Just Me - M J Marlow (reading strategies book .txt) 📗

hands to my cheek and I leaned into his touch. “I told you once that I was not exactly ethical about some of my business dealings, remember?” I nodded and could feel tears forming in my eyes. “That was a euphemism, Kerrigan. I am a criminal.” I shook my head in disbelief. “It is quite true, my precious one.” “That’s why James was investigating you,” I said softly as I remembered what James had told me the night I had met Layton. “You’re turning yourself in?” Layton nodded. “But you can’t! I need you, Nathaniel.” “No, Kerrigan,” Layton shook his head. “You need the man you love…” He put his fingers over my lips as I started to protest. “You do not love me, Kerrigan. What we had was becoming a very close and caring relationship, but it was never love.” “Is that what I tell our child?” I snapped as the hurt mounted inside of me. I pulled away from him and saw the shock on his face. “Yes, Nathaniel. Our child!” I was shaking now as he stepped away from me, shaking his head. I put my hand on my abdomen and glared at him. “The son or daughter you sired growing inside of me!” “You can’t be pregnant,” Layton said softly, his voice filled with distress. “It was a lie Foster told to keep you docile. I took every precaution to make certain…” “It didn’t work,” I broke in harshly. “Your carefully laid plans just did not work as you had hoped, Nathaniel.” I felt the dizziness strike and the nausea following. I went to the door and knocked on it. “I need the bathroom,” I said simply. The guard let me out and took me to the room. When I was through being sick, a man took me to an office and let me use the couch. “Maggie?” I looked up to see Joseph standing there. I sat up slowly, hating myself for what I had put him through. I was sobbing by the time he had his arms around me. How could he still want to touch me after what I had done? I clung to him as the storm continued. Joseph was my friend, he would never fail me; no matter what life threw at him. “It’s all right, Maggie,” he said softly. “I’m here now. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” He looked up as the door opened and a man came in with a doctor’s bag. “What’s this?” “Mr. Layton is demanding proof of his wife’s claim,” the man replied. He took out a needle and took a blood sample. “We’ll know in fifteen minutes.” Joseph watched the man go and looked at my pale face. He could feel his heart breaking at the thought of me in that man’s bed. But Layton had been my husband for four months, how could he expect any man to keep his hands off me. He held my hand and we waited in silence. The doctor came back and he was looking at me quite sadly. He nodded and I burst into tears. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Layton,” he said simply. “It’s true. You are pregnant.” “It’s better to know,” I smiled at him weakly. “Thank you, Doctor.” He left and I went to look out the windows, my thoughts heavy. I might not have wanted to marry the man, but that did not change anything. I was carrying his child and he was headed to prison. I turned to Joseph. “What do I do now, Joseph?” “You are going to divorce him,” Joseph replied as he came to my side. “Then you and I will be married and your baby will be ours.” I looked up at him and saw he meant every word of what he had just said. But I couldn’t do that to him. I pulled away from him, shaking my head and I saw the hurt in his eyes. I couldn’t help it. I needed time to think about what was best for my child and my self. I was not going to go from a forced marriage to marriage with a man I cared for without knowing it was the right thing to do. “I need time, Joseph,” I told him bluntly. “Please let me think…” “Maggie…” His protest went unvoiced as the door opened. We turned to see Layton being brought in by a police officer. Joseph looked at me but my eyes were on my husband. He kissed me on the cheek and I squeezed his hand and nodded. Joseph and the officer left the office and I was alone with Layton. “I am having your child, Nathaniel,” I told him. “The tests confirmed it.” “They told me,” Layton said softly. “I never meant for it to happen, Kerrigan,” he continued, looking as if he had murdered me. “I wanted you to be able to walk away from our marriage without any ill feelings.” He went to the window. “I signed over everything I own to you the day I married you. Our child will have that.” “But not its father,” I said stiffly. “No,” Layton nodded. “I am giving you your freedom, Kerrigan. Can’t you be happy about that?” “I don’t know how to feel any more, Nathaniel,” I told him honestly. “You married me while I was unable to protest and I hated you for that. But,” I said as I moved closer, “I have grown to care for you.” I saw the expression in his eyes willing me to quiet but I would not keep the truth from him. “I know you love me, Nathaniel.” He looked at me in shock. I smiled briefly. “I am a very perceptive person, remember?” He nodded. “What I feel for you might one day have been love, of a sort, but we’ll never know now, will we?” I took his hand in mine and laid it on my abdomen. “Whatever else happens, our child will know that we cared for each other.” “Kerrigan!” Nathaniel choked. