The Merger

by Loni Ree

  “What the hell is going on? Lucy isn’t due for three more weeks,” I demand.

  “The hospital tried your cell, but it’s on silent, so they called me. Lucy is being rushed into an emergency C-section,” Jessica frantically relays the information.

  We all rush to St Joseph’s Hospital in Drew’s SUV. I listen to my messages on the way, and a doctor explains that I need to get to the hospital quickly because Lucy’s hemorrhaging, and they’re performing emergency surgery. I’m frantic and praying the entire way to the hospital. I know I can’t live without my wife but losing Lucy and the baby would kill me.

  Following our arrival at the hospital, I jump from the SUV and run into the emergency entrance. Once they confirm who I am, they tell me that my gorgeous baby girl, Lily, has been born. Lucy lost quite a bit of blood and will require a longer recovery, but she should be okay. The doctor also tells me Lucy will need extra help for a while to recover from the traumatic delivery.

  A nurse takes me to see Lily while Lucy is in recovery, but I won’t breathe easy again until I see for myself that Lucy is okay. As I hold Lily, I fall deeply in love with my baby girl, but fear for her mother keeps me from enjoying the first moments I have with her. They wheel Lucy into the room several hours later and relief floods through me. She looks pale and exhausted, but alive, and I can finally breathe a little easier.

  “Let me see her,” Lucy demands as soon as she sees me holding Lily, so I walk over and lay the baby gently in her arms.

  “She’s so perfect, but I can't believe I went through all that hell and she looks just like you. She could at least look a little like me,” Lucy grumbles playfully.

  Sitting carefully on the bed, I put my arm around Lucy’s shoulder, and I lean down and softly run my lips over her temple and assure her, “She has your chin and look how tiny she is, she’s definitely going to take after you.”

  We spend the next several hours admiring our adorable daughter together. The girls spend four days in the hospital before I’m allowed to take them home, and I stay with them the whole time because I can’t imagine staying at our empty house alone.

  23

  Blake

  We have our first big fight after Lily’s birth the day Lukas and Madison come to visit. Lily is a week old, and Lucy is still overly emotional. I’ll admit I’m not as understanding as I should be, and I snap at her over something stupid.

  “Drew should understand that you’re staying home with your wife and one-week-old baby,” she complains in front of Madison and Lukas.

  Before I think better of my response, I angrily reply, “Drew is drowning at DRS and needs me to get my shit done. I’ve been here with you for a week, and all Lily does is eat and sleep. You can manage on your own for a few hours while I go into the office and take care of a few things.”

  Seeing the tears in her eyes kills me but ignore them as I leave for the office.

  I’m only at DRS for an hour before my cellphone rings. Lukas Ryan doesn’t even let me finish my ‘hello’ before he lets me have it.

  “I couldn’t care less if you live happily ever after or not, but when my wife is upset by your shit, I’m going to take action. You need to figure your shit out. When we left your house, Lucy was still crying her eyes out because of how you treated her. If you aren’t going to treat her right, I will step in and protect my family, and since I’m married to Madison, she and Lily are now my family.”

  I’m so pissed off I want to throw the phone; this asshole is threatening my family.

  “Are you threatening me? I’m working my ass off trying to figure out who is stealing from your goddamn company,” I remind the motherfucker.

  “I’m trying to wake you the fuck up as to how you’re treating your goddamn wife a week after she almost died having your fucking baby,” he yells back into the phone, and I finally realize the jerk is actually trying to help me.

  The thought of losing Lucy and Lily almost brings me to my knees, and I have to take a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I realize I need to get home and fix the fucking mess I’ve created with my careless words and actions.

  “Fuck me, I’m running on lack of sleep and stress,” I finally admit to Lukas.

  “Don’t take your shit out on Lucy, now get home and make it up to her. Fucking make sure she lets Madison know that everything is okay,” he fucking hangs up on me.

  Before leaving my office, I find Drew. After knocking on his door, he gestures me in, and as soon as I slide into the chair in front of his desk, I say, “Lucy needs me at home right now, so I’m going to work from there for the next couple of weeks at least.”

  He taps his hands on the desk and thinks for a minute before he comes up with a compromise.

  “I know Lucy needs help, but sometimes, I’ll need you to come into the office. Until we can figure out who the fuck helped Lukas’ ex-assistant steal from him and get them and Marta off the streets, I’m going to need every guy I have to help me right now. I know it’s a shit time, but a lot of this work you can do from home. When you have to come into DRS, I’ll send Jessica to your house to stay with Lucy and Lily until you return. Will that work for you?”

  “I’ll talk to Lucy, and if she agrees, I think that idea could work,” I tell Drew, and I leave to get home to my girls.

  When I get there, I find Lucy asleep on the sofa with Lily snuggled up on her chest. My heart melts at the sight of my two girls, and I realize how much I love them, and the guilt for how I treated Lucy earlier in the day slams into me. As I’m gently taking Lily off of Lucy’s chest, Lucy’s eyes pop open, and I signal for her to follow me back to our room. After laying Lily in her cradle, I take Lucy in my arms and gently feast on her mouth.

