His Big Secret: An MM Contemporary Mpreg Romance

by Bates, Austin

  “Yes. I’m sorry. I hate myself for it now.”

  Daniel’s fear that I’d see his participation in the work of another AI clinic as a betrayal was apparent. Despite his fears, I didn’t see it that way at all. His calm, gentle alpha nature was welcome in the world. I hoped he would find a way to pass the genetic components of his personality on to a new generation. In short, I was happy for him.

  “There’s no reason to be sorry. That’s exciting.”

  “It’s exciting? But they’re our competitors.”

  “And they’re taking up the slack in our good works while we’re down. I’m thankful for that! Congratulations!”

  I heard Daniel exhale. “Oh, fuck. I was so nervous. I thought you might fire me and tell me to move to California.”

  “You aren’t thinking of moving to California, are you? I’d hate to lose you.”

  “I don’t think so. I’m waiting to find out whether the omega wants to meet me. Their policies out there are a lot like ours. Still, I don’t think I want to leave the East Coast. My family’s here.”

  I hoped Daniel wouldn’t consider moving away. He was a vital part of our staff, and replacing him would be difficult. “Keep me posted. Some things in life are more important than any particular job.”

  Having made it past his confession, Daniel’s voice was lighter in cadence and tone. “So how’s Timothy?”

  “He’s starting to show.”

  “That’s exciting. Any morning sickness yet?”

  “Not yet. The last time he went to the doctor, they told him he might get lucky on that. If it doesn’t show up in the next month, they think he has a good chance of avoiding it.”

  “Wow, lucky him. My sister was so sick she couldn’t get out of bed for a couple of weeks. I think the two of you are very fortunate. I can’t wait to go back to work. I don’t have anything left to clean or sort in my place.”

  The idea of running out of things to do always flabbergasted me. “What about volunteer work?”

  “I’m looking into that. My nephew plays football for Harbor High. Their practices start soon, and I’m thinking about helping out.”

  “That’s great news.” I was ready to say goodbye when Blaze burst into my office without knocking. I couldn’t remember any other time that happened.

  “Boss, you have to come to the door!”

  I held my hand over the receiver of my landline. “I’m on a call. They’ll have to wait.”

  I saw the alarm in Blaze’s eyes as he shook his head no. “Now, Boss. Trust me. Now.”

  My hand started to tremble slightly. I said, “I’ve gotta go, Daniel. Sorry.” I hung the phone up before he could reply.

  Blaze reached down for my crutches and handed them to me. “Sorry about that, Boss. It’s an emergency. I wouldn’t interrupt if it weren’t.”

  I shoved the crutches under my arms and followed Blaze out the door of my office. As I navigated the hallway, I asked, “What kind of emergency? I don’t smell smoke. You look fine. Nobody else is in the house. Timothy is…” My voice trailed off.

  “Someone at the front door, Boss. You have to talk to them.”

  “Timothy? Something’s wrong. Fuck! What the hell?”

  “I don’t know much. They said they needed to talk to you.”

  As we entered the front entryway of the house, I asked, “Where are they?”

  “I didn’t let them inside. He said he’d wait at the door.”

  Leaning on the crutches, I pulled the door open to find a man dressed in an immaculate charcoal suit and wearing dark glasses. I’d never seen him before, and I didn’t know whether I’d be able to describe him well if someone asked. Despite the heat outside, he wore a long dark overcoat.

  “May I help you? What’s this all about?”

  The man spoke in a low, barely audible tone. “They have Timothy Coleman.”

  I reached out to impulsively grab the man’s collar. The movement occurred so quickly that I nearly tumbled on to the ground. He responded by slowly and carefully removing my fingers from his clothing. “An attack is not wise. I’ll cut those crutches out from under you. You don’t want to break the other leg, do you?”

  “I’m sure the authorities wouldn’t be happy to hear about your threats.”

  “I don’t leave marks.”

  I found it almost impossible to suppress the growl in the back of my throat. “What do you want? If you harm him, everyone responsible will pay.”

