A Stormy Spring

by MacKenzie, C. C.

  ‘No she doesn’t,’ Moira stated. ‘She turned up here in a floor length white fox fur wearing nothing but skin under it.’

  Becca cleared her throat.

  ‘I’m assuming he didn’t bite.’

  Moira seared her with a look of total disgust. ‘Of course he didn’t. God knows where she’s been.’

  Ouch! ‘Harsh, Moira, that’s harsh.’

  ‘She’s no scruples or morals.’

  The comment was very true but not altogether fair.

  ‘Willow had a tough time in the early days. It’s not easy for a beautiful woman to escape the cliché of the very real casting couch. Maybe she’s using men the way they’ve used her.’

  ‘Lucas would never behave like that.’

  ‘Mmm hmm, but he’s the exception rather than the rule,’ Becca told her, knowing full well the seedy side of the entertainment industry. ‘If it was a man no one would blink an eye. Double standards, Moira.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  Thinking of her own behaviour with Lucas, Becca squirmed in her seat.

  ‘I don’t like to judge. None of us are perfect.’

  Moira shook her head and eyed her shrewdly.

  ‘You’re not cut from the same cloth as that little madam. I bet you’ve never had a one night stand in your life.’

  ‘Actually,’ Becca muttered, sipped her tea. ‘You’d be wrong about that.’

  Moira’s brows shot into her hairline. ‘If you mean the one with Lucas that’s not the same thing at all. The chemistry between you sears the air. It was meant to be.’

  Becca smiled now. ‘Why, Moira, I do believe you’re a romantic.’

  Moira sniffed. ‘Nothing wrong with a bit of romance in life.’

  The thud of the front door banging and the heavy tread of an angry male had Moira scoot out of the chair.

  Lucas entered the kitchen with his phone clamped to his ear.

  Dark eyes zeroed in and stayed focused on Becca in a way that had her lift her chin.

  ‘Si, Papa.’ He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as he spoke in rapid Spanish.

  From the clipped tone and the strain in his deep voice, Lucas was not having an easy time of it.

  Lucas switched off the phone and slipped it into his trouser pocket. The television caught his eye and he stared with cool eyes at Willow Bailey’s short statement before turning to Becca. His jaw clenched a couple of times as those eyes went darker and stared at her with an intensity that made her heart leap into her mouth.

  He was furious with her.

  Before she could ask what the hell she’d done, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of the chair.

  ‘What are you ...?’

  Lucas silenced her with a searing look and frog-marched her down the hall, up the stairs and into his bedroom.

  She jumped out of her skin as the door slammed behind them.

  He released her.

  Becca rubbed her wrist gearing herself up for a fight. If he thought he was going to get away with treating her like this, the man was delusional.

  Lucas tore off his coat and jacket, tossing them in the general direction of a chair. Ruthlessly tugging off his silk tie those eyes never left her face.

  ‘Who did you tell?’ the words, spoken through clenched teeth, had her blink up at him.

  At a loss, she stared into those dark eyes filled with a righteous anger.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Who did you tell we spent the night at the hotel?’

  Becca opened her mouth to deny telling anyone.

  Then frowned as she desperately tried to remember what she’d told Justin.

  She sank to the edge of the bed, her fingertips pressing into her skull.

  ‘Justin wanted to know how we met and I said it was a cliché.’ She closed her eyes, took a breath and looked up at him. ‘I told Justin. What are you going to do?’

  Somewhere deep within her she knew that Justin had been the one to tip off the press. There was too much factual information out there and she’d put good money on it that it was Justin who tipped off Willow Bailey and her agent.

  ‘I have appointed lawyers. It is time Justin was taught a lesson.’

  ‘I’ll speak to him. He’s upset, lashing out.’

  Lucas turned on her, eyes blazing. And her stomach dropped like a stone.

  ‘Still you defend him? He set the press on you on when you were at the cemetery. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had not been there? You would have had to experience those piranhas on your own. What do you think I have been doing for the last four hours? Do you know how many favours I have had to call upon? Do you understand the damage this man has done to my reputation and to yours? How he has upset my father with his lies?’

