Amplify

by Anne Mercier

  There she stands, arms crossed, fury blazing in those dark devil eyes.

  I get up off the bed, pulling my panties back on in a hurry.

  "What the fuck, Carina? You know better than to just walk into my home," Cage bellows, straightening himself while I slip my shoes back on.

  "You know, I could have done that for you," she purrs, as I near her standing in the doorway.

  Livid, I walk up to her and pat her a little harder than necessary on the cheek while I tell her, "Not nearly as well."

  I know we’re already late so I head to the door.

  Is that why she’s here? In Cage’s house? Did she think we were already gone? And how the hell does she know his code?

  "Oh, I’m sure—" she begins as I exit the room, heading to the bathroom down the hall to freshen up, but Cage cuts her off.

  "Not nearly as well."

  I smirk and I swear I hear the silent scream in her head.

  CAGE REPRIMANDED THE HELL out of Carina and I mentally did the Macarena—shut up. You still know that dance too. Admit it. Maybe I can get Xander to dance with me on the bus. Epic.

  As we ride to the studio, I can tell Cage is worried I’m upset, so I lean into his side when he wraps an arm around me and I hold him tighter.

  I hate throwing up. And if this nausea doesn’t let up, I’m going to do it again. I bury my face in Cage’s neck and breathe him in.

  "You alright, Fee?" he asks.

  I inhale again. God, he smells so good. "I think so."

  "I’m glad you’re going to the doctor. I’m sure you’re dehydrated. You’ve barely kept water down the last couple of days."

  "I know. They’ll fix me up," I reassure him and I hope it’s the truth.

  "Good. And you better quit sniffing me like that. We don’t have time for a repeat," he tells me with a smirk.

  I gasp and swat at his chest, blushing, no doubt. He chuckles and kisses my forehead.

  "At least she waited until we finished," I tell Cage with a laugh.

  "If the pope himself walked into that room, I wasn’t stopping." His eyes darken and my stomach goes all fluttery. Oh my.

  I look away when the car turns. We’re already here. Nichols Records. The golden building. It’s beautiful, as is the man who owns it, working his way up from nothing to get it.

  "Wow, we sure have a lot of people now."

  Cage snorts. "Thanks to Lucy."

  "True that. I wonder if she’s going to pick up any more along the way," I ponder.

  "It’s Lucy. It’s a given. Just as long as she doesn’t steal any more of my employees."

  "Ha. She got four of yours. You better keep on her heels," I tease.

  "That’s the truth." Cage pulls me in for a quick kiss before stepping out of the car and holding his hand out for mine. Ever the gentleman is Cage Nichols.

  "Sera!" Lucy squeals. She tries to run over to me but Xander stops her by grabbing her arms.

  "Whoa, whoa, wide load. Slow down," he teases.

  Oh my God. He’s toast. Lucy is going to kill him.

  "Fuck you, Xander Mackenzie. I’ll give you a wide load with my knee in your balls. Let me go." She shrugs him off and punches his arm and he feigns pain. I know it doesn’t hurt because she’s punched me before. Grade schoolers hit harder than Lucy.

  I hug my sister tightly and she squeezes.

  "How are you doing, Luce?"

  "Good. Getting fat."

  "You’re beautiful," I tell her, pulling back to take in her appearance. She’s wearing a silky pink and white floral tank top along with white pants and sandals.

  "I’m not. I’m gross. I’m getting huge and the farther I get into this pregnancy, the more I sweat. It’s nasty, Sera. Nasty," she tells me with a curl of her lip.

  I snicker. "I can see that. It would help if you had some shorts on instead of the pants."

  "Oh shit. Now you did it," Ethan says with a shake of his head.

  "What? What did I do?" I ask.

  "You have no idea, Sera. No idea. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada," Lucy growls.

  "Whoa. What’s up?"

  "Maternity clothes. Impossible. They are impossible to find here for short people."

  "But that outfit is nice," I tell her truthfully. It’s feminine just like her.

  Kennedy groans, Lucy snorts, and I grin.

  "I only have this outfit because Spenser and the girls made it for me. Spenser, himself, is going to find me maternity clothes. When we went shopping I thought he was going to have a stroke," she tells me with a laugh.

