Chapter 60 Sporting a Boner in Public
CHAPTER SIXTY
Sporting a Boner in Public
HENRY
“Your baby looks really healthy!” Amanda, our midwife, pointed at the ultrasound screen. “Everything is developing normally, the heartbeat is perfect, and … wow, that’s a nice, juicy placenta!”
Ri grinned up at me. “I always knew I’d make juicy placentas!” she crowed, and I chuckled, hand on her shoulder as the wand swiped over the tiny bump that had grown over the last few weeks.
“You’re about thirteen weeks along, so if you’ve been keeping the news to yourselves, you’re safe to share it.”
“We already told our immigration officer at our interview last week,” Ri admitted. “Can you believe it takes so long for them to process a visa that the tiny human might be a fricking toddler by the time we have it?”
I took Ri’s hand in mine. The interviews had gone very well. Between the work I’d done to create our backstory in Tickle DMs and the reality of us, truly in love, expecting our first child, there was not an immigration officer in the world who would look at us and think this wasn’t the real deal.
“That’s bureaucracy for you,” I murmured.
Amanda rolled her eyes sympathetically and stood. “I’ll let you get dressed. It’s so good to see you again, Ri. I was worried when you disappeared from Icebergs. I just said to Levi last week that I hoped everything was working out for you, and I guess now I know why you stopped training.”
“Morning sickness has been a killer,” Ri lamented, glossing over everything we’d been through over the last several weeks. “How’s Levi doing? The Olympics are only a couple of weeks away, right?”
Amanda nodded. “That reminds me. Your next appointment will be with one of my colleagues. I’m travelling to Paris—taking Lil to watch her daddy win gold.”
Ri grinned, her eyes glinting. “She’s a lucky little girl.”
“She is. Maybe your little one will get to see their mum swimming in 2028?”
Ri shrugged. “Anything’s possible. “Henry tells me that Daisy Hall is a hot tip for gold in the women’s breaststroke this year, and she’s just come back from her second baby.”
Amanda nodded. “Women are so much stronger than they’re given credit for. We birth babies! If we can do that, we can do anything we set our minds to.”
“I’m heading back to Icebergs soon—I’ve been told by a certain someone who is now an expert on all things pregnancy that swimming is great exercise for me.” Ri smirked up at me, and a blush crept over my cheeks.
“Well, he’d be right,” Amanda agreed. “And keeping up with your training throughout the pregnancy will mean it’ll be so much easier for you to get back to competition fitness afterwards. Just listen to your body—if it’s telling you to slow down, pay attention.”
Ri nodded solemnly, stroking her belly. Her expression morphed into a soft smile. “I want Tiny Human to love the water as much as I do. Can we talk water births?”
Amanda grinned. “We certainly can … next time I see you I’ll be sure to bring all the information about our facility here. We can even do a tour if you’d like.”
“I’d like that very much.” Her hand covered mine where it rested on my shoulder. I made a mental note to add water births to the list of things I needed to become an expert on.
“Your little one will be lucky too, with parents like the pair of you.” With a squeeze of Ri’s hand, Amanda left the room.
“It’s so weird that I already know her! Sydney feels so big and yet so small at the same time,” Ri remarked as she climbed back into her panties.
Her phone buzzed. Her face split into a mischievous grin as she typed. I couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder, skimming her reply to Kat’s question about how things were with ‘the billionaire’.
“I thought you were joking when you said I drove you crazy.”
She tilted her head in my direction, winking. “You know more about pregnancy than I do, and I’m the pregnant one!” she teased. “And you remind me of it every day.”
In a terrible attempt at an Australian accent, she growled, “Ri, take your multivitamin. Catnip, soft cheese isn’t good for babies.
Irina Baxter, I don’t know how they do things in Romania, but in the rest of the world, Vodka is a big no-no during pregnancy.
” Her voice returned to normal. “I wasn’t going to drink it; I was only getting it out of the freezer to make room for all the healthy meals you’ve been prepping! ”
I shrugged, unapologetic. “This is what I do, Catnip. Pregnancy was a conundrum to me, and I untangled it. Knowledge helps me feel like I have a tiny bit of control, that I understand it enough to support you through it.”
