“I’m her boyfriend.”
“She’ll be fine,” the doctor assured him, eliciting a small sigh of relief from Mitch. “It seems as if the pregnancy caused her blood pressure to drop, and she fainted. But with a little rest, they’ll both be fine.” His smile was pleasant. “The baby’s got a nice steady heartbeat.”
Mitch went still. Pregnancy? Baby? Juliana was pregnant. His pulse thundered in his ears, and he feared his knees might give out under him.
The doctor went on, oblivious of how he had just turned Mitch’s life upside-down. “She is awake, so, you can see her if you want. She’s at the end of the hall.” He cast a quick at Declan, who was standing at the other end of the room, giving them space. “But only one at a time, she’s still a little weak.”
Mitch looked at the doctor, trying his best to remain upright. “Thank you,” he said, passing a hand through his dark hair and making his way down the hallway. He stopped in front of her door. His hand went to the handle, but he hesitated, reaching to run his hands through his hair again. What would he say to her? What could he say to her? He put his hand on the handle, turned it slowly, and he strode in. She was hooked up to an IV, looking pale, with dark circles under her eyes. But she was still so beautiful.
“Jesus,” he muttered.
She looked up at him and smiled, but it was small. “What are you doing here?”
Did she think he wouldn’t show up? “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she told him. “I just fainted.”
He went to her, sat on the edge of her bed and cupped her cheek. Her skin was cool to the touch. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he told her. “And apparently, the baby is fine, as well.”
She nodded, and looked down, averting her eyes from his. “Yeah, thankfully.”
“You’re pregnant.” He said it. A statement. No question.
She smiled weakly. “Surprise.”
“And it’s mine?”
“Of course, it is.” She rose a critical eyebrow at him. “We can do a test if you want. But there isn’t any doubt in my mind.”
He trusted her. “That’s not necessary.” He paused, and laced his fingers with hers, and looked at her. “How long have you known?”
“Just a few days. After I was sick, I realized that I’d missed my period and I took a test.”
“And you’ve been dealing with this on your own? Why didn’t you tell me?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was going to last night. But I was afraid to. I didn’t know how. We were having such a great time together that I was reluctant to just drop this huge news on you. But that doesn’t excuse it. I don’t know why I didn’t tell you before. I’m just feeling a lot of things.”
He put his hand over his mouth. His mind was working in overdrive. He needed a plan. He needed to fit this news into his life. “So, what do we do?”
She sat up straight and her mouth set in a defiant frown. “Well, Mitch, I’m going to have a baby. And if you don’t want to be a part of it, you can just go about your life like you always have.”
“If you think I’m not going to be involved in yours and my child’s life, you are certainly mistaken.”
His child.
“Can we just figure this out at another time?” she said, slumping backward. “My head is pounding. I’m tired.”
“Yes, of course. Can I get you anything?”
“I could use a glass of wine,” she said with a rueful smile.
He smiled. “I really don’t think so.” He sat with her on the bed. “I guess we should have been more careful. I wouldn’t have been so rough or demanding last night if I’d known. We shouldn’t have stayed up so late.” He looked at her. “I thought you were on the pill.”
“Come on, a smart guy like you should know that nothing is one hundred percent effective.”
“I guess we weren’t always as careful as we should have been.”
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. I was there too.” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “But this is good news, right? It’s just a bit of a shock right now.”
“You’re telling me. And I’ve had a few days to process it. This must be like a bomb was dropped on you.”
“A little, yeah. But I think I can get used to the idea.” He put his palm on her abdomen. It was still flat, and he wasn’t sure if he was imagining that a small rise was already there. “Declan’s still out there,” he said. “I should tell him he can leave.” He stood. “I’ll be back in a second.”
“Be nice to him,” she warned. “He’s the one who got me here.”
“Aren’t I always nice?” He asked with a smile, before he left the room, and saw that Declan was still waiting. He looked up as Mitch approached. “She’s okay,” Mitch explained. “Her blood pressure dropped, and that’s what caused the fainting spell.” Mitch paused. “Thank you, for being there for her.”
Declan nodded. “I’m glad she’s okay. Give her my regards, and I’ll see her later.”
“Declan,” Mitch said, as the other man turned away. “There’s actually something else I want to discuss with you. Some business.”
“About what?”
Mitch looked around the room at the nearby security guard, and the nurses, who watched them warily based on their previous interaction. “We shouldn’t discuss it here. How about my men and I come by your pub later tonight?”
Declan’s eyebrows rose in understanding. “I’ll be busy this evening. It’s hard to say when I’ll be free.”
“Hot date?”
Declan’s shit-eating-grin made Mitch roll his eyes.
He nodded. “Alright, call me when you’re done. We need this taken care of.”
“I’m intrigued. I’ll call you later.”
Turning on his heel, Mitch headed back to Juliana’s room to find her asleep. He pulled the uncomfortable plastic chair closer to the bed and sat down. He sent a quick text to Peter, telling him that he would be taking the rest of the day off, put his phone away, and watched Juliana as she slept.
