by Evan Grace
I get dressed, and in the bathroom, I wash my face. Thank God I don’t wear a lot of makeup. I use a little bit of the complimentary body lotion on my face. There’s no toothpaste, so I just rinse my mouth and then pop a piece of gum into my mouth. After throwing my hair up into a knot on the top of my head, I grab my purse and pull out my phone. “Shit.” It’s dead.
Downstairs I ask the concierge to call me a cab and wait outside in the brisk air for it to show up. Luckily the cabbie isn’t a talker, so I can stare out the window and mentally kick my ass for going home with a stranger to just be used by him, but isn’t that what I wanted? A night of casual sex? Maybe I wasn’t ready for it like I’d thought.
Twenty minutes later, the cab pulls up in front of my apartment building. Climbing out, I can’t wait to hop in the shower, throw on some jammies, and curl up in bed. Before I can even stick my key in the lock, the door is thrown open. “Where the fuck have you been?” Brandon looks pissed.
“Um…I was out?” I step inside and he follows me to my room. Jose is standing in the doorway of Brandon’s room. “Hey Jose.”
“Hola, birthday girl.” He looks behind me. “Brandon, let her do what she needs to, and you can talk to her after.”
“No, I told you we’d be back last night, and when we get there, I hear you’ve left with some man you met at the bar. I tried calling you, but it went right to voicemail.” He places his hands on my shoulders. “I was really fucking worried. I would’ve called the police, but that one threatened to withhold sex if I did.”
I move toward him and wrap my arms around his waist. “I’m sorry I scared you. My stupid phone died, but that’s still no excuse.”
He looks me up and down. “Go get cleaned up, and then I want to hear all about the man that gave you love bites and whisker burns all over and has you walking like you were kicked in the imaginary balls.”
“I love you.”
He squeezes me tight. “I love you too. You’re lucky I love you or I’d kick your ass.” I watch him disappear into his room with Jose and close his door.
I really should shower because I smell like Reece, and after how he left, I don’t really want to have that reminder. But instead, I crawl into bed and close my eyes. I hope I never have to see that douchebag again.
Chapter Four
Reece
Present Day
“It’s you.” I stand up from my chair and do a full perusal of Lilah’s body. My eyes dart down to her belly…her pregnant belly. I meet her eyes, expecting to see anger because of how I left her that night, but instead I see a flicker of something subtle before her face goes blank. “How are you?”
The muscle in her jaw ticks as she walks around me to the table and sets the folder down. “Mr. Meyers, I’m Delilah Mackenzie, the office manager. I need you to fill out these forms and then return them to the basket outside of my office. I’ll also need a copy of your insurance card, private investigator’s license, and driver’s license. Carrie can help you with that. Any questions?” She rests one hand on her belly and the other on her hip.
I don’t remember her being this sexy, but I can’t think of that now. “Is that…my baby?” Sweat dots my forehead and my pulse races. Throw me into a war zone and I’m cool, calm, and collected, but waiting to find out if I’m her baby’s father has me ready to freak out.
Lilah—no, Delilah—looks at me with fire in her eyes. “No, it’s my baby.” She’s out of the conference room, slamming the door behind her faster than I can say, “boo.”
I slowly lower myself into the chair and rest my head in my hands. It’s my baby, I know it is. The timing is just right for when we slept together.
That had been the most fun I’d had in a long time—the sex was phenomenal, and yeah, I knew she wasn’t that experienced, but I hadn’t had a clue how young she really was until I woke with her curled up against me. She just looked really young—too young for me once I came to my senses. She’s probably still in her early twenties.
Meanwhile I’m thirty-four years old, moody, and kind of a loner. She’s young and full of life and optimism. But no matter what, I need to get her to talk to me. That’s my child she’s carrying—I know it. We need to decide what to do.
Fuck, but I may be dead soon, anyway. As soon as Jack learns that I had sex with his daughter and somehow managed to knock her up, he’s going to kill me and throw my corpse into Lake Michigan. In other words, it may not matter if that baby is mine because I may not be around to see it be born.
