Confusion set in when River heard the door bell ring. No one had buzzed in at the gate so she had no idea who could have gotten to the door.

She shuffled downstairs after slipping into a warm onesie and opened the door.

River felt her stomach drop as she noticed who was standing at the door. Her heart began to beat so fast, she felt lightheaded.

"N-nico?"

"Hey babe. Long time, no see," he grinned as he held out a bouquet of flowers. "Can i come in?" He asked before stepping into the house and looking around.

She was in shock. She had no idea what to do or what was happening. It didn't feel real.

"How did you..."

"I had my sister call in for me. I had to see you and how 'gorgeous' you looked." He whistled as his eyes scanned over the twin bannister stairs. "You're sugar daddy is loaded, huh?"

"He's not my sugar daddy," she scowled. "He's my husband."

He rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Right."

"Well, it was nice of you to visit," she said sarcastically. "But you can go now."

He grabbed her arm and she froze. "Oh no no no. I'm not leaving until i congratulate you for..." his eyes drifted down to her stomach and he smirked. "Your baby."

She gasped and stumbled back, her breath coming out in short pants. Her hand automatically flew up to her stomach, her motherly instincts kicking in.

"So it is true," he laughed bitterly. "You're pregnant."

"H-how did you fi-find out?" She asked shakily. "We haven't told anyone."

"My sister has been a wonderful source of information."

"Your sister?"

He shook his head and glared at her. "Sometimes you act really dumb you know."

"You never told me you had a sister."

"Yeah i wouldn't have. She lived in another country when we were dating," he spat. His eyes drifted back down to her stomach and he frowned so heavily that he seemed to have aged three years. "That was supposed to be me and you's baby. But no, you had to be a gold digger and choose him over me."

"You were abusing me!" She exclaimed.

"That wasn't abuse. That was teaching you basic home training. My dad beat me black and blue until i finally got things right. You turned out better because of me. If i didn't do the things i did; that sh~thead would not have married you."

"That is not true. He loves me for who i am. He hasn't tried to change me like you have!"

He sneered and roughly grabbed her jaw so she was forced to look right up at him. "Look here little girl. He doesn't love you. He's just using you for sex. Thats why you're knocked up." She whimpered as he jabbed a finger into her stomach. "You and me were supposed have a baby. Remember that. Before my mom died; she'd always say something about how cute our babies would be. She wanted us to make her cute grandchildren," he seethed. "We promised my mama we'd give her beautiful grandchildren."

River felt tears rush to her eyes as she remembered the time when the two of them were happy together. When his mom was alive. When he didn't physically abuse her all the time.

"You lied," he said as he jabbed his finger into her stomach again. "So guess what, bella rosa..."

She gasped at the sound of her nickname coming from his mouth instead of Hayze's. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

"How did you know about that?"

"My sister," he growled.

"Who's your sist-"

He roughly grabbed her by the neck and tilted her head up. She clawed at his hands in a panic but like always, he was just too strong.

"You don't get to ask questions." She heard a rattling coming from his pocket and he pulled two pills from his jacket.

Her eyes widened as he brought them to her mouth. She struggled in his grip and then winced in pain as he suddenly threw her to the ground and pinned her to the floor.

"You're gonna swallow these pills and you won't even remember i was here. Alright."

He brought the pills to her mouth and she cried as he forced her mouth open. His knees pressed painfully into her stomach as he tried to keep her pinned down.

"Stop! Stop it!" She shouted as she wrestled his hand away and turned her head to the side.

He placed his hand around her neck and suddenly shoved the pills into her mouth.

"Swallow," he commanded. "Swallow them fast so it will all be over." He covered her mouth and nose with a cloth to keep her from breathing.

She sobbed as she tried to get him away from her, but she could feel her body weakening from lack of air.

"Swallow the damn pills so you don't die," he growled as he pressed his knee further into her waist.

She cried out in pain and suddenly the pills were down her throat and the cloth was gone from her face.

Her vision started to blur in and out of focus and suddenly Nico's figure was gone from her line of vision.

She tried to sit up, but she could no longer feel anything.

She had let a man take advantage of her again. After Hayze begged her not to let it happen.

Her vision blurred again and lights started to spot her vision.

And then suddenly...

all was dark.

°•○●○•°

"What the f~ck!"

River groaned as she shifted her body on the hard wood floor. Suddenly, the feeling of the hard floor was gone and instead was replaced by a fresh smelling hunk of muscle.

"River? Babygirl, can you hear me?"

She whimpered weakly when she felt a sore part of her stomach being touched.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and immediately made contact with Hayze's icy blue panicked eyes.

"What happened in here?" He asked softly before turning his head. "Vito, go get her some water!"

She winced at the loudness of his voice and he apologized by kissing her temple.

"Tell me what happened," he said softly as he stroked her hair.

She groaned and reached up to massage her temples. "I don-"

Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through her stomach and she gasped. Hurriedly, she climbed out of Hayze's arms to stretch her body out but another sharp pain ran through her lower abdomen and she bit her lip to keep from making noise.

"What was that?" Hayze asked worriedly as he rubbed her back.

Vito came in with the water and she thanked him before taking a few small sips.

Her face screwed up in discomfort as she started cramping so she sank back onto the couch, hoping to feel relief.

"Why were you passed out here?"

"I don't know. I was..." she scanned her brain for an answer but came up short. Instead another cramp ran through her but this time she felt a rush of warm wetness between her thighs.

She raised her butt off the couch in embarresment, thinking that she had just peed herself, but she was wrong.

Hayze gripped her thigh. "Merda! River, you're bleeding. Why are you bleeding?"

River felt her breath leave her as she looked down at her legs. "Hayze," she whimpered. "Oh my God. I'm bleeding! No!"

Suddenly the memory of Nico hovering over her and stuffing pills down her throat hit her and she stumbled forward onto the cherry wood floor.

"Sh~t," she said as she clutched her stomach carefully.

"Did you just curse?" Hayze asked cautiously. "Oh f~ck. You cursed. Somethings wrong with the baby?" He panicked as he kneeled down in front of her.

"Hayze," she cried. "He killed my baby!" River was suddenly hysterical now and Hayze was struggling to keep her calm.

"Shh, shhh. What do you mean? Who killed our baby?" He asked as he wrapped her in his arms and pressed multiple kisses to her forehead. He hoped she didn't notice the shaking in his hands.

"Nico," she whispered.

His whole body tensed up and he pulled away. "Are you joking with me?"

"No," she sobbed. "Why would i joke about this?"

"How did he get in here?"

"I don't know. But he was just here and suddenly he was shoving pills down my throat."

"We've gotta get you to the doctors." He picked her up and tucked her close to him before running out the door.