“Oh God.”
Sam climbed into the bed next to me and pulled me into his arms. His normal contact used to make everything better. Now everything felt so numb.
“… bed rest,” he finished.
I hadn’t heard the beginning of his statement. “Bed rest?”
Sam's brow scrunched. “Yes, the doctor wants you on bed rest for a few days. He will be back tomorrow morning to check on you again. The baby settled down, but he wants to make sure everything stays okay.”
“So I didn’t lose peanut?” I asked, my hands going back to my stomach.
“No, the baby boy is okay. The blood was from a head wound. But everything looked okay. He was adamant that you don’t leave the bed for the next few days, so you and I are going to spend some time together.”
I looked at him, thinking about how lucky I was to find such a caring man. “We both can’t lie in bed for the next few days. Our friends are coming this weekend and the turnover on Saturday. I need to get things ready for the wedding. How am I going to do all those things from the bed, Sam?” I sighed, trying not to have a full-blown panic attack. The machine connected to me started to peep. “Why is it beeping?”
A nurse walked into the room and glanced at the machine. “Hi, Patty. I’m Joy, and I will be your nurse for the next few days. It’s good to see you are finally up.” She glared at Sam. “You promised to make sure she stayed calm.”
“I was trying,” he grumbled.
She clicked a few buttons on the machine, and I heard a second heartbeat.
“Is everything okay?” I asked suddenly.
She tapped a few more buttons. “Your little boy is doing fine now. But you need to keep resting. No stress.”
That was easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one who was supposed to be running a country, plus she hadn’t been kidnapped by a crazy nanny. With Sam by my side, I could do anything, but I was stressed just thinking about the wedding and the looming power transfer. That wasn’t the only thing. Cara would come back for Kinley. Our house wasn’t safe anymore. My skin prickled as I thought back to Cara pushing a gun into my side.
The nurse checked a few more things before leaving the room.
“Should we go to the house near the beach?” It was smaller and had fewer entry points.
Sam’s brown eyes gazed at me, and I didn’t know what he was thinking. A mixture of emotions washed over his face. He leaned back against the wood headboard and crossed his arms. “I’ve upped the security here. We are not going to let some crazy nanny and her family run us out of our home. And I moved your power transfer to the day before the wedding. I know it’s not perfect, but it’s the best I can do. Furthermore, the palace is even more secure than it was before.”
“Do we have someone watching Kinley?” I asked.
“Yes, we have extra security on our little girl. Our friends boarded a plane about two hours ago. And I have a team working on placing cameras in all the tunnels. We are also changing all rotations of guards and having them monitor the halls. This is my fault.”
My fingers twined with Sam’s. He always put the weight of all our problems on his shoulders, but we were a team and needed to act like one again. Instead, we’d spent the last few years each putting out fires in our own corners instead of taking on everything together. It was time things changed. I wanted him by my side, and we needed someone else to take charge of security—someone we trusted.
“None of this is your fault. Moving forward, we need to tackle issues as a team. That means no more keeping important information from me because you think I have too much going on. And I need to do the same. I think we need to start with figuring out why Cara came after me. She said it was because she wanted you to fall in love with her. Next, we need to get rid of Carl, but I think that part will be a little harder.”
Sam’s lips pressed together in a straight line. “You’re right,” he said. “We need to start working as a team. For the past few years, we’ve put out a million fires, but if we’d worked as a team, we might’ve put out a million and one fires. There is nothing we can do to change the past, but we can change how we move forward.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he shook his head. “Cara is locked away in the jail system along with her brother Fredrick. He changed Cara’s personal information, along with his own. We never dug deep enough. Brock found it when he did a search on Cara. Fredrick’s been here for years, and Brock did a background check on him initially, and it looked good at face value. But when Brock ran her background check again, Cara’s details started to crumble. Neither Fredrick nor Cara is saying anything. They were both Carl’s stepchildren.”
“So Carl had his stepchildren kidnap me.” I paused and clenched my fists. The man had been so kind to me when I was younger, but when I came back to take over for my dad, he changed. “His wife died years ago. I don’t remember him getting remarried or having stepchildren. What I really don’t understand is why he hates me so much.”
“I’m not sure, but we don’t have proof he told them to kidnap you.”
It was time that I came clean about another secret I’d kept from Sam not because I didn’t trust him but because I thought he might think I was insane. “I going to tell you something, and I don’t want you to get mad.”
“I’m not going to yell at you for anything, Pixie. We need to remember we are a team. The two of us can work through anything the world sends our way.”
“Over the past year, I started a file on Carl, but it was about the laws he pushed to get passed,” I said quickly. “I know this is going to sound completely absurd, but it’s like he’s trying to change who can take over the country.”
“That doesn’t sound absurd. We know he’s been undermining us since we started. You know I don’t pay as close attention as I should to your dealings with him, only to things that would compromise security.”
“He’s not going to go away easily,” I grumbled.
“No. When Wes and I were on our way to get you, Carl took the meeting with the chief of police.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding. He shouldn’t be involved with that at all.” The machine next to me beeped, and I took a few calming breaths, getting my heart rate back under control.
