Bradley's POV - cont.

My mind began to play tricks as I witness the floor beneath me , start to spin. Round and round... matching the rhythm of my heart as it's beats echo loudly in my ears.

He's... he's not mine. He can't be mine. Jesus Christ! Please... don't let him be mine.

Fuck, I'm gonna be sick!

NO! Fuck that.

Breathe B, just breathe.

My mind slowly goes blank as I struggle to circulate the oxygen evenly. I feel my body instantly heat up, with my breaths coming out as short rasps. A single sharp pain, violently cuts through my chest as I desperately try to take another breath in.

Goddammit. Focus B.

In... Out... In... Out.

I feel my lungs finally expand, allowing fresh air to seep through. I wipe the beads of sweat away from my forehead, before glancing over at Benj who's eyes were glued onto mine, then I switch my attention to Audrina and the little boy.

Something about this situation just feels... off. I was so fucking high, on that godforsaken night, I can barely even remember if I blew in the bitch or not. But something deep down in my gut tells me, that if I had mistaken her for my ex-girlfriend Paige... then there was a high chance, protection wasn't used that night. Stupid fucking bitch!

I slowly make my way over to the three of them and internally wince as I see Benj create a noticeable distance between us. I push the image to the back of my mind to focus on the current situation. The boy.

"Who's the kid?" I heard myself say. My voice slightly trembling with anxiety.

Audrina glanced down at her son, as he continues to eye Benj and I up with curiosity. "This is Blake.. my son. son."

She throws a quick glance over at Benj as the last words leave her lips and I felt my body relax all too quickly at the sudden declaration. I look over at Benj sheepishly, his brows furrowed, lips in a tight line and arms tightly crossed over his chest with his jaw twitching like it's having a fucking seizure. Audrina clutches Blake closer behind her back as Benj makes his way over, towering directly over them, with his face inches away from hers.

"The fuck did you just say?" Benj says low and slow, venom dripping off his tongue.

"I.. He.." Audrina stutters out, as her bottom lip starts to quiver.

"I highly suggest you take a moment to think about your next words Audrina. I am not to be messed with, so don't even think about selling me your bullshit, because if you are in fact lying..." Benj leans in close. His left hand reaching up to grab Audrina aggressively on the back of her head, pushing it dangerously close to his face.

He holds her in place another minute longer before quickly releasing his grip, letting her stumble back slightly.

"Now if my memory serves me correctly, you slept with my brother since my cock was last buried deep inside that cunt of yours."

Fuck sake Benj. Let's just paint a fucking picture for everyone.

"Watch that mouth of yours." Audrina says, quickly covering Blakes ears as he snuggles his face into her hip. "Benj please, we shouldn't do this here. I would prefer it if we could discuss this in private. Please?"

His lips curl upwards. "Yes well I'd prefer that my girlfriend remain loyal and fuck my brother, but hey... We can't always get what we want now can we Auds?"

"Fuck you." She mouths silently.

"You were on the goddamn pill Auds. So unless you were actually planning for all of this to happen or you had somehow forgotten to keep up with your daily regime, then how the fuck did you fall pregnant by ? We were together for 2 years with no incidents."

"The pill isn't 100% Benj. There is still always a chance I would've fallen pregnant. These things do happen." Audrina states.

"And by chance, it happened after sleeping with my brother. Yet you stand there and continue to believe the kid is mine." He says chuckling to himself. "Come on woman. You can't be that fucking thick."

Audrina starts to fidget nervously, her face giving way to uncertainty. The nauseating feeling quickly creeps back in, knowing my brother was right. The boy could still be mine.

"He's...he's yours Benj. He's yours." Audrina repeats in a whisper.

Was she trying to convince him... or herself?

"Yea. Good luck trying to keep up with that bullshit. I'm fucking done." Benj gives me a once over then turns to walk to the exit.

Audrina diverts her attention to me as I reach out to grab Benjis shoulder.

"Don't make me fucking hurt you." He says calmly, refusing to turn around.

I remove my hand and step in front. "Benj, listen. We can't end it like this. This won't give any of us closure."

"Don't need it." he shrugs.

I roll my eyes. "Stop being so fucking stubborn."

"Get the fuck out of my face dickhead." he says, leaning his head to one side to look over my shoulder.

"No. Fuck you Benj. We're not done here. Don't you want to get a test done? Don't you want to find out if this kid really is yours?" I pleaded. "Just... don't shut me out again Benj."

He throws a glance over his shoulder in Lexi's direction, before shoving me out of the way. "No."

"Benj!"

