Hugging Asha to her chest, Isabella carefully
navigated the stairs. Someone was ringing the doorbell like their life depended
on it. Evan had gone out to run errands after their walk in the park. She had
been about to give Asha a bottle and put the baby down for a nap.
She had a couple of client calls to return and reseach
to do. She’d been thinking about taking some online nursing classes. Not
finishing school was not something she wanted to regret in the future. Asha
should have two role models to look up to.
The doorbell rang again and she rolled her eyes as
Asha whimpered. Rushing into the living room, she laid Asha down in the empty playpen.
Isabella did not like to answer the door with the baby in her arms.
“Just a minute,” she called out over her shoulder.
She had to get rid of the visitor before Asha
realized her bottle had been delayed. Otherwise, she would cry the house down. Adjusting
the straps of her top, Isabella turned towards the front of the house.
By the time she reached the door, she was ready to do
some yelling of her own. Who the hell thought ringing the bell that many times
did anything other than irritating the homes owners? Gripping the doorknob she
yanked the door open ready to give them a piece of her mind. When her words
caught in the center of her throat.
Tommy…
Every nightmare came crashing down at her as he
grinned and pulled the sunglasses from his eyes. “Took you long enough, Bella.”
Shaking off the shock, Isabella tried to push the
door close. Tommy slammed the flat of his palm down and shoved it back open.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“Leave or I am calling the police.”
“I am the police. I came a long way to see you.”
Tommy hustled his way in and Isabella gave up on
closing the door. Their alarm system would be triggered if left open for longer
then five minutes. Besides she wanted the neighbors to hear if she screamed.
Like most cowards, Tommy would run if he thought he
would get caught.
“You are trespassing on private land.”
He smirked and shoved a hand into the pocket of his
faded jeans. The edge of his cotton button up were frayed. She did not remember
him looking so shabby or so small. In her mind, he’d always been this tall
muscle bound giant. He towered over everything and intimidated everyone.
He was still tall, but he didn’t tower. He still had
muscles, but she knew that wasn’t everything. Her self-defense classes had taught
her tactics to avoid the full impact of a hit. She wouldn’t curl up and wait
for it to be over anymore.
“I just came to see an old friend.”
“We aren’t friends,” Isabella denied as she tried to
remember where she left her cell.
She’d tucked it into Asha’s diaper bag when they left
the house earlier. Evan hadn’t mentioned when he’d come back and their
housekeeper had weekends off. She couldn’t risk leaving Asha alone downstairs
while she ran to the nursery to get to her phone.
“That’s right,” Tommy reached out and tried to touch
her arm, “we’re family.”
Stepping back, she tried to hide her shock. He
couldn’t know about Asha. No one, but her and Evan knew the truth about her
paternity.
“We aren’t anything. You are a mistake I will always
regret making.”
Tommy shook his head and chuckled. “Is that what you
told yourself when you left? Big bad Tommy deserves all the blame. Never mind
the fact, you never could do anything right.”
Isabella huffed in disbelief. “I am not doing this.”
It had taken her months of therapy to see just how
messed up she was. How ripe she was for a predator like him? Looking for love
and acceptance after living in a home that had a short supply of both.
“How could you think I would let you walk away?”
“It isn’t about you. I didn’t need your permission.”
“You look good for a woman who recently gave birth.”
She eyed the alarm panel as a small red light started
blinking. Their security team would make a routine check-in within two minutes.
She just had to keep him in the front hall.
Asha picked that minute to start her plea for food.
Tommy turned towards the noise and Isabella had never felt so scared in her
life. He did not deserve to breath the same air as her daughter and he would
have to kill her before he could spend any time with Asha.
“You need to leave,” Isabella repeated as she circled
around to stand between him and the room Asha was in.
“You really thought you could keep me away from my
daughter?”
“She isn’t yours.”
Tommy growled, “you were never a good liar.”
“Right. But I am a cheater, remember. My daughter is
my husband’s. She has nothing to do with you.” Isabella saw the flash of anger
in his eyes and the way his hands tightened into a fists.
He wanted to hit her and she wanted him to try. He
would learn pretty quickly she wasn’t the same girl he terrified. She had
something she wanted to protect more than she wanted to protect herself. Asha
did not deserve a father like him.
Doubt held him back. She could see that to. He wasn’t
sure Asha was his. He was fishing.
“Leave Tommy. You have no reason to be here.”
A SUV pulled into the driveway and two navy blue uniformed
security guards stepped out. Isabella felt like she could breath again. First
she would get Tommy out of the house, then she’d take Asha to Bianca’s and call
Evan. Maybe she could talk him into going away for a few days?
Tommy looked down at her with undisguised contempt.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care what you believe. DNA doesn’t lie. Do
you really think a man like my husband, with the money he has, wouldn’t make sure
the baby was his?”
She was lying through her teeth and she would
probably pay for it one day. But she didn’t care. He had not business, standing
there, demanding entrance into her life. He’d lost the right the first time he
decided she needed to know what it felt like to be hit by a man.
“Mrs. Hunter?”
The guards stepped called out as they stepped onto
her porch. She smiled and crossed her arms. He was going to leave this house one
way or another.
“Leave Tommy. Or I will have security throw you out.”
Asha had one father. He rocked her to sleep and
measured her food intake. He blew raspberries into her belly and read to her to
sleep. He loved her and cherished her knowing she wasn’t his genetically. Most
importantly…
He would die before hitting her. He wasn’t Tommy.
Jen A. Durand
Completed Works
Secrets, Lies, & Betrayal Series:
The Virgins Club:
Lipstick Diaries:
Solo Romances:
The Young and The Powerful