“He wasn’t as smart as he thought. When the chief wouldn’t cancel the meeting, we sent your father.” We were both silent for a moment.
“Did Dad change his mind about the transfer?” I asked.
For the past few years, I’d wanted him to come back and take the load off me so I could enjoy time with my little girl. But after working so hard to fix so many issues, I wasn’t sure how I felt about taking a step back and letting someone else do my job.
Sam’s lip twitched. “I knew you loved being in charge. No, he’s working on getting everything ready for you to take over. Earlier, he was in here, and we talked. Next Saturday, the legal documents will be ready for you to sign. In one year, we will have to have your coronation.”
“I don’t want a wedding either,” I blurted, and he stared at me. I ran the words through my mind again and winced. “I want to marry you, Sam. God, sometimes I have the worst time with words. I don’t want to have the big wedding with everyone staring at me and wondering if I’m going to fall or make an ass out of myself.”
I didn’t even know if it was possible to scale down the wedding we’d planned. The guest list was over a thousand people. Most of the people I didn’t even know but had been told we had to invite because they were leaders of other countries. I just wanted to say my vows with my closest friends.
“I can make that happen.” He paused. “But are you sure you don’t want a large fairy-tale wedding?”
I felt the tension in my body release a little. “My fairy tale is marrying you, Sam. I don’t care if it’s just you, me, and Kinley. The only thing I care about is becoming your wife, but the thought of how large our wedding is getting, it’s making me more stressed. Now what? Should we postpone the wedding until this little guy is bor
n?”
“No,” Sam growled. “I’ve waited long enough to make you my wife. It’s our day, and we can decide what we do. If you want a small affair, I will make it happen.”
“People will be mad at me.” I could already imagine the headlines. Patricia Beckett: Did She Really Get Married? Why Is Patricia Beckett Hiding Her Wedding Details?
“You need to stop reading that shit.” He paused. “Or we could buy the newspapers and control the narrative.”
“That’s hilarious. We are not buying any news media. Don’t you think we have enough on our plates?”
“You’re right. However, it would make things so much easier for us. No more palace-rumor stories in the papers or the local news. Half the things are so far-out that I wonder how they even came up with them.”
“Like last week’s story.” I rolled my eyes even thinking about it. “They ran an article on how Wes and I are now an item. They wondered if it would be Wes at the altar instead of you, or was I going to keep Wes on the side. The reason the article ran was that he went to the cake shop with me. Really—that was all the info they had.”
“You guys did look chummy in the photo.” Sam chuckled.
I dug my elbow into Sam’s side. “That’s not even something to joke about, Sam.”
“I know.” He squeezed my hand. “Wes even brought the article up to me, worried I would be mad. I know you hid your identity for years so you wouldn’t have to deal with these types of articles, but someone is always going to run propaganda. But I’m not worried. You know why?” I shook my head, really wanting to know what he had to say. “Because our bond is strong, Pixie. We can overcome anything these people try to write.” He placed a kiss on my forehead, and I sank deeper into his embrace.
The door to our room was busted open, and Kinley ran in. She had on a pair of pink princess pajamas, her blond locks were in pigtails, and in her arms, she clutched the pink blanket she slept with. I still didn’t know how late it was, but I didn’t care because I wanted to wrap my arms around my little girl and hug her.
“Mom!” Kinley yelled as she raced over and leaped onto the bed. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight to my chest. I never wanted her to grow out of the stage of wanting to be near me.
“How's my baby girl?”
“Mommm…” She dragged out the word, glaring at me. “I’m not a baby. I’m six, remember?”
“Six?” I placed my finger to my lips like I was thinking. “I’m not sure about that, little girl. The last time I checked, you were my little baby. What do you think, Daddy?”
“Princess, you will always be my baby.” He reached out and tugged on her ponytail. “I think we need to have Uncle Neal build a time machine so I can keep you my little girl, because you’re growing up way too fast.”
Neal was my longtime friend and now the owner of the security company I’d created a year earlier. We talked on the phone at least once a week, but I missed him and couldn’t wait to see him. Excitement washed over me as I realized our friends would be here soon.
“Uncle Neal wants me to grow up so I can go work for him,” she said as if she already had the job.
Her statement made me wonder what the hell she and Neal talked about on the phone. I’d figured it was about princesses and unicorns. Now I wondered if he’d helped her build the glitter bomb when they were FaceTiming.
“You don’t want to work with your mommy and daddy?”
Kinley scrunched her nose. “You have boring jobs. Uncle Neal builds things, and he promised to teach me how to write code, just like him.”
I tried not to feel offended.
“Your mommy writes code, just like Neal.” Sam pulled Kinley off me and placed her between us on the bed.
“You know how to use a computer, Mom?” Kinley asked.
My hacking skills were not something I broadcasted. Sometimes, when I was stressed at work, I would take a break and write code—simple things, like creating an app the country could use for its citizens. I didn’t put my name on it, because people would think it was an app used to spy on them.
“I used to work with your uncle, and you know what?” I said. Kinley shook her head. “Your uncle still calls me for help when he gets stuck.”