"Fuck off Brad." He yells back, before yanking open the door to the bar. It slams back after him, leaving the sound of its echoes lingering in the air.

Stubborn Prick.

"Leave him Brad, he just needs some time to cool down." I hear Audrina say.

Seriously? Ugh, this bitch. I would never in a million years, ever hit a woman... but fuck me she is asking for it. Who the fuck does she think she is, telling me what to do? I turn back around and saunter over to her.

"Don't ever tell me what to do, you hear me? You have no say in my life or my brothers."

"I'm not here to fight with you Brad. We need to move past this since we're going to be family." She says.

Did she just say.... she fucking didn't. For real....? Aww hell no.

"Having a child with Benj, doesn't automatically make you family. Blake may be blood, but sure as shit ain't." I say. "Besides, we don't know if this shit's all fabricated. God only knows how many people you've slept with after me."

She rolls her eyes but refrains from commenting. "Seriously, how did you fall pregnant? Like Benj said, you were on the pill for 2 years without any incidents. What changed?"

"I already told you, the pill isn't 100% effective." She repeats. "It even states it on the packet."

"Oh come off it Auds. Paige was on the pill for the few months we were together and before that, Hailey was also on it for 2 years. Not once did we have any issues and yes.. my boys can fucking swim!" I state. "Now, the only way it loses its effect is if you happen to fuck up your routine, which I seriously wouldn't put it past you, or you just completely stopped taking it. So tell me Auds, what fucking changed?"

"I.. Nothing! I didn't change anything." She replies.

"Fuck, you're a shit liar Auds. Your pupils are dilated and you keep biting your lip like it's fucking chewing gum." I state calmly. "What did you do? Just fucking tell me."

I watch as a single sweat bead trickles down the left side of her face, with a slight sheen forming on the tip of her nose. Why the fuck is she sweating so much? I take a step towards her, closely studying her now. "What did you do Audrina?"

"I... fuck... I messed up."

"That's evident. Now tell me how!" I ask. Though I believe I already knew.

"Two days before Benj and I last slept together, I had mixed up the pills and took the wrong one. I knew I could fix it as I've had it happen before but then with everything that had happened with Benj and then with us... I.. I completely forgot about it. It wasn't until about a week after, when I finally managed to clear my head, that I realised I hadn't been taking the pill and then... well... I truly thought I'd be ok. I mean, what were the chances really? How was I supposed to know I'd be so fucking fertile. At first, I didn't even get any symptoms, but... 9 months later, I uh... well, I clearly had Blake."

"Wow. Just.. wow. It's terrifying how calmly you said that, like it's an everyday occurrence and that not one part of it was fucking wrong!"

"Are you saying my son is ?" She shouts.

I take a deep breath in, composing myself. Forgive me Father...

"No you fucking dumb twat. That's not what I said. I don't know the kid but I'm sure he's grand. Shame he's got you as a mother..."

"Fuck you." She says while attempting to shove me backwards.

"Yea no thanks. The first time was already fucking horrific. All I can say is thank fuck I was so out of it that night, it's a miracle I didn't end up in therapy." I say shrugging her off. "But Auds, everything you just admitted is fucking disturbing, you see that right? And as much as I wanna be done with this conversation and you, I need to know... Is he really Benjis?"

She takes a moment to look down at Blake, who has his small chubby arms wrapped around her left thigh with his head hanging low and eyes glued to the ground. She begins rubbing his shoulder in a soothing manner while continuing to bite her quivering lip. It was fucking irritating me. I involuntarily held my breath, awaiting a response. She continued to concentrate on Blake for what felt like a few hundred very long seconds. I was quickly starting to lose patience and oxygen.

"Fuck sake. Quit stalling and answer me woman." I say, breaking her concentration. "Who does he belong to?"

"Fuck! I don't know!" She screams, wide eyed. "I.. I don't know, alright."

Ok...Don't throw up! Don't fucking throw up!

1, 2, 3... Breathe in. 1, 2, 3... Breathe out. Ok good... you're good.

"How the fuck don't you know? Jesus Christ Auds. The fuck is wrong with you?"

"I never got a goddamn test done alright." She screams.

"And why the fuck not?"

"Because pin pointing who his father was, wasn't exactly on the top of my priority list. More like, trying to survive each fucking day on my own as a first time mom without having a fucking mental breakdown, or desperately trying to avoid getting sexually assaulted on the street for looking vulnerable, were some of my main concerns. Look, I never expected to fall pregnant by either one of you and it's not like I could've asked Benj to do a paternity test with me after all these years. He fucking threw me out Brad! That shit hurt and I'll be damned if I ever asked for his help." She says.

