Chapter Nine
Beth had missed being back at work. She wasn’t going to deny that the break was refreshing and helped her to recharge, but getting back to work gave her a sense of focus through the day.
The only downfall was the man she was now expected to take along with her to each job. Rome said his name was Paul, and that he didn’t like to talk but he would be a good guard for her.
She’d been back at work for one week, and so far Paul had stayed true to his word. He stood in the corner of every place she worked. The agency hadn’t been happy about her suddenly having a guard, but all it had taken was one phone call from Rome, and there had been no arguments. She wished she knew what he said to people. She had a feeling it was the kind of stuff that made people regret questioning him.
It was so strange to her. So many people feared and respected him, and Beth was so afraid to admit what she did feel for him. She also knew if she told Rome she had fallen in love with him, she had a horrible feeling he’d burst out laughing. There had been a few times in the past couple of weeks, late at night, when she had wanted to tell him she loved him. But she kept secret locked up in her chest, with no way of telling a living soul.
She had never been in love before. She had no idea what she was doing.
Rome had invited her to stay with him, but that didn’t mean anything. She didn’t want to expect anything from him.
She stepped back from dusting the top corner of the room, and was on some tall ladders to get to those places. She took a deep breath, and all too soon, she felt a little unsteady on her feet. She gripped the top of the ladder as the earth seemed to move, and she felt sick.
“Paul, help!” she said.
She started to feel herself losing her grip, and then, nothing.
****
Beth opened her eyes to look at Paul, and at first she was confused. He was on his cell phone and it took her several blinks to realize she was on the floor.
“She’s coming to, sir. Yes, I will, right away,” he said, hanging up.
“What’s going on?”
“You fell off the ladder. You gave me just enough time to catch you, before you hit the floor.”
She closed her eyes and opened them, and then saw the ladder in the corner. “I … got dizzy, I think. How long have I been out?” she asked, frowning.
Paul was trying to help her to her feet. “A couple of minutes, but I need to get you to the hospital.”
“I’m not going to the hospital.”
“Beth, Rome has already given me instructions, and he’s on his way—”
“No! You need to call him up right now and tell him you were faking it, or you were worried for no reason.” She couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of panic. There was no way she was going to the hospital, even though she had no reason to take a sudden fall. That did terrify her just a bit. She wasn’t going to tell Paul that.
“Miss Hunter, you cried out for my help seconds before you fell off that ladder. You didn’t see how you looked or the fact for several minutes I couldn’t get you to respond. You’re not my boss. Mr. Hayes is, and I answer to him, not to you. If he says you’re going to the hospital, then that is exactly where you’re going.”
The journey to the car was a bit hazy. She believed Paul carried her to the car, even though she became something of a dead weight to him. After that, it was still blurry. The city didn’t quite seem right to her, and, well, nothing felt right at all.
They arrived at the hospital and much to her surprise, they were ushered into a private room. This never happened to her, and she could only assume Rome had called ahead. She sat on the edge of a bed and was still waiting to be seen.
This didn’t feel right. The last couple of days she’d been waking up feeling a little sick, and now, she had almost fallen off a ladder.
Paul no longer stood with her in the private room. She sat alone, collecting her thoughts, and they were not good ones.
The doctor came and went, all before Rome turned up, and when he finally did, it was like he was a force of nature. Her door was partially open, and she heard him talk to Paul first. She clenched her hands together.
Blood had already been drawn, her vitals taken, notes written down, and now she had to wait for a dizzy spell. This made no sense and she had no doubt this was already costing Rome a fortune.
Finally, she got to see the man himself.
“You don’t look happy to see me,” he said.
“That’s because right now, I’m not very happy to see you. I’m … irritated.”
“You nearly fall and break something, and you’re irritated?”
She growled. “First, I didn’t fall.”
Both of his brows rose up.
“Paul caught me, so…” She didn’t have a clue where she was going with this argument as it felt like she had already lost it before she began.
“Okay, you got dizzy on the ladder, it happened quite quick, and if it hadn’t been for Paul, you’d have fallen and injured yourself. It’s only my guy having great reflexes that saved you.”