She looked so peaceful and beautiful. Her skin was still pale, and he reached out and brushed a few strands of her dark hair from her face. Everything between them had been rushed. They’d had sex a number of times before she even knew he was her lover, when her life was in danger, he’d moved her into his home temporarily. After just a few months, hell weeks, he’d known that he was in love with her. But now his mind raced. Juliana was pregnant. With his child. At thirty-eight years old, Mitch never thought children would happen for him. Then again, he’d never thought he’d find someone liked Juliana. But what kind of father could he expect to be, given the example his own father had provided? His entire life, he’d been so careful. So smart. He took a deep breath when a sense of dread overcame him as he realized that he had no idea how to be a father. He didn’t know how to make a family fit into his life. He sat back again, and dragged his fingers through his hair as the panic set in. He had no idea what he was doing, but no matter what, goddammit, he would find a way to make it work. He had to. For Juliana and his baby.
Chapter 11
Mitch took Juliana to his apartment, wanting to keep her close. In only a matter of minutes, she was fast asleep, safe and secure in his bed. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket as he closed the bedroom door softly behind him. Walking into the hallway he pulled it out and the read a text message from Declan, telling him to meet him at his pub.
Mitch texted each of his teammates, figuring that they should be a part of what could be an important meeting, and he opened his bedroom door again to tell Juliana that he’d be going out, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw her, lying on her side, curled into ball in his bed. She was peaceful, and he thought better of waking her, justifying it by telling himself that she needed her sleep. He wouldn’t be long. She wouldn’t even know he was gone.
He left his condo as quietly as possible and was soon on his way to the rendezvous at Declan’s pub. He took a dee
p breath. He knew that he should have been staying home with Juliana, but he needed to set the gears in motion to take down Captain Lewis. The sooner, the better.
He met Peter, Steve and Joe outside the club and they walked in together. The same burly bouncer Mitch had met on previous occasions did not give him any trouble this time, instead waving for them to follow him down the narrow set of stairs. It seemed that they now deemed the team worthy of access to their kingpin. That didn’t sit well with Mitch. Notable, as well was the fact that they didn’t have to give up their guns, as Mitch had previously. Some level of trust was developing between them. According to Mitch it was one-sided. He didn’t trust Declan. And even though he was relying on him to help take down his crooked captain, he never would.
They entered the basement of the pub, and he saw that Declan’s private sanctum had been cleaned up some since the last time he’d visited. It was no longer the dank, dusty, poorly-lit room that Mitch remembered. There were several tables scattered throughout the room, and a pool table and a clean full bar had been added.
Mitch and his men took their seats in a booth and waited for Declan to join them. A door opened behind them and Declan entered the room, from what Mitch guessed might have been his office. An easy, cocky smile was on his face. He was in full gangster mode in his surroundings, no longer the man who had been so concerned about Juliana earlier that day.
“Gentlemen,” he said, sitting. “Welcome.” A thug in a suit jacket brought over a tray that held a bottle of nice Irish whiskey and five glasses. He poured a finger for each of them, and then walked away without a word. Declan turned to Mitch. “How’s Juliana?”
“She’s fine. She’s sleeping.”
“I’m glad she’s okay.”
“We aren’t here to talk about her.”
“Okay.” He turned on his business mode. “So, I’m wondering, why are we here tonight?”
Mitch leaned over the table and dropped his voice. “The information you gave us last night. We did some investigating, and we evidence suggesting that our captain is dirty, and we need to bust him.”
“And that has what to do with me?”
“We want you to proposition him. Blackmail or bribe him, offer him a deal he can’t refuse. We don’t really care. But we want to be there so we can bust him. It’s close to impossible for us to investigate without making him more suspicious of us than he is.”
“You’re asking a lot of me. You want me to commit a crime against a police captain.”
“You’ll be fine,” Mitch assured him. “We just want Lewis. He’s been tight with the Russians and taking him out of power will help all of us.”
“You really are trying to shake things up here, aren’t you?”
“Are you going to do it, or not?”
Declan looked around the room at his men. “Everyone out,” he shouted. “We need a minute.”
When the men left, Declan leaned in. “I’m going to level with you guys. I’m getting resistance from some of the men in my ranks.”
“What kind of resistance?”
“The older guys, who were loyal my father. They’re old school. They don’t like that I’m here, they’re bitter that they aren’t running shit, they’re mad that we have business together. I don’t know how much longer I can be aligned with you guys without seeing my own hostile takeover. I need to know you’ll help me with that if you expect me to go out on a limb for you.”
“I’m sure we can arrange something to keep you on top.”
“Do you know what it’s doing to my reputation to be seen playing nicely with the cops?” Declan asked.
“I don’t care how you spin it as long as it gets done. You help us clean up our house and we’ll help you keep yours in line.” Mitch said.
“Let me think about it. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
Mitch looked around at his team, and stood. “Come on, guys. Let’s get out of here.”
