by Mia Carson
Greyson tugged on his beard. “He told you that?”
“No, I inferred it from the look in his eyes when he said you were in charge of the partnership… for now.”
“Bastard,” Greyson growled. “I knew that old man was up to something. This all happened too easily.” He bent and kissed her fiercely. “I knew something good would come of that interview.”
She stared at him pointedly. “If I didn’t love you so damn much and I wasn’t going to marry you, I’d take the job he offered me.”
Greyson laughed and reached over for a stack of papers on his desk. “No, you wouldn’t. Come on, I have to show you something.” He took her hand and dragged her from his office. Tim and the others stopped to watch and then followed.
“Greyson, what’s going on?” she asked curiously, looking at the crowd of employees over her shoulder. “We’re being followed,” she added in a whisper, and he laughed.
“I know,” he said and stopped them in front of the small conference room.
“The storage room?” she asked. “Why are you so excited about that?”
“You’ll see,” he said and bounced on the balls of his feet, something he had never done before.
“Shouldn’t we be making a plan about Tom?”
“I already have one in mind, don’t worry,” he said and placed his hand on the doorknob. “Ready?”
“Ready for what?” she asked, exasperated. “I don’t know what’s going on—oh!” She stared with wide eyes as Greyson swung open the door to reveal the inside of what used to be the storage room. “What… is this… is this a nursery?”
She stepped inside, running her hands along the painted walls with their small murals. Tears stung her eyes when she reached the crib, and she laughed at the mobile hanging over it. Greyson followed her inside and everyone else crowded in the doorway. Belle’s heart overflowed. How this man continued to surprise her time and again with his love, with his caring, astounded her.
“You like it?” he asked, reaching for her hands.
“Love it,” she said and stood on her toes to kiss him. “Does this mean you’ll let me work?”
“And you can have the baby close at hand for both of us to take care of him,” he told her.
She eyed him. “What’s with the papers in your hand?”
He smiled wolfishly at her as he handed them over. “A job offer you can’t refuse.”
Belle reached out to take it when another cramp wrapped around her belly. She doubled over in his arms. Gasping at the pain, she gripped Greyson’s arm hard.
“Belle? Someone, call an ambulance!” he yelled, holding her tightly.
“I’m fine, really,” she tried to say, but another pain hit her hard, and she groaned.
Greyson walked her to the rocking chair in the corner and rubbed her lower back as she bent over, staring at the floor. Fear gripped her, and she held his hand tightly. It was too soon, wasn’t it?
“What if something’s wrong?” she whispered through the pain. “Greyson.”
“You’re going to be fine,” he said firmly. “You both are.”
She wanted to believe him, but the pain intensified. Belle placed a hand on her belly and prayed they would both be alright.
***
Greyson paced back and forth in the hall outside Belle’s room at the hospital, tugging so hard at his beard it hurt but he couldn’t stop. Sally sat in a chair by the door, watching him. She stopped trying to get him to sit down an hour ago, letting him continue his ceaseless pacing. Finally, the door opened, and Dr. Higgins stepped out.
“Is she in labor?” Greyson asked. “The baby, are they… Is he…”
Dr. Higgins smiled. “The baby and Belle are both fine. Just premature labor pains, probably brought on by stress. I think it’s time for her to be on bed-rest until it’s time.”
Greyson let out a breath of relief and hugged Higgins. “Thank you.”
She laughed and patted him on the back. “They’re both going to be just fine, Greyson. You can take her home as soon as I get the paperwork, and make sure she stays in bed unless absolutely necessary.”
“She’s not going to be happy,” he mumbled, but Higgins shook her head.
“Belle’s worried right now that she overdid it. I think getting her to stay in bed won’t be a problem, not anymore.” She smiled at Sally and walked away to get the paperwork so Belle could go home.
“Go see her,” Sally urged and shoved him towards the door. “I’ll wait out here.”
Greyson tried to steady his nerves. He needed to see her and pushed the door open. Belle sat up in the bed, holding her belly protectively as she stared out the window. Worry lines etched her face, and all he wanted to do was smooth them away. When he’d reached her bedside, he climbed up beside her and pulled her to him. She curled against his chest, shaking.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?” he asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You asked me to stop working so much, and I didn’t listen,” she cried. “I could’ve ruined everything. I could’ve hurt us both, I could’ve—”
“Not another word,” he growled. “You and the baby are fine, and that’s what matters. We’ll get you home and settled in for a few weeks of bed-rest.”
“What about the game launch?”
He shook his head. “No more worrying about work, understand me? Not until our son is born.”
Belle nodded and curled tighter into his chest. “Deal.”
“But I will let you come to the launch if you’re feeling up to it,” he promised her.
“Ben,” she said suddenly sitting up. “He’s flying in tomorrow.”
Greyson pressed her head gently back against his chest, wondering how she was going to survive bed-rest. “He’ll just have to come and see you at the house. Dr. Higgins is getting your papers so we can go home.”
They sat in silence for a while, his arms wrapped tightly around her. “I really liked the nursery,” she told him.
He grinned and kissed her forehead. “I knew you would, pet. Knew you would.”
“Can you tell me what you’re going to do about Tom?”
