War And Peace: This Is Me, Baby Part 14

"P-Please don't hurt me," I utter. "Or my babies."

At this, her eyes widen with glee and that sends my heart thumping right out of my chest.

"Twins?" She beams at me as if this is the coolest thing she's ever heard.

Swallowing, I nod. My eyes quickly dart around the room in search of a weapon. Calder and Ren don't keep weapons in their bathroom. I decide right then and there that if I make it out of this bathroom alive, my house will have hidden weapons in all the rooms.

"I'm pregnant." She rubs her belly and smacks her gum. "Second baby. Your brother."

I inch away from her because I don't like how she keeps swinging the bat, the arc growing wider and wider. "That's nice," I blurt out.

She flashes me another grin. "Do you ever get cravings?"

I blink at her in confusion. "Uh, not really. Mostly I try not to be sick. I eat a lot of peanut b.u.t.ter crackers."

Her head bobs up and down knowingly. "Morning sickness is the worst. Try keeping some saltines by your bed and eat a couple before you even get up. That way, you have something on your stomach when you go to eat something a little more substantial."

Pregnancy advice from my...psycho, murdering stepmother.

"Thanks." I chew on my bottom lip and look past her to the door. Surely any minute Ren will come looking for me. "I really need to pee. Do you think you could-"

She charges for me and all I can do is squeak. My palms go in the air in a defensive move. I expect the baseball bat to crack me over the head but it doesn't. Her belly presses against mine wedging me between her and the wall. All humor and sweetness is gone as she glares down at me.

"He told me what happened," she snaps, fury flickering in her steely blue eyes that look more fierce than her brother's ever could be.

"W-Who? What?" I stammer, my heart thundering to the point of pain.

She reaches her hand up and I flinch. Her red lips purse into a line as she pets me-f.u.c.king pets me like I'm a little kitten. "Gabe. He told me about him."

"Who?"

"Estebaaaaaaan," she hisses through clenched teeth.

I'm thoroughly confused at this point. I don't understand her misplaced rage.

"He," she snarls as her mouth gets close to my ear, "raped you."

Shuddering, I let out a sob. I'm confused when this psychopath hugs me rather than hurts me. I stand still, afraid to move or speak. She releases me and glares at me.

"He'll pay for what he did. That's what happens to rapists." Her eyes narrow. "They pay with their life."

Anger, my most recent familiar emotion, finally claws up inside of me from whatever depths it was hiding in. "And what do murderers pay with?" I don't remind her that my father and Hannah's husband, according to Baylee, is also a rapist. She's proven once that she will kill the ones I love. The last thing I want is for her to snap and kill Daddy too.

Her blue eyes soften and she gives me a shy grin that makes my insides quake with more fear. "Oh, baby girl, I was just curious."

I scoff and fist my hands. "Curious?" My tone is shrill. "Your f.u.c.king curiosity killed my mother?!"

She shrugs her shoulders but then levels me with another one of her scary stares. "And the fact that she was in my way. Are you in my way?"

A threat.

"Unbelievable," I hiss. "How are you even cut from the same cloth as Ren?"

At the mention of his name, she smiles sweetly at me. "Take care of my brother and I'll take care of your father." Then the smile melts away. "Hurt my brother and I'll hurt you."

"f.u.c.k you, crazy!" I screech. "You killed my mother!"

She points the bat at me. "In the past, baby girl."

Shaking my head, I start for her but she pokes the bat in the center of my chest stopping me. "I'm sorry," she hisses. "Okay? I didn't know it would hurt so many people. It was an accident, kinda. Just know if I could go back, I wouldn't do it again."

A flicker of deception in her gaze tells me that's a lie.

"Just go. I don't ever want to see you again," I tell her, my voice ragged. I'm exhausted from this little run in.

She drops the bat back down to her side and once again sizes me up, her gaze lingering on my rounded stomach. "Fine. I'll stay away. But remember what I said."

My brows drag together in confusion.

"Rapists pay with their life," she spits out. "That's a motherf.u.c.king promise, baby girl." She blows another bubble and then waves. When she opens the bathroom door, Ren stands on the other side with his hand poised to knock. It takes him three seconds to take in the scene before him before he's charging inside and has his sister by the throat. I've never seen him so furious.