She pursed her lips. “Yes.”
“And you don’t think that warrants a hospital visit?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Damn it, Beth, I thought you were a lot smarter than this. I don’t know why we’re arguing about me taking care of you.”
“Because … I don’t like what I think it might be.” She pressed her lips together, and right there she had blurted it out.
Rome frowned and folded his arms across his chest.
She sighed and closed her eyes, not wanting to see him right now.
“What?” he asked.
“Come on, Rome, I know you’re a lot older than me, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what we’ve done.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I … think … I’m pregnant.”
There, she had finally said the words she hadn’t dared to speak, and now she felt terrified. What the fuck?
She didn’t like this. Getting pregnant was supposed to happen when her life was in order, she had fallen in love with a guy, and everything was perfect. She knew she was falling for Rome. How could she not? Regardless of the bad stuff he’d done, his reputation, and pretty much everything she could think of, he wasn’t a bad guy. Yes, he was a bad guy and yet, he wasn’t at the same time.
Ugh, it was so confusing.
He was a bad guy to everyone else, including her brother, but to her, other than their first time, he’d been this sweet, caring, guy. She loved spending time with him. He made her laugh, and she found herself doing odd things during the day, that made her think about spending time with him. It was crazy.
All they had together was a month, only this month had kind of ran into a second month. They hadn’t talked about what that could mean. But this was a big deal.
“I know,” Rome said.
She looked at him. “You know?”
“Yeah, I had an idea you might end up pregnant. I’ve never used protection with you. I didn’t want to, and I never saw you use contraception either. I knew it was only a matter of time before you were.” He sat down beside her on the bed.
She didn’t expect him to reach out and touch her, but she was a little grateful when he finally did. Beth didn’t even realize she needed that support.
Resting her head on his shoulders, she took a deep breath. “What are we going to do?”
“We’ll handle it.”
She didn’t like that. Handling something—did that mean he was going to expect her to get an abortion? Beth was about to ask him, but of course the doctor came in, and much to her surprise, he also carried the blood work in his hand.
And yes, of course she was pregnant.
****
Rome had never considered the possibility of becoming a father. The whole concept was foreign to him.
He was going to be a father. Beth would be the mother of his child.
The doctor had already confirmed that everything was normal. Beth had gone too long between food and fluid, and the work had made her feel dizzy. Rome was to be rewarded, and, well, even though Beth was expecting his child, it had been a week since the fall, and she was pissed at him.
He refused to allow her to work, and he might have already called ahead and quit on her behalf.
There was no way he was going to allow her to work and injure herself. She was carrying his child, and he simply wouldn’t allow it.
While he had trouble with Beth, getting her to do as she was told, her brother was becoming a problem.
Rome knew he was going to have no choice but to take matters into his own hands. Ben was seen entering Bratva territory, which could only mean one thing. He was hoping to use what bit of information he had on Rome against him. This could only mean it wouldn’t be long before he reached out to his sister, and then Beth would have to make a choice.
He had to talk to Beth about this, but with the pregnancy, he didn’t want to scare her, or run the risk of causing her any injury or stress. The doctor had insisted she take it easy. He’d also given Rome leaflets to read in order to understand what his woman was going through. Rome didn’t need to read them to know, but he was prepared for all eventualities. Like, walking into his home and finding Beth on the stairs. According to several of his guards, she refused to leave this spot until she had seen or spoken to him.
“Finally!” Beth said.
“You have got to tell your guards to let me wander around, or do something, or to live,” Beth said.
“They stopped you from cleaning. This is not your job and you heard what the doctor said. You were overdoing it, and while you live here, you don’t even need to be worrying about that.” He gritted his teeth as he hadn’t meant to even offer the option of her leaving his home. She was carrying his child and the truth was, he didn’t want to live without her.
“But, I can be useful around here. Please, Rome, I don’t want to lose my mind going stir-crazy. I’m not used to doing nothing.”
“And maybe that is the problem,” he said. “You’re not used to someone taking care of you and, well, I am taking care of you.”
