Forever Guarded
Page 20
“No,” Dylan said, shaking his head. “Just, no.”
“Grand romantic gesture,” Matt told him with surety.
“I did save her parents.”
“You can’t get grander than that,” Cody said with a smirk. “Unless it’s a huge diamond ring.”
“I don’t see Piper being a huge diamond ring kind of girl,” Aiden said.
Dylan grinned as he slapped Aiden’s shoulder. “See. Perfect guy for her.”
“Romantic dates, then,” Nash suggested. “Picnics, hikes, horseback riding. That kind of thing.”
“I could do that,” Aiden said as his mind started coming up with romantic gestures. Just because he’d never done romance didn’t mean he couldn’t.
“Excuse me,” Dudley said, pushing up his glasses. “I have the—”
“Medicine,” Dylan finished for him. “Good. Start giving it to them.” They watched Dudley walk off and Dylan let out a breath. “So much better than him for my brother-in-law. He’s a genius, but there’s no way he’d go shooting with me.”
Ryan tried to hide his laughter, but Nash lost it. “And who Piper marries is all about you?” Ryan asked.
“I have to live with him too,” Dylan said as if it were common sense.
“I’m not going to touch that. Should I walk away from this?” Matt asked as he and Cody looked around. “Is the FBI going to take jurisdiction?”
“Actually,” Aiden announced, “Rahmi is claiming jurisdiction.”
“Say that again?” Ryan asked, his face losing the traces of humor.
“I’m on a diplomatic mission for Prince Jamal to do whatever it takes to retrieve Piper Davies and secure the Rahmi International Nanotechnology Laboratory.”
“You’re shitting me?” Ryan put his hands on his hips. “You have proof?”
Aiden handed him the papers Jamal had given him. “But I’m sure it could become a joint operation.”
Nash got the hint and walked off with the phone to his ear. Five minutes later, he was back. “A press release will be out from the king commending the local FBI office for their assistance in a raid that captured Phobos and nine members of his gang.”
“I know how this works. In return for what?” Ryan asked.
“I need thirty minutes with Phobos before I hand him over. You try him here, but then immediately extradite him to Rahmi for trial as well.”
Ryan’s lips pursed as his phone rang. “It’s my boss,” he said, walking off for a moment.
“This is the virus used to do that to the men,” Aiden said, handing the needle to Nash. “And this is the antidote. I thought you might want them. Death doesn’t come for forty-eight hours, but Phobos doesn’t need to know that.”
Nash pocketed the needles as Ryan came back. “The deal is done. I’ll wait out here. You’re on the clock, Nash. And Nash, he’d better not end up dead.”
Nash didn’t say anything as he disappeared into the house.
“Here’s the information we’ve gotten so far from the men outside,” Aiden shot him a text with the notes. “And you might want to question them before they get their medicine. They seem very talkative right now. Oh, and Royce, the dead man inside, was the man who threatened Tammy’s unborn child with a knife and kidnapped Piper in Rahmi. Let’s just say his death was a result from crossfire.”
“What really happened?” Matt asked.
“Pierce killed him. Let’s keep that and everything about Mr. and Mrs. Davies out of the public record as much as possible. I don’t want any chance of retaliation against them,” Aiden told them.
“Got it,” Matt said as Cody nodded.
“No problem. This appears to be a field in central Kentucky,” Ryan replied.
“Well, I think our time is done here. I have a brother or sister to meet and Aiden has my sister to win over. We’ll see you all later.” Dylan pulled the keys from his pocket and pointed Aiden toward the garage.
“Tell your mom we’re thinking of her,” Matt called out as they began to walk away. “And romance Piper. Preferably by two weeks from now.”
“Why two weeks?” Aiden asked Dylan.
“That’s when he placed his bet on you proposing.”
“And when did you place your bet?”
Dylan just smiled as he opened the garage door to reveal a minivan, a truck, and a sports car. “I think this is a Corvette moment.”
“If only it were an Aston Martin,” Aiden said as he opened the passenger door.