The bat clangs to the floor as she grabs at his wrist. He walks her to the wall beside me and gets right in her face.

"You're not welcome here," he snaps, his entire body quaking with rage.

"Let her go." Daddy's voice from the bathroom doorway is strained. Tired even.

My gaze flits over to him. He's dressed in dark jeans and a black leather jacket with a dark red colored scarf around his neck that's tucked into his jacket. His chocolate-colored hair has been tousled and styled differently than usual. It's his weapon that scares the s.h.i.+t out me. Who twists barbed wire around a wooden baseball bat?

"Hey puddin'," Hannah chokes out. All psychopathic looks are gone. She regards my father as if he's the sun and she wants to bask in his warmth.

Ren releases Hannah and points at the door. "Brie, go to my room and lock the door. I'll be there in a minute."

I give him a nod and start past Daddy. Before I pa.s.s him, though, I point at his costume. "Who are you supposed to be, anyway?"

He smirks. "I am Negan."

"Who?"

"The Walking Dea-"

"Brie. Now," Ren interrupts with a barely contained growl.

I push past Daddy and leave Ren to deal with them. Once I slip into Ren's room and lock the door behind me, I kick off my flats and head toward the bathroom. I finish my business, which I never even got to start because I ran into that crazy woman, and then quickly wash away my smeared makeup.

Another shudder ripples through me as realization sets in. I was alone in the bathroom with my mother's killer. And she was f.u.c.king terrifying. I don't understand, after knowing Ren and Calder and then later meeting their mother, how Hannah is even a part of their family. They're all so normal and she's so...scary.

I peel off the stupid cat suit until I'm in nothing but my panties. Walking over to the closet, I catch my reflection in the mirror. My hands are trembling and I'm wearing a grim expression. This whole run in with her has wiped me out. I locate a T-s.h.i.+rt of Ren's from his closet-which swallows me up-before turning off the lights and crawling into his bed. Light from the cracked bathroom door streams in and doesn't leave me totally in the dark.

I'm distracted by my thoughts when I think I see the closet door move. Terror skitters over me like a thousand bugs on the move.

"Who's there?" I demand, sitting up.

The door swings open and a blur charges toward me. I've barely opened my mouth to scream when a large hand clamps over it. His other hand manages to collect both my wrists and pin them to the bed. The giant man's heavy body presses against me and his hot breaths warm my face. I start to fight my attacker, whose face is hidden by shadows until he speaks.

"Stop freaking out," he growls. "It's me."

The familiar voice slices right through me. His voice confuses me. It's deeper and lower than I remember. Harsher. I squint in the darkness to try and take in his features. All I can see is the outline of his head. His hair is longer than before.

"Miss me?" The normally playful tone in his voice is gone. It feels forced.

Swallowing, I give a clipped nod and when he lets go of my mouth, I speak. "Ozzy, where have you been?"

He relaxes but doesn't release me. I squirm but he ignores the movement. "I've been putting out fires," he snips out. "Fires you started."

I once again wriggle in his grasp. "You're hurting me," I lie. "Why are you holding me down?"

He huffs. "I'm holding you down because I want to talk to you and I don't need you running off to your little boyfriend."

I chew on my bottom lip. Ren will be in here at any moment. Things could get ugly quick. "He's not my boyfriend." Another lie. But is it? My mind squashes the thought because now is not the time to a.n.a.lyze me and Ren's relations.h.i.+p status.

"Sure looked like your boyfriend when you were sucking face in the kitchen earlier," he bites out. "How long did you wait before you moved on? Was my brother's body even cold yet, Brie?"

I choke at his words and if my hands were free, I'd slap him.

"f.u.c.k you!" I screech. "Let go of me!"

At one time, I used to enjoy Ozzy's playfulness. How we'd cuddle up in bed and laugh. How he'd touch me as close friends often do. Nothing about the way he's touching me now is playful.

"Just tell me why it is you couldn't even make sure my brother was dead first before you moved on to Ren. I thought you were my friend. h.e.l.l, I even thought he was my friend. Were you two f.u.c.king behind Duvan's back the whole time?" he demands.

