Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” I muttered, searching for a towel to hide the evidence with.
Luckily, I had a decent supply of clothes in here for when we utilized the room.
A knock sounded on the open door. “Hey, Elden wanted me to come in to check on you since he’s currently yelling at the sheriff, and—holy fuck!” Colby walked into the room, staring at me then staring at the small but not unnoticeable puddle on the floor.
“Your water just broke.” He gaped at the ground and then me.
“No it didn’t,” I hissed, looking at the door then rushing to shut it. It was uncomfortable and painful to move so quickly, but I managed it.
Colby looked from me to the floor. “I understand that pregnant women don’t have complete control over their bladders, but I know you didn’t just piss yourself.” His expression sobered. “You’ve been in pain since the second you walked in. Now your water broke. I’m gonna tell Elden.”
I clutched his wrist in a death grip. “You will do no such thing.”
He winced. “Fuck, loosen up, Violet. I need this hand.”
“You need to promise me you won’t tell Elden or Swiss about this.” I did not let go of his wrist or loosen the grip.
His eyes grew to saucers. “Let’s forget for a second that they will both straight up kill me, and not figuratively, I mean bullet to the head if they knew I knew you were in labor without telling them,” he said, voice tight with pain. “If we forget that, we’ll just skip over to the fact that whether or not I tell them, eventually, you’re gonna have to push a baby out, and they’re gonna get hip to what’s going on.”
“First, labor lasts hours,” I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain. “Maybe even longer than a day. But they aren’t going to be thinking about that. They’ll get themselves in a tizzy then focus on me.” My voice shook. “I don’t need any focus on me right now. I need all of their focus to go toward finding my best friend. I’m not having this baby until we do.”
Colby gave me a strained smile. “Although you are definitely more versed than me in women’s anatomy, I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works. You don’t get to choose when and where you give birth.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “I can if my best friend’s life depends on it.”
He just looked at me, obviously not convinced.
“I know she means a lot to you too,” I whispered. “I know you’re worried and scared. And I want you to channel that worry and fear into finding her,” I ordered.
I watched Colby battle with his obvious concern about me, his alliance to Elden and Swiss, his friendship with me and then his very real fears about Sariah’s fate.
“Okay,” he conceded, releasing a long exhale.
My entire body relaxed. Or at least it would’ve had a contraction not just threatened to break my spine.
“Can you let go of my hand now?” he asked. “I’m in a lot of pain.”
“You’re in a lot of pain?” I gawped at him. “A girl is holding your hand. I have a child preparing to exit my body, and my body is literally pushing her downward and splitting my hips in two to accommodate that,” I hissed. “You’re fine.”
I gave his hand an extra squeeze before letting it go.
He shook it out, wincing as he did.
I rolled my eyes.
“Go,” I shooed. “Go and exact vengeance or investigate or shake down informants while I change.”
Colby lingered at the open door. “We’re going to find her,” he vowed.
My eyes watered. “I know.”
Though, like when Elden promised me, I didn’t fully believe it.
Chapter Thirty
I should’ve got a fucking medal or an Oscar for my performance over the next couple of hours. My contractions were still relatively far apart, and Colby kept looking my way with panic in his eyes every time I so much as breathed heavily. I had to glare at him to get him to look away. That little snitch did not have the stomach for this shit.
Luckily, the clubhouse was a hive of activity, and I was able to white knuckle my way through most of my contractions without anyone raising a brow. And every time Elden came close to me and looked too hard, I ordered him back to whatever he was doing to save my friend.
It worked every time except this time, when he refused to move, and my body tightened with an oncoming contraction. I struggled to find something else to distract him and my mother, who had been watching me much too closely too.
“Violet,” Elden said, hand on my stomach. “You’re going to tell me what’s goin’ on right now.”
Shit.
“Javier’s not here,” I blurted.
His expression moved from concern to confusion.
“What?”
“Javier.” I was struggling to speak clearly. “He’s not here, and he hasn’t been here since we found out Sariah disappeared.