I should’ve woken her up before I left, plain and simple, but she’d been sleeping so hard that I showered, dressed, and packed and she never budged. I then debated on leaving her a note, but then I was a stupid dick and decided not to. Hey, I never said I was smart.
Grabbing the folder with the papers in it, I step into the hall and find Delilah’s on the other end of the office. I give a quick knock before pushing the door open, but I freeze when I find Jack sitting in a chair across from her desk. “Oh…hey, Jack.”
“Hey, Meyers, I see you’ve met my daughter. Luckily she looks like her mom.” He looks at Delilah with a smile on his face, and then turns back to me. “Did you need something?” He looks at the folder in my hands and then up at me.
“Uh…yeah, I just wanted to ask Delilah here if she needed these papers back today or if I could take them home and fill them out.”
“Go ahead and take it home with you. Why don’t you come with me and I’ll introduce you to Egan, and you can sit with him for a little bit? Del, he’ll bring the papers in the morning.”
Her cheeks and chest turn a dark pink and I can tell she’s pissed. She slowly stands up. “Dad, I really would like those papers today.”
“Honey, you can get that shit from him tomorrow.”
She looks at me with fire in her eyes and then back at her dad. “You hired me to be the office manager. Let me do my job.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get them filled out and back to you before five,” I say.
Jack nods and then kisses his daughter’s cheek. “You’re right, honey. I’m sorry.” He moves to me and we head out into the hall. “You’ll have to forgive her. The hormones have been a joy to deal with, but I love my girl.”
Yep, I’m a dead man.
After spending the last few hours filling out paperwork and talking to Egan, I’m getting ready to head out. Jack left a little bit ago, and we’re meeting the rest of the team in an hour. He’s really big on all of us getting together often to foster that brotherhood mentality.
From my place in the hall, I can see Delilah is still here. She’s alone, so I grab the paperwork to give to her.
When I knock on her open door, I don’t miss the over-exaggerated sigh that leaves her lips. Fuck me, she’s cute. “Here you go. Everything is filled out, and I put a copy of my insurance and license in there as well.” I scrub a hand over my head. “Listen, I want to apologize—”
She cuts me off. “Listen, we don’t need to talk about this. What happened, happened. We’re both mature adults, I’m sure we can manage to work together without any drama, and no one needs to know what happened between us.”
“They’ll know, because that’s my baby.” I move closer to her, but she stops me, holding her hands up in a halting gesture.
“How do you know that this is your baby? Maybe I’m a huge slut that slept around a lot.”
I chuckle, because that’s pretty fucking hilarious. “I hate to tell you, but I’m really good at reading people, and I would’ve never have brought you back to my hotel room if I thought you were easy.”
“Okay, yes, it’s your baby, but that doesn’t change anything.”
“Why? I would like to help you. I’d like to be involved if you’d let me.”
Her eyes drift over my face. “Why isn’t this freaking you out? Most guys would run for the hills if their one-night stand produced a baby.”
“Sweetheart, you’ll learn that I’m not like most guys.”
“Y
eah, I can see that.” Her lip twitches, but I can tell she’s trying not to let that smile happen.
“Can we maybe get together and talk? I know we’ve got time before the baby comes, but I want to be a part of things. I’ve got to go meet up with the team right now, but just know that whatever you want or need, I’m there. It took both of us to make this baby.”
“I don’t understand how you’re being so calm and rational about this. I’ve always figured that if we ever ran into each other that you’d freak out.”
“I guess when you’ve seen and done the things I have, then your ability to get freaked out goes away. Although the only thing that scares the shit out of me is what your dad is going to do to me when he finds out. I see a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere in my future.” Her lip twitches again but she tries to fight it.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” She grabs her purse and messenger bag and then walks toward the doorway. “Have a good night, and welcome to the team.”
“Do you need me to walk you home or whatever?”