“That’s so cool, Mom. I found a YouTube channel on how to create a motion-activated glitter bomb.”
“No more bombs for a while.” I tried not to laugh when Kinley stuck her bottom lip out. “How about we build an obstacle course in the garden? You can train like a SEAL.”
Kinley’s eyes rounded. “Can it have mud and barbwire?”
Sam shook his head. “We can see. But I think it’s way past your bedtime, little girl.”
I grabbed my phone from the end table, checked the time, and winced. “Honey, it’s the middle of the night.”
“But, Mom…” Kinley whined. “I want to sleep with you guys.”
Kinley hadn’t asked to sleep in our bed in over a year. Always letting her sleep with us was a mistake I’d made early on. It took months to break the habit, and I’d almost caved, wanting to be near my family.
Sam answered before I could. “Not tonight, honey. Your mom had a hard day and needs rest. And these little legs kick a lot at night.”
“Are you okay, Mom?” Kinley asked, getting up on her knees and pressing a kiss to my cheek before wrapping her arms around my neck like a bear. “I love you, Mommy.”
And my heart melted. I met Sam’s gaze, and he smiled at our daughter. Sam pulled her out of my arms, and she wrapped herself around him like a little octopus.
“I’m going to take this one off to bed. Get some rest.” He carried her out of the room.
Soon we would have another little one. I hoped he would be just like Sam.
Right when I was about to fall asleep, a sharp pain shot through my stomach, followed by the alarm on the machine.
8
Antonio
I watched the pilot walk down the stairs and talk to the man loading bags. When he shook his head and pinched his brow, I knew my wife was trying to sneak something onto the plane. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d tried to bring her sniper or a grenade launcher—things she did not need for a family vacation.
Ryan glanced our way. He was in his signature white shirt and black pants. He’s worked for AA Mercenary since we started the company, but I’d known him even longer. We’d served together, and I trusted him. I also knew he let my wife get away with more than she should. So whatever was in that bag was bad.
“Mr. Ross, there seems to be an issue with one of your bags. I’m not sure how it made it past customs, but we can’t find the paperwork.”
Kat came up next to me with her hands on her hips, ready for a fight. “Customs said it’s fine. We can take it.”
Ryan pleaded with his eyes. “Come on, Antonio, there are just some things that don’t need to be taken.”
I threw my hands in the air. “I have no clue what my wife packed. Clothes? That’s supposed to be the only thing in those bags. If there is something other than clothes, we don’t need to take it.”
“But it’s their wedding present,” my wife announced. Like that made whatever she’d packed totally acceptable. I heard the giggles behind me, but I didn’t bother glaring at my brother and friends because it wouldn’t help. A million ideas about what she might be bringing ran through my mind.
“You can’t bring an alligator on the plane,” Ryan sighed. “All animals need proper paperwork before leaving the country. I’m not sure how you even got the bag through customs.”
“Really? The customs guy looked the other way and let me bring it. How about all the things you guys have sneaked through customs over the years? Now you are going to draw the line at a small alligator?”
“It’s three feet long, Kat. Did you really think we would put that in the plane?” Ryan asked.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. “Are you even sure an alligator can live in Shialia?”
Kat placed her hand on
her hip, her green eyes staring daggers at me. My brother Asher didn’t even try to stop laughing, and his partner CJ was laughing so hard he had tears running down his face.
One of our friends had to have helped Kat, because there was no way she could have lifted a three-foot alligator into the back of the truck by herself. So later, I would need to figure out who in our crew tried to help my wife smuggle an alligator out of the country. Jesus, those are words I thought I would never be thinking.
As always, Kat had everything perfectly planned out. “Shialia’s temps are close to ours. This guy will fit perfectly in her moat,” she said, like that made it the perfect gift. I didn’t even want to know what Sam would do when we showed up with an alligator.
Shaking my head, I went to where the baggage guy had an open bag on the ground. I still wasn’t sure how I hadn’t noticed the partially see-through pouch in the back of the SUV. Or how the alligator hadn’t made any a noise on the way.
Holy fuck. I took a step closer and noticed it wasn’t one three-foot alligator but two. At least both creatures were sleeping. But that didn’t make much of a difference, since we wouldn’t be taking them with us anyway. I would have to call one of the men from AA Mercenary to grab the alligators and release them in the everglades, which was something the men who worked for me were used to. But the alligators seemed to have a homing device—the fuckers would walk their asses right back to our house no matter how many times I moved them. I was close to selling our home and moving far away from any water, but that was impossible since we lived in Florida and pools of water showed up everywhere. Hell, alligators show up everywhere.
Kat stood next to me, staring down at the alligators. She furrowed her brow, which she did whenever she was deep in thought about how to get what she wanted. One thing I knew was my wife wasn’t going to drop the argument. She pushed her shoulders back, ready to take me on.
But it wasn’t my wife who made me almost cave. Our youngest looked up at me with eyes like his mom’s. “But we raised them just for Patty. Who is going to protect her now?”
Hacker Wedding Page 6
