“I hate this fucking plan.” But Logan’s tone said he understood.
“Thanks.” One-Mile hesitated, then figured he’d be honest with Logan in case he didn’t come back. “For what it’s worth, you’re more like your dad than I first thought. See you on Monday.”
A faint pinging noise jolted her from sleep. Brea opened her eyes and stared at the clock. Just after three in the morning. What the devil?
She was about to decide she’d imagined it and curl up in her blankets when she heard the sound again.
Frowning, she sat up and turned toward the noise.
She found Pierce lifting her formerly locked bedroom window and stepping inside.
Was he crazy?
“What are you doing here? My dad is home! How did you open that?” she whispered furiously as she rose to him, glancing at her bedroom door to make sure she’d closed it before crawling into bed.
Thank goodness she had. Still, if Daddy was having another sleepless night, it would be a miracle if he didn’t hear them.
“We’ve got problems, pretty girl. Cutter has been identified by the press. His name is everywhere.” He extracted his phone, tapped the screen, and shoved the device in her hands. “So is yours…as his pregnant fiancée.”
Shock banged her chest. The air left her lungs in a terrible rush. “What?”
She glanced down at some tabloid’s Twitter feed to find a picture of her and Cutter taken at the live nativity last Christmas, which had been posted on the church’s Instagram page. He’d draped an arm around her shoulders, and she’d been smiling up at him. Brea remembered that moment. They’d been laughing that Mr. Carlson had volunteered to play one of the wise men, but couldn’t stay awake. There’d been nothing romantic about it. This trashy post painted her as the jilted girlfriend. A small-town object of pity Cutter had tossed over for the hot TV star. The comments were even more wretched and biting.
Dizziness and nausea assailed her. Brea reached out to brace herself.
Pierce was there to support her.
“Oh, my gosh. How did this happen?” And what am I going to do?
“Apparently, Tower Trent got jealous that Shealyn, his supposed girlfriend, was stepping out on him with her bodyguard and blabbed Cutter’s name.”
So the star had destroyed her privacy without a second thought? “But how did the press find out I’m pregnant? The only people in the world who know are you, Cutter, my doctor.” She closed her eyes. “And Rayleigh.”
“Who?”
“The woman who owns the salon. Last Friday, she guessed. I didn’t think fast enough on my feet. And I really needed a friend… I should have known better. She loves to gossip.” But Brea had never seen the woman pass on secrets, just chew on general knowledge. And she’d seemed so sincere. It was possible that if Rayleigh had guessed, someone else in the salon had, too. That wasn’t what was really important now. “Oh, no… If everyone on Twitter knows I’m pregnant, it won’t be long before Daddy does, too.”
“Yeah. This timing couldn’t fucking be worse. I’m sorry.” He took her hands and drew her closer, holding her against his body. “I leave for Mexico tonight.”
Shock ripped the air from her lunch. Dread gonged in her stomach. “Already?”
“Yeah. I wish like hell I’d had time to meet your dad first. Explain us. But now…there’s no way. Reporters and gossips will start flocking here soon. I can’t be seen anywhere near you. It could be weeks before the media swarm dies down. Besides, this shit with Montilla can’t wait.”
“I know you’re right, but…” Pierce leaving terrified her.
Brea had thought they would have more days and nights together…in case she needed to store up memories for a future without him. Some foolish part of her had even hoped that Emilo Montilla would forget about all this and move on. But unless someone put that man in the ground, Pierce never would. Every moment he stayed here with her in Louisiana was another moment the brutal drug lord might be planning his revenge, so it was another moment Pierce would sneak through her window in the middle of the night instead of living openly as her man and the father of their baby.
Until Montilla was gone, they had no future.
Brea wrapped her arms around Pierce. “I’m so afraid.”
“You’re going to be fine, pretty girl. Your daddy loves you. Yeah, he might be disappointed. He might lecture you or be angry with you. He might wish you’d made different choices. But he’ll stand by you.”
He thought Daddy’s anger was her first concern? “I know that.”
Funny, when she’d realized she was pregnant, she’d done so much hand-wringing about disappointing her father. She still worried about triggering another heart incident, and she’d need to manage that. But her fears about being Sunset’s “hussy” or losing all her clients? In the face of everything else, they hardly mattered now. If the people in this town didn’t like her or her life choices, they could go hang.
“I’m worried about you. Montilla is dangerous. He almost—”
“I’m going to do everything possible to come back in one piece. This time, I have the element of surprise, and I’m not playing by anyone’s rules except my own.” He cupped her face. “War is my business. Every time I’m on the job, I know it might be my last day. So I’m careful. I take precautions. But if I don’t come back, I’m still going to take care of you. You’ll have everything you need.”
Brea’s insides froze in terror. “Except you.”
Pierce shrugged those big shoulders of his.
He was trying to be responsible, and Brea did her best to appreciate that. But when she thought about living the rest of her life and raising their child without him, she couldn’t.
“Don’t go.” She latched on to him even tighter. “Let’s
