Chapter 38
“ P rincess, are you ready to go?” Spencer called out from by the front door to the penthouse as he waited for their girl to get ready.
Their girl.
Fuck, he loved the fact that they were sharing her. He couldn’t imagine doing this any other way.
Of course, it would be better if Quaid pulled his head out of his ass. But he’d get there eventually.
Speaking of Quaid, he needed to check in with him. He’d sent them all a message to say he was going hunting and they hadn’t seen or heard from him in a few days.
Spencer needed to tell his family about her as well. Even though they hadn’t met her before he was certain they’d love her.
She walked out, looking worried as Slade headed toward them from the living room and Rock appeared out of his room.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Spencer asked in a rush.
How did he fix whatever was wrong?
She was wearing a Christmas sweater with reindeer on it, black tight pants and long black boots. The boots had fur on the inside. He knew that because he’d bought them. They’d keep her feet toasty.
But he frowned as he saw the huge, old handbag she was holding. That thing was ugly and enormous.
Indie gave him a startled look. “What?”
“You looked worried. What is it?” He walked over and cupped her chin, tilting her head back.
“Um, well, you guys remember that you can’t all come into the room with me, right? I’m only allowed one support person with me during the scan.”
“Yeah, and that’s bollocks,” Spencer said. “They need to change their rules. What if you have more than one boyfriend?”
She blushed red. “Are you . . . are you planning on telling the sonographer that you’re all my boyfriends?”
Slade moved up beside her. “Are you embarrassed by us?”
“By you guys?” She shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. Who could be embarrassed at having the four of you? I mean, three.” She bit her lip.
Quaid was such a dumbass.
“You’re all so gorgeous.” She sighed, staring at them with hungry eyes. “So sexy.”
“And so are you.” Spencer pressed his lips to hers, running his tongue over the seam of her lips until she parted them with a sigh. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time for anything more.”
“I thought I’d ask my midwife when I’d be okay, to, uh do things.”
“Things?” Slade asked, looking amused as she went bright red.
“Likehavesex,” she blurted out without pausing.
Spencer cupped her face. “That sounds like a good idea. You can ask and we will follow her advice. But it’s also got to be when you are ready. No pushing yourself for us, understood? The last thing we want is for you to do something you’re not ready for.”
Tears filled her eyes. “You guys really are the best.”
“We have our moments,” Slade told her. “Now, let’s get going.”
“But who is coming in with me?” she asked .
“All of us,” Slade replied. “When you told me that rule, I booked your scan in with a private clinic that will let us all in.”
“Really?” she asked as Rock grabbed her coat.
“Really.”
She flung herself at Slade and a look of surprise filled his face before he hugged her tight. There was a fierce look on his face, as though he would do anything to keep this girl in his arms.
Spencer knew they all would.
Rock held out her coat and Spencer took hold of her handbag.
“Holy hell. What do you have in this thing?” Spencer asked. “This is heavy.”
She blushed. “A few things.” After Rock had her coat on, she reached out a hand for the bag.
Spencer drew it back. “I’ll carry it.”
Indie gave him a suspicious look. But Rock took hold of her hand and led her to the elevator. As she turned her back, he quickly opened her bag. Slade shot him a look.
He thought the other man was going to tell him not to do it.
“Just be quick,” Slade said. “Don’t let her see. Women are funny about their handbags.”
He opened it up and took a quick glance. Okay, no bricks like he was anticipating. There were the usual things like hand sanitizer, wallet, phone, lip balm. Then there was her gargoyle.
Had she named the stuffed toy yet?
It was cute that she was bringing him with her.
Nerves filled her as she leaned back against the bed.
Please let everything be all right.
At least the nausea had stopped and she had far more energy. She was going to need it to keep up with her men.
The sonographer lifted her top up to reveal her belly and squirted some gel on her tummy.
She jumped at the coolness and Rock let out an unhappy noise .
The sonographer froze, then glanced up at him. “Um, is everything all right?”
She glanced around at her guys, so glad they were here.
And yet wishing that Quaid was too. In her dreams, he belonged to her. He came into her room each night to watch over her like a guardian angel.
Which was a bit of a weird dream to have, if she was honest. And she kind of figured if any of her men were going to stand guard while she slept it would be Rock.
Not that he needed to. He was just the most likely to.
“Sorry,” she said. “My fault. I forgot how cold the gel is.”
“A reminder might have been appreciated,” Slade added, glaring at the sonographer.
Oh God.
The poor woman looked like she was about to run from the room.
“Can we please keep going?” she said.
“Yes, yes,” the older woman said. “My apologies for not warning you about the gel.” She moved the wand over her tummy, stopping it every so often to take some measurements. “Here you are, here’s the heartbeat.”
Relief filled her as she heard the heartbeat of her baby. She knew it was silly, but she felt better hearing it.
“It’s fast, is that all right?” Spencer asked, hovering on her left side. His hands kept twitching as though he wanted to rip the wand out of the sonographer’s hands and do it himself.
“Everything is just fine. See here is the head. And that’s a leg. Do you want to know the sex?” the sonographer asked.
“Um, no,” she said. “No thanks. I want a surprise.”
“Everything looks good,” the other woman said. “The baby is small but he or she still has time to catch up. I’ll just clean you up.”