  "That bad, huh?" I ask.

  "Worse."

  "Where’s Jesse?"

  "He’s inside. I think he went to look for Cage," Xander tells me.

  "Why didn’t he just ask security if we were here yet?"

  "Um, that’d be because my husband refuses to acknowledge any and all members of the security team. He says they’re invading his privacy so he’s just going to pretend they don’t exist," Lucy laughs.

  "What? That’s silly. Especially since we need security right now," I tell her with a snicker.

  "Speaking of security," Cage interrupts, sliding a hand around my waist, "why don’t we make our way inside."

  We file into the building and Lucy lets out a huge sigh of relief, holding her arms out and walking with her legs spread apart. She looks ridiculous and I can’t help it. I snort.

  "Shut up. Until you’re carrying the Kingston litter, you can’t even give me grief. About anything," she adds on.

  Cage’s arm tightens a bit around me and I lean in closer.

  We pass reception and head toward the elevators. The gold, silver, and black elevators. I look at Lucy and raise a brow. She looks at Xander and he looks at me. I wink.

  "Honey?" I interrupt Cage speaking to one of his employees.

  "Sera?" he smirks.

  "Why can’t we take the black elevator? I think it’s got an air of mystery about it, almost like we’re dark avengers or something." I play it cool, trying to be nonchalant, and I hope I pull it off.

  "It won’t take us where we need to go."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The gold elevator," he explains, "goes only to even numbered floors and the silver elevator only to odd numbered floors."

  "Huh. Why?" Lucy asks.

  Cage, being Cage, just continues on while he types on his phone. "There are a lot of people working in the building and many clock in and out at the same time. With the odd/even elevators, it saves floor stops for the employees."

  "Clever," I tell him.

  He winks and the gold elevator dings. We all pack inside.

  "Oh look! There’s Benny," I tease and he rolls his eyes.

  His brows pull down into a frown. "You’re still sick, huh?"

  I shrug. "A little. I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon."

  Lucy leans forward. "Thank you, Cage."

  He nods. "You’re welcome."

  "Whatever you’ve got has been going on a long time. I hope they figure it out soon," Ben says, suspicion in his eyes.

  "They’ll fix me up today," I tell him and when I look away my gaze snags on Jace who is watching me closely, eyes narrowed. That’s not good. Not good at all.

  The elevator signals we’ve reached our floor and the doors open. Jesse immediately pulls Lucy into his arms and kisses her tenderly. I sigh. They’re so amazing together. Sure they have their share of crap to deal with, but instead of ignoring it or running away from it or each other, they face it head on, tackle it, and move on stronger because of it.

  Marta leads us into the conference room and I take a seat next to where Cage sits at the head of the table.

  "The beverages and snacks you requested are set out. Is there anything else you need, sir?" Marta asks Cage.

  "Thank you, Marta. That will be all."

  She smiles up at him, nods, turns and leaves the room. His employees are amazingly efficient and I bet he pays them amazingly well to get them that way.


  "I’ve called the meeting today to discuss the Blush Baby campaign," Cage begins and Lucy claps and bounces a bit like Meggie in her chair.

  "I’m so excited for this," she announces.

  "I’d have never guessed," I tease.

  She gives me a look.

  "The male, Jake, has gone through all of his photo shoots and everything for the advertising, so that part is complete. The female, Nicole Harper, well, that’s a little trickier."

  "How so?" Xander asks around a chip.

  "As you know, she’s in the system so that means a lot of red tape to cut. Factor in her illness and it’s even tougher."

  "Is she still sick?" I ask.

  Cage nods. "She is. But we’ve got that covered."

  "How?" Jesse asks.

  "Dr. Kane Donovan and a nurse were hired to take care of Nicole while we are on the road should she require medical attention."

  "Oooh. Dr. Hot Stuff with the sexified accent," I say to Lucy, wiggling my brows and she snickers.

  "Who?" Jesse bites out. Uh oh.

  Lucy turns to Jesse and explains, or tries to, while Xander frequently interrupts. That nagging ache is back so I reach into my purse and snag a couple Tylenol from my pill box. I pop them into my mouth.

