Being a bit sluggish, I made it outdoors, and roamed aimlessly in my own little world. Perhaps I was a little too far dazed because before I comprehended what was going on, I found my hand slipping into someone's grasp. My mind snapped awake and I glanced over and found Orlando was pulling me away.
"What are you doing?" I asked, being dragged behind him.
He pulled us inside this empty pavilion. Around the general area, nobody else was strolling nearby. Rather than answer my question, Orlando scooped me into his arms for a large bear hug. His warmth cozied me in so much that I almost forgot about everything that has occurred. For the time being, I wanted to stay right here in his arms. Where I could forget about everything, but that wasn't a reality.
No longer could I stay with Orlando or be with him. Fate cuts our lives into two different paths going in opposite directions. I must go one way, and he must go the other.
To savor the warmth from his body heat, I slowly put a gap between us. The way he stared into my eyes brought all that pain I endured right back out of that hidden box in my heart.
Orlando's eyes poured with such heartbreak. It was hard to see him look so vulnerable. "Please don't look at me like that," he whispered when he brushed a hair behind my ear. He cupped my left facial side and kept me from turning away.
"We can't do this anymore," I utter softly, and then I pulled his hand from my face.
He shook his head in disagreement. "No, we can't let Kai win. I won't give up on you." He cupped both hands on my face. "I made a vow that I won't give up on us. I'll free you from him."
I bit my bottom lip and tugged his hands off my face. "I saw you at the club. You were making out with a girl on your lap."
"I-I... " Orlando stammered while guilt filled his pupils.
"It's like I've been saying. With or without Kai in my life, it's officially over between us," I declared and went to saunter away and leave this all behind me.
"I made a mistake!" he shouts loud enough to get my attention.
So I turned back to hear him out, but first, I speak my mind. "I tell you I'm pregnant and you seek comfort from another woman. Like how you slept with Ashley whenever you thought more was going on with Kai and me."
"I know what I did was wrong. I was so flustered about you getting pregnant with his baby. After you only got back with him! How do you think that makes me feel?" He harangue me like this was my fault.
Maybe in many ways, it is my fault. Yet he doesn't have a clue I've been pregnant, and he can never know the real truth.
"I wish you the best," I said before proceeding my way.
"Are you honestly happy to be with someone that would hurt and almost kill Crystal?" he shouts once again taking my full attention.
"I never said I was ok with that!" I face him yelling. "You don't understand that I cannot leave him!"
Orlando's dark envious eyes softened, and he came up to hold my hands. "I'm sorry, baby. This is why I promised I will get you free from him," he vowed, but I shook my hands free and backed up.
"It isn't possible!" I confirm. "Even if I could, after everything you've done, I would never be with you either. I have to do what is right for my baby."
"Victoria, what are you saying?" Orlando asked, shockingly like he couldn't believe me. "I know I keep messing up, but I promise things will be fixed between us. I know you love me and I love you," he expressed nearly crying.
"Of course, I love you Orlando, but I can no longer bear the pain that comes with loving you," I said as teardrops heated my eyelids.
"That is not true," he protested.
"We're too far broken to fix what we had." I expressed painfully.
But Orlando refused to believe me and declared. "I won't let you go because I love you."
"You have to," I curtly replied, then tried to leave, but he grasped my wrist.
"You aren't the same, Victoria. Kai has you trapped in fear."
He pulled out his phone and showed me this picture of Crystal laying in a hospital bed. She had a black eye and her lip was cut deeply and bruised. And her knee may have been sprained. "If Kai can do this to Crystal, then I couldn't imagine what he is doing to you."
I yanked my wrist free and told him, "Kai hasn't harmed me, but he will hurt you or might kill you if you don't stop."
Orlando shook his head lightly. "This is what I am saying, baby. You're so petrified of him that you forget my family has the same power as him."
"No, you don't understand!" I cried, and Orlando hugged me. He just didn't get the fact Kai is a pernicious vampire.
"Baby, please tell me, what has he done to you?" he asked, whispering in my ear. "Never once in your life have I seen you have such fear in your eyes."
I pulled away to run, but I halted in one step because I saw Kai behind me.
"You!" Orlando gritted his teeth. "What have you done to her that made her fear you this badly?"
Kai snickered maliciously at him, but he didn't say a word. Unexpectedly Orlando bolted ahead with a clenched fist.
"Orlando, no!" I shouted before holding my mouth to witness him punch Kai in the mouth. His face whipped to the side from the impact, and then he faced Orlando straight in the eye. More surprisingly, Kai's eyes were his natural agate eye color from being red.
I ran over between them. "Both of you stop it!" I shout and push them apart by their chests. Instead of retaliating, Kai took my wrist and dragged me away.
"I will get her back!" Orlando hollered, aggressively. "She loves me, not you, Kai! You best remember that!"