  “I’m not holding him. I’m only the messenger. However, I’m quite confident they won’t harm him if you follow their instructions.”

  I clenched my teeth and set my jaw. “What do they want? All I want is Timothy safe and sound.”

  “Two things.”

  “Things? I’ve got plenty of money. Tell me what they want, and I’ll provide all the money they need to buy their things.”

  I couldn’t recall a time I’d ever seen a face more devoid of emotion. Perhaps if I could see the eyes behind the glasses, I would see more, but the mouth and lips formed the words with an unsettling calm.

  “Two things, and they want it on film. I’m told that Timothy owns a video camera, and it’s here in your house.”

  I opened and closed my fists and tensed ready to hear something sick and depraved. “I have it. Yes.”

  Blaze stood over my shoulder, and I heard his breath growing heavy and ragged.

  The stranger said, “You will film two statements. One will indicate that you want to end the relationship with Timothy. The second will tell the world that you plan to close the OBU clinic permanently. You’ve got twenty-four hours.”

  Blaze growled, “Fucker. Let me at him, Boss.”

  I did my best to push my crutches out on either side of my body while still maintaining my balance. “No violence.” I addressed the stranger again. “I can’t do either of those. I’m not the one person with sole control over those situations.”

  “If you don’t follow the instructions, I’m told that you will never see Timothy again.” He handed me a small slip of paper with a phone number typed on it. “Call this number when the task is complete, and you’ll receive the instructions for delivery.”

  17

  Timothy

  I found myself bound to a wooden chair when my captors finally removed my blindfold. I quickly glanced around to take in my surroundings. It was an ordinary-looking living room of a house complete with a fireplace and an old shabby couch. A sudden slap got my attention and caused me to look up at the man standing before me.

  He was a brute almost as big as Blaze but lacking the chef’s handsome face. With his arms folded across his massive, muscular chest, the man stared down at me. “You’re a cute one. Too bad I’m the straight guy in the group.” He snickered and spat on the hardwood floor near my feet.

  I gathered my wits about me and worked hard to sound defiant despite the fact that I was trembling inside. “Hey, lunkhead. Where the fuck am I? What the hell are you doing? You know something like this never ends well for your side.”

  He slapped my face again harder than the first time. The impact was cold and emotionless. It was almost like getting hit by a machine. “Talk to the boss. Otherwise, shut up.”

  “Where is the…boss?”

  Another vicious slap landed on my cheek, knocking my face to the side. “I said shut up, asshole. I don’t want to hear from you.”

  Pursing my lips to keep them shut, I tugged at the ropes binding my wrists, ankles, and body to the chair. Everything was tight. I could barely move.

  I heard a voice from an adjoining room. “You did well. Did he get the message?”

  “Loud and clear.”

  “And he’s going to comply?”

  “I don’t know yet, but I think he wants his pet Timothy back.”

  I tugged at the ropes. They’d gone to Inteus. Where are the fucking police when you need them? I growled, “I’ll kill every last one of you if you hurt my boyfriend.”

  Another slap lan
ded on the side of my face. The heel of his hand connected with the corner of my mouth. Seconds later, I tasted the saltiness of blood trickling from a split lip.

  The two men I heard talking stepped into the room and the bruiser moved out of the way. I recognized the face of one of the men and immediately cursed myself for not remembering his name.

  The familiar man said, “No wonder he likes you. You’re adorable. Omegas almost always are. I bet you love cuddling up beside him telling him he’s a wonderful alpha. Unfortunately, he’s not half as great as you think. He can’t protect you, and he can’t protect that baby.”

  It didn’t take long for me to piece together why I knew him. He was one of the protesters. It made logical sense. They were threatening Inteus by capturing me. I didn’t know anyone else in Maine. He had to be one of them.

  Keeping an eye on the burly beast in the corner of the room, I spoke up again. “Like you would have any clue. You’re probably not an alpha or an omega. You just wish you were.”