  In the interests of truth, Becca couldn’t let that go.

  ‘He didn’t lie. We did have a one night stand.’

  Lucas hauled her to her feet and shook her hard.

  He was so angry she thought the blood vessel pulsing frantically at his temper was going to implode.

  ‘He said you were a whore, that there were three of us in a bed and plenty more that makes me sick. You still cannot see what he has done?’ he roared.

  Becca shook her head as he let her go and paced running frustrated hands through his hair.

  He stopped in front of her now and those dark eyes bored into hers.

  ‘Where is your phone?’

  ‘In the kitchen. Why?’

  ‘It is not secure. You need to pack.’

  Without taking her eyes from his she sank to the edge of the bed.

  ‘What do you mean it’s not secure. It’s against the law to hack phones. I thought my Blackberry was safe. And where are we going?’

  He simply shook his head and gave her a look that told her he thought she was incredibly stupid.

  ‘I am not talking about the Blackberry. How many hackers have been caught?’ he asked her. ‘And it is not we, it is you who are packing.’

  It was a good job she was sitting because her legs went weak.

  He wanted rid of her? Dear God, what had she done? She didn’t want to go anywhere and certainly not without him. He was so bloody heavy handed. It was either his way or the highway.

  In spite of an almost overwhelming desire to weep, she kept her voice steady.

  ‘And where am I going?’

  His phone pinged and he whipped it out of his pocket, scrolling through messages.

  ‘You are going to my house on La Gomera in the Canary Islands. I will join you in a few days. The house is totally private. And hopefully by then my father will have calmed down.’

  This was completely ridiculous. No way was she running. She needed to sort out Justin. The fall-out from this had the potential to affect her career and to cause irreparable damage if the news got out that Justin had stolen her work. Of course, that’s why he was causing mayhem now she realised with sudden insight, to deflect attention from himself and to start a war where misinformation along with enough elements of the truth muddied the waters.

  Her heart clenched. It wasn’t just her career she had to worry about. She had other responsibilities now, her children.

  Fighting to keep the wobble from her voice, she studied the tense shoulders of Lucas’s strong back.

  ‘We’re seeing the doctor tomorrow. It’ll be up to him if I can travel. And if I go anywhere, Lucas, it will be to France.’

  He turned to her and tossed the phone on the bed

  What she saw in those merciless dark eyes almost broke her.

  He was so cold and angry and totally pissed off with her.

  In the voice of a man who’d reached the end of his tether, the tone implacable, he spoke, ‘Your mother’s house is not secure. I have spoken to her and she agrees. You will do as you are told. You will do what is best for our unborn children.’

  Lucas moved into her personal space, his eyes fierce.

&
nbsp; ‘If you remain in this house you will be in my bed tonight and every other night. And if I find you in another of Rick’s shirts I swear to God I will tear it from your body. The only shirt on your beautiful back will be mine. Do I make myself clear, querida?’

  Their eyes clashed in a silent battle of wills for unremitting tension filled seconds.

  Becca’s instincts warned her to be very, very, careful.

  This was a Lucas she’d never seen before. Strangely enough she didn’t feel at all scared of him. He had every right to be angry. She should never have told Justin about her one night stand. She knew what her partner, ex-partner, was like. She knew he had it in him to behave badly even maliciously. The entire situation they found themselves in was her fault.

  She bit back the instinctual behaviour she was unable to control around Lucas to hiss and spit and to argue that she would sleep wherever and in whatever she bloody well liked.

  Then she looked, really looked at the man standing in front of her.

  He’d done nothing but care for her since they’d met.

  He appeared physically and emotionally exhausted with dark circles under his eyes and deep grooves of tension and fatigue around his mouth.

  Had she put them there?

  She’d hurt him very badly she realised now and swallowed the burning rock in her throat.

  Becca nodded, her eyes never leaving his. ‘Crystal clear.’

