BRIDGETTE
My body was so weak and aching when I woke up. I felt disoriented, groggy, and for some reason my eyes felt so heavy to open. My arms felt empty and panic struck me.
"Where's my baby?" I croaked. I tried to force myself up but a strong hand immediately held me down. I looked up to see the blurry outline of a tall man standing beside the bed. I blinked and focused on him. He had dark hair, and his blue eyes stared down at me like I was an intruder.
"Don't move, please. You're still weak." I swallowed. "Daniel... Where's my baby?"
"Your baby is safe. I'll let you see him once I know why you were on your way here."
The question threw me off and I took some time to get back in the present.
"I was on my way back. But... Some men attacked me. I..." the rest of the words wouldn't come and I looked up to see how hard those eyes still were.
"I know you were attacked. But you're lying. You think I don't know you're a spy?"
"A spy?" My heart was sinking. "No... no, you don't understand. I'm not here to spy... I only needed help."
He scoffed and glared down at me like I was some fool. "Really? Help?"
A rueful chuckle escaped his throat. "Is that what Ethan asked you to say? Some weak little story about needing help and you thought I'd believe that?"
My chest tightened when he said Ethan's name.
Everything he did to me returned now, and it wasn't until I caught myself staring into space that I realised I hadn't answered his question. I looked up. "Ethan... he doesn't... Ethan abandoned me. I was coming back to my hometown."
He watched me silently for a moment as if weighing my words. "So you say. If so then tell me what a woman like you is doing out here with a sick child? I'm guessing the sick child is meant to garner some sympathy. Don't tell me this was some accident."
I took a deep breath, doing my best to steady my nerves.
"Please, I don't have anyone else. I just needed somewhere to stay, somewhere that's going to be safe for my baby. I'll do anything. I can work as a maid or anything else you need. Don't send me out please, or he's going to die. Let me stay, please."
His thick brows came together, and I noticed the scepticism. It was still there. "What do you think I am? Some kind of charity? You think I'm just going to take in anyone who begs?"
"I don't expect charity. I'll work, and you can keep me under the scrutiny of your men if you want. I'll work. I'll earn my keep, but please. Don't send me away. My son needs help and I don't know what to do."
Something in his eyes shifted, but that cold look remained. "I already knew he was sick."
The thought of something bad happening to Daniel made me force myself up. "What? Is he okay? Where is he?"
"Calm down." He said. "Daniel is stable. You were unconscious for a while and my score checked him. I know he's sick... maybe even dying."
"Please you have to let me get out of here. He needs medical attention. He's all that I have left..I just need him to live."
"That is the only reason I'm considering this. I have no reason to trust you because I can't tell if you're lying about Ethan or if you have another plan. But you're hiding something, I know it."
"Doubt me all you want. I'm not hiding anything. I just want to take care of my child."
The look on his face didn't change. "Then you'll have to prove it. You'll have to keep the child with me and I'm going to make sure he gets the help he needs, hmm? How about that?"
I felt like I'd been slapped. "How do you expect me to do that?"
"How do you expect me to believe you?"
"He's my son, I can't leave him. I have to make sure he's fine." He raised an eyebrow. "If you really want what’s best for him, you'll consider it. Else you're just thinking of yourself which says a whole lot."
Why did he keep accusing me? "That's not true. I love him and I'd do anything for him. Put yourself in my shoes."
"Then I have a proposition for you. What's your name, by the way?"
"Bridgette." I answered, already battling with the premonition that something bad was about to happen. His eyes felt like lightsabers now.
"Marry me then. And in exchange, I'm going to make sure your son gets the care he needs. He will live here and I will provide for him as my heir."
"You can't be serious. Sorry to say this but do you even hear yourself?"
"I do."
"I don't think you do. Is this your way of testing if I am a spy?"
"Answer the fucking question."
"You're asking me to marry you. I don't even know you are. Isn't this crazy?"
"To you, maybe. I don't don't things I don't mean. This is the only way you can stay here with your son. You agree to be my wife, and he will become my heir. Else, I will have you thrown out immediately!"
"I don't even know you. And my son, he's not..."
He raised a hand and cut me off immediately. "I'm going to raise your son as mine. Nobody will question that. In time, he will have everything he needs and so will you."
"Why are you doing this?" I was battling with the frog in my throat now.
"My reasons are my own and I don't intend on sharing them. Do you agree, or don’t you? And you better speak up because Daniel's depends on this. I have the doctors waiting to commence treatment or leave him to die."
Hearing him say that scared the crap out of me. I had no money, no home and nobody to turn to. If I rejected his proposal, we'd be out on the streets soon, like I'd been out there in the woods when those hoodlums attacked me. I couldn't believe this was happening.
"If... if I say yes... Daniel will be safe right? You'll take care of him?"
"Under the condition that he becomes my heir."
My heart was breaking all over again, but I'd do anything for my son. Anything.
A knock on the door jeered me out of my thoughts and I whipped my head around to see a doctor on his surgical garb outside the glass door.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Alpha, the baby’s condition is becoming critical and we need an answer. If we don't start treatment soon, it will die."
He turned back to me with a wicked grin. "Deal?"
Taking a shaky breath, I bobbed my head. "Yes... Yes I agree.”