Dawn Robertson - Hers

I can’t help but smile at how fortunate I am. He really is amazing.

Sipping on my bubbly soda, which for once seems to be helping my stomach, I lie down on the couch and close my eyes. What seems like a few minutes must have been hours, and I’m woken by the elevator opening into the foyer of my penthouse.

“Levi, baby. Finally,” I groan, not making a move to get off the couch.

I hear footsteps, but he doesn’t speak. I slowly roll over, blinking my eyes open, but Levi isn’t the one standing in my living room. Daniel is, and now I am not only wide awake, but I am pretty fucking pissed that he is standing in my house.

“Hoping to see someone else?” he asks with a smirk on his face.

“Well, I can’t stay I invited you here. I am out of the office for a reason today,” I sass him back with attitude. He is the last person I feel like dealing with.

“Oh, I know. Samantha called me as soon as she saw you. Seven James, finally knocked up after all these years. I must admit, I thought it would have happened long ago.”

I flip him the bird, and sit up on the couch. I am exhausted. My whole body feels like it is still sleeping, and I can barely move.

“It’s none of your fucking business, Daniel. I suggest you leave, before I fucking call the cops.”

His expression darkens, and this is the first time in my entire life that I have actually been scared of a man. Never would I have imagined Daniel causing this kind of a feeling.

“First you storm into my fucking office, and steal my company from under my nose.” He steps closer to the couch and pauses again. “Then that fucking little bitch Parker was married to fucked up the money coming into my pocket when some PI found the traces of our affair.” His hands run through his barely there hair, and he fucking growls. Like a fucking dog. Growls.

I try and stand up, but he pushes me back down with so much force that my head hits the back of the couch. My stomach churns and I can feel the bile rising up my throat. It isn’t going to be long before I start throwing up the soda I thought was safe in my stomach.

I reach for my phone and he forcefully grabs my wrist. Tight. And it fucking hurts. Like really fucking hurts. I can see a bruise appearing under his grip as he continues to tighten his grip, and I can’t make it to my fucking cell phone.

“Is this your little bastard? Is it Parker’s? You know that baby his wife shit out? That was mine, too. Too bad this one isn’t mine. If I had gotten to you sooner, it could have been. You would have liked to have my baby, right, Seven?”

He releases my wrist and throws it into my lap. I try to stand again, and he shoves me with the palm of his hand. The wind is knocked out of me and I gasp for air. My head hits the pillow on the couch as I clench my chest. From the corner of my eye, I see him pulling at his belt. Next comes his button and finally, his zipper.

I’m frozen against the couch, trying to catch my breath. I try and move again, and I feel his hand grip my throat. Fuck. I am going to die like this. At the hands of Daniel, in my own living room. I can’t hold back the vomit any longer. I turn my head to the side and throw up all over the floor. He lets go of my throat, and I can feel his hands tugging on my pants.

“Seven, you will never belong to anyone else. This pussy, no matter how slutty you are now, will always belong to me. Do you understand me? ME! It was mine first. Say it, Seven, say I had you first. Tell me how it felt when I took your virginity.”

My pants come loose just as the elevator doors open. I can tell the sound anywhere, but Daniel is too preoccupied with taking what he thinks is his. Tears roll down my cheeks until I can see Levi in my line of vision.

“What the FUCK is going on here?”

Daniel turns toward Levi, cool as a fucking cucumber and tries to play it off. “Sorry you have to find out like this, Parker, but she has been mine for years.” He lets out a laugh. What he doesn’t count on is the fact that I have enough adrenaline coursing through my veins to finally get up off the couch. I pick up my purse and swing it through the air like it’s filled with bricks. One solid hit and Daniel loses his footing, stumbling forward toward Levi. That is when Levi’s fist connects with Daniel’s face, and he falls, out-cold onto the floor.

I am in full blown hysterics by now, crying my eyes out. I can’t even think about what almost just happened. Daniel almost raped me. Daniel almost hurt me. But Levi saved me.

If there was any ounce of doubt left, it’s gone. This man loves me. He would do anything for me. He saved me.

Levi wraps his arms around me, trying to calm me down as he calls the police. Twenty or so minutes later, my foyer is full of NYPD officers whom I have no desire to speak with.

I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t feel some sort of pity for Daniel Alexander. The boy was born and bred into the world of business, only to flop like a fish out of water. With his mother’s history of slipping mental health, I’m not surprised the apple fell so close to the tree.

It turns out Daniel had a half dozen kids, with a half dozen women. Three with his actual wife, one with Levi’s ex-wife and another on the way with her, and one with a teenage prostitute, whom he was supporting with company money. How he thought the company would never find out about his shady dealings is beyond me. The attempted assault was just the icing on his felony cake. Between money laundering, theft, insider trading, and the nice attempted rape charge, Alexander Mobile’s golden boy will be sharing a scummy prison cell with some guy named Bubba for the next thirty or so years. Karma genuinely is a bitch.

I do feel bad for the women he’s duped. Well, except for Levi’s ex-wife; she knew exactly what she was getting into when she got involved with him so many years ago.

I lucked out. Had Levi not gotten home from the office when he did, I cannot imagine what would have happened. I hate to admit it, but even during the years that I dated Daniel, I never saw him mad. The crazy look in his eyes told me something was, in fact, very wrong.

I shake my head, trying to forget it all. I just want to forget altogether. Looking down, I smile at the newly framed photo on my desk. She is a beautiful little girl, with bright blue eyes that could light up the entire city of Manhattan on a gloomy night. Her long blond hair hangs in braided pigtails down to her waist, and her beautiful mother, my best friend, Star holds her, with a matching smile.

It may not be the ideal situation, but Star was able to meet and spend time with her daughter, who is turning eleven in a few short weeks. She begged Chrome, Willow’s adoptive father, to bring her to the city for Christmas, and for her birthday, but the jury was still out. Who comes up with these fucking names anyway? Chrome? Is his brother named Spoke? What about a sister named Sissy Bar? Fucking bikers.

And today… Well, today is my second doctor’s appointment. Today, Levi and I will be able to listen to our baby’s heartbeat.

Levi is already the epitome of a good dad. He cleaned Barnes & Noble out of their entire pregnancy section. I could probably buy Dr. Sears himself and Levi wouldn’t be content. I won’t tell him, but it is fucking adorable, even if it annoys the living shit out of me.I totally feel human again, too. The medication my doctor prescribed has worked wonders. Absolute fucking wonders. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still barf daily, but it is way less than before, and I can actually keep a meal down.