by Apryl Baker
“No.” Watkins came to stand at the foot of the bed. “I was watching for that. I even walked the perimeter of the building and checked inside before I let her out of the car. There was no one that I could see.”
“Run a background check on this contractor. See if he has any connections to Los Muertos.”
“I’ll do that,” Max volunteered. “I just need to swing by the office and grab my laptop, then I’ll head back here.”
“You’re still joining Dylan in Miami?”
“That’s the plan, boss. I’m a tracker. Finding people is what I do best.”
Dylan had wanted to send Max in the first place, but they’d been unable to reach him right away. Instead of letting the trail go cold, Dylan hopped a plane and followed Juan.
“Watkins, set up a perimeter. I want you outside this room and the rest of your team positioned at strategic locations around the hospital for the rest of the night.”
Watkins nodded and left, leaving him alone with his brother.
“So,” Nick said after a while, “a baby.”
Way to state the obvious, little brother. He still hadn’t wrapped his head around it. “Yeah.”
“She’s going to be okay.”
“I know, brat.”
“She’s going to murder all of us by the time the baby comes.” Nikoli let a grin steal across his face. “A baby.”
The first time he’d learned he was going to be a father had been in a hospital, the news delivered by the nurse. A sense of déjà vu washed over him. He glanced at his wife’s still-flat stomach where his child lay nestled, safe and unaware of the danger around him or her. His son had once been in that same place until he was ripped away from his parents. This child would never know that suffering.
“Mama and Babushka are going to be over the moon.”
“No.” Kade looked up at that. “They can’t know, at least not right now.”
“Why the hell not? This is something to celebrate, Kade.”
“The first thing they’d both do is get on a plane and come here. Where one of the deadliest cartels in the world is hunting the Kincaids. What do you think they’d do to the matriarchs of the family, Nik? They’d brutalize them, butcher them, and deliver their bodies to our doorsteps. They can’t know this, not yet.”
“Damn.” Nikoli whistled. “I didn’t think…”
Kade’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. Viktor.
“Where the fuck have you been, you bloody bastard?”
“Well, hello to you too, brat.” Viktor’s heavy Russian accent came across the line. “I’ve been fucking working and dealing with a woman who I think I am going to fucking murder before this case is finished.”
Kade put his brother on speaker. “We’ve been calling and texting you since yesterday. When do you not pick up a damn phone, Vik?”
“Sorry, brat.” Viktor’s voice took on a softer edge. “What’s wrong?”
“The cartel is coming after Kade and Angel.” Nik pulled his chair closer. “They sent our girl some photos today that caused her to faint. She hit her head, and now she’s in the hospital.”
“Shit,” Viktor spat. “Is she okay?”
“No, she’s fucking not okay or we wouldn’t be in the fucking hospital, would we?”
Viktor was quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry, Kade. I should have picked up the damn phone. What can I do?”
“Nothing we’re not already doing.” Kade rubbed his thumb across the back of Angel’s hand. “Dylan’s in Miami, and Max will be joining him either tonight or tomorrow.”
“Miami?” Viktor asked. “What are they doing in Miami?”
“Trying to find my son.” Kade explained everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours and sat back, his exhaustion starting to set in. He hadn’t slept for almost two days.
“Are you sure?” Viktor asked.
“I’ve seen the photograph. If he’s not my son, then Fate has a cruel sense of humor. We’ll know for sure…shit. Nik, can you text Max and ask him to stay at the office? Dylan’s contact is going to have the DNA results delivered there tonight.”
Nik nodded. “Sure, man.”
“I wish I could be there for you, but my client’s ex is a real piece of work. He’s already barged into her mother’s place and threatened the woman, trying to find his soon to be ex-wife and daughter. I’m afraid if I leave, he might hurt them.”
“No, you can’t abandon them. I understand that. Max explained what was going on. No man has the right to lay hands on a woman or child. Teach the bastard a lesson.”
“Trust me, I plan on it. The kid’s terrified.”
“Speaking of kids,” Nikoli interrupted, “we have good news, but you have to swear to keep it to yourself. Mama and Babushka can’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Our girl is pregnant.”
The excitement in Nik’s voice tugged a laugh out of Kade. He was excited, he was just too terrified at the moment to show it.
“Who’s pregnant?”
They both turned to gawk at Angel, who blinked blearily at them. She let out a little cough and tried to sit up, but Kade pushed her back down.
“Easy, moye serdste.” He pushed the nurse’s call button. “You need to lie back.”
Angel winced when her eyes met the overhead light. Where was she, and who was pregnant? She’d overhead them talking about it when she woke up. Maybe Lily? Nikoli had said “our girl.”
She looked around and realized she was in a hospital room, hooked up to an IV machine. What the hell?
“Did you need something, Mr. Kincaid?”
Angel followed the sound of the voice to the doorway. A young woman, blonde and blue eyed, stood there in scrubs. Very pretty.
“She’s awake.”
The nurse smiled and hurried over. “Good to see you finally awake and alert, Mrs. Kincaid. I’m Marcy, your nurse for now. I’m just going to check your vitals.” She shone a light in Angel’s eyes, earning her the most hateful look she could muster up. “I’m sorry, but you have a nasty concussion, and I have to keep an eye on you. Checking your pupils is a part of that.”