  “I’m a proud omega and shut the fuck up.”

  I sneered at him and calculated that a fellow omega was unlikely to hit me. Fighting in hand-to-hand combat wasn’t in our genetic makeup. “Is that bull in the corner your alpha?”

  He wanted to hit me, and he started to pull his arm back, but then he stopped. “Your boyfriend’s bogus clinic destroyed my chance at having an alpha in my life. We should have grabbed him instead of you, but he’s the authority, and he has to make the public announcement about the clinic.”

  I thought about Inteus trying to fight off attackers on his crutches and cringed. Without the injury, I was confident he could take down any of them, probably even the huge bruiser. Injured, the odds were much worse. I needed to come up with some kind of measured, strategic response. I knew that kind of reasoning wasn’t my strong point, but I needed to try.

  “So you think he could screw up my life, too?”

  “The pregnancy took. We knew you were one of the clients, and we’ve been keeping an eye on you. I saw you that morning. I’m sure you recognize me.”

  It was a confirmation of all that I knew. I was on the right track. Answering the question, I said, “Yes, and it’s starting to show. This fucking stress isn’t good for a pregnancy.”

  The man squatted down so that his eyes were on a level nearly even with mine. He patted my bound thigh and fixed his gaze on me. His eyes were blue, almost a sea-foam color. “You’ll lose it soon. You know that’s likely to happen, don’t you? The fuckers in that clinic don’t know what they’re doing. I was pregnant, too.”

  My mind raced through all the photos of happy families I remembered seeing at the OBU clinic. For one brief moment, I wondered if my kidnapper was correct. Did something go wrong with most of the pregnancies? I only saw photos of about five successful families.

  “You were a client? You got pregnant?”

  “I did.”

  I sensed a crack in the facade. He struggled to say those two words. He was holding more emotion inside than mere anger.

  I tried to insert a sympathetic tone into my voice. “What happened? Tell me your story.”

  “I miscarried. The doctors told me it was likely due to problems with the insemination procedure. I contacted your boyfriend’s organization. They didn’t do a fucking thing. I was left with no baby and a whole lot of blood. I was in the hospital for a whole week.”

  Fear gripped me. I’d never considered the possibility that I could miscarry. I had a cousin who never fully recovered after she lost her baby. She was on pills struggling to keep her head together and chase the daily demons away.

  Taking a long, deep breath, I asked, “So what led you to do this? Why does it matter what happens to other omegas like me?”

  “I listened to my mom.”

  My eyes opened wide. I remembered there was an older woman in the group of protesters. I wondered if that was this man’s mother.

  “Your mother?” His answer shocked me. The only omegas I knew had two fathers.

  The muscle-bound monster stepped forward. “Okay, isn’t this enough chit-chat? Josh here said he delivered the message and a deadline. Let’s just shove this guy in a dark closet and forget about him. We can dump him if the boyfriend fucks up.”

  I tried to think quickly about something to say. I wanted to keep the attention of the man in front of me. If there was a ringleader to the small group, it was him.

  I said, “I’m scared both about having the baby and not having it. Did you feel like that? I mean, the pain, giving birth. Hell, postpartum d’s. Who knows what’s going to happen.”

  “Seriously? You’re worried? Fuck, I was every damned day until I saw the blood. Then I thought I was dying.”

  The cracks were deepening. I had his attention. My body was starting to ache from being bound in an immovable position for so long. I shifted around to try and ease some of the stress and tried not to think about the impact on the new life inside me.

  “What did your mother have to do with this?”

  He released himself from the squatting position and sat on the floor at my feet. “She hates gay people, and she resents that her only son is an omega.”

  “She gave birth to an omega? How is that possible?”

  “No, I’m adopted. My dads died in a car accident when I was only a few weeks old. Mom knew someone who worked with orphaned kids, and she was a single mom who wanted a child but couldn’t get pregnant.”