  Those dark brows winged into his hairline. ‘What, no arguing?

  She shook her head. ‘No arguing. You’re right. I have let you, us, down by telling Justin something that should have remained strictly private.’ She met his dark eyes unflinchingly and took a shaky breath. ‘I am very sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused, Lucas. Please apologise to your father for me.’

  His hand scooped behind her neck, his thumb rubbing along her jaw as he tilted her head to look into her eyes. Those dark eyes went soft even though she could see he desperately wanted to remain furious.

  ‘There is my brave girl. Si, I accept your apology. However, you are not responsible for his behaviour, querida. He is and it is high time he paid for his actions.’

  Terribly tired, Becca turned her mouth to kiss the centre of his palm.

  ‘You’re right.’

  He frowned, anxiety entering his eyes as he studied her features.

  ‘You are too pale. Are you feeling unwell?’

  She didn’t want to tell him that the entire cast of Riverdance were high stepping in their wooden clogs in her head.

  ‘It’s been along day.’

  ‘Go to bed and rest. I will join you later.’

  ‘I assume you mean this bed?’

  The glint in his eye warned her to tread with care. ‘Si.’

  ‘Okay.’

  His mouth captured hers in a hard kiss that softened into something so perfect it brought a hot sting behind her eyelids. She gave as good as she got, pouring her heart and soul into the sweetest kiss she’d ever experienced. His cell phone vibrated on the bed and Lucas dragged his mouth from hers with a reluctance that made her feel much better.

  The hot look of desire in his dark eyes, of a deep, desperate need of her made her shiver with a purely feminine awareness of how much she affected this wonderful man.

  He watched her through hooded eyes and drawled in a rumbling voice, ‘I like this new Becca. She makes me a very happy man. Do not look so worried, querida. This too shall pass.’

  ‘Are you sure you can spare the time?’

  The next morning, in a narrow lane at the back of the house, Lucas opened the car door with a flourish indicating Becca slide in.

  ‘I am never too busy to take you to a doctor’s appointment.’

  As he sat next to her, he took her hand and pressed a chaste kiss on her fingers. And she tried not to compare Lucas to Rick. They were so different in their approach to her pregnancy. Rick never attended a hospital appointment saying it was women’s business. In fact trying to get him to attend birth classes had been a battle. Becca had an idea that Lucas would be more than happy to get down and dirty. He was intensely curious about all the changes happening to her body and the babies sleeping within it.

  After the nurse had taken her weight, blood pressure and urine sample, they were shown into Mr. Sanderson’s smart office.

  Once they’d settled, the doctor sent her a searching look.

  ‘How are you feeling? I see you’ve lost weight,’ he said making notes on a pad.

  A thick file lay open on the desk and he checked through notes before he sat back and removed his glasses. She recognised the file. It was her hospital medical records.

  ‘I’ve been suffering from nausea and headaches.’

  ‘Hmm, blood pressure’s off the scale. Hardly surprising under the circumstances and from what I’ve seen in the news. Along with the fact you’re having twins. No protein in the urine but we’ll keep an eye on that. What we have here is chronic hypertension.’

  Icy dread unfurled in Becca’s gut.

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘Due to your past history and the placental abruption, it means we’re going to keep a close eye on you to nip any potential problems in the bud. Cut out the dancing and I’m referring you to a perinatologist, a doctor specialising in high-risk pregnancies. He may hospitalise you to monitor your progress for a few days and check your baseline.’

  With everything that was going on in her life, no wonder she wasn’t feeling great.

  Becca vocalised her biggest fear. ‘Are the babies at risk?’

  ‘Because this has happened before thirty weeks there’s a risk the babies will be delivered early. And there’s the risk to you of liver damage if we can’t get your blood pressure under control.’

  ‘What can we do?’ Lucas asked, looking too pale.

