Playing the Field (Hot-Lanta Series)

  Patty’s heart was no longer existent, it was completely black because she just threw it away the moment she saw complete and utter devastation span across Marc’s face.

  She turned around and walked away with Gino because she couldn’t bear to look at Marc anymore. That was it. Everything was over before it even began. She would never forgive herself for being so foolish, for thinking that by avoiding any kind of relationship with someone she was saving herself from heartache. No, she was an idiot. She caused herself more heartache than she had ever thought imaginable by not allowing herself to acknowledge the love she had for Marc. She no longer had a heart. Her chest was an empty void filled with pure blackness.

  ***

  Austin stood with Lucy and Connor completely numb. He didn’t know what to do or say. Obviously Connor and Lucy were really close and had a great relationship, so he was unaware of how this news was going to affect them or not.

  Frankly, the fact that Lucy was pregnant was the last thing on his mind. He could not get the image of Molly fucking some other guy out of his mind. She told him she was going to go check up on her daughter. Was that a lie? Did she actually check in on her daughter? Was her daughter actually with Luke’s parents or was that a lie too?

  Austin’s heart dropped when he thought about the last week and how he couldn’t get in touch with her. Was she actually upset and trying to find herself during that time or was she fucking every man in Atlanta? He needed to get to the bottom of his questions. He left Lucy and Connor to deal with their pregnancy scare and chased after Molly. If he was the father of Lucy’s baby, than he would deal with that later.

  He found Molly standing outside by the hotel, smoking a cigarette, acting like nothing just happened. Was she always an evil bitch and he never saw it? She saw him approaching, threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it with her annoyingly gorgeous toes. Toes that he once sucked on and licked. He shook the thought out of his head.

  “Pretty exciting news in there huh? Lucy has quite the predicament on her hands.” Molly said avoiding eye contact with him.

  “Quit the crap Molly. What the hell were you doing with that guy?”

  “I think it was pretty obvious what I was doing.”

  Austin’s blood boiled, he would never hit a woman but by God he wanted to shake some sense into Molly. He was pretty sure she saw the rage in his eyes and she added, “It’s nothing against you Austin.”

  “How could I not take that personally Molly, when you said a couple of weeks ago that you wanted to be exclusive. Did you just say that because you didn’t want me fucking Lucy?”

  “If I didn’t say that, would you still be fucking her now?”

  Would he? He thought about that. Dear sweet Lucy, there was no way she was going to allow him back in her bed. But would he want to be back in her bed? He was too confused to even think about it.

  “That doesn’t even matter, what matter’s here is that we had an agreement and you broke it. I thought we were in a committed relationship.”

  “That was where you thought wrong Austin.”

  “How could you go and fuck that guy when you’re making love to me?”

  Austin noticed a stroke of anger hit Molly’s eyes and he thought she was going to explode. Her face started to turn red, a trait he never noticed before.

  “By no means have I ever made love to you Austin, so you can get that out of your dense head. I have only made love with one person in my life and it’s going to stay that way.”

  Damn, that was a low blow. So this was about Luke.

  “Is that how you’re going to live your life Molly? Fucking any man who will have you, while you still pine after your dead fiancé. Newsflash, Luke it not coming back!”

  Molly slapped him across the face so hard he thought his eye ball flew out of its socket. Holy crap he didn’t think a girl could slap that hard.

  “Don’t you ever talk about Luke again. You have no clue what the hell you’re saying.”

  “Don’t I? I’ve been the guy who you have been leaning on to get you through the brunt of the loss you were experiencing. You dragged me along your crazy ass life, convincing me you just needed time and how you want to be with me but you’re not ready yet. But in actuality, you are never going to get over him. I’m right, aren’t I? You’re still in love with Luke and there is not a damn thing I can do about it.”

  Austin watched tears run down Molly’s cheeks. The mascara she wore made race tracks stream down her face and she hiccupped trying to catch her breath.

  “You will never be better than him Austin, so I don’t even know why you tried.”

  “I don’t even know why I did either. Face it Molly your life is fucked up. I’m sick of living in a dead man’s shadow. I’m done. Good luck with your life and thank you for cutting me loose before I got too caught up in your crazy hell of a world.”

  “Fuck you Austin, you have no clue what I went through.”

  “Well if you actually talked to me like a human instead of sucking my dick every time I tried to get close to you, maybe I could have found out how hard your life has been. You can’t blame anyone but yourself. A little food for thought; I would seek council, Luke is not coming back and you have a daughter who needs you. Get your shit together Molly and stop playing the victim card. Be a role model for your daughter.”

  Austin turned around and headed up to his hotel room. There was no way he would be going home tonight. Nope he planned on drinking all the contents in his mini fridge and passing out into oblivion.

  ***

  Lucy watched Austin run off without a word about Molly’s outburst. What a coward. He was not even going to face the problem head on? No, he was going to once again go chase after Molly. Why was he always picking Molly over her? She could not bear to look at Connor. How did Molly even find out about the pregnancy? She only told Jane and Patty and they wouldn’t tell Molly, especially since they both knew Lucy was on rocky terms with Molly.