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me and I knew my feelings were true. He did love me. That was why he was sacrificing himself now. “My beloved wife!” Someone knocked on the door and he nodded. “Our time together will be a cherished memory for me, my love.” I watched him start for the door and I was sobbing at the loss of what we might have had. Then I heard a strange popping noise and watched as the glass shattered in the window. A small projectile was followed by two more and they struck Layton in the back and in the head. I screamed and fell to my knees as he kept falling forward. The door opened and the police officer went green as he saw Layton on the floor in a pool of blood. James pushed him aside and helped me up as I continued to scream. I pushed him away but he held on and got me out of the room. “He’s still alive,” the doctor snapped as he examined my fallen husband. “Get him to the hospital now!” He saw me and looked at James. “Keep her here.” “No, I want to be with my husband,” I said as I got to my feet. But I wasn’t on my feet long before the darkness rose up and dragged me down. I came back to my senses to see a woman in a white uniform preparing a shot. “No drugs!” I shook my head and tried to get up. “You’ll hurt my baby!” “We’re not going to hurt your baby, Maggie,” James said gently as he made the woman back off. He sat down and took my hands in his. “I wish I could tell you…” “Oh my God!” I sobbed and pushed him aside. I ran for the bathroom and was ill at the thought of the man I had come to care for dead. I heard the door open as I was rinsing out my mouth and Cheryl was standing there. I could tell what she was going to say from the expression on her face. “He’s dead.” “I’m sorry, Maggie,” Cheryl said honestly. “I know you cared for the man.” I started crying then and I was still at it as she helped me back to the office. I saw an older woman sitting there with a stricken expression on her pale face. This woman could only be Layton’s mother, was my thought as she rose to her feet and held her arms out to me. I went to her and we held each other tight until I stopped crying. Then she wiped my face and gave me one more hug. “Kerrigan, dear,” she said softly. “You’ll come home with me until the funeral.” I looked at her in confusion. “You’re in no condition to be without family right now and I consider you my daughter.” She laid her hand on my cheek. “My son loved you quite dearly.” I could feel the tears coming again. “I know, precious. You’re hurting terribly right now. We’ll get you home and see that you are well cared for.” “Mrs. Layton,” Cheryl said as the woman got me to my feet. “There will be questions…” “They can come to the penthouse,” Daphne sniffed. “Kerrigan’s health is my only concern right now. The poor child is in shock, can’t you see that?” I didn’t fight her as she got me out the door and we headed outside. There was a Rolls Royce waiting with a chauffeur. I was settled inside with a glass of brandy and my mother-in-law, a woman I had not ever met, made me sip at it as she tucked a blanket around me. I knew she meant well so I went along with her. I had to think and one place was as good as another to do that in. “Here you go, darling,” Daphne smiled at me as she held out a pill and a glass of water. “You sleep now. When you wake up, you’ll feel much more capable of facing things.” “No,” I shook my head. “I don’t want to take anything, Mrs. Layton…” “You will call me Mother, please,” Daphne broke in as she forced the pill into my hand. “And isn’t there a little adage about Mother knowing best? This is a very mild sedative, it won’t hurt the child you’re carrying.” I could see she was not going to let me refuse so I took the pill and washed it down. “That’s a good girl. You do what Mother says and we’ll get through this tragic time together.” There was a knock on the door and a woman in a maid’s uniform came in. “This is Elise. She is your maid.” She laid her hand against my cheek, a caress Layton had often made, and I burst into tears again. “Elise, help my daughter into her nightclothes and stay with her. No one is to disturb her, is that clear?” “Yes, ma’am,” Elise nodded. She went to the closet and came out with my nightgown. I looked at my mother-in-law for some explanation. “Nathaniel had your things sent over the day after that nasty man abducted you, Kerrigan,” she explained. “He was planning on your staying with me when he…” She bit her lip and shook her head. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, darling. You need to rest.” I wanted to say something to make her feel better but I was too busy being ill. I stumbled to the bathroom and lost the pill I’d just been given. I realized then that I hadn’t eaten for some time and I mentioned this to Daphne. She sent Elise to get me a light meal. Once I had eaten, and it stayed down, she gave me another pill and I went to bed. It felt good to have someone looking after me right now. I fell asleep as my