Chapter 24
24
Christa
O nce Nathan finds us at the coffee shop, he takes us both back to Alexandra’s car, where Cassius and River are waiting.
“We checked and made sure nothing’s out of order,” River says. “Since we don’t know what’s going on here, we figured either one of you could be a target of those stalkers.”
“So, no explosives under my car then?” Alexandra replies with a wry smile.
River gives her a slight nod, then takes me in his arms. I lose myself in his embrace, welcoming his care and affection. I feel Cassius’s hand on the small of my back and Nathan’s touch on my shoulder.
“Are you okay?” Cassius gently asks me. He doesn’t give Alexandra more than a glance. He’s too worried about me. “Do you feel alright? Should we take you to the hospital again?”
I chuckle softly. “God, no. They’re probably tired of me by now.”
“This isn’t funny, Christa,” he mutters, forehead pressed into mine. “You’re…” He pauses, suddenly realizing Alexandra can see us—I briefly forgot as well. “You’re family. We take care of family.”
Alexandra watches our exchange with renewed interest and a twinkle of humor in her gaze. All I can do is nod at them. “I’m okay; I promise. Just shaken up. We didn’t expect our Sunday walk to become so exciting.”
“Did you get a good look at those fuckers?” Nathan asks us both.
“Tall, white, male. Black leather jackets,” Alexandra shrugs. “Nothing that stood out, to be honest. Plain, average Joes.”
“She’s right. Besides, when we realized they were following us, we started running to get away from them,” I add.
“They must’ve spotted you from the restaurant,” Nathan concludes. “One or both of you probably had a tail.”
Alexandra lowers her gaze. “It could be my fault. I’m no stranger to unwanted attention since I started Verdant. People know who I am; they know I’ve got money.”
“I don’t think it was you,” Cassius replies. “Truth be told, we could barely find you on the internet when we first met to discuss our partnership.”
“Then I guess my head of cybersecurity did his job. Maybe they were after Christa,” she says, giving me a curious look. “What skeletons do you have in your closet, babe?”
“Too many to list,” I joke.
“You’re going to be okay,” River tries to reassure me.
“Though clearly, we’ll have to be more careful about your social outings,” Nathan adds.
Cassius nods in agreement. “You should come stay with us until we find out more. For your safety and our peace of mind.”
“Oh, hell,” Alexandra bursts into a shocked laugh. “I see it now. I thought it was just a spicy rumor I picked up around the water cooler.”
“What are you talking about?” River asks her.
“You and her,” Alexandra replies. “It’s not just the two of you. It’s the four of you.”
“Water cooler gossip? Really, Alexandra?” Cassius scoffs.
She shrugs. “Hey, I’m telling it like it is. Some of your senior staff dropped a hint here and there about how the Hawthornes like sharing their women, not just their house or their fortune with one another. Personally, I figured the salacious rumors to be harmless… but if it’s true—”
“It’s not,” Nathan says. “And it’s none of your business either.”
“It is, kind of. My company is tied to yours now. Even the tinge of a personal scandal could tank our stocks,” she bluntly replies.
“You can’t prove anything,” River says.
“I don’t have to prove anything. I don’t want to either,” Alexandra says. “I’m only trying to protect my business interests and my reputation. While you may not care about any of that, I do, so… I think it’s time you lay it out for me and tell me what’s going on.”
“Alexandra, our personal lives are not your concern—” Cassius tries to reply, but she raises a hand in protest.
“Oh, but your personal lives are my concern if they start to interfere with my business.”
“It won’t,” Nathan replies. “We are careful.”
Alexandra gives me a hard glare, and I feel like this is the end of the road where our budding friendship is concerned. “You need to tell them,” she says.
“Tell us what?” River asks.
I shake my head. “You promised.”
“That was before I learned what I just learned. This is not a joke. I say this for your sake, their sake, and also my business’ sake. Sooner or later, if you keep secrets from each other, it will blow up and it will spill into the public. I mean it, tell them, or I will.”
“What is she talking about?” Cassius says to me, his brow furrowed.
“Dammit,” I groan with genuine, overwhelming frustration.
Nathan comes closer. “More secrets, Christa? I thought we agreed—”
“Alright, fine,” I cave in, lowering my gaze.
Alexandra nods slowly and gets in her car. “I’ll give you all the privacy you need. And I’ll see you all at the office tomorrow. We’re putting in a bid for a transport firm, and I require my partners’ input.”
We wait for her to leave before all eyes are set on me again.
“Christa,” Cassius says.
I exhale sharply and brace for the impact. “I’m pregnant.”
River gasps. “Seriously?”
“Yes. It’s why I’ve been feeling ill. Why I fainted. Why I insisted on going back to the hospital after my car got bumped,” I say. “I didn’t plan for it. I certainly didn’t really think about it until the test results came back. And I know we don’t quite know how long this thing between us is supposed to last, but…”
“Christa, hold on,” Cassius says, his voice softening as he takes me in his arms. “Did you really think we wouldn’t step up for this?”
“I didn’t know what to think.”
River chimes in with a warm smile. “We’ve always wanted a family of our own. We simply weren’t sure we’d find ourselves a woman who would want one with all of us”
I’m overwhelmed. My heart is beating so fast, and there’s a sweet pang in the pit of my stomach that wasn’t there before. “I never thought this could be a long-term thing. I thought we were just having fun.”
“Christa, can’t you see we’re head over heels for you?” Nathan mutters. “The fact that you’re pregnant might be a surprise, yes, but it’s not exactly a shocker.”
“And it’s the best news you could possibly give us, particularly in trying times such as these,” River adds.
“It makes everything all the more dangerous,” I reiterate. “With the Mancinis coming after me and all that. I assume you know those were Mancini goons chasing after Alexandra and me earlier.”
Cassius nods slowly. “You are it for us, Christa. And there’s a life growing inside you. Our child is growing inside you. Do you have any idea what that means?”
“I’m trying to understand.”
“It means we’re going to be a family. Maybe not in the eyes of the law or conventional society, but none of that matters. What matters is who we are and what we do when we’re together.” He touches my belly, fingers splaying across in a loving, protective gesture. “I will burn the entire Mancini enterprise to the ground for this kid.”
Nathan laughs. “There you have it. You made Mr. Righteous go all dark side.”
“I just want it all to be over so I can focus on what comes next. I wasn’t really planning on having a child so soon.” I shudder in Cassius’ arms.
River and Nathan join us for a tight group hug, each of them planting warm kisses all over my face. Their reassurance feels like an IV drip of liquid sunshine, peace, and love filling me to the brim. I can barely breathe, and the sigh of relief that leaves my chest makes my whole body tremble in their embrace.
“We’ve got you, baby,” River whispers in my ear. “Whatever you decide to do next, you have our full support.”
“But don’t think for a second we’re letting you out of our sight again,” Nathan says. “You’re moving in with us.”
“Nathan—”
“I don’t even want to hear it. You’re moving in. Home and office will be the only places you’ll go, at least for a while,” he insists. “We need to keep you and the little one safe until we get rid of the Mancinis.”
I give him a worried look. “How will you do that?”
“We’ll find a way,” he replies. “But tell us something. Do you want this? A family with us? To be with us?”
“I want this, yes,” I say with a trembling voice. Tears prick my eyes, but they’re tears of joy, of much needed relief.
“Forget about the past, forget about everything we could’ve done differently,” Cassius says, stroking my hair. “It’s time for us to focus on what comes next. And there’s no room for any of this Mancini crap in our future.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” I tell him.