“Here I was just beginning to like you and you pull that English car crap on me,” Dylan said with a shake of his head.
27
Piper floored it as her mother’s panting increased. The screams of pain from her father came every two minutes now as her mother squeezed his hand with each new contraction.
“Draven, call my sister and let her know Mom’s in labor,” Piper said as she rattled off the phone number.
“She’s the hot little one, right? Who’s good with her tongue?”
Piper’s hand shot from the steering wheel and smacked him at the same time her mother hit the back of his head. Cassidy was just a baby in her mind, but in reality, she was about to turn twenty-one, which was just a couple years younger than Draven in his mid-twenties. She had a knack for picking up languages and was still trying to decide what to do with that talent.
“Hello, sweetness, it’s the man of your dreams.”
“Draven!” Piper’s mother screamed as another contraction hit. Oh, they were getting closer. Piper sped into Lexington, passing cars left and right.
“Yes, that’s your mother. She’s having the baby and is being incredibly rude as I try to invite you to view the royal member.”
This time it was Pierce who reached forward to hit Draven.
“I’m a king, you know. You’d die in my country for that.”
“Well, in my town you’ll die for bad manners,” Tammy said between pants.
Draven rolled his eyes. “Anyway, your mom is in labor and your sister is driving us all to the hospital and wants you to let everyone know.”
“Why am I here?” Draven repeated. “I came to save your parents’ lives, and I can think of the perfect way for you to repay me.”
Piper shoved the side of his head, causing Draven to bonk against the window. He rolled his eyes at her as Piper sped up to the emergency room doors. Draven hung up with Cassidy who had said she’d call Jace and Dylan and alert the town via text to meet them at the hospital.
“Draven, could you get a wheelchair for my mom?” Piper asked as she grabbed the overnight bag from her father and moved to help her mom from the car.
Minutes later, there was still no Draven and no wheelchair. Her mother was slowly waddling her way inside with Pierce on one side and Piper on the other. She was going to kill Draven. He was probably hitting on a nurse.
When the doors opened and they stepped inside the ER, Piper and her family froze. Draven was running around and around a section of chairs as a nurse chased him.
“I really am a king!” he yelled.
“The doctor will find that very interesting. Just let me give you something to calm you down,” the nurse responded.
Draven caught Piper’s eyes and stopped running. “There,” he said, pointing to Piper. “She can tell—” The nurse injected the needle into his arm and Draven went down.
Her mother let out a low groan and nurses swarmed her. “He really is a king. But you might take advantage and castrate him like a dog who humps your leg too much.” Tammy panted as she sat down in a wheelchair.
Piper pulled up the headline about the King of Bermalia signing a treaty in Keeneston. Under the headline was a big picture of Draven. The nurse who had given him a sedative went white. Her eyes were huge as she looked at the picture and at the man now snoring at her feet. “Just put him a private room and we’ll say he slipped and hit his head.” The nurse looked relieved as two other nurses helped to get him onto a gurney and wheeled him away.
“Go
“Thank you. I would imagine he could get me fired. I can take you to the labor and delivery waiting room if you’d like.”
“Please,” Piper told her as she followed her down the same hall that her parents were taken. She took a seat on the pale blue padded chair and waited. There were a few other friends or family members waiting for their loved ones to deliver their baby and it made Piper think of when each of her siblings was born. For every child born after her, Piper had always been with Grandpa Jake. Grandma Marcy was always one of the first people at the hospital. Piper and her grandfather would fix farming machinery, go horseback riding, or do something else that always made her feel special. Grandpa Jake always made each of the kids feel special, even in the moments that weren’t their own.
Aiden made her feel special too. Piper took a deep breath and looked toward the door. Would he come? Some guys got weird about women having babies. Especially single men, so maybe he wouldn’t come. Piper looked back down at her lap. Her hands trembled from relief, adrenaline, worry, and for once, not having a plan. She’d always known what she wanted, what the next step was. But right now she didn’t. There were more questions than answers about her feelings for Aiden.
