Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
M aggie blew out a breath and tried to focus on the footage on the screen.
Ace’s home office setup was a thousand times better than her old laptop perched on the tiny island in her apartment. She was using two big screens to study the last week’s footage. She’d already saved a bunch of still shots and video clips.
It was hard to focus, though. She kept thinking of someone trying to kill her. The dead man in Muir Woods. Ace’s kisses.
She blew out a breath and sat back. Her chair creaked. She’d woken this morning wrapped around Ace. He’d slept in her bed again.
I want to make sure those nightmares stay away . He’d whispered that to her, as she’d fallen asleep.
She closed her eyes. He was so protective. But when this crazy situation was over, what then? She had no doubt he’d support the baby financially, but at the thought of the baby, she saw the whites of his eyes.
Why? He was tight with his family. She’d met his parents a few times, and knew he was close with his brother.
He also talked about his extended family—aunts, uncles, cousins. Some were here in the US, and others back in Brazil. He’d been down to Brazil a few times to visit them.
Her stomach rumbled. Thankfully, this morning’s queasiness had passed quickly. Now she was hungry. She looked at her watch. It was almost lunchtime.
She wandered into the kitchen. Ace was at work. He’d been called in for a job. She hadn’t had a flight scheduled this morning, so he’d locked her up in his house with his high-tech security system on.
Maggie munched on some cheese and crackers, and got back to work. She hadn’t been at it long, studying footage of the Muir Woods National Monument, when she spotted a group of men in the picture.
Frowning, she zoomed in.
There were four men.
She recognized Dr. Spiner instantly. It was the scientists.
But there were four of them? She’d only flown the three in.
It was an aerial shot, so it was hard to tell what they were doing, exactly. It didn’t look like they were studying redwoods. And who was the fourth guy? A hiker, maybe?
Then she saw Spiner lift his arm. One of the men fell flat on his back and Maggie froze.
Her heart jumped into her throat. She rewound and watched it again. There was no sound, but she was pretty sure Spiner had shot the man.
God. God .
She watched, heart thumping, as the other two men dragged the body into the trees.
Then the three men walked off together.
Maggie pulled in a shaky breath. She was pretty sure she’d just witnessed a murder.
Pulse racing, she ran her hands through her hair. Dios . She took some breaths, grabbed her phone, and called Ace.
“Hey, gatinha , I’m on my way home for lunch with you.”
“Ace.”
“What’s wrong?” His tone sharpened.
“ Dios .” She blew out a breath. “I went through the drone footage.”
“And?”
“I saw the scientists. There was a fourth man in the woods. I think they killed one.”
Ace hissed out a breath.
“You don’t sound surprised,” she said.
“I figured it was something like this. Okay, look, we’ll go over it, and put the pieces together.”
“Why kill me?”
“Clean up. They were afraid you’d caught the murder on the drone footage.” His tone firmed. “I’m not letting them get you, querida . You have me, Vander, all of Norcross behind you. You’re one of ours.”
She pressed her fist to her chest. “Ace…”
“I know you’re used to dealing with things alone, but not anymore. Lean a little, gatinha .”
“All right, Ace.”
Suddenly she heard a noise downstairs. She rose slowly.
“Maggie?”
“Hang on.” She tiptoed across the living room to the top of the stairs. There was definitely someone outside.
“Ace,” she whispered. “There’s someone at the front door.”
She heard the roar of an engine across the line. “I’m only a few minutes away, and the alarm is on.”
She heard beeping. “Oh my God, they’re disarming the alarm.” She saw movement at the bottom of the stairs. “Ace, the front door’s opening!”
“Get into my room, Maggie, now .” His voice was like a whip. “Lock the door, then go into the bathroom and lock it behind you.”
She ran. Nausea roared to life. No, not now. She clutched her stomach and swallowed repeatedly. She raced through his light-filled bedroom and into the bathroom.
It wasn’t huge, but it was lovely. A free-standing tub sat in front of a huge window and the floor was a pretty, hexagonal marble tile.
She locked the door and backed up. Anger rose, hot and furious. She’d defend herself and her baby. She rummaged through the drawers and found a pair of scissors.
“Ace?”
“I’m nearly there, Maggie. Hold on.”
“Okay.”
“I’m letting you go now. Wait for me, and don’t open the door to anyone else.”
“Be careful, Ace.”
“Always.”
The next few minutes ticked by so slowly. Her cheese and crackers threatened to reappear, but she managed to avoid being sick. She stared at her pale reflection in the mirror.
Was Ace okay?
Her hands curled into her palms. What if he got hurt? No . She couldn’t cope with that.
Uh-oh. Maggie sucked in a sharp breath. She just realized that she was hopelessly in love with him.
She hadn’t guarded her heart, she’d just tumbled headlong in love.
“Maggie?” Ace’s voice came through the door. “It’s okay. Open up.”