"He had a right to know. We both had a right to know." I reply.

"He was so angry Brad... so angry that night. I didn't trust being pregnant around him. People are capable of anything when they have that much anger coursing through their body. He could've..." She says, voice trailing off. "Anyway, I had already left England when I found out I was pregnant. I was doing it all on my own. You really have no idea how difficult it is, being pregnant, alone, heartbroken, betrayed and in a new country with no support.... But it's done now and I've been doing fine on my own for 4 years."

I sigh heavily, torn with my emotions, knowing she brought this all on herself but yet the better part of me knew, no woman should ever go through this experience alone. I blame my mom for giving me such a sensitive, caring gene. Thanks Mom. Thanks for making me such a pussy!

"You and I both know, my brother isn't a violent man. Yes he has severe anger issues but he would never violently put his hands on a woman, especially one who could potentially be carrying his child." I state. "You should've told him sooner. If you really loved him, you should've tried harder."

"I've never stopped loving him... even after 4 years. And I did try, but everyone has a limit." She sighs, wiping a single tear away from her cheek. "It doesn't matter now anyway. I don't need a test because I know he belongs to Benji,

I roll my eyes at her. "You know that shit's not gonna fly with either of us. You can carry on believing he belongs to Benj but this isn't a proven fact. This is purely a selfish want." I sigh again. "Look Auds, believe me... as much as I prefer the kid to be Benjis, we need to find out who his real father is. You owe it to us and especially your son. Don't start him off in life, with a lie."

"Don't tell me how to raise my son. He's son and you're not his fucking father!" She screams violently at me.

Blake suddenly lets go of the grip he has on her leg, placing both hands on his ears. "Mommy! Mommy! Too loud. Don't yell, don't yell."

I look down at the boy, his eyes glazing over as tears begin to form. "I'm sorry sweetheart. Mommy won't yell anymore." She says, trying to calm the boy down.

"I wanna go home. Mommy let's go home. I wanna go home" Blake chants over and over, still covering both ears with his hands.

"Soon baby. Mommy just needs to talk to her friends a few minutes more, ok sweetheart?"

"No! No talking. I wanna go home." Blake yells out, stamping his foot on the ground before pushing Audrina and escaping from her arms and quickly bolts towards the exit.

"Blake wait. Come back baby." She shouts, getting up from her knees to run after Blake. "Dammit Brad, grab him."

I take a step back with my hands raised.

"You're such a cunt." She spits out before disappearing through the door.

Right back at ya sweetheart.

I finally allow my body to relax, hunching slightly over as I continue to focus my attention on the door. My head was pounding and my throat was dry. Somehow I had completely forgotten my surroundings or the fact I was even at a birthday party, until I felt the touch of soft warm hands lightly trailing down my exposed back. Shit! Lexi. I quickly turn around, letting my needs take over as I brush both my hands down her shoulders, placing both her hands in mine as I pull her gently towards me.

"Hey." She whispers against my chest.

I nuzzle my face against her forehead, letting my lips brush lightly against her skin. "Hey beautiful." I held her closer, tighter. Deeply breathing in her sweet scent, which I knew would help settle my nerves quicker. She felt so good in my arms, it was hard for me to let go, even for just a minute. I knew I was being selfish, as I continue to imprison her in my arms. She helped me temporarily forget about the events that had just unfolded moments ago.

Fuck. She heard everything.

"Brad? Are you ok?" She asks softly, turning her face to look up at me, with genuine worry evident in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes.

"Yea babe. I'm all good. I'm really sorry you had to witness all of that on your birthday. The stupid bitch ruins everything."

She reaches up and caresses my face with her hands, lightly tickling me as she toys with my stubble. "You're really sweet. But don't worry about me, I think we both know you have much more important things to think about other than me and my stupid birthday party."

I place her left hand in mine and bring it towards my lips, kissing her palm softly. "You're the only thing that is important to me right now."

She sighs heavily, bringing her gaze to the floor as she slowly eases out of my arms. What did I say?

She looked deep in thought. Something was obviously troubling her and I was dying to get in her head. "You ok babes? Is something wrong?"

"Yea I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."

Lies.

"Are you sure? You seem...distant." I didn't want to push it but I couldn't help my curiosity. That and the fact that most men know that when a woman says "nothing is wrong"... oh there's fucking something wrong!

Her eyes linger on the floor, desperately avoiding eye contact. I reach out and place my hand under her chin and gently lift her face. It was clear, she was upset about something. Me? Benj? Audrina? Her party? All of the above? Fuck. I need to fix this.

"Babe.."