  What a typical Molly thing to do in the first place. She was the one who got caught red-handed and instead of taking the blame she turned the attention off her and made Lucy the evil bitch. What the hell was she going to do?

  She glanced over at Connor who looked like he just ate a bad piece of chicken. He lost all coloring in his face and was rubbing his hand through his hair as if he was contemplating suicide. This was so not good.

  “Please say something.” Lucy finally shouted. She could not take the silence. She watched him pace back and forth. When he stopped, he looked at her, shook his head and started to walk away. Lucy’s heart sunk to the floor. No she could not lose Connor. That would be by far the worst thing that could happen to her.

  She ran after him, grabbing his arm. “Connor, please don’t go.” Tears rolled down her face. Damn pregnancy hormones already taking effect on her. “Please, just talk to me.”

  Connor turned around, grabbing her hand and leading her to a couch in the hallway. Relief washed over her body, at least he was willing to talk about it. When they both sat down he released her hand, making her feel empty inside. When have they ever not held hands or been close around each other. It felt like he was a mile away on the couch. She couldn’t even bear the thought that he might break up with her over this.

  “Is it true Lucy? Are you pregnant?”

  Lucy thought the best way to go about this conversation was be as open and honest as possible.

  “It’s true.”

  “When did you find out?”

  “A couple of days ago” she said cringing.

  “When did you plan on telling me? Or was it your idea to spring it on me this way?”

  Yup he was mad.

  “I wanted to get through Jane’s wedding before I said anything. I didn’t want this to steal any attention away from her. I promise, I was going to tell you in a couple of days.”

  “A couple of days? You should have told me the minute you thought you might be pregnant. Do you know how embarrassing it is to find
out that my girlfriend, the woman I love might be caring another man’s child…from Molly?”

  Now that she looked at it that way, she should have instantly told Connor the minute she thought she might be pregnant. She was so scared though, she couldn’t even speak the words. Although, if she told Connor right way, he most likely would have helped her through it. He was always so kind and caring, he would have helped her find a solution to this madness.

  “I’m sorry Connor, I was just so scared.”

  “I understand but I could have helped, instead you decided to keep me out of the loop. Is this because you might still have feelings for Austin?”

  Where did that come from? She clearly stated how much in love she was with Connor. He was her world. There was no way she had feelings for Austin. He abandoned her and made her feel second class to Molly.

  “Connor, you know that’s not true. You know I love you.”

  “But do you love him too?”

  Did she?

  No, not at all. He was old news, her future was with Connor and only Connor. Apparently she took too long to answer because he started to get up.

  She grabbed his hand and made him sit again. “I don’t love him Connor. I promise, I only love you. I want to be with you.”

  “What if the baby is his? Do you think I would be able to stay with you and watch the two of you raise a child together while I sit on the outside wondering if the baby will think I’m the father too?”

  “I haven’t even thought that far yet Connor, this is all new to me.”

  “Well it sure as hell is new to me too. I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do here Lucy. Damnnit!” Connor ran his hands over his face. “I just don’t know what to do. I love you so damn much but I can’t imagine helping you raise another man’s child.”

  “I’m not even sure it’s his Connor. It could be our baby.”

  “Are you even listening to yourself right now, Lucy? You’re suggesting I stay with you, betting on a fifty-fifty chance that the baby growing inside of you might be mine. But what if it’s not, I don’t know if I could still be with you. The baby should be with a real family. Not some fucked up love triangle.”

  “What are you saying, Connor? Are you leaving me?”

  “I don’t know what I’m doing. All I know is that I can’t be around you right now. I need some time to think. “

  “Connor, I’m sorry.” She said, now crying harder than she had ever cried before. “You don’t even know how desperately I want this baby to be yours.”

  She felt his arms wrap around in her in a tight embrace and for a moment, a mere moment her life seemed like it was going to be ok.

  “Hell, Lucy I’m sorry to. I’m sorry I’m not a strong enough man to face this head on with you. Maybe you deserve better than me.”

  “No, don’t say that. You’re perfect for me, we’re perfect together. Please Connor, please stay with me. I couldn’t stand losing you.”

  “I’m sorry, Lucy.” He let her go and her whole body went cold. “I need to go.”

  Then he got off the couch and left her. She flung her head on the couch and cried her eyes out. Why was this happening to her? She knew everything was too good to be true. Connor was too good to be true. Why did she have to fuck her life up with one drunken night with Austin. She could punch him right now. Where was he anyway? Did he even care that she might be having her baby? If the baby was his, she was going to be screwed either way because clearly Austin didn’t care about the situation at all and Connor made it quite clear he had no interest in raising another man’s child.

  She was fucked.

  Chapter 16

  Gino led Patty quietly into an elevator, gripping tightly to her back. She had no clue what was going to happen to her but as long as Marc was safe, she could take whatever was coming toward her. It’s not like she had never been hit by Gino before.

  “You were quite the brave little girl back there. When did you become so strong?” Gino said in a menacing voice.