  ‘I’m thinking partial bed-rest for three hours in the morning and three in the afternoon, starting now. Lie on your left side, it takes the pressure off the main artery. The points in our favour are you’re healthy and fit. You’ve never smoked and don’t drink alcohol excessively.’ The doctor’s keen eyes stayed on hers. ‘However, you are under an immense amount of stress.’

  ‘That’s putting it mildly,’ she told him honestly.

  He nodded. ‘Stress and anxiety are key contributors to this condition, Rebecca. They need to be put aside until after we’ve delivered you and the babies safely. I’ve organised a perinatal nurse to visit twice a day for blood pressure and urine samples. She’ll monitor you and the babies. Any severe headaches, blurred vision or abdominal pain you must phone immediately.’

  In a complete daze, Becca tuned Lucas and the doctor out as they discussed the best way forward.

  She could lose her babies?

  Her vision blurred and she blinked rapidly to clear it.

  ‘And what about sex?’ Lucas wanted to know.

  What? That caught her attention.

  Mr Sanderson nodded. ‘Actually, that’s a very good question. It’s vital to maintain a healthy physical relationship. Intimacy is good for the babies and it’s good for you, Rebecca, because it decreases stress and anxiety. Communication is key. Touching, cuddling, stroking, caressing and oral sex is fine. No blowing air into her vagina, it’s not safe. For the moment I don’t recommend deep penetrative sex or bells and whistles orgasms either.’

  Becca simply shook her head at Lucas. The man was truly unbelievable. How embarrassing was this?

  She turned to the doctor. ‘I was planning on travelling to France, to stay with my mother.’

  Mr. Sanderson shook his head. ‘Nope. No hopping on planes, trains or automobiles. We’ll see how you are during the second trimester.’

  That, Becca realised with a sensation of inevitability, was that.

  She was trapped.

  Flicking Lucas a glance she realised he looked remarkably in control for someone who’s entire life had just imploded.

  Less than an hour later she was tucked up in bed.

 
; Her own bed.

  Lucas wasn’t pleased, but she’d argued for her own space where she could have her own things; her music, pads, pens and something to read. The compromise was that she’d sleep in his bed every night which cheered him up considerably. And she discovered an ally in Moira who organised her bedroom with military precision. She found herself with her cell phone tucked beside her. On a huge chest at the bottom of the bed held a flat screen TV/DVD and she was handed the remote control.

  Lucas strolled in with her laptop. He took one look at her face and strolled right back out with it again.

  A red-headed young perinatal nurse named Sinead arrived. She was Irish and reminded Becca forcibly of a pretty perky robin. And Sinead found a soul mate in Moira. It must, Becca decided as they chattered together in beautiful sing song voices, be a Celtic thing.

  ‘And would you look at you sitting there like the Queen herself in that big bed. Go and pee in the pot,’ Sinead ordered her.

  Becca did as she was told and realised life as she knew it had changed for ever.

  Since there was absolutely no point in worrying about the future because there was nothing she could do about it Becca submitted to the indignities that every invalid endured as Sinead dipped her little stick in Becca’s pee and then settled her before taking her blood pressure.

  ‘Hmm, still as high as a kite. Although I’m not surprised with all that racket outside the window,’ the nurse said referring to the press pack. ‘Right, I’ll come back in a couple of hours after you’ve had a snooze and take it again.’ Sinead’s eyes, as green as the Emerald Isle, twinkled into hers. ‘You’ve had a stressful day and I expect you’ll have lots of questions once you get your head around your situation. Make a note of what you want to ask me. It’s my job to keep you and the babies well physically and emotionally. I’ll send in that big handsome man of yours who’s wearing a hole in the carpet out there to give you a cuddle – that usually works.’

  Five minutes later the big handsome man popped his head around the door before he entered.

  Those dark eyes met hers and she read concern along with a certain wariness.

  ‘Still awake? Sinead and Moira are bonding in the kitchen discussing dietary ideas which involve copious amounts of lean protein and plenty of fibre.’ As he talked he stripped down to his underpants, took off his watch, placing it safely on the bedside table and crawled into bed.