Piper groaned and put her head in her hands. She should have told him she loved him. And what was happening to him back at her parents’ house? Would Ryan or Matt actually arrest him? Her hands started shaking more. She didn’t like this uncertainty. She had thought love would be a slow, gradual build. You become friends, you talk for a year, decide to go out on a date, and over time feel a companionable love. She should have known better. Piper saw how her friends and cousins had fallen in love. Some quick, some over time, but one thing was sure. They all knew they were in love, and it wasn’t companionable and comfortable. It was so much more intimate and passionate.
Piper didn’t notice the people coming and going from the waiting room. Her thoughts were on Aiden. To live in the now. To be with him. Just the thought of it was enough to make her heart pound and her lips twitch into a smile. And then she had her answer. Love wasn’t scary. It wasn’t a leap of faith because Aiden would always catch her. They would hold each other up so they’d never fall.
“Where’s my grandbaby?”
Piper was pulled from her thoughts as her grandmother shuffled in with the Rose sisters and Aniyah right behind them. Aniyah was weighed down by baskets of food. “I brought them as soon as my Sugarbear told me Miss Tammy was in labor. How is she doing?”
Piper grabbed a basket of cookies from her as the four elderly women began walking straight to the nurse in charge. The nurse smiled at them and happily took the apple pie Grandma Marcy handed her. Everyone in the hospital loved when a woman from Keeneston had a baby. They were bribed with homemade treats to get up-to-the-second information.
The nurse hurried off to see how Piper’s mother was doing as the four moved to the nearest seats. Aniyah looked Piper up and down. “What’s the matter?”
“You mean besides being kidnapped, stowing away in containers of fish, having to ask King Draven for help, sleeping with Aiden, having my brother walk in on us naked, my parents held hostage, releasing a deadly virus, having men risk their lives to save my parents, my mom going into labor, and having to leave my brother and Aiden behind to maybe be arrested for killing a couple of bad guys?”
“Yeah, that’s kinda par for the course around here. What’s really bothering you?” Aniyah pulled Piper down into the nearest chair and dug around a basket for a cookie. “Here you go. Tell Aniyah all about it.”
Piper gave up. No one could resist Miss Violet’s cookies. “I love him.”
“Isn’t that good news?” Aniyah asked, taking a bite of her cookie.
“It should be, but I’m too worried about the future.”
“Ah. Have you talked to him about it?” Aniyah cocked her head in a don’t-lie-to-me look.
“Not exactly.”
“My Sugarbear and I share everything. If there’s something bothering me, or something that I’m worried about, we talk about it. Two minds are better than one, especially when two hearts have become one.”
Piper flung her arms around Aniyah. “Thank you.”
The double doors opened as Dylan and Aiden stepped into the waiting room. Dylan was in his normal clothes and Aiden still wore his military gear, minus the weapons and bulletproof jacket. His stubble was slightly darker than normal and his eyes . . . they were glued to hers. Dylan held balloons and Aiden had a small teddy bear in his hands.
“Girl, if you’re not about to jump him right now, I will. All this talk about babies and love has me fired up,” Aniyah said, pulling out her phone and texting her Sugarbear.
Fired up was one way to put it. Piper melted. He was standing there with a teddy bear for her little brother or sister and a smile on his face that told her so much more about how he was feeling than the “I love you” he’d told her earlier. Especially when his eyes dipped to her midsection and his smile softened. In a flash, her future hit her. Walking down the aisle to him, standing there in a tux. To nights of laughter and lovemaking. To years of love and growing together. To walks along the shore in Lynton. To horseback riding in Keeneston. To his hand resting on her own swollen belly filled with their child. Aiden laughing as he played with their children. Their hair turning silver. Their wrinkled hands clasped. It all flashed before her in that one split second that left her racing toward him.
Aiden’s arms opened as Piper flung herself into them. “I love you, Aiden. I love you so much.”
