Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
He saw them fighting.
Right near the edge of the fucking roof.
That asshole was fighting his wife. His pregnant wife.
Vander’s focus narrowed. He pumped his arms and legs as he sprinted across the rooftop. He blocked out the shouts of his team behind him.
He had to get to Brynn.
She was fighting like a warrior, her red dress whipping around her. She was also trying to coax the fucker back from the edge. That was his woman, always trying to do right by others.
Vander didn’t have a clear shot. He swallowed a curse and jammed his gun into his waistband at his back. He closed the distance.
At the last minute, the guy’s head snapped up and he saw Vander. His eyes widened.
He gripped Brynn’s arm, hard, and staggered backward.
Vander’s heart leaped into his damn throat. They were right at the edge of the roof.
The wind caught at the man’s hair, and it sent Brynn’s dress tangling around her legs.
“It’s over,” Vander said quietly, as he slowed to a walk. “You don’t need to make it worse than it already is.”
“I just wanted to…make my life count. Make it matter. Have things, do big things.”
“This isn’t how you go about it,” Vander said.
“Life isn’t fair! I deserve more. I deserve it more than those rich assholes.”
Vander met Brynn’s gaze. She lifted her chin, her gaze strong and steady.
Dammit. She wanted him to save this cowardly guy.
Vander blew out a breath. “Why? Because you say so? Life isn’t fair.
No one deserves anything. You work for what you believe in, fight for what’s important to you.
You don’t take, you don’t steal, and you don’t hurt other people to get what you want. ”
The man stared at Vander.
“You chose the wrong path.”
Wolf’s shoulders slumped. “My parents will find out what I’ve done.”
“Come on, Henry,” Brynn murmured. “Let’s get off this roof.”
Vander sensed the others behind him, approaching slowly. Henry glanced at them and swallowed.
“Okay.” The man nodded. Let’s—” He shifted and his foot slipped.
He cried out, teetering on the edge. Then, he fell backward…and grabbed for Brynn.
“No!” Vander yelled.
Brynn’s mouth opened and she threw her arms out.
Henry’s hands clamped onto the skirt of her dress and pulled her over the edge.
“Brynn!” Vander leaped forward, his entire life flashing before his eyes.
They disappeared from view, falling over the edge. Fear and desolation ripped through him, stealing the air from his lungs.
He dropped to his stomach, leaning over the edge. The wind tore at his hair. He heard Rhys cursing behind him.
When he saw Brynn clinging to the side of the building, dangling there from a steel beam, her face contorted, the air rushed back into his lungs.
Then he realized Henry was holding onto her legs. Shit.
Vander clamped his hands around her wrists. “I’ve got you.”
She smiled up at him. “I know.”
“I’ve always got you, Detective Norcross. You’re mine. And I…I need you.”
Her face softened. “I know. I love you, too. I’m sorry I’ve been crazy lately. Now, can you get me up, please?” Her gaze locked on his. “And save him, Vander. He’s just a lost man who needs help.”
He huffed out a breath. Trust his wife to turn the hostage-taking thief into a lost soul. “The things I do for you.” He looked back over his shoulder. “A little help here.”
All of a sudden, Brynn groaned, her face twisting.
“Brynn, what’s wrong?”
“Just…never mind,” she panted. “Get us up first.”
Boone and Rhys crouched beside him.
“Grab her arms. Henry’s holding onto her legs. We need to pull them up. Carefully.”
His brother and best friend nodded.
“Ready? Go.”
They heaved together and pulled Brynn over the edge. Below her, Henry lost grip with one hand and cried out.
Boone grabbed the back of the man’s shirt. “I’ve got you.”
As Vander pulled Brynn straight into his arms, the others safely pulled a sobbing Henry over the edge.
“God.” Vander closed his arms around his wife. He pulled her onto his lap, and she snaked her arms around him, holding tight. He buried his face in her hair.
Her fingers dug into his back. “I knew you’d come.”
“Of course I’d fucking come.” He pulled back, his hands stroking her face. “I didn’t have dangling off skyscrapers on our itinerary for tonight.”
She gave a shaky laugh. “Me neither.”
He kissed her. Hard. It was filled with everything he’d been feeling. “Let’s never do that again.”
“Deal.”
Rhys dragged Henry up. The man was still crying.
“It wasn’t supposed to end like this.”
“Shut up,” Vander clipped out coldly.
“Vander.” Brynn pressed a hand to his chest. He knew she’d feel how fast his heart was beating. “What’s going to happen now?”
Siv touched her ear. “Hunt and the SWAT team just breached the building. They deactivated the explosives and are on their way up.”
Brynn relaxed against Vander. “It’s over.”
He rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Yeah. It’s over.” She was safe.
Then she stiffened and let out a low groan.
“Brynn?” His hands flexed on her body, then he tipped her chin up.
She grimaced. “I…um…”
It was pretty rare for his wife to be lost for words. She licked her lips.
“What is it?” His pulse jumped. “Are you hurt?”
She groaned, loudly this time, pain creasing her face. Her chin dropped to her chest and she sucked in some breaths.
“She okay?” Rhys, brow creased, crouched beside them.
“We need paramedics to the rooftop, Ace,” Siv said. “Now.”
“Brynn, talk to me.” Vander cupped her face, forcing her to look at him.
She let out a shuddering breath. “I’m not hurt.” She swallowed, a hint of something unfamiliar on her face—fear.
Shit. Brynn wasn’t afraid of anything.
“Brynn—”
“I think we’re adding something else that we didn’t expect to our night.”
His heartbeat picked up. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been having contractions,” she said quietly. “For a while.”
He froze. His mind just stopped working. “Contractions?”
