30 Days Until He Loses Me by Aaren Collins novel Chapter 10

Chapter 10

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Since Felicia stopped pressing, the police officer’s tone softened. “If you really want to do something, go find a local social welfare agency.

“Or you can drop the baby off at an orphanage.”

He paused, then added, “Actually, you could adopt her if you want. As a doctor, you should know -local orphanages are packed with kids of addicts and inmates.

“Besides, who’s to say an orphanage is the better choice?”

He had a point.

An orphanage…

Felicia had grown up in one. She, of all people, knew how carefully she’d had to tread.

She’d been adopted and sent back more than once.

She’d grown up walking on eggshells, with zero sense of security.

And that was in America.

Now she was in France–another country, another system.

She was an adult, and still her supervisor targeted her.

What about the baby? Abandoned by her own parents, she’d have to fight her way through an orphanage–hard enough on its own. And if someone with ulterior motives adopted her…

Felicia couldn’t bear to think about it.

She stared at the infant, who widened her eyes and looked back at her quietly. Something in her chest softened.

“What do I need to do to adopt her?” she asked.

***

Felicia already knew from the tests that Abigail had a blood disorder. But she asked about the adoption process anyway.

Adoption required proof of stable income and long–term residency in France.

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Felicia had neither.

So she temporarily placed the baby in an orphanage and visited every day after work.

She named her Abigail–Abigail Delgado.

Then she started working overtime endlessly to save up.

The more she saved, the closer she got to adopting Abigail.

Then everything changed the day Felicia got caught in a shooting.

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Robberies, drug busts, shootings–they happened here in France. But actually witnessing one was definitely a first, a whole new level of terrifying.

She ran for her life, her mind still struggling to process what had just happened. It was just a quiet night, no different from any other. Yet somehow she’d ended up in the middle of a shootout.

Then, out of nowhere, someone yanked her into an alley, pinned her against the wall, and kissed

her.

Felicia’s skin crawled.

Every fact she knew about HIV and STDs flooded back to her mind in a split second.

She struggled instinctively.

But he locked her tightly in his arms and even deepened the kiss.

She was on the verge of suffocating.

“Where’d he go?”

“Over there!”

J

A group of men ran past the alley, cursing. They were clearly chasing the guy on top of her.

She figured that out once they were gone–because he pulled back quickly and stepped away. He apologized in fluent English, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

He didn’t mean to?

How was that supposed to make it OK?

But the moment she saw his face–stunning, almost unreal–she suddenly found it hard to slap him.

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He apologized so sincerely. Was she supposed to just… let it go?

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He fumbled to pull out a stack of cash from his wallet. Seeing this, Felicia flew into a rage.

He wanted to make it up to her with money? How insulting!

What a jerk–that pretty face was completely wasted on him.

Furious, she tossed his wallet onto the ground and snapped, “Get lost!”

Only then did he get a good look at her face. He stared at her features, stunned by her fluent English. After a long pause, he asked, “Are you American?”

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