Billionaire's Protest: A Complete Romance Series

by Kira Blakely

  When she woke up the next morning, Shawna she felt the panic before she could figure out why. Then she felt the hot, heavy pressure against her body. “No, stop! No! No, no!”

  “It’s okay, Shawna, I’ve got you,” Gage cooed, whispering soft words of comfort in her ear while cradling her body with his. “You’re all right, Shawna; it’s me, Gage.” A few minutes of his deep voice and her body began to settle.

  “Sorry. I’ve been having nightmares, and I thought sleeping next to someone might help keep them away. It did, so thanks.” She needed to get away from him, get out of his bed and out of his embrace. The last thing she needed on top of cracked ribs was the re-fracturing of her already shattered heart.

  Too bad she was too slow.

  “Stay,” he urged, tightening his grip on her hips and pressing a soft kiss behind her ear. “I’m sorry about how I acted in St. Lucia and about the shit I said to you. I didn’t mean it.”

  Of course, you did. She knew he did because he’d always thought that. About her, and about all his other women. “You don’t owe me an apology, Gage. I was the one who forgot we were play acting. You gave me the reminder I needed.”

  “It’s not like that, Shawna.”

  She nodded, wishing she could see his handsome face but knowing her body wouldn’t move to let her see him. “Yes, it is. Don’t rewrite history now because of what happened.” She needed to remember how she felt sitting there while he ripped her apart and called her a whore, because it was the only way she would ever be safe from him. The only way she wouldn’t be tempted to give her heart what it wanted. Another chance with Gage.

  ***

  “I need your help tracking down Pearce.” Gage stood in the doorway of his brother’s office with scruff on his jaw and a haunted look in his eyes.

  Ryker looked up at his brother, one brow arched in his direction as he leaned back in his office chair. “I figured you’d ask for my help eventually, but so far there’s been no trace of him. He’s still in Vegas though, because Daddy’s jet is still parked in the hangar.”

  “So, Walter isn’t helping him hide?”

  Ryker smiled. “I didn’t say that. He’s surviving without using credit cards or banks, which means someone is helping him. How is Shawna?”

  “Not great. She’s quiet and withdrawn. She barely says a word to me, and she’s hardly eating.” He raked a shaky hand through his hair, which was long past due for a trim.

  “We’ll find Pearce, don’t worry. Just keep an eye on your girl.”

  Gage opened his mouth to deny that she was his girl, but he couldn’t. Because she was. The smiles she gave that were just for him, her sassy attitude and the way she had no problem calling him out on his bullshit were just a few reasons she’d worked her way into his heart. “I screwed up, Ryker, and now I think I broke her.”

  His brother laughed. “You didn’t break her, you jackass; you hurt her.”

  Gage shook his head. He wouldn’t let his brother let him off easy. “Does it matter, Ryker? I promised her one thing, I’d keep her safe from Pearce and I didn’t do it. I couldn’t. Combined with my other sins, what reason would she have for speaking to me again?”

  Ryker shrugged. “I’ve heard love is a good enough reason.”

  “Love? What, have you been drinking in the middle of a work day to make you say such crazy shit?” Gage smiled at his brother’s discomfort. “Didn’t I hear Frankie was back?” Francesca was Rafe’s little sister, and she was as good as Ryker with a computer. And she’d always had a thing for Ryker.

  “Yeah,” he grunted. “She started today, tracking down Pearce.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “Come on, Shawna will be family soon and I’ll treat her like it.” Ryker smiled, but to outsiders it probably looked like a snarl. “Go be with her, even if she’s sad and quiet. For some reason, the crazy woman likes your ugly mug.”

  “Hey, I’m the handsome one.”

  Ryker frowned. “I’m the handsome one; you’re the successful one.”

  Gage laughed. “You’re worth almost as much as I am, fucker. I’m the handsome and successful one, and you’re the mean computer genius.”

  “All right, oh handsome one, go back to your girl and I’ll let you know when that fucker is apprehended.”

  Gage left his brother and hopped in his car, heading back to the hotel.