Juliana woke up in Mitch’s bed. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep, and she reached out to touch him, only to find his side of the bed cold, and the blankets unrumpled. He hadn’t come to bed yet. She checked the clock, and saw that it was almost eleven, it had been over an hour since she’d gone to bed. Pushing the blankets off, she got out of bed. Mitch’s condo was empty. He wasn’t even home. She frowned. Where could he have gone? Fear took over. Mitch’s job was dangerous, she knew that. But what if something had happened to him?
The click of a key in the lock made her jump and she turned toward to the foyer. The fears of her recent kidnapping bubbling unbidden to the surface of her mind. Who was behind that door? Russians come to finish what they started? Her eyes darted around for a knife, a gun, anything to defend herself.
The door pushed open, and an imposing figure pushed into the room.
“Hey,” Mitch said with a frown, as he kicked off his shoes. “What are you doing with that banana?”
She looked at him, relief and embarrassment flooding her in equal measure as she realized she had cocked back her arm, preparing to launch the fruit like a boomerang. “Uh, I got hungry. Hospital food, y’know?” she replied, blushing as she began to peel it. “Why weren’t you home?” she countered.
“I had to go out. For work.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me you were leaving?”
He shrugged. “I wanted you to get some sleep. I didn’t expect to be gone long, and I didn’t think you’d wake up. You were out like a light.”
“Are you kidding me? That doesn’t excuse your skulking about in the middle of the night,” she told him. “You should have told me you were going out. I was worried that something had happened to you.”
“Jules, I still have to work. You know the hours I keep. This is what I do.”
“I know that. But Mitch, it’s not just you anymore. We both have to be accountable for our actions. We need to communicate. You can’t just leave in the middle of the night and not tell me where you’re going.” She took a deep breath and looked away from him. “Maybe we should take some time apart. Give ourselves a chance to adapt and process this. And see where things are in the morning?”
“What are you saying?”
“I think I should leave. I’ll go home tonight.” It occurred to her that she didn’t have her car, as Mitch had driven her from the hospital. “Can you drive me?”
“I think you should stay.” He came up to her, and took her hands, pulling her closer. His lips found her throat. “Let’s go to bed.”
Juliana pulled her hands back from him. “Mitch, you can’t keep doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“You’re using sex to distract me, to stop the fight, to stop us from actually discussing and working through the things we need to.” She rubbed her eyes. “Mitch please, I’m too tired to fight.” As much as Juliana longed to collapse against him and let him take her to bed, she wouldn’t. She knew she was right. She shook her head. “I think we need a little time on our own to think.” She looked at his feet because she couldn’t bear to look at his face. “Can you please drive me home?”
She was both relieved and crushed when after a beat of silence, he reached for his keys where he’d dropped them, and said “sure.”
Chapter 12
Mitch drove Juliana home, he walked her to her door and she’d kissed him goodnight. He hadn’t wanted to leave her, but she’d been right, they both had a lot to think about. Their lives were about to change significantly, and they needed to figure out where that left them both.
Instead of going back to his condo, Mitch parked outside of a bar that was within walking distance of his home. Inside, he took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer, and laughed ruefully to himself. Hell, he was getting more and more like the old man every day. He finished his beer in only a few large gulps and ordered another. As long as he was drinking his feelings, he might as well get rip-roaring drunk. He drank two pints and was working on another, before another man sat down next to him. Mitch turned his head
and was surprised to see Peter on the stool beside him.
He turned back to his beer. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for your sorry ass.”
“How’d you know where to find me?”
“Well, I don’t know if you forgot, but I am a pretty good detective.”
Mitch laughed without humour.
“Or when I was on my way to your place, I saw your truck here, and I assumed that I’d find you inside.”
Mitch raised his pint glass to his brother. “Here’s one for deductive reasoning.”
Peter motioned to the bartender to bring him a beer. “So, what are you doing here?”
Mitch shrugged and took another drink. “Having a beer. Or several.”
Peter raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s not like you to drink alone.”
“Well, since you’re here, I’m not drinking alone, now am I?” He proffered his empty glass to the bartender, also signalling the bartender for another.
Peter turned a critical eye to his brother. “You’re drunk.”
“No, I’m not. Not yet, anyway.”
“You are. What’s going on here? Juliana called Erica. She was upset. She said you guys had a fight. And then Erica sent me out to talk to you.”
“It’s late.”
“I know. And up until about thirty minutes ago, I had a gorgeous redhead riding my dick. So, for that alone, I think you owe me an explanation.”
“Erica took a call in the middle of sex?” Mitch grimaced.
“It was late, no good news calls come after midnight. And that woman will do anything, answer any phone call, for someone she loves.” Peter drank from his glass. “What’s going on?”
Mitch took a deep breath. “Jules is pregnant.”
Peter said nothing for a while as he took in the news. But he smiled. “Oh man. I’m going to be an uncle?” He watched Mitch carefully. “It’s a good thing, right?”
Mitch took another swallow of beer. “Yes, it’s a good thing. I’m excited. And Juliana and I love each other. But,” he exhaled. “I don’t know how to be a father, or even anything close to a good role model.”
Long Shot: A Brewed Moon Novella Page 6
