I strolled toward Bruno.
If I didn’t get Brynne, he would win.
My brother Coby had his bride waiting in the wings for our double ceremony. I needed to find Brynne and soon. July was just around the corner, and I wanted her plump with my child by the fall.
25
Track
I anxiously sat on the edge of the bed and listened to all the sounds from the bathroom. I imagined Brynne doing her morning routine, one I’d observed many times over the last three weeks. She peed first thing, washed her hands, and brushed her teeth. Then she’d wash her face and put on three different creams I’d ordered, at her request, from an online store. Lastly, she’d comb her hair.
Most people looked refreshed and ready to start the day. Not Brynne. She would exit the bathroom looking like death warmed over.
After Brynne received the call from Dorian and heard him kill her dad’s bodyguard, she was angry for several days, then she got quiet and would cry at the drop of a hat. I got it. Shit like what she’d been through would fuck anyone up, especially someone as sweet and caring as my Bonita.
I’d thought she was coming out of it, then a week ago, she started sleeping a lot and hardly eating and complained that she felt nauseous. All she wanted to do was lie in bed and watch her favorite shows. She had no other symptoms, like a fever or body aches, so it couldn’t have been the flu.
I rubbed my face and stretched my neck, sensing she was almost finished.
I worried about my girl constantly and wondered if she might be depressed. It would make sense. Her whole life was crumbling around her. She didn’t know if her dad was alive and had discovered the man she once loved and trusted turned out to be a villain.
But then Brynne perked up when we had sex and had the stamina of one hundred horny Viking men, which confused the hell out of me. The other guys in the house had told me to follow her lead, that she was processing and would come around.
So I left her alone when she wanted and gave her whatever she asked for.
The door slowly opened and sat taller. “Buenas días, Bonita.”
She shuffled toward me and perched herself on my lap. “Good morning. Sorry to take so long in there.”
“Don’t apologize. There are four other bathrooms in the house. Feeling any better today?”
“I guess. I’ve never been much of a morning person. It takes me a while to get going.”
“Can I ask you something?” I felt her body tense.
“Sure.”
“Do you think you might be depressed?” Strange, now her body relaxed.
“It’s possible, but I’m sure it will pass. A lot has happened, and Dorian is out there somewhere, plotting to take me. So you think. I feel trapped like my life is on hold.”
“I’m sorry about all this.” I hugged her. I was glad she opened up to me, but I felt shitty for my part in everything. And it was about to get worse.
Tina and my dad were arriving tonight. They hadn’t come sooner because it wasn’t safe, and Tina wanted to wait until after school had ended for my younger brother and sister.
“None of this is your fault, Joseph.” She rubbed her forehead against mine. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. You saved me.”
Maybe. But I’m also the bastard who will destroy you, my beautiful Bonita.
“Do you want to go downstairs for breakfast?”
“Um, I’d rather stay up here. All that testosterone clogs my pores.” She laughed awkwardly. “Will you bring me a banana and milk?”
“Is your stomach still queasy?” I needed to take her to a doctor. Something might be seriously wrong with her.
“No. Just a craving.”
“Craving? Most people crave salty or sweet foods.”