  He had a woman to win over.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Shawna felt good. She’d finished her last final this morning and if everything went the way she figured it would, she would ace her first semester of graduate school. She would have to wait a few weeks to know for sure, but by then she hoped she would already be settled in an apartment of some sort in Boston, where she planned to complete her MBA.

  The past weeks had left her busy, exhausted and healing. Nearly three weeks had gone by since she left the hospital and she felt… well, she felt as good as she possibly could. Her ribs were nearly healed but she would find out for sure later today. Before she left town.

  That thought left her close to tears and she knew why. It didn’t matter that she hated Gage, because she loved him, too, and leaving him was hard. It was made harder because he’d been the perfect doting fake boyfriend for the past couple weeks, and he’d done it all without the added benefit of sex. He made sure she didn’t waste away as her depression took over, and he was completely helpless as a bug left her bedridden for several days.

  But now she was all better and ready to leave Las Vegas behind.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  She gasped and then groaned, turning slowly at the sound of Gage’s angry glare. “You scared me,” she told him as she held the piercing ache in her side.

  “Where are you going, Shawna?” His voice was low and lethal, and he was barely in control.

  “I’m going to the doctor.”

  “And then?”

  “And then I’m leaving, Gage. We both knew I couldn’t stay here with you forever.”

  “I guess I got back just in time to give you the good news. Pearce was arrested today. He won’t be bothering you again.”

  She smiled and nodded. “Thank you for letting me know, Gage, but it’s time.”

  “No, it isn’t. Stay, dammit.”

  “Why should I stay? So now that I’m healed you can take your fill until you get sick of me, then I can leave?” She shook her head and continued packing her meager belongings. “Sorry, that doesn’t work for me.”

  “Who says I’d get sick of you?”

  She laughed and the sound was bitter. “It’s what you do. Things were becoming too real in St. Lucia, so you made sure it couldn’t happen again. If I hadn’t been in that accident, we’d already be out of each other’s lives.”

  “You’re wrong.” His blue gaze was fierce and full of barely contained restraint. “I acted like as asshole because I was jealous.”

  Well, hell, how was she supposed to respond to that? “Yeah, well, according to you, I’m a gold digger who whores herself out to the highest bidder.”

  “Goddammit, Shawna, I didn’t mean it!”

  She sighed and sat on the bed, careful of her now-throbbing ribs. “You did mean it, and that’s why I have to go.”

  “Why? Because I said something regrettable in a moment of rage? You can’t forgive me that?”

  “No, I can’t. I love you, you jackass! I am in love with you, but that doesn’t matter. You don’t trust me, don’t respect me and half the time I’m not even sure you like me. I can’t stick around for that kind of uncertainty. I need to build a life for myself away from this toxic city.” Her last bag was packed and she was ready to head out. “Thank you, Gage. For taking care of me, for showing me St. Lucia and for letting me see the other side of you. Let someone else see it, too, okay?” She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips to say goodbye, but as usual, Gage wasn’t satisfied with that.

  His hands cupped her face and slid until they fisted in her hair, holding her at the
perfect angle for a kiss that would set her panties on fire. If she let it. She couldn’t. She really shouldn’t. But oh, holy hell the man kissed like that was how he’d made his fortune. It was sweet and hot, and just the taste of his mouth had her squirming with arousal and pinching her thighs to stop the ache between them. “Shawna, please. Stay.”

  “I can’t.”

  He nodded. “I’ll take you to your appointment then.”

  That’s it? That was how he fought for something he wanted? Guess he really was looking for one last roll in the sack. “No need, I can get there myself.”

  “With what car?”

  Shit, she’d forgotten. Her old POS had been totaled in the accident, and TJ had been driving her to and from school, so she’d completely forgotten about it. “I’ll grab a cab.”

  “I’ll take you,” he said, grabbing her bag and walking out of the suite, leaving her to follow behind him.

  “That’s not necessary, Gage. You’ve got work to do.”

