up in the nursery, but we still needed a few things.

After a couple of hours of working, I got up and took a shower and threw on a pair of jeans, a grey silk button up shirt, and my black boots. I went into the kitchen to make lunch when I heard my phone ring—text message from Stefan.

*I’ll be home late. Don’t wait up.*

 
As I was eating, my phone rang again, but this time someone was calling me. I didn’t even look at the screen as I pressed
answer
and put the phone up to ear.

“Hi, princess.”

My eyes grew the size of saucers as I stopped chewing and sat there motionless on the stool. “George?”

“Oh, Jenny. George sounds so...unfamiliar. I’m your father. You can call me dad.”

“What...” I swallowed the now huge bite in my mouth. “What do you want?”

“I think we both know the answer to that question.”

“Are you trying to kill me? Is that what you want?”

“No, no. I mean, at first I thought about it. After what you did to your mother and all.” There was no stress in his voice.

“You know damn well I didn’t kill Mom.
You
drove that knife in her, not me. And then you made me leave and told me if I
ever
told the police you’d kill me, and I’ve kept my end of the bargain.” I tried to calm my rapid breathing.

“Like I said, that’s what I wanted to do first, but then I found out you ran off and got knocked up and married to a millionaire, so I figured you could do something to help out your poor father. You know, I’d probably have more money if your mother were still alive...”

 
“What do you want, George?” I dragged his name out a little longer to stab the knife deeper in him. He wasn’t my
dad
, and he would
never
be my dad.

“Money can make me go away. A good chunk of money.”

“Rot in hell!” I yelled. “Stefan would kill you before he gave any money to you.”

“Stefan doesn’t have to know, Jenny.”

“Jennifer!” I corrected him. “I’m no longer your Jenny, or princess, or whatever you want to call me. I’m Jennifer.” I cringed. “Anyway, I can’t get access to the bank account without Stefan, so I’m sorry, but your barking up the wrong tree.”

“Oh I’m sure you could get something figured out,
dont’cha
think?”

Silence.

“Listen, if there’s one thing I know about
my
Jenny, it’s that she can do
anything
she sets her mind too. So if she
wants
to get something, she
will
.”

 
Silence.

“Alright, how about this. I’ll give
ya
a week to get me two hundred thousand dollars, or I promise, you’ll regret it.”

“Goodbye, George.”

“You have my number. Call me when you get it figured out. You’d hate to put my grandchild, or son-in-law, in jeopardy.” He hung up the phone.

I hated him! I hated him more than anything.

I sat there, feeling violated and staring at my blank screen of my phone, letting everything that just happened run through my head. How dare he? How dare he pull this shit on me!

I turned my screen back on and pressed the number he called me from. I was sick of doing whatever he wanted me to do, hiding in fear all the time. No more!

“Calling me back so soon?”

“Actually, I called to tell you two things. First, I’m sure when I tell Stefan about this, he won’t be happy. He will probably try to kill you and guess what? I’ll let him! Second, and most importantly, you can go fuck yourself!” I hung up the phone not allowing him to say anything back.
Man, it sure felt good to say that!

I grabbed my keys and my purse and walked out to my car. I was going to tell Stefan that he had called—maybe we could track his number and find out exactly where he was.

I thought about taking the highway to Stefan, but figured the back way would be way faster. I weaved in and out of traffic, not paying any attention to the speed limit. I pulled onto the same road Long Publishing was at and really let the Mercedes open up.
I have to think Stefan for buying me this thing.

Just when I was in the middle of this long stretched road that led me directly to Stefan, I saw a black SUV appear out of nowhere. I slammed on my breaks and jerked the car trying to avoid the SUV. I felt the Mercedes roll and roll, banging me around like a rag doll. After a moment, the car stopped rolling and slowly rocked back and forth on the hood, leaving me hanging upside down.

This was it. Everything in my life had led to this— the end. I would never get to meet my daughter. I would never get to grow old with Stefan and see our grandchildren. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream and yell, but everything inside of me was numb. I thought about Kennedy and how much I wanted to thank her for everything she’d ever done for me. I needed to tell her how much I loved her and admired her.

My head started pounding, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until I was gone. I was trying to hold on...to let them save Annabelle. That was all I cared about. I just needed to stay conscious long enough for the paramedics to get me.

“Jenny.” I heard his voice next to my ear. I couldn’t move my head, but I knew exactly who was talking to me. “My sweet Jenny. That phone call was not what I was expecting, but everything comes with a consequence, good or bad. Hope this is what you wanted. Personally, I think money would’ve been an easier way.”

I heard him walk away as my body gave up.

This was the end of everything in my life.

I heard sirens, and people running and screaming. I felt my body being pulled and placed on a hard slate, then something around my neck. I wanted to tell them to stop worrying about me and worry about Annabelle, but I didn’t have the energy to tell them. I didn’t have the energy to open my eyes, to scream, or cry.

Maybe I was already dead?

I heard a lady mumble about a baby...was she talking about Annabelle? I heard the sirens again and felt myself rocking back and forth with vibrations underneath me. I needed to tell them to call Stefan. I needed to tell him what I knew, but I couldn’t.

I heard them talking again, and I tried to listen, but I couldn’t make out anything they said. I felt a poke in the bend of my arm. I needed to open my mouth to scream to tell them to stop, but I couldn’t. My jaw was too heavy, and the words were stuck in my dry throat. After a moment, my body relaxed and my mind turned fuzzy before finally turning off, drifting to happier times.

I tried to open my eyes, but darkness surrounded me.

I tried to cry out, but the words got stuck in my throat.

I tried to move my hands, but they ached and weighed me down.

The voices were muffled, and I couldn’t make out anything they were saying. Where was Stefan? Was Annabelle okay?

I felt them lift my body from the hard slate to a cold metal slate. The cold metal wobbled back and forth—they were pushing me somewhere, fast. I tried to move my head, but something held it in place. Cold liquid shot up my arm again, spreading like a wild fire through my entire body.

My mind grew black again, and as much as I tried to fight the consuming darkness, eventually I had no choice but to give in and let it sweep me away.

Would I ever find light again?

I laid on the beach with Stefan, our toes in the sand, small, playful pecks being placed all over our bodies.

“Jennifer!” he cried out.

I looked at him, confused.

“Please, baby. Please wake up! Oh God, Jennifer.”

He was crying. I tried to reach my arm out to console him, but I couldn’t move. I tried to speak to him, to tell him I was okay, but no words came out.

He slowly started walking away, not turning back to look at me. I tried to scream his name, to tell him to come back. I needed him.
Please don’t leave me! Please stay!

My mind slowly came out of the darkness that surrounded me. I heard the mumbling around me and the beeping of all the machines. This wasn’t my paradise. I felt the cold liquid purging through my veins making
it’s
way straight to my heart. Slowly, Stefan and my paradise came back into reality. I could stay on the beach forever with him, right here in our own little world with no problems.

I let the liquid possess me as I slipped into the black haze.

I felt Stefan’s head on the top of my hand. His hand was underneath him, his fingers entwined with mine. I tried to squeeze his hand, but I couldn’t...I still couldn’t move.

Stefan’s head lifted as someone else came into the room. The voice was high pitched— mousy— but I couldn’t make out exactly what she was saying. I heard another male voice...Charles. It was Charles talking to Stefan. I tried to concentrate, but the beeping machines made it hard for me to pay attention to anything.