Free HARD KNOX by Jaxson Kidman Page A

kill me or something.
Or sent to get information about me. Or to see if I’d tell her what Porter had
done so she could tell him and he could hurt me again.
    “Shit,” Megan said. She gripped the
edge of the counter. “I came here for a reason.”
    “Okay. What is it?”
    Megan walked to her bag and I
braced myself.
    She didn’t take out a gun or a
knife.
    She took out a box with two
pregnancy tests in it.
    When I saw the box I let out a
gasp. Her eyes filled with tears and I hurried to hug her.
    “It’s bad,” she said. “It’s so bad.”
    “What is?”
    “It’s not with Mickey,” she said.
    I backed away and put her at arm ’ s length. That was a big
problem.
    Megan told me a story of how
someone else put some moves on her when Mickey was out of town. They’d been
having an affair for a year now. She said she felt like a whore and like her
mother. Now she was late and she feared the worst. I felt like a terrible
person when I said maybe Mickey wouldn’t find out. Then she made it very clear
that it would be obvious that baby wasn’t his. Like a fool I asked how and
Megan pointed to her skin. Her Italian skin looked like it had a light tan all
the time, along with Mickey’s. Apparently that guy she’d been sleeping with had
much darker skin. And he wasn’t part of the family .
    In other words, Megan would be a
marked woman.
    I watched her walk to the bathroom
and I made a decision right then.
    Tonight … I was cashing
out of this life …
     
     
     
     
    Megan let out a scream and I lunged
for the bathroom. She had her mouth covered and was jumping up and down.
    The pregnancy test was negative.
    I couldn’t bring myself to remind
her that it could have been early. That in another week or so it could be
positive. That the tests were always as early accurate as the box said.
    But I let her have her moment.
    She hugged me tight and we both
ended up jumping.
    “It’s stress,” she said. “You know?
Just stress.”
    It was like she was trying to
convince herself.
    “Okay. Just calm down. Try to take
it easy and focus, Megan. If you don’t get your…”
    “I’ll be fine,” she said.
    She looked like a weight had been
lifted off her shoulders.
    Next thing I knew she was grabbing
her bag, downing the entire glass of wine, and saying she had to go.
    She kissed my cheek and said, “Please
keep this between us. Promise me, Ana.”
    “Of course,” I said. “Megan, if you’re
not happy, then do something. Don’t jump bed to bed. If you get yourself too
deep…”
    Megan reached up and wiped at my
eye. It hurt a little and I winced. “Look in the mirror, Ana. Okay? If you’re
not happy… then you do something.”
    She left me standing there with a
lump in my throat.
    For the record, two days later, she
got her period and her dirty secret remained intact for a long time.
    Megan also left the second
pregnancy test on the table. I hurried to hide it in the bathroom, not knowing
I would need it sooner than I ever thought possible.
    I went to my bedroom and got my
shoebox of cash. I sat there and counted up every last dollar and dime, coming
up with a figure that was way too short, but just enough to make the dream
tempting.
    I looked around the room and knew I
could pack up a couple bags and just go.
    So that’s what I did.
    I was out. I was done.
    Yeah, the memories of moving into
town played through my mind. Climbing out of the truck and seeing Knox for the
first time. Him helping us move everything into the apartment. The way he
talked to his friend about me - on day one - showing me that he had interest.
Not to mention all the wild times…
    But I was done.
    No more taking hits from anyone. No
more Knox just popping up when he felt like it to check on me. My heart had
been twisted up so tight it was dangling by a small thread.
    I had my bags on my shoulders, the
money all tucked away. My keys were in my hand and I mentally thought about how
I’d call my landlady to ditch the apartment. Oh well