  “The minute I left you, you sick bastard.”

  Gino slapped her hard across the face, knocking her to the ground. She felt blood starting to poor out of her nose.

  Damn that hurt. She forgot how bad it hurt to be slapped around.

  “Watch your mouth Bitch and know your place.”

  Steadying herself on one of the handles in the elevator she pulled herself back up and asked, “Where are we going?”

  He slapped her again, this time knocking her head against the side of the elevator, causing her to black out for a second. When she was able to focus again she noticed Gino was pulling her through the elevator door opening by her hair. Struggling to get up so he didn’t rip all her hair out, she was able to stand and follow him. He led her to the ice machine room. Did he plan on getting some ice for her face? The gesture was not one that would cross his sadistic mind, he had something else planned.

  She followed him in the room and he shut the door, making her feel entirely uneasy about the situation she was in. She was already nervous but being in a small space, where she wasn’t sure anyone would be finding her, or walking in anytime soon made her extremely nervous.

  “I want to see you naked.” Gino spat out as he leaned against the wall, surveying her body. Patty felt a bead of sweat roll down her back. She knew exactly what was about to happen. He was going to beat the shit out of her and then have his way with her. It wouldn’t be the first time. She wished she could remember how she used to turn her brain off and let him do his dirty work but all she could think about was Marc’s destroyed face and how much she hurt him.

  “I said I want to see you naked, don’t make me repeat myself.”

  Patty put on her brave face, walked up to Gino and asked him kindly to unzip her dress. He ran the top of his hairy hand across her bare back and down to her zipper. She tried not to shiver in disgust. Any slight movement was going to piss him off.

  He unzipped her dress. Right in front of him, she dropped the dress and kicked it to the side. She watched him scan her body up and down grinning in approval.

  “I got to hand it to you Patty, you sure knew how to take care of your body. Now come here.”

  She walked toward him trying not to cringe in disgust but apparently she didn’t do a good enough job because, once again he back handed her across the face, slamming her into the ice machine.

  “You better wash that look of disgust off you face before you try to walk over here again or you are not going to like the end result.”

  Patty steadied herself and prayed for strength. She thought of Marc. She pictured him in her head and how it felt like to be in his arms with his mouth connecting with her. With that image in her head she walked toward Gino again. He slid his hands from her waist up and ripped her bra off making her breasts spring into the cold air. Her nipples were at their tightest, which seemed to please Gino because he placed both his hands on her breasts, tweaking her until she thought she might cry from pain.

  “Damn, I can’t believe I let you go. I’ve been missing out. Take that slutty piece of fabric off I’m assuming you think is underwear.”

  Patty slipped it off and tossed it to the side. She had never been more exposed in her life. She was standing completely naked, in front of her ex, her ex who found it entirely ok to beat the living crap out of her. Was she utterly insane? Why wasn’t she screaming her head off for help right now? Oh that’s right, Gino would have men kill Marc if she didn’t cooperate. You’re doing this for Marc, she kept saying to herself. She could do this, just think of Marc.

  She drifted off into thoughts off Marc but then was knocked into a crippling fetal position by Gino’s fist when it met with her stomach. The force was so strong it made her puke which didn’t please Gino because he threw a fit about the smell and wound up kicking her to show how displeased he was about her actions. She gathered herself and felt blood dripping from her face. She stood up on wobbly legs and stood before the sadistic bastard.

  “
You want more don’t you? Are you getting off on my abuse? Is that why you want more?”

  “Why are you doing this, Gino?” she croaked. “What could you possibly want from me?”

  “What could I want from you? You took everything from me. When you left I lost everything, my job, my money…”

  “And your punching bag?” She finished for him.

  Expecting another blow to the face, she braced for impact but instead an evil grin just spread across his face. What was he up to?

  “It’s a shame, you’re such a pretty little thing.”

  Patty’s insides started to roll around with nausea. “What’s a shame Gino?”

  “The shame is Patty,” he said while stoking her face with his creepy hand. “Is that your life is over before it actually had a chance to begin. You should have stayed with me instead of running around like a scared little girl. I’ll admit it took me a while to find you, but I did. Thanks to your friend April and her not wanting her parents dead, she brought me as her date to this exclusive party. I just have one more task to deal with and that is you.”

  Patty watched him reach into the depths of his pocket and pull out a switch blade. With a serial killer smile he flipped it open and started toward her.

  “Gino, what are you doing?”

  “Taking what I so rightfully deserve.”

  He charged toward her as she screamed, “Nooo!” at the top of her lungs. She felt the sharp burning feeling of the knife entering her core. She crippled in fear and let out another shriek. Not pleased with the noise she was making, Gino slammed her head against the ice machine and everything went black.

  ***

  April sat on a couch in the lobby, thinking about what she just did. She brought Gino, Patty’s abusive ex to Jane’s wedding. What in the world would possess her to think that would be alright? Oh yea the switch blade pressed to her neck and phone pressed against her ear of her screaming parents begging for her to cooperate.