He scowled down at her but sighed. “I’m going to make an announcement on the day the game launches.” Her eyebrows rose, and he grinned darkly. “I’m buying him out completely.”
“Can you afford to do that?”
He laughed and snuggled closer. “I’m a billionaire, remember? I might not have as much as I would’ve if my dad had actually accepted me as his son, or if I’d done what he wanted, but I have enough to do what’s needed. No one’s taking my company away from me, especially not some old, white-haired bastard who thought he could steal my wife.”
She reached up and ran her fingers down his beard. “There’s my bear,” she whispered and kissed him.
“I’m always here, pet,” he said against her lips. “Don’t ever forget that.”
Chapter 5
A deep male voice echoed through the house, and Belle’s hand froze on the quilt covering her lap. She’d played with it ceaselessly since Greyson left for the airport to pick up Benjamin Long. Brent had flown in the night before and had gone with him. Their voices moved towards her, and from the sound of it, all three men had already hit it off.
He’s not your dad, so calm down, she told herself. He just might lead you to your dad… hopefully.
“Belle?” Greyson called out before he entered the bedroom. “Benjamin’s here. You up for talking to him?”
She knew he was worried after what had happened at the hospital, but she nodded. There wasn’t a chance in hell she would miss this. “I’m ready.”
Greyson nodded and called over his shoulder for Brent and Benjamin to come in. She smiled at her brother, who kissed her cheek, standing by her bedside as another set of steps followed. Benjamin—wearing a black leather jacket and matching cowboy hat—appeared and smiled kindly at her.
“Belle, it’s good to finally
meet you face to face,” he said and held out his hand.
She took it and grinned back. “Same to you.”
“I must say, I really like your young man here,” he said, smiling wider when he noticed her pregnant belly. “James will be blown away when he finds out he’s going to be a grandparent.”
She rubbed her belly. “I hope so,” she said quietly, and Greyson squeezed her shoulder in comfort.
“I’ll bring in a few extra chairs,” he said and kissed her.
Brent sat on the edge of the bed, and Benjamin removed his hat and jacket, holding them until Greyson returned with two chairs. Once they were seated, Greyson took a spot beside Belle on the bed, and she took his hand, holding it tightly in hers.
“So, I guess you want to hear about your dad,” Ben started in his gruff voice.
“You went to school with him?” Brent asked.
“Nah, I went to school with your mom. She was a firecracker, that one,” he said with a wry grin. “I met your dad at a summer camp for boys who needed a firm hand. Military academy type stuff.”
“Dad was in the military?” Belle asked, then gave Ben another once over. “You served with him?”
He nodded. “We joined the SEALs together. It was hard on your mom, but they loved each other so damn much, they knew no matter what happened, they’d make their lives work out for the best.” He choked on his words and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. “Sorry. Penelope’s death hit your dad hard, and me. We never saw it coming.”
Belle wanted to give him a moment to collect himself, but her curiosity got the better of her. “So he left but didn’t know she was sick?”
Ben fiddled with the fabric in his hands, and Belle noticed the initials stitched into it. J and H. Her dad’s. “We were gone a lot, your dad and I, always to dangerous parts of the world. Half the time, we didn’t have communication with our own commanders, let alone family. After you were born,” he said, nodding to Belle, “we were sent to Asia for a job.”
“What was it?” Brent asked, leaning closer.
“Can’t tell you, top secret,” Ben said. “We were cut off completely for months. It wasn’t until we got back to base nearly a year later that James was given the news by Penelope herself.”
Belle’s hand went to her mouth, her heart breaking for her dad. “How?”
“She’d written him a letter. She’d been diagnosed with lung cancer, stage four. She knew she wouldn’t see him again,” Ben said quietly, pausing to wipe his eyes. “She would die before he returned home, and she had to tell him one last time how much she loved him. Sent pictures of you two to keep him going. He tried to leave, but we were grounded for another month.”
Brent hung his head and sniffed hard. Greyson grabbed the tissues from the nightstand and handed them over. “What about Belle and Brent?”
“She said she was taking them to her parents since James’s were long dead. He’d assumed that’s where you two would be, but your dad… There was a time when he was a POW during our mission,” Ben said, his eyes filled with anger. “They tried to break him. He was never the same after that. Suffered from PTSD and night terrors. He was sent home, and once he got here, he was discharged for medical reasons. Said they couldn’t have someone so unstable out in the field.”
“And when he got here, Mom was dead,” Belle murmured softly.
Ben didn’t meet her eyes as he nodded. “He wrote me, said he found Penelope’s gravesite. He drank a whole bottle of whiskey that night and slept by her tombstone. My friend—my brother—needed me, and I couldn’t be there for him.”
The silence in the room was heavy. Belle was almost afraid to breathe too loudly. She pictured the smiling face of the young man from the yearbook—her dad—drunk and crying for his lost love alone in the graveyard. “Did he… did he even look for us?”
“He went to the Tinson’s place, but they turned him away, said they didn’t take their grandchildren in, not from a daughter who shoved them out of her life. He went to social services, but they told him… They told him with his record he wouldn’t be a fit parent. Said it would be too hard on him and too traumatic for you both to take you away from your foster families.”