  “I’m so fucking sorry for earlier. You and Lily are my world, and nothing is more important than you two. I wouldn't make it without you, the other half of my soul. Drew has agreed to let me take some time off.” Tears run down her face, and I wipe them away with my thumbs. “There will be some times that I need to go into the office, but Drew wants to send Jessica here to help you if you agree,” I continue when the tears slow.

  I lean down and kiss the tears off of her cheeks and then claim her mouth with mine. Slowly thrusting my tongue into her mouth and getting my fill of her sweet taste until we’re both breathless, I raise my head and look down and smile at my gorgeous wife. “Why don't we go make-out on the sofa until Lily wakes up?” I suggest, and she agrees.

  We make our new arrangement work, and after a couple of weeks, Lucy is healed enough for me to return to the office during the day. I’ve arranged to wait at least a year before I begin taking out of town assignments again, and I won’t ever take jobs that are going to last for more than a couple of weeks at a time.

  One night, Lucy and I are at home getting ready to put Lily down for the night when I get a call from Drew.

  “You need to fucking secure your house and set your alarm. Make sure to stay armed and keep Lucy and Lily within your sight until you hear from me,” he tells me before he hangs up.

  Grabbing Lucy’s hand, I tell her, “Sit on the sofa with Lily until I get back.”

  Then I quickly go to get my gun and secure the house, setting the alarm like Drew instructed me. When I return, the fear is written on Lucy’s face, and I try to reassure her, but I have no idea what kind of threat we’re facing. Jessica texts Lucy a little while later and tells her that Madison has been kidnapped by Lukas’ ex-assistant with the help of an unknown accomplice. Drew worries that the suspects may also try to take someone else in the family. I try to comfort Lucy and reassure her that Drew and Lukas will do everything possible to get her sister home safely, but she sobs quietly on my shoulder. I’m pissed that I can’t help Lucy, but I don’t let my emotions distract me from protecting my girls.

  DRS has been tirelessly investigating Marta, Lukas’ ex-assistant, since this merger started. Marta has been selling company secrets to a competitor, and we’re trying to uncover the proof Lukas needs to
prosecute her. We recently discovered that someone else is involved, but so far, we’ve been unable to find out the identity of her partner. I finally reach Drew, and he updates me on the progress. I hate being unable to help, but I wouldn’t trust anyone else to protect my family.

  The team at DRS decides to trade Max, Lukas’ best friend and five million dollars for Madison, and Drew promises to keep me updated as the situation unfolds. Later that night, Drew calls and informs us that Madison is safe, but Marta and Max have escaped. Evidently, Max was the fucking unknown accomplice we have been chasing for months. Madison and Lukas are devastated but lucky that the situation didn’t end tragically. After all the turmoil, Madison and Lukas inform the family that they are expecting twins, so there is good news to celebrate after all.

  DRS gets even busier because the push begins to find Marta, Max, and Lukas Ryan’s five million dollars. The advantage of being so busy at work is I barely have time to think about making love to my wife during the day, but the nights are killing me. Sleeping next to her and being so close but not being able to have her is driving me insane. Everything she does fucking makes my goddamn shaft hard enough to drill through a wall. All she has to do is take a deep breath, and I have to turn away before I explode in my pants like a teenager.

  Watching her feed Lily makes me jealous of my daughter. Hitting the gym twice a day to work does little to hold off the aggression I’m feeling. I hope my wife is ready for me when the doctor gives us the green light because I don’t plan on letting her out of bed for several days. I’ll bring Lily to her to eat, but other than that, I plan on keeping her wet heat stuffed full of my eager dick.

  The day of her checkup, my tortured dick is ready. I have Lily down for her nap, and I’m waiting to pounce the minute Lucy walks through the door.

  “Did the doctor clear you?” I ask as I carry her to our room.

  She mumbles, “Yep,” as she starts caressing the side of my neck with her lips. I tear her shirt off in the living room. Her bra is left in the hall with her underwear and pants. When we get to our room, and I tug at my shirt and tear it down the middle because I can’t get it off fast enough. I pull my pants free in one quick tug then I fall on Lucy.

  I shower the inside of her knee with light pecks and run my tongue up her leg, taking light nibbles along the way until I get to her pink throbbing core. I run my nose along her soft skin and inhale the addicting aroma I love.

  “God, you taste good,” I tell her as I sip from her wetness until she begs me to suck her.

  Since I can’t deny my wife anything, I start sucking greedily on her clit while gently thrusting my middle finger into her tight passage. After her back arches and she screams my name during her orgasm, I slowly run my tongue up her body until I get to her sexy mouth. I plunder the dark cavern while I carefully thrust into her warm body.

  “This time I won't last long, but I’ll make it up to you next time,” I promise her. “Fuck, I missed you. Lily is going to be an only child because I can’t live without making love to you for another six fucking weeks.” I groan as I gently bite her ear.

