by Lori Maguire
“What?” I mouthed at her.
“You.” She mouthed back, shaking her head.
She was right. I was a hopeless case when it came to Xavier and his good looks.
Following dinner, we all curled up around the fireplace in the living room again. Everyone was fairly quiet though. It must have been all the food we consumed.
As the fire got down to embers, we all headed to bed. Xavier started the fire in the small fireplace in the bedroom while I climbed into the bed.
Instinctively, I rolled over to my side when he climbed into bed. He surprised me by pulling me onto my back. The intensity in his blue eyes took my breath away.
“Thank you, sweetness.” I frowned at him not sure what he was thanking me for. “The last twenty-four hours have been perfect. I haven’t enjoyed a Christmas since my parents passed, and they are only going to get better once our baby joins us.” He bent down and kissed my belly. The gesture filled my eyes with tears. He kissed me deeply before he rolled me over and pulled my back into his front. As soon as his warm hand splayed across my abdomen, I quickly drifted off.
Monday morning following breakfast, Xavier and I, along with Tom and Renatta, said goodbye to Gabriel and Tiffany and made our way back to Seattle. Gabriel and Tiffany were staying in Leavenworth until Friday when they will head into Seattle for our wedding.
On the ride home, I reached in my bag for my cell phone. For the first time in days, I turned it on.
“That’s bizarre,” I said, staring at my phone.
“What is it? Xavier asked.
I frowned at the iPhone display. “I have five calls from that restricted number again. There were two from Friday, two from Saturday, and one from this morning. Who can it possibly be?” I glanced over at Xavier.
Immediately, I noticed his grip on the steering wheel tighten imperceptibly while his lips pressed into a hard line. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it. Just keep ignoring the calls. We should probably look into getting your number changed as well.”
The remainder of the ride home was a quiet one. Xavier sat brooding while staring intently out the windshield. Something about these calls was really upsetting him, but he wouldn’t tell me what. Did he know who was behind them and just not telling me? Or does he really not know and that is what had him truly worried? No. I think he believes Stephen is behind them some how, and that’s what truly has him on edge. He just hasn’t been able to prove it yet. I’m certain he’s got one or more of his people working on it.
He remained quiet once we got back to the condo. Even all through dinner. The best I could get out of him were monosyllabic answers. It was starting to drive me crazy! Just as I was about to scream, the shrill ring of a phone sounded from his office. He bolted out of the kitchen. I just stared at his retreating back.
“Damn it!” Xavier bellowed from his office.
Quickly, I finished cleaning up dinner and headed down to his office. He was pacing while on the phone and he looked positively murderous.
“Tell me you know how this happened, Scott … Did you get with Matt in IT … Let him know I’ll meet with him tomorrow … Thank you.” He hung up the phone and sank into his office chair. Holding his head in his hands, he looked positively defeated.
I stood frozen on the threshold of his office afraid to move for a moment. Something happened at work since he mentioned IT. Walking tentatively toward him, I stopped next to him and ran my fingers through his hair.
“Is everything all right at the office?” I asked quietly.
He let out a deep sigh. “My personal financial records were finally hacked into. It would seem whoever was trying to get into them three weeks ago finally succeeded.”
“Well, isn’t that kind of public information? I mean you are on Forbes 400. Don’t people pretty much already know what you are worth?”
“That’s true, Ella. However, the information that was accessed was for my personal accounts, which indicates exactly what’s currently available as liquid cash.”
“I don’t understand why that information would be important to someone. Has your IT department been able to find out anything from the IP address?”
“The IP address was spoofed.”
“Spoofed? Is that some technical geek term?” I tried to lighten the mood. It didn’t work.
“The IP address was falsified,” he said, sounding perturbed.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you be,” I said quietly.
I turned to walk away when a warm hand grabbed my wrist tightly. “Wait,” he said as he pulled me onto his lap. I went willingly straddling his legs. He buried his face in my neck. “I’m not angry with you. I’m angry at the situation. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve got a really bad feeling about it, Ella. The restricted calls you’re getting and now this. They are related. I’m certain of it,” he said with a touch of fear in his voice.
I squeezed my arms around his shoulders a little tighter.
“I wish I could tell you that everything is going to be okay. I wish I could make you feel secure,” he murmured.
“Xavier, everything is going to be okay. You have so many resources in place to make sure of it. How could I not feel secure with you?” He groaned into my neck shaking his head. I knew he had to be thinking about the first time Stephen cornered us in the parking garage. Xavier felt responsible for what happened, which I did not. Would the poor man ever stop blaming himself?
I pulled back and broke his hold on me. Climbing off his lap, he gave me a look of surprise. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him up out of his chair. “Enough of this wallowing. It’s back to work tomorrow. We can’t do anything about what happened tonight. The only thing you can do is work with your IT department and strengthen your security so it doesn’t happen again.” I started pulling him down the hall toward the bedroom. “It’s late. I’m tired, and I’m not going to sleep without you,” I said, walking toward the bedroom determinedly.