“And I love you for it. My problem-solver husband,” she said affectionately, tugging me down for a kiss before turning back to her phone, slipping on her shoes as another message from Kat came through.
“Are you going to tell her about Tiny Human? Since we’ve been given the all-clear to spill the beans?”
Ri shook her head. “Not yet. Soon. But not yet. She testified against the asshole who attacked her today. It’s not the right time to make things all about me.”
I took her hand in both of mine. “It might be a very welcome distraction for her.”
Ri bit her lip. “I think I should wait. Just another week or so.” She wrinkled her nose adorably at me. “It’s nice that it’s still our little secret.”
“Lucian knows,” I reminded her.
“Lucian’s family—he doesn’t count.”
I blew out a breath and decided not to push further. One day she would feel comfortable sharing her secrets without feeling like she was burdening others or selfish for sharing her exciting news. But it wasn’t going to happen overnight.
She woke up crying and shaking some nights.
Sometimes it was about the abduction, sometimes it was about Andrei or what C?lin had done to her.
Sometimes it was about her uncle and the crimes he’d made her witness, or her mother dying.
Slowly I was coaxing her to talk about her memories with me.
It was a big step for her; to let me hold her pain for her, with her.
I ached with love for my brave Catnip. Enduring beyond what was expected of most people, just like the character she was nicknamed after.
“Let’s go get ice cream,” I suggested, helping her to her feet.
Her eyes lit up. “With sprinkles?”
I grinned. “Whatever you and the tiny human are craving.”
“Daddy’s little girl … or boy.” She shrugged. “I have the weirdest feeling she’s a girl.”
“Whatever they are, they will be loved.” A flush of joy crept up my neck at the way she said ‘daddy’. Of course she noticed, and her fingers traced the spreading blush, her smile widening.
My phone rang. I frowned when I saw the name that flashed on the screen.
“Speaking of daddies …”
Ri gaped. “Warren?”
I shook my head. “It’s Atlas’s father.” I answered the phone, anxiety casting a pall over my joyous mood.
“Before you start to hyperventilate, Henry,” Paul Prideaux the Second greeted me.
“I’m not calling to demand you reinstate Atlas.
The boy needs to feel the consequences of his actions.
He came home sulking, with a broken nose and his tail between his legs, and while he won’t tell me what went on between you two, given his behaviour leading up to the announcement, I’m guessing he did something irrevocably idiotic. ”
“More than one thing,” I muttered. Ri’s eyes were wide—Paul’s voice was so loud she could hear every word.
“It’s high time we stopped bailing him out whenever he oversteps. He needs to start being accountable.”
“Agreed.” I had no desire to discuss the man any further. “So, why are you calling?”
“I’ve been approached by a man claiming to be your father. He says he knows what Atlas did, and he’ll go public with it unless I pay off his gambling debts.”
My fingers curled into a fist and out again. I let out a long, slow breath, refusing to let my emotions overwhelm me at this news. If Warren was trying to blackmail others, his situation must be more dire than I could imagine.
“I’ve suggested that it would be in his best interests not to release information about Atlas, given it could hurt you, but that doesn’t seem to have had any impact on his decision.”
“No. It wouldn’t.” My throat constricted. Ri gripped my hand, twined our fingers together and squeezed. My next breath came easier. “There’s no way he would have any details. He’s bluffing.”
“Should I send him on his way?” Paul asked.
I glanced at Ri, my glowing, pregnant wife. If Warren found out she was pregnant, would he try to use that against us? Was he desperate enough to hurt my wife and our unborn child?
A few weeks ago, I would have said no. But now, after seeing what Atlas had been prepared to do, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“I’ll pay the debts,” I said firmly. Ri’s eyebrows shot up, her lips parting into an O of shock. “On the proviso that he attends gambling rehabilitation. Somewhere that accepts inpatients.”
“Are you sure you want to give in to blackmail, Henry?” Paul asked. Ri’s face was ghostly pale. I pulled her closer, wrapping my free arm around her.
“I’m not giving into him. I’m investing in protecting my mental health and the safety of my family.”