Angel waited impatiently as the nurse did her thing. Her head was spinning on top of a beast of a headache. What she needed was some ibuprofen and to know why the hell she was in the hospital.
“Vitals are all good. Your blood pressure is a little high, but that could be due to the headache I’m sure you have. I’ll get you some acetaminophen for that…”
“I’d rather have some Motrin if you have it.” Tylenol was useless for headaches. At least for her.
“That is not a good idea, Mrs. Kincaid. Ibuprofen is bad for the baby.”
“Baby?”
“You didn’t tell her?” The nurse looked to Kade, who shook his head. “Well, that means I get to tell you the good news. You’re pregnant.”
“What?” Angel could only stare at her, dumbfounded. Pregnant?
“We found it when we ran your labs earlier.” The nurse gave her another warm smile. “We generally don’t give ibuprofen to pregnant women. It can double the risk of miscarriage. You’re going to have to make do with acetaminophen.”
A baby. Another little nugget. Her hand went to her abdomen. Pregnant. Everything disappeared—the nurse, Kade, Nikoli. The word “pregnant” bounced like a volleyball between her ears. Could it really be true? Fear replaced the joy as soon as thoughts of her last nugget invaded her happiness. What if she couldn’t protect this one either? Surely, God wouldn’t give her a child just to take him from her again. Please, do not put me through that pain again, dear Lord. Please.
“Do you have an OB yet?” Nurse Marcy asked, checking the IV.
She took several deep breaths, trying to center herself and calm her nerves. “Uhhh…no.” Her voice came out shaky, but the nurse just patted her hand.
“We have several excellent ones on staff. I’ll make sure to get you a list before they release you tomorrow. Everything look
s good, and I’ll be back in a few minutes with some pain meds.”
When the nurse left, Angel turned to stare at her husband, confused. “What is going on?”
“You don’t remember what happened earlier?” Kade got her a cup of water and helped her to sit up. Not a good idea. Her head swam. She closed her eyes to block out the spinning walls.
“No. I remember going to the bank, then the bar. The contractor wasn’t there. He never showed. His boss came over to do the walkthrough and…” She saw Jim walking through the doors, handing her…handing her something…an envelope.
She gasped and sat straight up, ignoring the dizziness. “Oh, God. Kade. The pictures. There were pictures.”
“Easy, moye serdste. I know all about the pictures. Lay back and rest, sweetheart. You’re safe.”
“You are safe, sestra. I swear it.”
Viktor’s voice startled her. “Viktor?”
“He’s on speakerphone.” Nik took hold of her other hand. “No one is getting near you or our new niece or nephew. Even if I have to fly you to Russia.”
“Russia? Why would I go to Russia?”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Viktor agreed. “She could stay with Mama and Papa, surrounded by the military. The cartel wouldn’t dare try to get to her there.”
“Slow down.” Angel held up a hand. “I need a minute.”
“Nik, why don’t you go find us some coffee and maybe some food for Angel?” She shot her husband a grateful look. This was all happening too fast. She felt sick to her stomach.
“Sure thing.” Nik stood and kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t scare me like that again, Angel girl.”
“I’ll call you later, Vik, and this time, answer your damn phone.” Kade disconnected the call. “You scared the hell out of me, moye serdste. Don’t do that again.”
“We’re really pregnant?” She ignored Kade’s concern and went straight to the heart of it.
He grinned, some of the tension leaving him. “Looks like. They didn’t tell me how far along, though.”
Angel thought back to the last time she’d had her period. The beginning of February. She remembered because she’d been afraid it would arrive and screw up her Valentine’s day plans. She had warned Kade, and he had been outraged when she’d told him there would be no sex after the big date night he’d planned if her period was late. She laughed thinking about it. He’d been like a little boy sulking when he’d been told no dessert after dinner. It was the end of May now, so close to twelve weeks.
“Holy shit.”
How in God’s name had she ignored no period for almost three months?
“What?”
“I think we’re right around ten or twelve weeks.”
“Holy shit.” Kade looked stunned. “How could we not know sooner?”
“I don’t know.” Her hand rubbed her belly. She’d been nauseated for a couple weeks, but she’d not paid it any attention. It wasn’t morning sickness. She got nauseated throughout the day and not every single day. It wasn’t severe either. She’d only thrown up a few times over the last two months. With Matthew, she’d been hurling right on cue every morning for a month straight.
“The week after Valentine’s? In the shower?” Kade quirked an eyebrow, and she burst out laughing, her happiness cutting right through the fear.
“What’s so funny?” He swooped in and kissed her. “As I recall, you were not laughing. You were…”
“Shh!” She put a finger to his lips, glancing at the door. “Marcy will be back any minute. She does not need to hear my husband talking dirty.”
Kade’s grin turned wolfish. “You never know, sweetheart. She might like that kind of thing.”
“Sit your ass back down.” Angel couldn’t hold in the giggle. This man. He was the only one to ever make her giggle like a high schooler. “I was thinking about Matthew. He was conceived in the shower too.”