“I’ll do that,” Spencer said, taking the cloth from her hand. “I’ve got this. Thanks.”
The poor woman practically ran out the door.
“You guys scared her off!” she scolded .
“I didn’t like her,” Spencer said.
“I’ll look into using a different hospital,” Slade added, already on his phone as Spencer fixed her clothing.
Then Rock helped her sit before crouching to put her boots back on. Standing, he lifted her off the bed and held her until she was feeling more steady.
“Come on, let’s get you home for a nap, Boo,” Slade said to her.
Oh goody.
Quaid stared down at the message from Slade.
Slade: Everything was all good with the scan. Here is an image of the baby. The big blob is the head. Apparently it’s a bit on the small side. Spencer is going to feed her up some more.
Quaid looked at the image. He couldn’t tell one end of the baby from the other.
But looking at the image made him feel . . . sad?
Shit.
He had to get over this. Over her. Besides, he had other things to do.
Like finding Billy.
And ensuring that her mother never came near her again.
He waited in the bushes. The manicured garden of the London club held a number of hiding spots, surprisingly.
But then this was just an upmarket sex club. People came here to hook up with people who weren’t their wives or husbands.
He sneered as he waited. He had gotten a tip-off from a waitress in the club that she was here. It paid to have a number of informants all over the city. Turns out he needed to have more in other areas of the country, though.
They still hadn’t located Billy. And Shepherd was starting to wonder if that was because he was six feet under .
Quaid fucking hoped not. Because he wanted to be the one to end his life.
Then he heard them. So freaking predictable. He’d found the camera that she’d set up out here and disabled it. Sylvia was getting desperate.
He wasn’t surprised as he saw who she’d snagged. A member of the House of Lords, who looked completely drunk as he staggered around.
Or had she drugged him?
Sylvia. Sylvia.
You fucking stupid bitch.
She fumbled with his belt and pants, falling onto her knees and dragging them down.
“What . . . what’s happening?” the guy said as Quaid took some photos then switched it to video.
“Shh,” Sylvia murmured back. “I’m going to make this feel so good for you, Gerry.”
Great. Now he was going to have to look at a member of the House of Lords’ tiny dick. At least it was nighttime.
The guy let out an obscene groan.
Didn’t he have a wife at home and a young baby?
What a fucking prick. Although he did seem drugged or very drunk he was still at a fucking sex club. He had to know what happened here.
So no sympathy.
Sylvia sucked him and Quaid grimaced. If he interrupted now, she might accidentally bite off his tiny dick.
Of course that wouldn’t be a tragedy, now, would it?
Not to his way of thinking.
Luckily the guy finished super quick. Wow. His poor wife.
Sylvia stood and wiped her mouth. “That was so hot. Now, I know you’re going to do the right thing by me, aren’t you, Gerry?”
“What . . . what do you mean?” he asked.
“Well, you wouldn’t want your wife to know that I sucked your dick. You poor thing, I bet she’s a real fish in bed. But now you can have a real woman by your side. Me.”
Gerry seemed to sober up a bit at that. “What are you talking about? I can’t leave my wife.”
“But you’re going to have to. I mean, I’m sure she’ll leave you once she sees the video I have of my mouth on your dick.”
“Actually, I have that video,” Quaid said, stepping out. He had the collar of his jacket turned up and a hat down low on his head.
“What . . . what do you mean?” Sylvia asked, sounding confused. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you one of Slade’s friends?”
“Get lost, Gerry,” he said.
“Um . . . but the video,” Gerry said.
“I have the video,” Quaid said. “I disabled the camera Sylvia had set up.”
“What?” Sylvia screeched. “Why? Who the fuck are you?”
“I won’t use it, Gerry,” Quaid told him. “But when I come asking for a favor, you best do what I want.”
“You won’t show my wife?” he asked pathetically.
“No, but I suggest you don’t come back here and keep it in your fucking pants. Now, go!”
Gerry ran off, nearly crashing into a tree.
Idiot.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Sylvia asked.
“I want you to leave the country and never return, Sylvia,” Quaid told her.
“I’d arrange something worse for you, but I really have bigger fish to fry.
I’ve got you a one-way ticket to this lovely island in Scotland.
There’s a job and accommodation waiting for you there at an old fortress with a lovely Scottish gentleman.
He’s been briefed on your ways and he wasn’t fazed.
Don’t worry, it’s somewhat renovated. They now have indoor plumbing.
A ferry goes out to the island once a month to drop off supplies.
You won’t get much help from the crew though.
They’ve all been told about you as well.
You’re going to live out your days cleaning and cooking.
Do you know how to do those things, Sylvia?
Or did you always get Indie to clean up after you? ”
“You can’t do this! People will look for me. It’s kidnapping.”
“Oh, Syliva, who is going to come looking for you?” he said patronizingly. “No one cares about you. No one wants you. Believe me, this is actually me being nice.”
“Who are you? Do I know you? I’m going to start screaming.”
He sighed and lunged, grabbing her, putting his hand over her mouth before she could scream. Then he wrapped his arm around her neck and choked her until she passed out.
Setting her down, he checked her pulse and to see if she was breathing.
She was.
He attempted to feel relief. But he really didn’t care.
One threat down. One to go.
He needed to find Billy.
Time to end this so his girl was safe.
No. Not his. Theirs.
Their girl.