“That hot stone massage was everything!” I sighed as we made our way through the parking garage. “Hands down, one of the best experiences of my life.”

“I could tell, baby. You were over there snoring.” Lolo laughed, looping her arm through mine.

We were just now leaving the spa after four hours of relaxation and girl talk with my bestie. I even got to sneak a little pep talk to my man in there. The day had been perfect, and now, we were heading to lunch.

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “Pregnancy sleep just hits different.”

“Obviously. That poor lady was scared to wake you. You slept so good. You kept swatting at her,” Lolo joked. We were still giggling, walking toward the black SUV Kellon had sent for us on our way to lunch.

“Give me the bag!”

We turned to see a tall, masked man in a black hoodie, and my heart immediately started pounding with fear.

“Give me the got damn bag!” he shouted again, and I wasted no time handing it to him. I could get back everything in that bag ten times over.

“Here. Just don’t hurt us!” I held my purse out in front of me for the robber to grab, but instead, he pushed Lolo out of the way and slung me to the ground before I could even process what was happening. I could hear Lolo’s screams mixing with mine as the attacker came toward me.

“Get off of her!” Lolo screamed, landing a few punches on him before he pushed her into the door of an SUV.

“Lolo!” I screamed to the top of my lungs as the masked man rammed his fist to the side of my head. All I could think about was protecting my baby. I rolled over on my back and proceeded to kick, trying to keep him away from my belly.

“Bitch!” His feet came down, just barely missing my stomach.

“Help me!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as he reached into his pants and retrieved a gun.

“Don’t shoot me! I’m pregnant!” I pleaded, but he cocked the gun back and aimed it at my stomach. I closed my eyes just as the gun went off and prayed that God would somehow save me and my baby.

“Back the hell up!”

I heard Monte yell, making me open my eyes. I was still alive. I blinked a few times, watching Monte repeatedly slam the man against the concrete. The man tried to crawl away, but Monte grabbed him again, pinning him down with a rage I had never seen in real life.

“Phileigh! Phileigh! Are you okay? Are you—Oh my God. You’re bleeding! The baby—” She gasped, making me look down. There was blood on my legs. My stomach twisted.

“My baby!” I cried just as Monte ran over with his chest still heaving and picked me up.

“Y’all gotta pull through this. You gotta fight, little man, for KB. He needs y’all,” he said as he placed me in the back seat of the car.

“Get in. We gotta get her to the hospital!” It was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

My eyes fluttered open slowly, and the beeping of hospital machines greeted me followed by the harsh, bright lights and my head throbbing. I was at the hospital, and my mind immediately went to my baby. Had I given birth? I sat up, trying to look at my belly, and saw Kellon sitting beside me with his head down and hands clasped together like he was praying.

“Kellon…” I whispered. My voice was barely audible.

His head snapped up, and in two steps, he was at my side, gently grabbing my hand like he thought he’d never see me again.

“Phee baby.” He exhaled, kissing my knuckles with tears in his puffy eyes. He’d been crying. “You’re up. Do you remember what happened?”

“I was attacked,” I whispered.

Images of the masked man pushing me down and hitting me in the head flooded my memory, and everything came rushing back to me all at once. The masked man had hit me. He’d pulled a gun. Then there was blood. I looked down at my stomach. The tears already started to fill my eyes.

“The baby? Is the baby okay?” I cried. Before Kellon could respond, the door burst open.

“She’s awake?” One of the nurses gasped as a team of nurses and doctors entered my room.

“That’s a miracle,” another doctor murmured, and they exchanged shocked glances. “We weren’t expecting consciousness this soon after that amount of blood loss and the trauma to the head. This is good.”

My eyes bounced between them, trying to process what they were saying. I’d lost a lot of blood. From where?

“You’ve been in and out since it happened,” Kellon said gently, his thumb brushing across my hand. “You lost a lot of blood from the gash on your head.”

That answered my question.

“Phileigh, you have a mild concussion and some bruising. You’ll need to rest and be monitored for the next few days as this type of trauma can cause developmental or physical injuries to the baby.”

My heart sank, and more tears fell from my eyes.

“Hello, Phileigh, I’m Dr. Walters, the lead OBGYN on duty. We’re going to do an ultrasound now.”

The lead physician stepped forward, sliding on gloves. “You’ve experienced significant trauma and bleeding to your brain. Baby seems to be doing fine, but we want to take a look to make sure.”

I nodded quickly, and Kellon’s hand tightened around mine.

“It’s going to be okay,” Kellon whispered, bringing my hands to his lips. “It has to be.”

Dr. Walters lifted my gown and smeared cold gel across my belly before pressing the wand against it.

“Please, God,” I whispered, focusing my eyes on the ultrasound screen, hoping that my baby was okay. The room fell silent for what felt like forever until the sound of a heartbeat filled the air.

“There he is.” The doctor smiled. “Heartbeat is strong. Baby looks good. You have a little fighter in here.”

Kellon joined me in letting out a shaky breath of relief.

“You’re both okay. You made it, baby. Thank you for not leaving me.” Kellon placed a million kisses on my forehead, just as the Lolo peeked in from the doorway.

“Oh my God. She’s awake!” she yelled. Happiness replaced the worry in her eyes.

“Give us a second before you come in,” Dr. Walters informed her, and Lolo nodded.

“I was just checking in. I’m going downstairs to give my statement to the cops,” she said, and Kellon nodded. “I’ll be back, bestie.”

She shut the door behind her. I was happy to see that Lolo was okay, but my thoughts immediately went to my parents. They needed to know about this before the blogs.

“My parents...”

“I already called them. They’re on their way. I sent the jet,” Kellon informed me, taking the words right out of my mouth.

“There are no signs of distress to your placenta or uterus,” Dr. Walters confirmed. “You both got lucky today. We’ll give you two a moment.”

The medical team shuffled out, the door clicked shut behind them, and the room was quiet. I blinked at him, overwhelmed by everything—his care, his presence, the fact that I was still here, that our baby was still here.

For a long moment, we just sat there, holding each other together, making each other feel less broken.

“I was so scared,” I said barely above a whisper. “Not just of dying. But what might happen to the baby... to you... to us.”

He rested his forehead against mine.

“I know. And I put it on my life that nobody is ever going to hurt you again.”

“I love you,” I said suddenly.

“I love you too,” he said as Monte leaned in the door.

“KB, can I talk to you for a sec?”

Kellon glanced at me, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

“I’ll be right back, baby. Just rest,” he said as he stepped into the hallway with Monte. I watched them through the small window in the door. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but whatever it was, it had Kellon clenching his jaw and staring angrily off into space. His whole demeanor had changed. He wrapped up the conversation quickly and entered the room like nothing had changed, but something had changed.

He slid into the bed beside me as carefully as he could, curling his body around mine. One hand rested gently on my belly. He was quiet like he was deep in his thoughts.

“What did Monte say?” I asked. He hesitated before leaning over to kiss my cheek.

“Nothing you need to worry about. Just focus on looking pretty and getting better.”

I stared at him. I knew Kellon. I knew when he was holding something in. I saw it in his eyes just like I’d seen the way my attacker was aiming for my stomach.

This wasn’t a robbery.

This was Reggie.