Relief punched through her. She raced to the door and yanked it open.
She scanned him, then threw herself into his arms. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” He stroked her back.
“God, I was so afraid. I hate being afraid.”
He shot her that sexy grin. “I know.”
She kissed him. His hands clenched on her for a second and he kissed her, then pulled back. “My parents are here.”
Maggie blinked. “What?”
“They have the code. They wanted to drop some food off.”
“Oh.” Relief flooded Maggie. There were no murderous bad guys. Phew .
Wait . His parents?
“Come on.” He towed her out. “They want to say hi.”
“Ace… You haven’t…?”
“We’ll share when we’re ready, Maggie. I assure you, my mom will be ecstatic.”
Maggie fought the urge to fidget, and willed her churning belly to settle.
Mr. and Mrs. Oliveira sat in the kitchen. Ace looked a lot like his mom in the face, and didn’t look anything like his father, who was a short, trim man with salt-and-pepper hair.
Mrs. Oliveira’s face lit up. “Maggie.”
“Sorry we surprised you,” Mr. Oliveira said.
Maggie pinned a smile on. “I…I’ve got a bit of trouble, and Ace was so kind to offer me his guest room.”
Best not to mention that he’d slept in there with her the last two nights.
“I raised a good boy.” Mrs. Oliveira kissed Maggie’s cheeks.
Her hair was still dark brown—if she was like Maggie’s mom, she visited the salon religiously— and it was cut to her jaw line. Her eyes were the same coffee brown as Ace’s. The woman’s floral perfume hit Maggie and saliva pooled in her mouth. Her belly gave a hard kick.
Oh, no . She felt the color drain from her face.
Ace frowned. “Maggie?”
“I…” She clamped a hand over her mouth, whirled, and ran.
She reached the guest bathroom and staggered to the toilet. She was violently ill.
As she finished retching, she was conscious of Ace beside her, patting her back.
“Here.” He handed her a bottle of water.
“Apparently ‘morning’ sickness isn’t entirely accurate,” she muttered.
“Feeling better?”
She nodded.
He pressed a hand to her belly and stroked gently. Warmth filled her. It seemed like that was getting easier for him.
“Leave the girl in peace, Aline.” His father’s voice in the hall.
“I just want to check she’s okay. Maybe she has food poisoning or something?”
Ace and Maggie froze. Surely, they wouldn’t come in.
“Privacy, Aline,” Mr. Oliveira growled.
“Pfft, I’m being kind. She might need something.”
Ace’s parents appeared in the doorway.
The older couple stared at Ace and Maggie—kneeling together, Ace’s hand protectively on her belly.
Mrs. Oliveira’s brown eyes went wide, then they filled with happy tears. Her smile was beaming. “I had morning sickness all hours of the day when I was pregnant with Adriano and Rodrigo. It would strike out of the blue.”
Ace sighed. “Mom—”
Maggie blinked at him. “Your name is Adriano?”
“No one calls me that, not even Mom.”
“Let the girl up, Ace,” Mrs. Oliveira said.
They rose and Mrs. Oliveira cupped Maggie’s cheeks. “You’re pregnant.”
Maggie swallowed and nodded.
“And my boy is the father?”
Maggie glanced at Ace. She couldn’t read anything in his churning gaze. She looked back at his mother and nodded again.
Then Mrs. Oliveira threw her arms around both of them. “Oh, you’re going to make a beautiful baby.”
* * *
The next morning, Ace woke with a slim hand lying perilously close to his hard cock.
Maggie, as he’d discovered these last few days, sprawled all over the place in bed. She was lying on her belly, fast asleep, one hand low on his gut.
He blew out a breath and thought of boring, unsexy code.
Nope, his cock was still hard.
She looked peaceful, and he didn’t want to wake her. After his parents’ impromptu visit yesterday, he’d taken her to the Norcross office and set her up working on her drone footage in the corner of his computer lab.
He’d gotten a copy of what she’d seen in the Muir Woods National Monument and played it for Saxon, Rhys, and Vander.
None of them had been happy about it.
“Make a copy,” Vander had ordered. “I’ll share it with Hunt.”
Ace nodded.
“And Ace, find these assholes.”
He was working on it. He’d spent most of yesterday afternoon and last night working on it. He’d find out who the fuck this Spiner guy really was, and make him regret ever daring to try and hurt Maggie.
He glanced at her again, then slipped out of bed.
He hoped he could talk her into his bed—it was bigger and comfier than his guest room one. And Maggie sure liked to sprawl.
He set some water and crackers on the bedside table, then headed to the shower to jerk off. He was dressed and eating a bagel when she came out, showered, dressed, and pale faced.
“Don’t feel like breakfast?” he asked.
She shook her head. “The crackers helped though. I don’t feel like puking my guts up.”