Chapter 36

You’ll never see your baby again.

Joseph’s mother’s threat left me hollow and bereft. I felt I must be dreaming, because something so horrible couldn’t possibly happen in real life.

But when I pinched the skin of my arm, I was still sitting in that dining room with Joseph and his parents, and she still glared at me like I was something worse than dirt.

My words trembled, my voice broke, but I managed, “I think I should leave.”

“I think that would be best,” his mother said.

“Now, wait one minute,” Joseph started.

“It’s okay, Joseph,” I said, even though it wasn’t. Everything was too much already. I just wanted to get out of there.

“Listen to the girl, Joey,” Joseph’s dad said. “She wants to go.”

“Then we’ll go.” Joseph abruptly stood. His chair screeched against the hardwood. “But Mom. Dad. You can’t treat Cynthia like this.”

His words startled me as much as his parents. We all looked at him with the same wide-eyed expression.

“She’s going to have my baby, and we’re going to co-parent. And if she’ll have me…” He smiled at me, that boyish smile I had loved not that long ago. “We’ll be a family.”

“Listen to yourself, son,” his father said.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” his mother said.

“If she ever decides to speak to either of you again,” Joseph continued, “Then I hope you will treat her as someone I care about, because she is.”

I stared at him. Was he… standing up for me?

Joseph?

He held his hand out for me. “Cynthia. Let’s get out of here.”

I didn’t take his hand, but I did accept the invitation to leave. At once, I stood and rushed to the door. I was suffocating in this house, I needed out of it.

I rushed down the porch and across the front lawn to the sidewalk along the quiet suburban street.

I choked in hard, shaky breaths.

Were they really going to take my baby? Could they do that?

My entire body trembled in fear.

“Cynthia!” Joseph said, following me. He’d been slower leaving the house. Had he said something more to his parents?

I still couldn’t believe that he stood up for me and our baby. Did he mean it when he said he wanted to be a family?

Could I actually trust him this time?

I clutched at my head. I had too many thoughts and fears. I couldn’t get them straight. I wanted to go home.

I wanted Asher.

“Cynthia, hey.” Joseph was suddenly beside me. He curled his arms around me and pressed me close to his well-muscled body. I flinched back but he was strong. He held me firm.

I wanted him to let go.

“Calm down,” he said to me, like that was an option. It wasn’t.

Tears fell from my eyes. I had to protect myself. My baby.

“Let me go, Joseph. Please.”

“Don’t be crazy,” Joseph said. “I’m not letting go if you’re crying.”

“Please,” I said again.

“No,” he said, almost angry. “I’m trying to help you.”

It didn’t feel like help, when one hand slid down the length of my back to the curve of my backside.

I thought of my hold training. I lifted my leg and slammed my heel down on his foot.

Joseph dropped me at once. “What the hell, Cynthia?”

I stumbled back. “I want to go home,” I said.

He shook his head at me, sighing like I was a misbehaved toddler. “I’ll drive you.”

“N-no.”

Joseph may have stood up for me, but I was too upset. I couldn’t think clearly.

I didn’t feel like I could trust him, despite what I’d seen.

Lilith wanted to show her teeth. I held her back.

We didn’t need to fight Joseph. We just needed Asher.

I retrieved my phone and called him.

“Asher?” I asked before it even stopped ringing.

“I’m almost there,” he said.

I released a slow, shaky breath.

“Who are you calling?” Joseph demanded, coming close to me again.

I instinctively backed away. My hormones flew left and right. I thought I might shake apart.

“I stood up for you,” Joseph said, angry now. “I defended you to my own parents and you’re calling him?”

Then, I saw Asher’s dark car pull onto the street. The wheels skidded as he made the hard turn at a fast speed. Those same wheels screeched as he slammed the brakes right beside where we were standing on the sidewalk.

The driver’s side door opened, and there he was.

Asher.

He walked toward me, arms opening.

I ran to him and collapsed into his embrace.

“Asher!” I cried into his t-shirt. I was still on the phone with him. I’d never hung up. I still held it, pressed against my ear.

He gently removed the phone from me, disconnected the call, and slid it into his pocket.

One of his hands, brushed through my hair. The other held me fast across the back of my shoulders.

“I’m here now,” he said. “You are safe now.”

Lilith finally retreated quickly back into my mind.

“We are protected now,” she said.

I clutched at Asher’s shirt with both hands, needing to be as close to him as possible.

“Funny how you got here so fast,” said Joseph from somewhere behind me. “We only walked out a few minutes ago.”

“I will always be where she needs me,” Asher said.

“Cute,” Joseph said in a disgusted way.

“Breathe, Cynthia,” Asher said, voice low, for me alone. “It’s going to be okay now.”

His arms tightened around me. Unlike when Joseph grabbed me, like I was a possession to be claimed, Asher held me like I was someone special. Someone worth protecting.

If Asher had been at that dinner, I didn’t doubt that he would have defended me. Hell, he would have told them off the minute they glared at me when they opened the front door.

Joseph might have done the right thing at the end, but how long did it take him to get there?

“I had everything under control,” Joseph snapped. “You didn’t have to rush over here like a bat out of hell. How many speed limits did you break? Maybe we should call the cops.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. I didn’t want Asher to get in trouble.

“Shut it, Joseph,” Asher said flatly. “You are making her more upset.”

Joseph huffed, though his next words were softer. “Sorry, Cynthia.”

“What happened?” Asher asked. With my head tucked against his chest, I couldn’t tell if he was speaking to me or Joseph.

“Like I said, nothing I couldn’t handle,” Joseph said.

Asher waited. His hand gently stroked up and down my back.

“Asher, they…” I sniffled. “They said they would take my baby.”

Asher growled. “They what?” I knew those words were spat at Joseph, because the tone was more biting than he’d ever used with me.

“They’re just worried about me,” Joseph said. “I’ll explain to them that there’s no need for that. They know Cynthia and I are going to co-parent. They are just being protective.”

“Protective of who? Certainly not the baby, if they wish to take them from their mother.”

“You know what? Who asked you, Asher?” Joseph was angry again. Or maybe he’d been the whole time, but it was showing now. “You aren’t a part of this.”

“As long as Cynthia needs me, I’m a part of it,” Asher said. “I will protect her from anything.”

I snuggled closer.

His voice fierce, he said, “If anyone tries to take her baby away from her…”

I held my breath.

“I’ll kill them.”