When Rivals Love (Bayshore Rivals 3)

“Telling her you wanted the baby was stupid, Matt,” My father growls. “I don’t want her to have that child. If she wants a baby so badly, you’re gonna have to do it, I can’t watch a child of theirs grow up under my nose,” my father spits. “We are going through with the abortion. I don’t care what she wants. If she didn’t want this to happen, then maybe she should’ve kept her legs closed.”

Fear trickles down my spine. No! He can’t! There is no way I’ll let him do this, and if he does, then I’ll never forgive him.

Matt’s voice cuts through, “I’m worried about her, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to do this. Harlow and I are in a good place now. She’s just started to warm up to me, and doing this would mess everything I’ve worked toward. You don’t have to do this. I’ll raise the baby as my own. No one has to know who the father is, and no one would dare question my family and me.”

“I’ll know, and that’s all that matters! And I don’t care about feelings. I care about my reputation, and what this will do to me, and so should you. It’s already been decided. We’re going through with this. End of story.” My dad barks, and I stagger back.

The door opens a moment later, my father and Matt appearing in front of me with three nurses right behind them. Two females and one male. Shaking my head profusely, I watch Matt’s face contort into a mixture of both sorrow and shame.

He can stop this. I know he can, so why isn’t he?

“No, you can’t do this!” I scream and take a few steps back, only to hit the wall. I’m trapped. There is no place to go. “Please,” I beg, but no one listens. Their faces are blank like they’re not even here mentally.

The male nurse grabs one of my arms so tightly, I know there will be bruises. Still, I struggle, trying my best to fight them off. I won’t go down without a fight.

“Please don’t do this,” I look to my father who is staring at me with nothing more than disappointment in his eyes. He’s supposed to be my father. He’s supposed to care about me. How could he do this? To me? To his unborn grandchild, and all because of a last name?

“You brought this on yourself, Harlow,” my father says, his voice clipped.

Tears sting my eyes, and I wince when the female nurse grabs on to my other arm, her fingers biting into my flesh with the same harshness.

It’s then that I spot the syringe in the third nurse’s hand. No. No. I shake my head, wishing that this was nothing but a bad dream.

Subdued against the wall, I watch helplessly as the needle pierces through my skin, pain followed by a cold tingling sensation spreads through my veins. “Stop!” I scream as loud as I can, my throat throbbing.

Even with the syringe empty and the fact that I’ve given up fighting, the nurses still hold on to me like I’m going to bolt for the door, then again, if they released me, I would do just that.

“Okay, that’s enough. Let her go,” Matt growls the look in his eyes is murderous, and immediately the hands on me disappear, but I can still feel them. Still, feel the pain. Still, feel the needle in my arm.

My body starts to sag toward the floor like goop, but Matt steps in and grabs me at the last minute. His arms come around my waist, supporting most of my weight, and I can’t help but seek his comfort in that moment.

He’s the only thing I have right now, the only person who cares if I live or die. And as badly as I want to hate him, in this moment, I can’t bring myself to. We’re both pawns in this war. Burying my face into his chest, I start to cry. Sobbing uncontrollably, I can feel the medication they gave me kicking in. My limbs are getting heavier, and my mind fuzzier by the second.

“You promised…” I whimper, clutching on to his shirt. A warmth courses through me, my cheeks heat, and my whole body starts to tingle. All the discomfort in my body starts to fade.

“I know,” Matt whispers back. I’ve lost all hope now. I’m going to lose this baby; this tiny little human is going to be taken from me before I even get the chance to tell the guys about it. Leaning down, he nuzzles his face into my hair. “I need you to trust me, okay. I won’t let this happen. I’ll find a way to fix this.”

Shaking my head, I try to speak, but my tongue feels heavy.