“My brother took care of me,” she said but he saw the frown.
“Or did you take care of him, and he only gave the illusion that he was taking care of you?” He ran a hand down his face. “We need to talk.”
“Wow, okay, this doesn’t sound good.” She got to her feet. “Where?”
“My office,” he said.
It was going to be the only place he would be able to tell her matter-of-factly what was going on and what her brother had done.
“Wow, your office. This can’t be good.” He watched as she took a deep breath and then started to walk toward his office.
The door wasn’t open, so she stepped out of his way and allowed him to enter first. The curtains were still open and seeing as it was approaching dinnertime, it was still light, but shadows were also cast in the room.
“Have a seat,” he said.
“Rome, just tell me what is going on.” She took a seat but he saw the nervousness in her gaze.
“It’s about your brother.”
“Oh,” Beth said. “It is.”
He frowned. “What did you think it was about?”
“Ugh, I’m pregnant and I don’t know. Maybe you suddenly realized that a kid is for life and you don’t want to be a father.”
He took hold of her hands and stared into her gorgeous blue eyes.
“I want to have this child with you, Beth. That’s not going to change. Nothing is going to change the way I feel about you.”
She nodded. “Okay, that is good, but, ugh, what else could my brother do? I know you want me to make a decision about him, but—” She stopped as soon as he produced the file he had on Ben. “What’s this?”
“This is everything Ben has been involved with in the last five years,” he said. “I’ve also put in a small account of what he did when you were back home.”
Beth stared at the file.
“Take it, I want you to have a look.”
She let out a giggle. “I’m so sorry.” She pressed a hand to her lips. “I don’t even know why I am laughing.” It took her several moments to gain her composure and when she did, she finally took the file from him and forced a smile to her lips.
Rome stepped back and waited, watching her, unable to look away, and not wanting to.
She opened the first page, and the more she read and saw the pictures, he noticed the frown deepening within her brow.
By the time she got to the end of the file, she shook her head. “I had no idea.”
“My men caught him entering Bratva territory. When I took over the city, I pushed everyone back. There is only one reason for him to go into Bratva territory.”
He saw the tears in her eyes.
“He’s selling you out,” Beth said.
“Yes,” Rome said.
Beth slammed the file closed. “Do you have him?” she asked.
He was silent.
“If you caught him entering Bratva territory then it is only right to assume you have captured him coming out of that … turf or whatever. It’s why you’re bringing me this, right?”
“Anyone else would be dead,” Rome said.
He watched as she swiped at a tear. “Are you asking me to … beg for my brother?”
“Beth, it is because of you carrying my child and the way I feel about you, that I am giving you a choice,” he said.
“What choice do I have?” Beth asked.
“If you want me to keep him alive, then I will do that, but you have to understand he will have to be monitored.”
“You’ll have to lock him up?”
He nodded.
“And the other.”
“You know the other.”
“Kill him?” she asked.
He nodded.
Beth looked down at the file. “You know, I thought he was different from our parents.”
He saw the tears welling in her eyes and it made him hate Ben even more for pushing him into this corner. There was a lot of stuff he’d not even put in the file. Beth didn’t need to know that her brother had attempted to become a pimp, by hurting women and forcing them to earn money for him. That had been short-lived as another pimp hadn’t taken too kindly to him hurting his girls. There had also been the attempted loan-sharking, where he’d used Beth’s hard-earned money to try to build his own empire and threaten people. There was thieving as well.
The list went on and on.
Beth saw just a few of the select issues Ben had caused in the last five years. The man was a master manipulator, but Rome didn’t buy any of the bullshit as he’d seen it all before.
Ben was on a crash course, and the only destination he was heading to was six feet under.
Rome knew there was only so much he could do, and he’d already given him plenty of chances. He wasn’t kidding. Anyone else would be dead already. He’d have killed him himself, but Beth meant more to him. She was his one and only weakness. Her and the baby she carried.
“Can I see him?” Beth asked.
Rome knew it wasn’t a good idea, but he found himself nodding anyway.