All of the anger that had built up over the past week in Belle, knowing their dad was alive, faded away little by little, replaced by pain and longing. “He needed us,” she whispered. “We could’ve helped him.”
“Yeah, you could’ve, but the system said no. Slapped him right in the face, but he found you both,” Ben said as he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. “Sent me these not too long after.”
He handed the pictures to Brent, who shifted closer to Belle so she could see them. “Is this… these are of us, aren’t they?” he asked. “We were so little.”
“He tracked you both down within days, snapped those photos, but didn’t go to the families who had you,” Ben said. “It broke him to see you there, looking so like your mother, but he wasn’t a stable man. He still isn’t, really, even after all these years.”
Belle ran her fingers over the picture of her younger self—two, maybe—playing in the front yard on a swing set. “I remember this family,” she whispered. “They were one of the nicest I lived with.”
“James said you both looked happy and he couldn’t pull you away. He worried you wouldn’t even remember him,” Ben said sadly. “When I got out of the military, I found him holed up in a cabin in the mountains. Right mess he was—a drunk, hardly eating, hardly doing anything except keeping tabs on the two of you.”
“Wait,” Brent said, looking up from the picture, “he watched us grow up? This whole damn time?”
Ben scratched his chin. “Yeah, he did. He always knew where you were, what you were up to, although I haven’t spoken to him for a few months so I’m not sure if he knows about this,” he added with a grin, nodding at Belle. “He’d be mighty proud, though.” He dug out his cell from his pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and handed it over to Belle. “You should give him a call.”
“Just like that?” Belle asked, hands trembling as they held the phone. “What do I say?”
“Whatever you want,” Ben said. “He needs to hear from his kids. He’s a stubborn old ass and thinks you two would be better off without him.”
Belle shared a glance with Brent, and he urged her on with a nod.
“Mind you, he’s a damn drifter… He probably won’t answer, but what have you got to lose?”
So many years of searching, of wondering if she was wanted by her family, rushed before her eyes. She had her brother back, knew their mom had loved them, and finally, they would find their dad. She hit the send button and put it on speaker for Brent to hear too. It rang four times on the other end before going to a generic voicemail. After the beep, she fumbled for a second before the words came.
“Dad? It’s… it’s Belle and Brent,” she started. “We’re here with Ben, calling you to see where you are and to let you know… we would really love to see you again. Please, just… just call us back or come visit. Brent’s here for a few more days. We… uh, we love you,” she added, and Brent smiled. She rattled off her number and Greyson’s home address so he could find them, then hung up and slowly handed Ben his phone.
He tucked it away. “Maybe that’ll get him out of his cabin.”
“Thank you, Ben,” Belle said and took his hand again. “Really, you have no idea what this means to us.”
He held her hand tightly and took Brent’s as well. “Your dad was a brother to me, and your mom a sister. She named me your godfather in the letter she sent your dad, and I’m sorry… I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you either.” Tears welled in his eyes, and Belle climbed out of bed so she could hug him and Brent. They held each other close as they cried for what they’d lost and what they’d gained again after so many years apart.
Belle glanced over her shoulder. Greyson wiped furiously at his eyes, and she held out her hand for his, dragging him into the fold of her newly found family.
“We couldn’t have done this without you,” she told him.
Brent patted Greyson hard on the back. “She’s right, you know. You did this, man, and I can’t ever repay you.”
“You never have to,” he assured them.
Chapter 6
The day for the game launch finally arrived, and Greyson paced around his office, struggling to fix his tie. He growled when his finger got stuck again, and Belle’s laughter reached his ears.
“Come here and let me fix that,” she said.
He went to her and bent down so she could reach the tie. “You sure you’re up for this? I can have Kelly take you home.”
“No, I’m feeling perfect,” she said, tying his tie swiftly, and patted his cheeks. “Besides, I really want to see you stick it to Tom for being a sneaky bastard.”
He smiled at the fire in her eyes. “Me too.”
Tim knocked on the door, dressed up too. “You ready, boss man?”
“Yeah, just give me a minute.” Tim tapped his watch and walked away, meeting with Davis and Billy at the elevator. Greyson turned back to Belle and smoothed her hair back from her face. “Have you heard from your dad yet?”
She shook her head. “No, but Ben and Brent are here for you.”
“There’s still a month until the wedding,” he assured her. “I’m sure he’ll call before then.” He kissed her sweetly. His lips lingered on hers before he pulled away, wishing they were not headed out to stand in front of fifty-plus people to announce the game launch.
“Enough of my problems,” she said and wrapped her hand through his arm. “Shall we?”
He patted her hand and led her to the elevator. He was excited for the game launch. They had fixed the bugs at the last second, and the last run-through of the game worked perfectly. Greyson’s hope was it would be even more successful than his first MMO, and this time, he’d have someone to share the celebrations with.
When they’d reached the lobby where the reporters had gathered along with avid fans able to get in the doors, Greyson waved his hand to the cheering crowd, smiling at them all calling his name. He reached the small stage they’d set up and shook hands with Tom Bigsby. The man pulled him in close for a one-armed hug.
