hapter 30
Miss Rose, I said, my voice carrying clearly across the room. “Since you seem to eager for an apology…
Before anyone could react, I raised my hand and, channeling every ounce of strength I fad left, brought it down across her face with a resounding top. 11 time, there would be no question about whose handprint it was.
I could see her made–up cheek swelling visibly.
There, I said, geting her shocked gaze steadily. “That one was definitely from me. I’m so sorry, Miss Rose. Is that the apology you wanted?
Audrey! Blake’s voice thundered through the room as he pulled Laurel closer. ‘It was just an apology! Did you have to take it this far?
“Blake, darling…” Laurel’s voice wavered, showing her vulnerability. “It hurts so much…
I turned away from their little tableau, the burning in my stomach intensifying. “I believe we’re done here.”
Parker Mansion sat in an exclusive area of the Hamptons, far from the usual taxi routes. I crouched by the roadside, staring at the rain puddles dotting the driveway. After the third failed attempt to get an Uber, I scrolled to Astrid’s number.
“Can you come get me?” I asked when she answered. “I’m outside Parker Mansion.”
“What?” Her voice rose with concern. “James said you were at Mayo Clinic. “I was heading to the hospital to see you after work, Astrid’s voice crackled with concern through the phone. “Why are you there instead?”
–
“Well, it’s a long story. I “The words of explanation died on my lips as the roar of an engine interrupted. My head turned instinctively toward the sound, though I already knew what I would see.
Blake’s black car approached like an advancing storm. I barely had time to register his expression through the tinted windows before the vehicle tore past me, deliberately hitting the deeper puddles. The spray of muddy water completely ruined my new outfit.
I stared down at my now–soaked clothes, a wry smile tugging at my lips. Of course. Trust Blake Parker to take revenge for his precious Laurel in the most. childishly dramatic way possible. So much for his grand speech about apologies making everything right.
What a petty man, I thought, brushing ineffectually at the mud stains.
Blake’s POV
Sitting in the back seat, I was reviewing some documents when I noticed Laurel’s silence. Following her gaze out the window, I saw what had caught her
attention.
Audrey was crouching by the roadside, phone in one hand while the other absently pulled at some grass growing near the flower bed. She looked impossibly small there, hunched in on herself – too thin and fragile.
My chest tightened with an emotion I refused to name. The changes in her were impossible to ignore now. This wasn’t the gradual weight loss of someone watching their figure. This was something else entirely.
The miscarriage, a voice whispered in my mind. But even as I thought it, it felt wrong. There was something else going on, something was missing…
Blake. Laurel’s breathy whisper cut through my thoughts. Her lower lip trembled before she collapsed against me, one manicured hand fluttering to her throat. “Everything hurts so much…”
The familiar routine snapped me back to the present. I caught her automatically. “That bad?”
“They say about the stomach being tied to emotions. What if I never recover?”
“Hey.” I gathered her closer. Modern medicine works miracles. You’ll be fine.”
As I said, my fingers moved across my phone screen: [Michael – Send a car to the Parker mansion for Audrey. Get her back to home.]