Rhys made a sound, Boone stilled, and Siv’s eyebrows flew up.
Brynn lifted a hand and stroked Vander’s cheek. “I was hoping they weren’t real, but they’re getting stronger and closer together. Vander, the baby’s coming. Now.”
Vander scooped Brynn into his arms and carried her across the rooftop.
She loved when he carried her.
His jaw was tight, and she saw something very unfamiliar on his face. The always sure of himself Vander Norcross was panicking.
“It’s going to be okay.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to reassure him or herself.
Her husband grunted.
“You just dealt with armed thieves while alone and unarmed. This should be easy. I mean, women have babies all the time. They’ve been doing it for thousands of years.”
“Pretty sure lots of them died doing it, too.” His voice held an edge.
“Before modern times.”
“We’re going to the hospital. Now.”
Before he’d reached the door, another fierce contraction gripped her belly. She groaned, her fingers digging into his arm.
“Brynn…”
She huffed a little. “I know they tell you that it’s going to hurt, but it really hurts.”
He reached the door, and Boone held it open. Vander shouldered inside. She was grateful that the wind cut off and it was so much warmer. She tried her best to breathe through the pain, before it finally faded.
She felt a heaviness, a pressure, low in her stomach. “Uh, Vander, I don’t think we have time to get to the hospital.”
“What?” He jerked to a halt at the top of the stairwell, staring down at her, his dark-blue eyes fathomless.
“I think our baby is coming.” She managed a smile. “Trust a Norcross baby not to follow the plan and want to jump the gun.”
“We still have over three weeks—”
“Babies definitely don’t follow schedules.” Another contraction gripped her.
She heard him curse and set her down. When he lowered her to the floor, she focused on surviving the contraction.
“Breathe, baby. You’ve got this.” His hand took hers and she squeezed. “And we are not having a baby here. We’re going to the hospital.”
God, she almost wanted to laugh. When the contraction eased, she ran her fingers along his jaw. “I think this little person isn’t going to follow your orders.”
He made a disgruntled sound. “Just like their mother.”
“You love that about me. I don’t cower in front of the scary Vander Norcross, and I certainly don’t follow your orders.”
“I know.” He brushed his lips against hers.
The others appeared.
“The baby’s coming,” he said grimly.
“Oh, God,” Siv breathed.
“Boone, get Henry out of here and tell the paramedics where we are. And do it yesterday.”
“On it.”
“Siv, see if you can find us things we’ll need.”
The female badass looked flustered. “Like…boiling water?”
Vander frowned. “What the hell do we need boiling water for?”
“I don’t know, in movies they always boil water.”
“Towels? Blankets?” Brynn licked her dry lips. “I’d kill for a drink of water.”
“Water and towels, I can do that.” Siv took off at a clip.
Rhys sat beside them and grinned. “I’m going to be an uncle.”
“Get behind her, make it more comfortable for her,” Vander ordered.
“Roger that.” Rhys’ muscular body slipped between Brynn and the wall. “Lean back, sweetheart, and don’t worry, there isn’t anything the Norcross brothers can’t handle.”
“Oh, you’ve delivered lots of babies?” she asked.
“Ah, well, that is one thing I don’t have on my resume.”
Another contraction arrived, and when she grabbed Vander’s hand, she saw him wince.
“You are the most incredible woman I know,” he said.
Through the pain, she met his gaze. As it always did, it steadied her. He was afraid and well out of his comfort zone, but he was still giving her comfort.
“You’re strong, beautiful, and frighteningly competent at everything you do. When I wake up beside you every day, I’m so damn grateful you came into my life, and that you fought for us.”
“Vander…” The contraction finally eased. “I love you.”
“A baby is going to change things. It’s going to make us a family. It’s ours, we made it, we’ll love it. The changes will be for the good. We’ll learn and grow, and we’ll do it all together.”
The next contraction hit fast. She groaned, the pain even stronger than before. “God, I feel like I need to push.” Slick panic winged through her. “I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can.”
She was vaguely aware of him nudging her legs apart and pulling her panties off.
Then he released a breath. “Jesus, I can see the head. Brynn, we’re having a baby.”
“I feel like I need to push.”
“On the next contraction, push.”
“Vander—”
He squeezed her hand. “Right here, Detective. Right where I’m supposed to be.”
When her muscles squeezed again, Brynn bore down. She almost broke Vander’s fingers, pushed back into Rhys, and made a low, animalistic sound.
“That’s it, Brynn,” her husband murmured. “You’re doing it.”
Pain flared, bright and hot, then a gush. Vander let go of her hand to reach between her legs.
“One more push,” he said.
She squeezed with everything she had.
Then, the man who owned her heart, cradled their newborn baby to his chest.
There was awe and wonder on his handsome face. Blood and amniotic fluid smeared his already ruined shirt as he stared down at their child.
Siv jogged up the stairs, her arms filled with stuff, and stumbled to a halt. “Oh, my God. Brynn, you did it.”
Vander looked at Brynn over their baby’s head. “She sure did. She was magnificent.”
Tiredly, she leaned into Rhys, who was laughing, and smiled at her husband.
A moment later, Saxon arrived with the paramedics.
A burly, tattooed male paramedic smiled. “Well, looks like you all took care of the hard part for us. How about we get mom and baby sorted out and cleaned up?”
“Wait,” Brynn said. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
Vander blinked. “I don’t know.”
The paramedic reached out. “Why don’t—?”
Vander’s arms tightened and he glared at the man.
The paramedic held his gloved hands up, his ruddy face filled with amusement. “How about you keep holding the baby?”
Vander looked at the baby, then looked back at Brynn. “We have a daughter.”