  I whispered, “Wow, your story is like so many omegas who went to OBU. Most of them have some sort of loss in their history that makes them want to have a child. Or, like me, they get addicted to babies. I don’t understand about your mom. She knew you would grow up gay. Omegas mate with alphas.”

  My captor didn’t get to explain his mother’s contradictory reasoning. Mentioning the clinic was the wrong thing to do. He glared at me. “OBU ruined my life. We’re shutting it down before it destroys any more.”

  18

  Inteus

  Blaze wanted me to call the police immediately, but I balked. I thought about the violence at the clinic and my own injuries along with those of others. To me, calling in the authorities meant an overwhelming show of force. I’d be asking for even more casualties.

  While Blaze seethed, I said, “You need to calm down right now. I have to know that you can help me think this through. I’m calling in another person. Three heads have to be better than only one.”

  Daniel arrived in less than twenty minutes. His arm was intact again, and his cast was gone. Blaze met him at the door.

  “Inteus is in there on the sofa.”

  Daniel said, “He didn’t tell me what this is about. It sounded like an emergency. What’s going on?”

  “Ask the boss.”

  I didn’t stand, but I reached out for a hug from Daniel. He was worried. I saw the concern in his eyes. Blaze offered him a chair, and he sat pushing himself forward so that he perched right on the edge. Blaze joined me on the sofa.

  “What’s this about?”

  “They kidnapped Timothy.”

  Daniel’s gaze flashed back and forth between Blaze and me. “What the fuck. Is that a joke? Who are they?”

  “The protesters. Apparently, the bomb was only a warning shot.”

  “Holy fuck. Where are the cops? Surely all of them have records.”

  Blaze shrugged. “Good question, right?”

  I leaned forward as well as I could with my leg and the heavy brace sticking out straight into the room. “Now, listen up. Angry confrontation leads to violence. It’s inevitable. It’s the critical lesson I learned in Japan.”

  Growling, Blaze asked, “So what do you do, Boss? Bring them cupcakes and ask them to let Timothy go because you know they’re nice guys underneath it all? That’s fucked. Some men only understand force.”

  “No, you have to be smarter than that. Do you remember what happened early in the day they threw the bomb?”

  Daniel scratched his head. “Timothy got pregnan
t.”

  “No, I’m not talking about that. Did you hear from Greg?”

  “Oh, yeah, he said the protesters were mostly gone for the day.”

  I nodded. “And, did he tell you what happened before they dispersed?”

  Blaze watched our conversation carefully. His face was red, and he was still seething with anger. He rubbed his massive thighs with his big fleshy hands. I knew that he was ready to explode at any moment.

  Daniel said, “No, he didn’t tell me anything.”

  It had to be Keith. He was one of the most regular of the protesters, and he always appeared to be right on the edge. That’s why I tried to kill both him and his mother with kindness. I said, “Greg got into an angry argument with one of the protesters. I’m ready to bet that it was Keith, and he’s the odds-on favorite as our bomb-thrower. Keith got thumped by a rotten cabbage that morning, too. It wasn’t his day. The anger was boiling inside, and what did he do?”

  “Threw a bomb?”

  “Think larger in a more conceptual sense.”

  Daniel scooted back slightly. “I’m confused.”

  “He resorted to violence. The anger needed an outlet, so he lit the fuse.”

  Blaze nodded. “Maybe you’ve got something there, Boss.”

  “So I don’t want cops to go in there with guns blazing if we still have an alternative. In the middle of all that explosive anger, there’s too much risk that Timothy gets shot.”

  Daniel scratched his head. “I get all that, but where do we go from here? We don’t have a clue where Timothy is, and we don’t know how many people are holding him. The protesters have numbered up to fifty on some days. I can’t see you carrying a gun, and I can’t hit the broadside of a barn with a pistol. I’ve tried. How do we stare down a crowd of fifty?” He lowered his head into his hands.

  Before I had the opportunity to answer, my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but it was an in-state Maine call. I whispered, “Let me take this. I’ll put it on speaker.”