  I feel her center grip me tightly every time I withdraw, and knowing I'm not going to last much longer, I reach between us and slowly but forcefully rub her little clit. A few strokes later, she throws her head back and clenches me so tightly that I have no choice but to follow right behind her and come before I’m ready. I barely manage to roll over so I don’t crush my tiny wife. I drag her over onto my chest and run my hands over her silky back and tell her how much I love her.

  “I love you, too,” she responds when the spasms stop and she can catch her breath.

  When there’s a loud cry from the other room, I laugh and throw on sweatpants so I can go get my other girl. “Looks like the little one has perfect timing,” I smirk.

  “Bring her to me; she has to be starving,” Lucy calls as I walk out of the room.

  After bringing Lily back, I put my arm around my whole world. I’ll never get tired of watching Lucy feed our daughter.

  Epilogue: Blake

  Three Years Later

  I watch as Lily races up to the poor, abused dog and tries to put lipstick on him. Mouse, our Mastiff, must love that child, or he would eat her for what she’s doing to him. Every day, Lily creates new ways to torture the animal, and he not only lets her, but he appears to enjoy all the attention. I kept my promise of just one child because we could never keep up with another one after Lily started moving. At three years old, she runs non-stop and keeps us on our toes. Lily is Lucy in miniature form with my personality. The child melts my heart, and I have a hard time saying no to my little one, especially when Lily pouts. Lucy swears it’s an act that Lily has perfected to use against me, but I ignore her.

  I’ve slowly adjusted to my new job as Senior Vice President of Operations at DRS, and I barely miss the excitement of my old assignments. Keeping up with my two girls is enough adventure for this old man.

  Lucy has grown more beautiful with age, and I find myself wanting to murder her admirers often. Lily’s karate instructor was my latest victim; I’m sure he’ll remember to keep his eyes off my wife’s ass from now on. I also learned that he might have exaggerated his credentials slightly because he lacked black belt moves. Lucy forbids me to pass this information on to the other parents since it implicates me in a minor crime.

  Lucy and I have had growing pains as all new couples do. Our fights tend to be explosive, and the make-up sex is fucking spectacular, but like I told Drew a few years ago, I wouldn’t give my girls up for anything. I thank God every day for whatever caused me to walk into the Salty Shore Bar that night to find my love drowning her sorrows in whiskey shots.

  The best thing that ever happened to me was Lucy dropping her bombshell on me.

  DREW’S UNDOING

  By: Loni Ree

  Copyright © 2019 by Loni Ree

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Edited By: Kendra's Editing and Book Services

  Cover By: Karlee Fast at KL’s Book Designs

  Created with Vellum

  Prologue

  Annie

  Well, thank God, the business trip from hell is over. I was attempting to acquire fresh, new designs for La Femme, but it seems the universe painted a big red target on my back. The sip of champagne got stuck in my throat when I caught sight of the orange and green plaid abomination my favorite design house sent down the runway as their centerpiece. Of course, I was so excited to have early access to their collection that I had written a check with lots of zeros to preorder the whole atrocious lot, sight unseen, before I left for New York. The next two days were wasted throwing around my family's name and connections to persuade the designers to cancel my entire preorder because I refuse to sell those horrendous pieces in my boutique. Now, I only have a week to catch up on everything I let fall behind at La Femme before I take a few days off for the Autumn Ball.

  After I pick up my cat, Mr. Whiskers, from my soon-to-be fiancé's house, I plan to fall in my apartment door, down a bottle of wine, drown myself in the jet tub, and then crawl into bed for at least twenty-four hours of uninterrupted sleep.

  I drag myself through Bradley's front door and start to call for my spoiled baby. It becomes apparent quickly he isn't going to make this easy on me, so I begin my search on the first floor. Bradley leaves the doors open to the rooms Mr. Whiskers
can use, so I search every room throughout the house with open doors for my cat, but the ornery cat is nowhere to be found. Just when I'm about to give up and go home without him, I have the bright idea to check the kitchen.

  In the far back corner of the kitchen, I see the old utility elevator that should be closed at all times is actually wide open. To my horror, my little furry baby is curled up in a ball in the back of the dark elevator. The death-trap has dingy, metal walls and heavy doors that only open halfway. As I stand at the edge and call for the dumb cat repeatedly, he stretches and licks his back all while ignoring me. The thought of stepping into the creepy elevator causes me to break into a sweat, but it becomes apparent that I'm going to have to overcome my fear to rescue my defiant pet.

  After dashing into the death trap and grabbing Mr. Whiskers, I hold him up to my face and look into his yellow eyes to fuss at him. "You just kissed your welcome home treat goodbye, furball." The deep voice behind me startles me and almost causes me to toss the cat in the air, and I wince when sharp claws dig into the flesh of my arms.

  "Do you always talk to your cat like he's human?" I spin around to find a shirtless Drew Steele standing with his arm leaning against the elevator door right behind me.

  "What are you doing here? You scared me to death. Oh my God, don't let the door close." I stumble over my words, trying to make him understand before I see the sliver of light disappear through the closing door. His eyes widen, and he reacts and tries to keep it open, but it's too late. After the door bangs closed, complete darkness envelopes us. When Mr. Whiskers struggles, I let him jump from my arms.