Suddenly, my arm jerked from behind causing me to stop. I was forcefully spun around. He pulled me into him, slamming my front into him hard enough to push the air out of my lungs with a whoosh. Before I could even recover, his hands were in my hair holding me in place while his mouthed sealed over mine. I was breathless by the time he broke away.
“What was that for?” I asked still trying to catch my breath.
“I can’t help it. I love it when you get all bossy with me like that,” he said, giving me a wicked smile.
I reached behind him and squeezed his ass hard. “Get to bed,” I demanded.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, giving me a mock salute before he tore down the hall to the bedroom.
Tuesday morning started out like any other workday. I was up early with Xavier. We shared a shower. I drooled over him as he got dressed in one of his gorgeous three-piece suits. We enjoyed breakfast together. Yes, everything was fine. Then my abdomen felt all achy half way through breakfast. It almost felt like I had my period.
“I’ve got to run to the bathroom before we leave real quick,” I said to Xavier just as we were getting ready to head out.
“And so it begins,” he said jokingly as he patted my belly. “I’ll wait.” He smiled at me.
While in the bathroom, my heart sank as soon as I took in what was staring me in the face—blood smeared on the toilet paper. It was almost as if the smear was mocking me in a way that said life will never allow you to be happy. Shit. I quickly placed a panty liner in my underwear. I can’t take too long or Xavier will come looking for me. After all that happened last night, I couldn’t let him know about this. He didn’t need the added stress, especially if this turned out to be nothing.
Plastering a smile on my face, I made my way back towards the elevator. Xavier was standing there leaning up against the wall patiently waiting for me. The smile slid off his face when he saw me.
“What is it, Ella?” You look pale. Are you feeling all right?” He brushed his hand across my forehead and down my face.
�
�I’m fine. Just a little nauseous is all.” I kissed him chastely and quickly hit the button for the elevator.
He walked me to my SUV. As soon as I unlocked it, he took my camera bag and placed it on the passenger seat. Then he caged me up against the rear passenger door. There was a desperate look in his eyes that wasn’t present earlier.
Before I could question him about it, he grabbed my face and kissed me as if he was never going to get the chance to kiss me again. When he broke away, that desperate look was still in his eyes. I opened my mouth to question him about it, but he pressed a finger to my lips before I could utter a word.
“Promise me you will be careful today,” he said brusquely. I nodded at him. “Please stay in contact with me as much as you can,” he added.
I placed my hands over his as he continued to hold my face. “What is it, Xavier? What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. I’m sure it’s just me. So just humor me and promise me that you’ll keep in close contact with me. Promise me,” he demanded.
“I promise,” I said softly.
He leaned his forehead into mine. “Thank you.” He kissed me softly on the forehead, and without a second glance, he headed over to his SUV.
He was in the vehicle, had it started, and was pulling out before I even had my seatbelt buckled. Geez, he was in a strange mood this morning, which told me I made the right decision of keeping this to myself until I could see the doctor.
I called the doctor’s office as I drove to the first address on my list where I would be meeting up with Renatta. This was the one and only location that we would be working together today. The others I would be on my own for. Fortunately, I only had three other locations to visit today. I was thankful that the doctor was able to squeeze me in at one o’clock this afternoon. I should be done with work by then.
I pulled up to the first location, which was a cute little house in the Queen Anne section of Seattle. Renatta was in her Tahoe waiting for me. She stepped out as soon as I pulled up behind her.
“Hey, lady,” she said as she quickly embraced me in a hug.
“Morning, my friend.” I hugged her back.
“Hey, I got a notification this morning that there was an additional address added to your list today. Apparently, they were pretty adamant about you getting there today around two,” she said as she handed me a piece of paper with an address.
“Where is 34th Avenue East?” I asked as I stared at the address. I should be able to make this appointment after the doctor. Not that it really matters. The doctor is way more important. If I’m late getting to the house then so be it.
“Washington Park area. You shouldn’t have any problem making it your last stop of the day,” Renatta said. “So are you getting excited? When do your parents arrive?” Renatta was all smiles.
“Um, yeah, I guess I’m getting excited. My parents arrive Friday,” I said, sounding a little distracted even to my own ears.
“What is it, Ella? Are you getting cold feet?” Renatta asked sympathetically.
I thought for a moment about telling Renatta about my impending doctor’s appointment. I hated lying to her, but there was no point in worrying her too. I needed to find out what was going on before I told anyone. “No, not at all. I’m just tired from the weekend plus I was a little nauseous this morning,” I said, smiling weakly at her.
“I’m sorry, Ella. I hope you feel better soon. I’m sure the morning sickness won’t last long.”
“I hope not.” I shrugged, grabbing my camera bag. “Let’s go,” I said as I started heading towards the house.
I went through the rest of my day on autopilot. My thoughts were preoccupied with my impending doctor’s appointment as I prayed I was not losing the baby. Xavier said he couldn’t stand to lose another. Well, he wasn’t the only one. And now that our family and friends knew about the baby, having to tell them that I lost him or her was going to be even harder.
I was just about to leave the location I was at and head to the doctor’s office when I realized I hadn’t sent a text to Xavier in a while, having been so preoccupied with thoughts of the baby. Reaching into my bag, I grabbed my iPhone only to see that it was dead. Shit. I totally forgot to plug it in earlier.
