Xander reached for the pregnancy test in her hand. "Put that down, Yvonne. You''re pregnant-no doubt about it."


    Never mind what the test showed; her symptoms spoke for themselves. Everything she ate came right back up. She slept constantly, and if she wasn''t asleep, she was snapping at everyone around her. All the signs were there.


    Yvonne jerked away before Xander could snatch the test. Hearing his blunt deration, the fury on her face was unmistakable. Whatever fragile calm he''d managed to salvage a moment ago instantly shattered. With a furious yell, she hurled the test across the room, the stic ttering against the wall.


    "That bastard Dan! I swear to God, I''m going to kill him!" The scratches and ps she''d given him earlier suddenly felt far too merciful-he deserved much, much


    worse.


    Rage zing in her eyes, she jumped to her feet, determined to grab her things and hunt Dan down again.


    Xander watched her storming around and felt a headacheing on. He grabbed her wrist in an effort to stop her. “Yvonne—”


    "Let go of me! And don''t you dare say a single nice word about him!" she snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence. Thest thing she wanted to hear was anyone—even Xander-making excuses for Dan. Ever since that jerk had faked his death for years and thene waltzing back into her life, she''d fantasized about killing him daily. Taking Dan down had basically be her sole mission in life.


    Xander''s grip tightened. "Would you just—"


    "I just don''t get it! Why do you always take his side?" Yvonne''s anger only grew, insisting Xander was about to defend Dan yet again.


    Xander exhaled, frustrated. He''d told her over and over since that night—it was him, not Dan. But Yvonne refused to listen, convinced Dan was the one. Now she even used him of being Dan''s defender.


    "You really think I''d defend him?" His voice was incredulous.


    "Of course you would! Why else are you stopping me?"


    "Why do you think that?" he pressed, baffled.


    She hesitated, just for a second. "Why? Because you are, that''s why! What other reason could there be?"


    Xander stared, at a loss. There was no reasoning with her.


    "Hey," she rounded back, almost as if the question had only just urred to her, "why are you defending Dan anyway? it was a mystery that had clearly bothered her


    "I''m not defending him! Not now, not ever!" Xander''s exasperation seeped into every word.


    "So why then?"


    "I''m not! I have zero reason to!" He''d said it ten times already, but she still wouldn''t drop it. He couldn''t understand where her logic came from.


    Yvonne waved him off, as if tired of going in circles. "It doesn''t matter. I''m going to kill him anyway."


    "Isn''t what you''ve done to him


    enough? Xander shot back. Dan had paid dearly already-hell, ck Gate


    was still reeling from the damage.


    But none of it was enough for Yvonne.


    As far as she was concerned, any excuse no matter how flimsy-was reason enough to try to destroy Dan. She showed absolutely no mercy, and new everyone could see vonne ather most ruthless.


    She once again lunged to grab her things. Xander had already snatched her weapon earlier, and now he refused to let go of her, which only infuriated her more. "Let go! I mean it, I have to—"


    “You''re not going anywhere," Xander said, his tone suddenly cold and final. "Because the baby is mine."