She shakes her head. “No, but thanks.”
Once she’s gone, I sit in one of the chairs across from her desk and scrub my hands over my face. “I’m going to be someone’s father,” I whisper. “Why is this not freaking me the fuck out…seriously?”
Chapter Five
Reece
I walk into the Chop House steakhouse and up to the hostess station. I don’t miss the way she checks me out, looking me up and down. She’s gorgeous, I’ll admit—with her long, sleek, red hair and her tight black dress that hugs her hourglass figure—but it’s images of a pregnant blonde with big brown eyes that assail me. “Can I help you?” she practically purrs.
“I’m here with the Mackenzie party.”
“Yes, of course. Follow me.” I don’t miss the exaggerated sway of her hips as she leads me to the back. I find Jack, Erik, Marcus, Tyler, and Coby all sitting around a table.
I thank her, and she sashays away. I don’t miss that they’re all checking her out. I laugh as I pull my chair out. They all greet me, and I order a beer when our waiter comes over.
Coby is sitting next to me. “So how was your first day?” he asks. “I know it’s always that first-day bullshit. I heard Del got attitude with Jack in front of you. Those two are so much alike. That wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
Coby doesn’t know that I’m the one who basically instigated the fight, unintentionally of course, but the love Jack has for his daughter was obvious. Since I already signed my contract, I don’t think he’d be able to fire me when he finds out I’m the father of his future grandchild…can he?
When our food comes awhile later, I dig into the porterhouse I got and savor each bite. Conversation is nil as we all stuff our faces. Our waiter comes to take our dishes. Taking a drink of my beer, I turn to Coby. “I hear you’re taking me to the range tomorrow.”
“Hells yeah. I hear you’re a great shot.”
I hate to brag, but I was a top-ranked marksman. But hell, who knows—I haven’t been to the range in a while, so maybe I’m a little rusty.
When they bring the check, Jack refuses to take money from any of us. He claims this is my welcome to the company dinner. While he waits for the slip, Erik and I make plans for me to come take a look at his Impala.
Jack answering his phone brings all our attention to him.
“Hold on, Brandon—what?” His face turns red and he shoots up from his chair, putting us all on alert. “Brandon, slow down. She what? Goddammit! I’m on my way.”
“Boss? What’s up?” Marcus moves to stand next to him.
“S-Someone attacked Delilah. Brandon had to call 911. I’ve got to get to Rush.” It’s like the strong man I know is no longer with us. Jack looks terrified, and to be honest, I’m trying not to freak out myself.
We lead him outside and all hop in Tyler’s Navigator. He maneuvers through traffic to get us to the ER. I don’t know who this Brandon is, but I damn well will find out. It feels like forever before we’re pulling up in front of Rush, and Tyler is tossing his keys to the valet.
I’m sure we’re a sight—six large men barreling through the doors and heading toward the information desk. The woman looks up at us and blinks, dumbfounded. “C-Can I…I help you?”
“My daughter was brought into the ER. Delilah Mackenzie.”
She taps away at her computer while Jack clenches and unclenches his fist. “Okay, yes, she’s still in the ER. Take this hall all the way down to the end. They should be able to direct you to her.”
We move down the hall until we reach the desk and they direct us to her in the back. I’m glad the other guys are along—otherwise it would look suspicious if I came back with him, because as far as he’s concerned, I met her for the first time today.
Police stand in the hall and Jack walks right up to them. “I’m Delilah’s father. Did you catch the motherfucker who touched her?”
“Mr. Mackenzie. I’m Officer Stevens, and my partner and I were the first on the scene. Whoever attacked your daughter was scared off by her roommate and his partner. We haven’t been able to get too much information from her yet. They wanted to check the baby since she took a fist to the gut.”
Nausea pools in my belly. Yes, we barely know each other, and I just found out that I’m going to be a father, but she and my baby were innocent victims. What kind of pussy motherfucker attacks a woman—a pregnant woman at that?