Paul sighed noisily. “I can appreciate that. I’ll get the details from him of his debts and pass them on. You don’t have to engage with him.”
“Tell him the debts will remain unpaid until he’s checked in, so there’s no point trying to disappear.”
I ended the call, and Ri nuzzled her nose against my chest. “I hate that you have to waste money on that man.”
I tucked my fingers under her chin, lifting her face until our gazes locked.
“Catnip, I have stupid amounts of money. And I’m not averse to using some of it to keep my father out of the casinos, and more importantly, locked up in a mental health facility where he can’t hurt you.”
Ri smirked. “And there he is. The billionaire alphahole with the touch-her-and-die vibes that Kat loves reading about in her smutty books.”
I rolled my eyes. “And what smutty things do billionaire alphaholes do to their sexy, pregnant wives?”
Ri nibbled on her bottom lip, her eyes suddenly sinful. “I don’t know about all of them, but this one—with the curly black hair and the hot swimmer bod and the slutty little glasses …” Her fingers trailed down my chest, my muscles rippling under that touch.
“He buys her ice cream—with sprinkles, because their tiny human demands those—and he spreads her out on the kitchen bench and eats his off her body until hers is melted, because it’s really hard to eat ice cream while you’re screaming from back-to-back orgasms.”
“And then?” I rasped, my mouth watering at the thought of my favourite vanilla ice cream being used for some very un-vanilla sex.
She stepped closer. “Then, he fucks her with his pula monstru until she can’t walk straight for three days.”
I cleared my throat. “You do realise that now I have to walk out of our midwife’s clinic with a raging erection … that’s not very alphahole of me.”
Ri winked. “Well, it’s lucky I secretly prefer my sweet, soft, sexy nerd husband, who blushes and gets flustered when he’s sporting a boner in public.”
I brushed my nose against hers. “It’s very lucky. Now, say something unsexy so I don’t have to hold you like a human shield to escape this place.”
Our ice creams melted for a very different reason in the end. Lucian greeted us at the gate to the marina, his face a storm cloud.
“What’s got your panties in a bunch, Pookie Wookie?” Ri asked, shoving a heaped spoonful of mostly-sprinkles-with-a-dash-of-ice-cream into her mouth.
He glared at her. “I noticed a young bloke loitering around the gate. His face is a mess, and he looks dodgy. When I enquired about the reason for his presence here, he said he was looking for you.” His eyes met mine, and he nodded once.
Ri swallowed hard. “For me?”
“Where is he?” I asked, tightening my hold on Ri’s hand.
Lucian tilted his head in the direction of his SUV. “Shoved him in the back seat. He’s unarmed, and he seems cooperative enough, but he’s very insistent that he speak to Irina.”
Before I could put myself between her and the car, Ri was at the back door, tugging on the handle until it opened. She let out a shocked cry, staggering backwards.
I jumped into action, my hands on her waist, pulling her back against my body. Lucian stepped forwards. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. I’d thought I would have more time to talk to her about it. Prepare her.
“Stefan …” Her word was barely a breath. “What are you doing here?”
Stefan climbed out of the car. He stood almost as tall as Lucian, and was at least as broad. He looked exhausted as he ran a hand through his thick, sandy-brown hair. One eye was swollen almost entirely shut, surrounded by a mottled mess of bruising.
“Your husband invited me,” he rasped in thickly accented English.
Ri’s eyes, wide and shocked, turned to me. “You did?”
I wrapped her tighter in my arms. “He’s the only family member you have left who cares about you.” I glanced up at Lucian, who watched warily. “I know that feeling, and I wasn’t about to let you lose him.”
“But … how?”
“I got out, Ri.” Stefan rasped, swiping a hand over his stubbly jaw. “I did what he needed from me … and I made him promise to let me go after.”
The man looked haunted, and I opened my mouth to suggest that we take this conversation onto the Girl on Fire when Ri blurted, “Who?”
Stefan sighed, exhausted. “C?lin. He’s got what he always wanted now … and both of us get to live free of it all.”
“What did you do?” Ri asked, her voice barely a whisper. She reached for him, but he flinched away from the touch.
“I killed him. I killed my father.”