Knock Down, Drag Out / Book One

Chapter Eighteen

"Darcy, honey, what did you do with my gun?" Ruby asked gently, moving around Landon so she could look Darcy over; just to reassure herself that nothing had happened to her or the baby.

Darcy unwrapped her arms from around Maddox and shoved away from his chest, reaching behind her and pulling the handgun out of the waistband of her jeans. Her hands were shaking when Ruby reached out to grab it and Maddox pulled her into his arms once again.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. In just three weeks she had turned all of their lives upside down, Elijah with a gun shot wound and Landon still beat up and her pregnant while the rest of them cowered in a borrowed cabin with a psycho on the loose outside.

They were supposed to have caught Steven Lambert right after she had identified him, and then she was supposed to make false promises to keep in touch while they all went their separate ways. She was supposed to mourn losing Maddox to a lack of love on his part and cherish their child far away from the memories they had made together. It was supposed to hurt, but at least she knew she lived at the end of that scenario.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we can't leave here until Steven Lambert is taken care of. He's probably waiting outside to pick us off so he can get to Darcy."

Landon's comment pulled her out of her self pitying thoughts and made her stomach drop all the way to the floor. He was right. They couldn't risk anyone else getting hurt so they had to sit here, waiting for the police to either find him or for him to mess up enough that Maddox could take care of it himself.

"I've already called the cops and they're on the way. Since Elijah is stable they want to start searching the woods before anything else. They want to find Steven sooner rather than later," Lylah explained, her own hands shaking and Damion pulled her into a hug when he noticed.

Darcy let out a sigh and dropped her head to Maddox's chest, kind of wishing that it was a wall she could bang it into instead.

"Maddox, why don't you take Darcy upstairs and see if you can convince her to lay down? The stress of today isn't good for the baby. It's too dark for Steven Lambert to shoot at anything at this point, so we should be safe for now."

Darcy lifted her head up and looked out of the window, shocked to see that it was so dark. Dragging Elijah back in and ensuring that he would live must have taken longer than she thought, and now that Landon had mentioned laying down she realized just how exhausted she was.

Maddox didn't say a word, just scooped Darcy up in his arms and carried her upstairs. He set her gently on the bed once they got into the room and went to close the door behind them, locking it before turning around and just staring at her.

Darcy pulled all of her hair over one shoulder and played with the blonde strands, trying to do anything to keep from looking at Maddox. She still didn't have any idea what to say to him and she wasn't so sure she was ready for him to start talking either.

"At what point," Maddox asked, crossing his arms over his chest, "where you going to tell me that you were fucking pregnant?"

Darcy flinched at the harsh tone of his voice and let her hair slip through her fingers, trying to come up with an acceptable answer in her head that wouldn't make him even more angry.

"Or were you just hoping that it would never come out and you could go on your merry little way after this was all finished? Never tell me about the fact that you're carrying my fucking child inside of you?"

Darcy shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. He sounded so angry at her and it was wreaking havoc on her hormones. Maddox clenched his fists and continued to stare at her, clearly waiting for an answer.

"What do you want me to say, Maddox? I'm terrified of what's going on! Elijah was just fucking shot and Landon was attacked by a psycho who is after me, so I'm sorry for not coming out with it and giving everyone something else to worry about!" Darcy shouted, her voice cracking and she jumped off the bed when Maddox made a move to come closer.

"And you know what? I was hoping that we would go our separate ways after this was done without you finding out! We've known each other for less than a month and I'm so God-damned in love with you it hurts to be in the same room as you sometimes, and it was going to absolutely crush me when you left! But this baby, this miracle I have growing inside of
me, was going to be the perfect piece of you I got to keep!"

Maddox struggled to breathe and scrubbed his hands over his face, his body so taunt he felt like he was going to snap in half at any given moment.

"I would be there for you and the baby," he growled, stabbing a finger at Darcy. The thought of them alone without him there to protect them made him sick to his stomach.

Darcy shook her head and brushed the tears off of her cheeks, not that it did much good. The ones she wiped away were replaced in just seconds.

"I want you to stay because you want me," Darcy whispered brokenly, wrapping her arms around herself, "not because you feel like you have to take care of a baby you didn't even want. So when this is all over, after Steven Lambert is caught and we know Elijah will be okay, we'll go our separate ways. You can come see the baby, be a part of it's life if you want, but I'm not going to beg you to love me back."