He had to know that I was all right. What the hell could happen? The man was being paranoid. Stephen wasn’t even in Seattle. I decided to send him a text or call him as soon as I was done with the doctor before I headed to my last location. Shaking my head, I threw my dead phone back in my bag and made my way to the doctor’s office.
It was 1:30 and I was still sitting in the waiting area. Why do they do this? Don’t they know the wait is killing me? I was thankful that they were able to squeeze me in, so I tried to be patient.
Finally at 2:10 my name was called. The nurse was all smiles as we headed back to the exam room, asking me how my day was going and how have I been feeling. I had to stop myself from being rude. Geez, how did she think I was feeling? I wouldn’t be here if I was feeling fine. I’ve been anxious all day dealing with cramps and spotting. Realizing that she was just trying to be polite, I gave the standard monosyllabic answer of good and fine.
She rounded the corner stopping in front of the scale. Wonderful. Like my day hasn’t sucked enough. I gained three pounds.
Once we got in the room, she first took my blood pressure, and then asked me to strip from the waist down. Pointing to a sheet folded neatly on the exam table, she told me to drape this over my lap. As she opened the door to leave, she told me the doctor would be with me shortly. Fantastic. I hated the vulnerability that I felt sitting half naked waiting for the doctor. She kept me waiting for a good fifteen minutes too.
When Dr. Ellington entered the room, I visibly relaxed. “Good afternoon, Ella. Thank you for being so patient. I’ve been running a bit behind today. It’s good to see you. Tell me what’s been going on,” she said kindly, standing at the sink, washing her hands.
“I have been feeling mild cramps and started spotting today.”
“I see. Has it been heavy at all?” she asked, looking through my chart.
“No, not at all.”
“And it just started today?” I nodded at her.
She stood looking through my file for several nerve-wracking minutes, which felt like hours. “You are just past eight weeks. I’d like to do an ultrasound since we won’t be able to pick up the heartbeat audibly for at least another two weeks or so, all right?”
I nodded at her. “This isn’t an uncommon occurrence, Ella.” She patted my forearm comfortingly. “I’ll have Lisa bring the equipment in,” she said before disappearing out the door.
My heart started to pound while I patiently waited for them to come back. This was it. What if the heartbeat isn’t there? My stomach roiled at the thought. I lay back on the table and closed my eyes trying to calm myself. There was cheesy instrumental music being pumped into the room. I tried to concentrate on that instead of the sound of my heart pounding furiously in my head. I stiffened when I realized the song playing is Having My Baby by Paul Anka.
Suddenly, there was a bit of a commotion on the other side of the door. “Ella?” A very familiar voice hollered. Xavier? How did he know I was here? I sat upright staring dumbfounded at the back of the closed door. His voice sounded off. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
“Please, Mr. Hart.” I heard the nurse say.
“Where is my wife?” he bellowed.
His wife? “Xavier?” I yelled.
Seconds later he came bursting through the door. The first thing I noticed was the frantic look in his huge, bloodshot eyes. His hair was a disheveled mess. The top button of his dress shirt was undone. He left his tie hanging loosely around his neck. He was minus his vest and suit jacket. Sweat glistened on his face as if he had been running a marathon.
He stood in the doorway for several seconds just staring at me. He was looking at me like he couldn’t quite believe that I was actually sitting here before him
. I fought the urge to jump down off the table and embrace him, remembering that I had nothing but a sheet draped over my lower body.
It wasn’t until he stepped further into the room that I saw Stewart and Marissa behind him. Suddenly, I was very thankful that I hadn’t jumped down off that table. He nodded at them and closed the door.
“Xavier, what are you …” He cut me off when he wrapped his arms around me tightly. I could feel his heart pounding furiously on my cheek as the side of my face was mushed into his hard chest.
After several minutes like this, the door opened. “Leave us,” he snapped. His brusque tone made me jump. I could only imagine what it did to the poor soul who just tried to enter the room. I had no idea who it was since Xavier never let go of me. He didn’t even turn to look himself. I only heard the door softly click shut.
He released me only to grab hold of my face. I was shocked to see the wetness slipping down his cheeks. “Where is your damn cell phone, Ella? I have been trying to get a hold of you for hours,” he said gruffly. Anger flashed in his blue eyes.
“I accidentally forget to charge it. When I went to text you before coming here I realized my phone was dead.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was going to call you as soon as I got out of here. What is it? What’s happened that has you so freaked out?”
“My worst fucking nightmare. That’s what happened,” he said angrily. Whatever happened it had to be bad. He never cursed like that. “Wait!” he yelled, making me jump. “What are you doing here? Was this a scheduled appointment that you didn’t tell me about? I told you I wanted to accompany you to your next appointment,” he said in an accusing tone.
I broke eye contact with him, afraid to see the look on his face when I told him why I was here. “No,” I said sadly. He sucked in a breath as he released my face. “It wasn’t scheduled. I made the appointment this morning.”
“So this morning before we left when I asked you what was wrong you lied to me?” he asked incredulously.