Aiden’s arms closed around her, holding her tight as her feet dangled inches above the ground. He looked down at her with so much love that Piper’s heart almost burst. Everything felt right—felt perfect. Aniyah was right. Together they could conquer anything. They’d already proven that.
“I love you too,” Aiden said with such sincerity Piper didn’t care she was in the middle of the waiting room with the biggest gossips all watching avidly. She kissed Aiden with everything she had. Their lips came together to seal their love and unspoken promise of a future together.
“Davies family?” a nurse asked, breaking their kiss.
Aiden put her down, but didn’t drop his hands from her sides as she turned in the circle of his arms, pressing her back to his chest and resting his clasped hands on her stomach.
“Yes?” half the waiting room replied.
“Mrs. Davies is doing well. She’s progressing rapidly, and the baby should be here any minute,” the nurse said as Aniyah handed her a cookie. “I’ll be back shortly with another update.”
“Aiden, I’d like you to meet my grandmother.”
“I’d be honored to.”
Piper led Aiden across the waiting room and stopped before her grandmother, who had the biggest smile on her face as she sat with the Rose sisters.
“So, you’re the lucky one to scoop up my Piper,” Marcy said.
“Grandma, this is Aiden Creed. Aiden, my grandma, Marcy Davies.”
Aiden lifted Marcy’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Davies.”
Miss Violet moved to grab him again but Piper blocked her. Miss Violet crossed her arms and pouted. “It’s his accent. It does it to me every time.” Aiden grinned and her grandmother blushed. “Oh my,” she whispered as Aiden pressed a soft kiss on Miss Violet’s cheek and whispered something in her ear. “Oh my,” Miss Violet gasped as she smiled wide. “He’s a keeper.”
“Now, young man, take a seat next to me and tell me all about yourself,” Marcy said, patting the empty seat next to her. Aiden took the seat with the teddy bear still in hand and began talking to Piper’s grandmother.
“Piper!”
Piper turned to see Jace and Cassidy rushing through the doors. Cassidy had a bag of their mom’s favorite fast food and Jace had a bottle of wine in hand.
“How’s Mom?” Jace asked.
“Doing well. Baby should be here really soon.”
“I can’t believe I won’t be the youngest anymore. I don’t know if I like this,” Cassidy said jokingly.
“Now you know how I felt when each of you were born.”
“Hey,” Cassidy said, tapping Piper on the arm, “who’s the hottie talking to Grandma?”
Piper saw her sister straighten up and fluff her hair. Nope. No way. “That’s my boyfriend, Aiden.”
“Boyfriend?” Jace and Cassidy questioned at once.
“I thought he was your bodyguard,” Jace said as his eyes narrowed to where Dylan was now talking to Aiden and Grandma Marcy.
“He could guard my body anytime,” Cassidy muttered as Piper smacked her. “Sorry, but he’s totally hot. And not that you aren’t or anything, but you’ve always brought home those nerdy guys. And not the hot nerdy type, but the kind that probably secretly picks his nose and wipes it on his clothes.”
“Cass!” Piper looked to Jace for backup, but he just nodded his head in agreement.
“Dylan seems to like him.” Jace changed the subject.
“He was British Special Air Service,” Piper said, noting how Dylan and Aiden were talking with the Rose sisters and Grandma Marcy, completely at ease with them and each other. All four women looked like they were in heaven. All they needed was a new baby to hold.
“Oh,” Cassidy and Jace said as if that explained everything.
“That makes him so much hotter. I swear, if you don’t marry that man, I will,” Cassidy told her seriously.
“That’s a little shallow. You haven’t even met him yet.”
“He has an English accent and looks like that. That’s enough for me.” Piper rolled her eyes at her sister. “Come on, introduce me.”
“You flirt with him, and I’ll shave your head again while you sleep,” Piper warned as they made their way over to Aiden.
“I wouldn’t do that. I’m just happy for you. For us. We have a hot, badass, possible future brother-in-law. That will make family dinners even more interesting. Remember that last guy who thought he was so much better than we were because he invented some chemical reaction?”
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