  "What was that?" Lucy asks.

  "Candy."

  "I want some," she tells me. Jesse chuckles and hands her a peppermint Life Saver and I meet his gaze. His is knowing, and mine is pleading him to not mention the fact that I just lied. He slightly tilts his head and I breathe again. Well, until I turn and meet Jace’s penetrating stare. Shit.

  The meeting carries on and I pretend to be listening, all the while trying to figure out some lame excuse to give Jace, and coming up empty. He knows when I’m lying so I am screwed.

  The alarm goes off on my phone. I silence it.

  "Time for me to be poked and prodded." I lean down and kiss Lucy’s cheek.

  "Call me later?" she asks.

  "Absolutely."

  "I’ll walk you to the elevator," Cage says, placing his hand on the small of my back. I push the button and turn to face him.

  "I can still go with you, Fee."

  I melt a little at the concern etching his gorgeous face.

  "No, no. You’ve wasted two days with me already and I know you. Your work is likely piled up to the ceiling. I don’t want to put you any further behind," I explain.

  "That’s one of the perks of being the boss, Sera. I get to delegate and distribute all work I don’t have time for. I always have time for you." He runs a finger down my cheek.

  "Thank you and I appreciate that, but I’ll be fine. Frank will be there if I need anything."

  He pauses, looking at me, and I can see the battle waging inside of him.

  He nods once. "Alright. But I want all the details when I get home. I shouldn’t be too late."

  "Okay."

  He chuckles. "That was too easy."

  I shrug. "I sleep better at your house than I do at CFD." That’s because of the sexy man who lies underneath me every night and holds me tight.

  He nods. "That speaks volumes on more than one level."

  I wink and the elevator signals its arrival.

  "I’ll call if it’s major," I promise.

  "Good," he replies, leaning down to kiss my lips tenderly, reminding me of the kiss Jesse gave Lucy, but I know better. What Jesse feels for Lucy is completely different than what Cage feels for me and it’s a good thing for me to remember that.

  I step into the elevator and stare at Cage’s smirk until the doors close. I let out a breath but don’t make it too obvious. I know there are cameras in these elevators and I don’t want to reveal the fact that I’m wiped out already. I feel like I need to hurl, my stomach is burning, and I have an achy side. I’m a disaster. A hot mess.

  The elevator doors open and Frank and Mike greet me. I give them each a hug and we head to the car where Max is waiting for us. I let out a sign of relief. Familiarity. It feels amazing. There isn’t much of that left, what with all the changes in our lives the last six months.

  "Where to?" Max asks and I hesitate.

  "Confidential," I say. Max and Mike nod and Frank looks insulted.

  "Sera," he scolds.

  "I know, I know. But I had to say it. I don’t want my sister, Cage, or my grandpa knowing this. My parents either. No one." They all nod and I rattle off the address. Frank’s brows raise and I sigh. He knows where we’re going and I’m sure he knows why.

  "The air conditioning in the building felt good, but I could use some fresh air. Can I open the window a bit?" I ask.

  "Just a little, Sera," Frank tells me.

  So I open it and then lean my head back and relax into the seat, replaying the chaos of my day so far. All that and I have yet to see the doctor. Lucky me.

  Sera

  Get Through This by Art of Dying

  A Beautiful Lie by Thirty Seconds To Mars

  Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit

  Twisted Transistor by Korn

  "I GO IN WITH YOU AND Mike goes in the hallway. Max will stay with the car," Frank tells me when he opens my door.

  I nod and make my way into the doctor’s office. After checking in, I sit down and grab the Cosmopolitan magazine. I start paging through but not really seeing the pages. Instead my mind drifts to what the results of these tests will mean, and they will mean a whole hell of a lot. It was already confirmed in Denver that I am pregnant, but something about Dr. Brickner telling me will make it real.

  There’s so much I have to—

  My thought breaks off when someone unceremoniously plops into the chair next to me. I startle, reaching out to hurt them before I get hurt, when Jace chuckles.

  "Whoa, whoa. Calm down Jackie Chan."