This time, I do manage to free my hand. And as I wanted to do the first time, I smack the s.h.i.+t out of him. He lets out a snarl as he pins it back to the mattress.

"Just answer the G.o.dd.a.m.ned question," he snaps.

I spit at him. "You know that's not the truth. I loved your brother."

His grip loosens and he sags against me. My angry friend chokes on his emotion. "I had to watch. Jesus Christ, I can't get that image of Heath cutting him open out of my head." He burrows his face against my hair and inhales me. "I missed you, Brie. Everything has gone to s.h.i.+t."

Guilt crawls its way up my spine. Oscar lost Duvan too. He's hurting just as much as I am. This time, when my hands are released, I slide them around his back to hug him.

"You've started a war," he murmurs. "I don't know how to fix any of it. I'm supposed to be here...I'm supposed to..." he trails off. "My father wants me to...but I just can't. G.o.d, I've missed you."

Fear clutches at my throat. "W-What did Camilo want you to do?"

"To come get you. So he could discuss what you did with Duvan's territory." He starts sniffling but true to Oscar, his hands start roaming and his mouth is on the flesh below my ear. "You're not safe. He'll hurt you."

I freeze at his words just as his hand slips under my s.h.i.+rt. He starts kissing my neck and when he presses his hardness against my thigh, I'm jolted to reality.

"Oscar," I groan, trying to push his heavy body away. "Get off me. We need to talk about this."

His palm grips my sore breast and I let out a yelp of surprise. I'm still ordering him to get off me when I hear a noise and then Oscar's weight is ripped off my body. Ren's face is positively murderous as he rears back his fist. Then, I hear a crunch. Ozzy crumples to the floor with a groan. Ren's furious glare meets mine, a.s.sessing me for damage for a quick moment, before he lunges at Oscar.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

He gets three solid punches in on Ozzy before I snap out of my daze and scramble after him. I manage to slide my arms around Ren's middle to pull him away.

"I'm okay," I tell him. "Please stop hitting him."

Ren is tense as h.e.l.l but he allows me to pull him away from a now bloodied Oscar. We both sit on our a.s.ses on the carpet. Ren's shoulders hunch forward as I hug him from behind.

"He...he was..." he trails off.

"It looked worse than it was," I a.s.sure him. "I promise."

When Oscar manages to get up on his hands and knees, Ren tenses again.

"Remember what I said," Ozzy murmurs as he wipes his nose with the back of his hand. "You're not safe. I just wanted to talk to you about that and about Vee-"

"You're never talking to her again," Ren roars and rises to his feet, despite my clutching for him. I'm left on the floor as he towers over Ozzy who clumsily gets back on his feet.

Ozzy shoots me a desperate look with one eye. The other one is already swelling shut. "Please..."

"Where's Vee?" I demand, a quiver of worry shuddering through me.

Oscar hunches as he lets out a howl of frustration. "I don't know for sure but..."

Ren pulls me against his side and I'm a.s.suming it's because if he's not holding me then he'll have the urge to beat Oscar's face in some more.

"I think she might be with Esteban," Oscar growls. Then his voice cracks. "Unwillingly."

"STOP PACING." BRIE'S VOICE cuts through my mental anguish, and I give her a sharp look.

"I can't help it," I snap. "These people just won't leave you the f.u.c.k alone."

She tugs her towel from her body and starts drying her wet hair with it. After Oscar stumbled from my room, I gathered her up and took her back to her house. Where there weren't a million people. Where I could turn on the alarm and keep her safe.

"He didn't hurt me," she tells me. Her t.i.ts bounce as she towel dries her mane. I become momentarily distracted and find myself staring at them.

She lets out a small chuckle and approaches me where I'm pacing manically at the end of her bed. Her towel drops to the floor and then she grabs for mine that's tied around my waist. I let out a groan when she pulls it away. Then it's just us. Naked and together.

"Ren," she coos. "Stop stressing out. I'm okay."

I frown down at her. "Camilo is out there. Diego is out there. f.u.c.king Esteban is out there. They all want something from you. You are not okay."