Payne (The Soldiers of Wrath MC: Grit Chapter Book 3) by Sam Crescent, Jenika Snow

1
    V icky’s heart was thundering , her palms were sweating, and she was scared as hell.
    She looked down at her hands and twisted her fingers together in her lap. What in the hell was she going to do if this was really her fate? Shifting on the table she sat on, the paper gown she had on crinkled, the sound seeming so damn loud. She was sweating, beads dotting her forehead and the valley between her breasts.
    What in the hell am I going to do?
    She closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly.
    There was a knock on the door a second before it was opened, and Vicky snapped her eyes open and stared at the woman who came in.
    “Vicky?” the woman in the white lab coat said. She looked down at a file and then glanced at Vicky again, smiling.
    “Yes,” Vicky said, her throat tight, her mouth dry. She twisted her hands even tighter in her lap.
    “How are you doing?” the doctor asked.
    Vicky shrugged, thought about lying, but figured she’d just be honest. “I’m scared as hell.”
    The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile. “That’s normal.” She flipped open the file. “The urine test came back positive.” The doctor looked at Vicky again, and then set the file down. She pulled over a machine that had been pushed against the wall. “So you’re here for an ultrasound verification?”
    Vicky nodded. “Yes. I took three tests at home, and even with the one I took here today I wanted to make sure.”
    The doctor nodded and started working on the machine. Vicky stared at the screen that was currently black.
    “Go ahead and lie fully back. Because you’ve said you have a history of miscarriages—” The doctor glanced at her, and Vicky nodded. “—we want to make sure everything is okay.” She typed on the ultrasound machine again. “How many miscarriages have you had?”
    “Just one, when I was in high school.”
    “How far along were you?”
    “A few weeks, I think. I don’t know for sure.”
    The doctor nodded. “We’ll just make sure things are okay.” She smiled again. “This is an internal sonogram since you’re so early.”
    For the next few moments Vicky watched the doctor get the machine ready, and once the internal exam was underway she felt her heart seize as she saw that black screen light up.
    The doctor turned the screen more toward Vicky. She started typing on the keyboard with one hand, and Vicky was transfixed. “There’s your baby.” The doctor lifted her hand and pointed to the tiny bean-shaped thing on the screen. More typing, and then the woman said, “You’re about five weeks’ gestation.”
    Vicky couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think as she looked at that little person on the screen.
    That was her baby, hers and Payne’s baby.
    God, how in the hell was she going to get through this alone? She sure as hell wasn’t going to bring this up to him, not since he’d completely shut her out for unknown reasons over the last few weeks.
    No, Vicky was doing this alone, but she knew she could do it. She could handle anything.
    I hope.

    * * *
    V icky had to do this , not just for herself, but for the secret she’d been holding onto. God, she didn’t want to leave, but she had to. Her heart couldn’t take rejection if she went to Payne and told him.
    But she had to speak with Clara, because her best friend had always been there for her. Clara would always be there for her, she knew that, and Clara deserved to know the truth right down to the bare bones.
    She stared at Clara through the open doorway, and a second later her friend turned around and smiled at her.
    This woman has been with me through thick and thin.
    They’d been through so much in this life, but it was only the beginning; that was clear by the revelations that had just transpired.
    “Hey, you,” Clara said.
    “Hi,” Vicky said, trying to stay positive, happy. “How are you?” After the incident where Clara had gotten hurt, Vicky had been so worried about her friend. Of course Clara didn’t need the