  "Jerk." I slap him lightly. "You should know better than to scare me like that," I scold as I hug him tightly.

  "You were too busy reading about thirty ways to please your lover to notice my entrance," he jokes.

  "Ha," I say and tug at his hair. "What are you doing here? Better yet, how did you know?" He just looks at me. I sigh.

  "When are you going to tell him?" he asks.

  "When I know everything wrong with me."

  Jace sighs. "He has a right to know now, Sera." Frank nods his agreement.

  "I know. I do. It’s just... first, I don’t know how to tell him and, second, I want to give him the whole pie, not just a slice. He won’t settle for less than everything. You know that."

  Jace nods.

  "Serafina," the nurse calls in greeting. She smiles when I stand.

  "Come with me?" I ask Jace. He nods and grabs my hand.

  "Through the fires of hell, sister."

  "YOU’RE PREGNANT, Serafina," Dr. Brickner tells me.

  Not a shock but still a shock, if that makes sense. I nod and blow out a breath. Jace squeezes my hand.

  "And the stomach pain?" Jace asks.

  "Likely Sera’s got herself a nasty little ulcer and maybe even a bleeding one. We can’t scope because that requires sedation and with the baby, that’s a no-go. And likely the morning sickness isn’t helping the ulcer any."

  I nod. "So now what?"

  "So now we give you medication to help. There is one that’s safe for pregnant women and that’s what I’m giving you. Amazingly this should also help with your morning sickness," Dr. B tells me.

  "Oh, thank God. This is just evil and vile. Did you ever realize that those two words have the same letters in them?" I ask.

  "So does ‘live’," Dr. B tells me, looking up from the computer she’s typing my life’s story into. She’s right, of course. Food for thought.

  "Prenatal vitamins and folic acid for the baby and you’re all set."

  "Good God, that’s a lot of pills," I mutter.

  "That’s a lot of life in there," Jace tells me, pointing at my belly.

  There’s a soft knock on the door and a nurse enters with an IV bag—and a needle. Needles. Phobia. Hate them.
r />   "You’re dehydrated, Sera, and we’re going to help replenish your fluids."

  "But—"

  "It’s either here or the hospital," Dr. Brickner tells me, her tone leaving no question she’s serious.

  "Uh, yeah. I choose here."

  Dr. B nods. "I thought you might."

  I give her a look and she just laughs. I consider snarling at her but she’d probably laugh harder.

  "You’ll need to come back in a month for your follow up. And I’ll give your friend your prescriptions. Take care of yourself, Sera, and if the nausea and vomiting don’t ease up in the next week, call me. You don’t want to end up in the ER."

  "I will." She gives me a look. "Seriously, I will. I hate hospitals."

  Dr. Brickner nods. "Nice to meet you, Jace. See you in a month, Sera." With that, she leaves the room and the nurse sets up the IV. Then I see it. The needle. The big, fat, long needle. Okay, so it’s not really like that, but it’ll feel like it.

  My phone rings and Jace hands it to me. Cage. I look at Jace and he raises his eyebrows.

  "Answer it."

  I sigh and nod.

  "Hey," I greet.

  "Hi. How’s everything?" he asks, and I can hear the worry in his voice.

  "It’s good. The doctor gave me some medications and she’s making me get an IV of fluids before I go home since I’m dehydrated," I tell him.

  "Good. That’s good. So the medications are for the nausea and vomiting which is caused by what exactly?"

  I bite my lip. "Well, she said I likely have an ulcer and she gave me a medication that will help with that and also the nausea and vomiting at the same time."

  "Nice. And the others?"

  "Just vitamins to make sure I’m getting enough of everything." Absolutely not a lie.

  "Sounds good. So, you’re coming over after?"

  "Yeah, I sleep so much better there than at CFD," I tell him.

  "I’ve got a great bed," he chuckles.

  It has nothing to do with the bed and everything to do with the man in it who holds me tight all night long.

  "That must be it," I tease.

  "I shouldn’t be too late but you’re likely to beat me home."

  "That’s okay. I’ve got the key and the code."

  "That you do," he says, sounding very pleased about that.

  "So I’ll see you tonight."