We wait in the hall while he goes in, but before he closes the curtain I see Delilah lying there with a fat lip and a swollen eye. The guys around me curse, and I know that they saw her too. Shutting out the noise in the hall, I try and hear what’s going on behind the curtain.
“Baby girl, what happened?”
“H-He j-jumped me outside of m-my apartment building. D-Daddy, he s-said that it was y-your fault. He said that my baby was a mistake.”
I don’t need to be in the room to feel the supercharged air. Jack comes out a minute later. He pulls us down the hall away from the police officers. “What do you need from us?” I ask.
Jack looks wrecked as he turns to all of us. “Reece and Erik, I want you to canvass the area around her building. Check any security footage. My girl is smart—she says he’s maybe six-foot-one, six-foot-two. He’s Caucasian with dark brown eyes. A Cubs hat was on his head, so she can’t tell me what color his hair was. Marcus, I want you looking through old case files, anyone that we may have pissed off, ex-husbands, ex-employees…whatever. I want this fucker found before the cops find him.”
He tells us that he’s staying until they get Delilah settled on the maternity floor. They want to monitor the baby overnight since she took a blow to the stomach. Just thinking about it makes my anger rise. Fuck, I want to go in and check on her, but I don’t really feel like it’s my place.
Plus, I want to wait until she’s out of the hospital before I tell him that I’m the father of the baby. I know I should let her do it, but the longer we wait, the worse it will be. Now is definitely not the time for that, though.
***
By the time we had a game plan, none of the businesses by Delilah’s apartment were open, but Erik and I plan to meet up in the morning. Egan and our other IT guy, Kyle, went to the office to see if they could hack into the city’s traffic cameras.
Marcus is at the office already going through files and making up lists of possible suspects. I’ve been sitting outside the hospital for the past half hour, trying to work up the courage to go in there and check on her—check on the baby. I know Jack left already and was heading to the office. Twenty-five minutes ago her roommate left, and I may only have a short window.
“Suck it up, asshole,” I mutter. Taking a deep breath, I go inside. After stepping onto the elevator, I stand quietly, watching the numbers light up as the carriage climbs higher and higher. Once I reach the floor, I walk slowly down the hall and ring the bell to get on the unit.
“Can I help yo
u?” the feminine voice asks from the speaker.
“I’m here to see Delilah Mackenzie.” The doors open and I walk in to the birthing center, stopping at the desk. “What room number is Delilah Mackenzie in?”
“She’s in room sixteen. It’s to the left and first door on the right.”
On my way to her room, I pass the nursery and I stop to look inside. There are two babies in there in those clear plastic beds. All my life I never expected to have kids—they just didn’t interest me. My baby sister has two of them, and sure, I’ve held them and played with them, but then I give them back.
The baby closest to the window yawns widely and an unexplained emotion fills me. My feet become unstuck and I make my way down the hall. I reach her door, knocking softly. Stepping inside, the lights are down low and the TV is on. The strong scent of cleaning solution fills my nostrils.
“Reece? What are you doing here?” Rage fills me when I look at her battered face. We may be virtual strangers, but she’s carrying my child, and her father is someone I highly respect. I move toward the bed and have to fight the desire to place my hand on her stomach.
“I wanted to see how you’re doing. I wanted to see how the baby was doing.”
She leans over in bed to push a button and a fast whoosh, whoosh fills the room. “That’s his heartbeat.” I stand next to the bed, closing my eyes and listening to that beautiful sound.
I look at her with a raised brow. “His?”
She nods. “It’s a boy.”
“Wow. A boy.” I know wonderment fills my voice, but then I look at her face and remember what happened to her. “What did the doctor say?”
She rests her hands on her small belly. “They’re keeping me here overnight just to make sure I don’t start bleeding or contracting, but so far I’m okay.”
“I’m glad. We’re going to find who did this and make them pay.” I say it with conviction because we will. We’ll find out, and I will destroy him.
