“No. I think there were media people at the doctor’s office yesterday. Paparazzi, perhaps. Not sure. They snuck us out the back.”

Blaire walked over and sat down beside me. Her hand rested on my back. “It’s in all the gossip news. Your ‘visit to the ob-gyn with boyfriend Grant Carter.’ They had some woman outside the office saying she knew Grant and was positive it was you in there.”

I let out a frustrated groan. I was afraid that would happen. Stupid woman had to recognize me. “I should go talk to him.”

“No. Absolutely not. You aren’t dealing with him like this. Rush can get him back to our place and let him sleep it off. When he’s sober, Rush can bring him over to see you, but Grant will be with you when that happens.”

Blaire sounded like a mother. I would have smiled if I could manage it. Knowing my dad was downstairs, yelling my private business to the entire club, had me on the verge of tears.

My phone started ringing, and Blaire reached for my purse and pulled it out. After checking it, she handed it to me. “It’s Grant,” she said.

My heart ached. I wanted him here so badly. “Hello,” I said, my voice cracking, tears filling my eyes.

“I’m on my way. Rush has Kiro in his car, and he’s taking him to his house. Woods will be up to get you in a minute. He’ll drive you home. Blaire can stay with you until I get there. Are you OK?”

I nodded and sniffled, then realized he couldn’t see me nod. “Yeah, I think.” I replied.

“No, you’re not. Shit. I shouldn’t have left you,” he said, and I heard him curse and hit something. “I’m on my way, baby. I’m on my way. Be strong for me, OK?”

“I will,” I assured him. “Drive safe.”

“Always.”

Grant

Fucking Kiro. If the man wasn’t Harlow’s father, I’d bury my fist in his stupid-ass face. He’d come barreling into the club and upset her. Drunk motherfucker didn’t even think about how it would affect Harlow.

It took me half the time to get home than it normally did. I ran three stoplights and broke every speed limit, but I was here now. Slamming the car door behind me, I took off running up the stairs to my apartment. Harlow didn’t need to get upset. She needed to be calm and happy.

I opened the front door and headed toward the voices. Blaire was fixing two glasses of water, and Harlow was siting on the sofa with her legs curled up under her. When she saw me, her eyes went wide with relief. I closed the space between us with three long strides and pulled her up into my arms.

“I’m here. You’re OK.”

And then she began to sob.

I was going to kill Kiro Manning.

I ran my hand over her head and whispered sweet words to her, reassuring her that I was here and it was fine. I begged her not to cry, but she clung to me, and her tears soaked my shirt. Again, I was helpless. I wasn’t sure why she was crying so pitifully, but I knew it had to do with her dad, and that was enough to put him on my shit list.

“This isn’t good for you,” I reminded her. I couldn’t say it wasn’t good for the baby, because I honestly couldn’t bring myself to care about anything other than Harlow’s health.

“Or the baby,” Blaire said, walking up behind us. I looked at her over Harlow’s head, and she stared pointedly at me, scolding me for the thoughts she seemed to know I was thinking. “Drink the water, and take some deep breaths,” Blaire said as she touched Harlow’s arm.

Harlow sniffed and hiccupped, but she stopped sobbing and reached for the glass of water. Blaire had said the magic words. At this point, I didn’t care what those magic words were, I was just thankful she was calming down.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and took a small sip of the water. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her face was blotchy and wet.

“No, don’t apologize. I just want you calm,” I told her. I kept my arm around her and caressed the skin on her bare arm and shoulder, trying to soothe her.

“I just ran from him. I never run from my dad, but I just ran and hid. He must think . . . I don’t know what he thinks. I just wasn’t ready to face him about this.”

She knew he would want her to have an abortion. Telling her dad no was going to be difficult. She loved that man. I wasn’t sure why, because he was the shittiest father on the face of the earth, even though he had sweet Harlow for a daughter. All I could figure was that Emily Manning must have been an amazing woman for Harlow to overcome inheriting that man’s genes.

God knew Nan got all his bad traits, along with Georgianna’s.

“You needed to let him sober up. You did the right thing,” Blaire assured her.

Harlow sipped her water as she stared straight ahead at nothing. I hated seeing her like this, but facing her dad wasn’t something I could stop her from doing. Kiro was above the law. He had proved that with his latest mishaps. No one wanted to press charges.

“When he wakes up, I want to see him. I won’t feel better until I’ve seen him,” she said in a whisper, not looking at Blaire or me but still straight ahead.

“Rush is going to call the second he thinks Kiro is ready to come over here,” I told her. I had spoken to Rush on my way back home. He had been dealing with Kiro, but he’d promised to let me know the minute he’d sobered him up. Bethy had come over to take care of Nate. I knew it was only a matter of time before Blaire left to get Nate.