"Lane, honey, you've got a phone call, would you like me to take a message?" I heard my Mom from the other side of my bedroom door. I got up as quickly as I could & walked over, opening it up.

"Is it Nick?"

My mom gave me a strange look. "Sweetie, why would he be calling you? You're not back with him are you? Is that what's really going on between you & Micah?"

"Momma, please, just give me the phone. I promise I'll explain everything to you. I just really need to talk to him right now."

She sighed. She hadn't been such a big fan of Carter since the incident that left my heart shattered. Not that I could blame her. I was her baby girl. I could only imagine how I would feel if that ever happened to my child. "Okay, honey. I'll be downstairs when you're finished." She handed me the phone & turned to walk back down the stairs.

I put the phone to my ear. "Carter?"

"Of course. Now tell me what the hell is going on? I've been trying to reach you all morning since I saw all the pictures plastered everywhere. Are you okay? What happened with Micah?" He was talking a mile a minute. I could tell he was genuinely worried about me.

"I caught a flight out this morning. I wanted to get things resolved with him. When I got home though he was on the phone with my publicist. He saw the photos of us leaving that club...." I kind of trailed off. I knew that if I told Nick everything he would completely fly off the handle & an angry Nick was not something I wanted to deal with.

"And? Lane, I know there's more to this..."

I sighed. "He called me a few names & grabbed my arms & started shaking me... I have a few light bruises from that, but I'm okay."

And here it came. "HE WHAT? THAT SON OF A BITCH!"

I took a deep breath. "Carter, calm down..."

"Calm down? You want me to fucking calm down? You're pregnant with his child & he's treating you like a fucking rag doll? That is NOT okay, Laney."

"I'm safe now. He left the house & I took off to my parents. My father has already talked to Drew about a restraining order. He's not going to get to me." He was silent for a couple minutes. I could tell he was deep in thought. "Nick? Are you there?"

"I'm coming out there. I need to be with you, I need to protect you. I'd feel so much better if I was actually there."

I smiled. My knight in shining armor. "Carter, don't be ridiculous. I'm fine. Trust me, my family is not going to let him anywhere near him. I've already contacted my lawyer. I'm going to file for divorce as soon as the baby is born."

"Okay. You call me the second anything happens though & I'm on the next flight, deal?"

"Of course. I miss you, Carter."

"I miss you too, Lane. So much."

"I'll be in touch soon."

"Okay, sweets... I love you."

I smiled to myself. "I love you too." With that I clicked the phone off. I got up off the bed & went to go downstairs. When I opened the door I came face to face with my mother. "Momma! You scared me." She had this look on her face that I couldn't quite interpret. "What's wrong, Momma?" She pushed past me into my room & shut the door, locking it.

"Laney, he's found you." That was all she needed to say. I started shaking.

"What? What do you mean? He's here?" I was in full on panic mode.

She nodded. "He's downstairs. We tried to tell him you weren't here, but he saw your car out front. Laney, we have to call your brother." I nodded & handed her the phone.

"You call him... I need to call Nick." I grabbed my cell phone & turned it on. It started going crazy with messages from the asshole. I ignored all of that and dial Nick's number. He picked up first ring. "Carter...he already found me. He's here, at my parents house... I'm scared."

"I'm on my way. Everything is going to be okay. I love you, Laney."

"ALAINA, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! YOU BETTER OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR RIGHT NOW BEFORE I BREAK IT DOWN!" He started screaming & pounding on the bedroom door.

"I love you too, Nick. Please hurry." I knew there was no way he would be there until later in the day, he was on the other side of the country, but I could dream. I ended the call. "Momma, what are we going to do?" I whispered.

"LANEY! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

She put her arms around me. "Your brother has units on the way."

"I'm such a mess up, Momma... Look what I've gotten us into."

"ALAINA!"

She looked at my face, wiping a few stray tears away. "Alaina Marie, there will be no talk of that. This is not your fault."

Just then there was a loud bang & the door came bursting open. He pushed my mom into the wall and grabbed me by my hair. "You think you can just up & leave me like that, Alaina? Huh?" He yanked on my hair. "You've got another thing coming, sweetheart." He let go of my hair & grabbed my arm practically dragging me out of the room & down the stairs. We were about 7 stairs from the bottom when I lost my footing & went down. Everything went black.