“I need to invest in more showers in the house we build.”
“House?” Angel settled down and asked him to dim the lights. Her head was pounding.
“Mmm hmm.” He picked up her hand when he sat back down. “Kids deserve a house with a big back yard, not a cramped apartment. Dimitri said there are several properties out by where he and Becca are moving.”
“So, we’re having more than one, are we?”
Kade felt a sledgehammer come out of nowhere when she asked him that. How the fuck was he going to tell her about Matthew? She was pregnant. He didn’t want to do anything that might cause her stress and in turn cause a problem with the pregnancy. But if he didn’t tell her until after he’d gotten their son back, she’d never forgive him. What should he do?
“Kade?” Angel nudged him. “How many kids do you want?”
“Half a dozen.”
“The hell you say.”
“There were six of us. I never want to leave our kids without backup if something happens to us or to one of them. I want what I had for them, what you needed after Peter died.”
He couldn’t tell her. Shit, shit, shit. Calm down. Maybe he was wrong. There was nothing to tell her until the DNA results came back. By then, he’d find reasons not to tell her.
“Three.”
“Six.”
“I’m trying to compromise with you, here. I am not raising six boys.”
“It might be six girls.”
“Oh, hell no. Girls are worse than boys.” She pointed to herself. “Case in point.”
“You’re beautiful, smart, and the best person I know, moye serdste. Six more of you would be a gift.”
“Until boys started coming by the house.”
“Fuck no. Our girls aren’t dating until they graduate college.”
She laughed, and his heart melted. It was the first real laugh he’d heard from her since she’d spotted their son.
“You can’t dictate what they do when they go to college.”
“The fuck I can’t. They are going to stay home and go to school. We’ll save a small fortune in room and board alone with six girls.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Angelique Lemoraux Kincaid.” He brushed his thumb across her lips. “More than I can ever tell you.”
She took his hand and placed it on her belly. “This tells me just how much you love me. Our nugget.”
A love so fierce it took him by surprise swelled up, and he laid his head on her belly. She’d given him a second chance after every awful thing he’d done to her. Now God was not only giving them another second chance with a baby, but he might have given them their son back.
He wouldn’t let God down. He’d protect them with his life this time.
He caught his brother a little while later before he came back into the hospital room. Angel had dozed off, and he wanted her to sleep. The nurse said she’d wake her up every two hours because of the concussion, so trying to cat nap between those would be the best thing for her.
“I got her a couple things. Not sure what she’d be able to eat.” Nik held up the bag from one of his favorite Italian places. “She awake?”
“No, she just dozed off, but I need to talk to you two.” He included Watkins in this. “I don’t want her to know about Matthew yet.”
“The fuck you say.” Nik nailed their mother’s angry glare in that moment. “She has a right to know her son is alive.”
“Yes, she does, but not right now.” Kade pulled the door closed in case she woke up. “She’s pregnant. Do you think she’ll let me go get him by myself?”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.” Kade rolled his shoulders, hearing joints crack and pop. “If we tell her, and she goes to Miami, what if she gets hurt? If she loses this baby, she’ll never get past it.”
“I get where you’re coming from, brat. Really, I do, but if you don’t tell her, she’ll never forgive that either. If it were Lily, I’d die to protect her, but I wouldn’t keep this from her. She deserves to know.”
“I think everyone’s jumping ahead
of themselves.” Watkins leaned against the door, watching the hallway. “The DNA results aren’t back yet. Wait for that, and then decide. No need to tell her right now then have it come back negative. Don’t cause her worry for no reason.”
What Kade had originally planned on doing anyway before Nik took the high road on him. Or maybe he wouldn’t have. Fuck if he knew. All he wanted to do was protect her, the nugget, and Matthew, wherever he might be.
“How long before we get the results?”
“Couple hours,” he told his brother and grabbed one of the coffees out of the cardboard container. “I’m going a little crazy.”
Nik handed a separate bag to Watkins, who sniffed and closed his eyes. It reminded him of Angel when she described food porn. No wonder the two of them got along so well. They were both food whores, but then again, his brother Dimitri could beat them both out for that title. Where all that food went, Kade would never know.
Kade’s phone started ringing, and he tore it out of his pocket, hoping for news. Conner’s smiling face greeted him. Viktor must have called him.
“Conner.”
“How is she?” Abrupt and to the point. That was Conner these days. Not the happy-go-lucky kid who’d left for the military six years ago.
“She’s okay aside from a concussion. They’re keeping her overnight for observation.”
“Don’t let anything else happen to her before I get there.”
“You’re coming here?” Kade pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. He knew Conner was opening a club here in New York, but the man was firmly planted in Chicago.
“Da.” Conner spoke to someone in the background. “Viktor says you need help, military help. I am better than he is at covert ops. I am coming to get my nephew.”
This was what he was telling Angel about. Family. A big family who would jump in without being asked. He wanted this for their kids.
“I’ll send Nik to pick you up. What time do you get in?”
“My flight arrives at seven tonight. We’ll go shopping when I get there.”
“Shopping?”
“Da, brat. We will need guns, lots of guns. Unless you want to let the police know ahead of time?”