  He stopped at the elevator and turned a dark look her way, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “Dammit, can’t you let me help you once without fighting me? Can you let me do even this for you?” She kept silent as they entered the empty elevator.

  “You gave me a place to stay when I needed one, Gage; you’ve done plenty. But I can’t get used to you or anyone being there.” She had to make sure she didn’t learn to lean on anyone because if the past had taught her one thing, it was that people didn’t stick around.

  “Would it be so bad to lean on me?” he asked and opened the passenger door for her, waiting for her answer.

  “No, it wouldn’t. I think when you deal with your baggage and learn to trust a woman, you’d be pretty great to lean on. But I can’t let you keep hurting me while you figure it out.”

  “We had a deal, Shawna.” He shut the door and hopped into the driver’s seat, dropping his keys on the dashboard and turning as much as he could to face her.

  She gave a sad smile because she knew it might come to this. “Yes, we did.”

  “No, we have a deal. And now that I’ve learned something very interesting, I’m holding you to it,” he told her with a look she couldn’t quite decipher.

  She sighed, wondering what new bit of information he would use against her this time. “What did you learn, Gage?”

  “I learned that this awful feeling in my chest is love.” His hand slammed against his chest to emphasize his words. “I learned that living without you is completely unimaginable and most importantly, I’ve learned that when you hurt, I hurt.”

  In the confines of his car, even a luxury SUV, she felt like he took up too much room. She needed space to think. Maybe she was hallucinating, because she’d just heard Gage say he loved her and couldn’t live without her. “You…?”

  He smiled, and the last bit of ice around her heart fell away. She couldn’t protect herself from him any longer, especially when he said words like that. Words she’d longed to hear. “I do, Shawna. I love you. I am madly in love with you and I want you to stay in Vegas. With me.”

  She smiled up at him with tears in her eyes. “You mean that?”

  He nodded, his smile growing wider by the minute. “Hell, yeah, I mean it, babe. I want you to move back into my house, but for real this time. No more fake girlfriend. I want you in my arms when I lay my head down at night, I want to come home to you shaking that sexy ass while making cookies, and this part is really important… I want to be in the audience cheering you on when you get your degree.”

  He couldn’t have said anything more perfect as far as she was concerned. “Oh, Gage, I love you, too. I want to make a life with you, but—”

  His put his fingers to her lips. “No buts. Just say yes.”

  She loved him and she wanted to build a life with him, so what else could she say? “Yes. Just… yes! I love you.”

  He leaned in closer until their breath mingled. “Good, because I love you, and I intend to spend the rest of forever showing you just how special you are to me.”

  She believed him and in that moment, she gave up the parts she’d kept for herself. She made a vow to trust in him, in his love, because she knew Gage would do the same.

  They loved each other and that, more than anything else, gave her hope.

  Chapter Seventeen

  One month later

  Gage paced in the kitchen as he waited for Shawna to return from her final appointment with the specialist. He didn’t understand it, since she’d been given a clean bill of health at last month’s visit, and he remembered because he’d spent two days loving on her until they were both dehydrated, sated and unable to walk a straight line. But she’d said she needed to go back today and he didn’t need to bother himself with it.

  Weird.

  He wasn’t sure if he was losing her or if she was hiding something, but it strengthened his resolve to do what he’d been planning since she’d told him that she loved him. He’d gone out the next day to meet with a ring designer and one week later, he’d had the two-carat emerald cut ring designed just for her in his pocket. It had spent the past three weeks burning a hole in his pocket.

  No more. Today he would put his ring on Shawna’s finger. “If she ever comes home.”

  “Talking to yourself, honey?”

  He turned, smiling at the sexy voice of the woman he loved. “Yep, wondering where on earth my beloved had gone.” He laughed when she rolled her eyes at his cheesy line.

  “Oh, boy, your beloved, huh? What have you done?” Then something that looked like guilt flashed in her eyes, and his stomach dropped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She blinked, green eyes wide and wary. “What do you mean? You were the one talking to yourself.”

  He dropped the box into his pocket and went to her, circling her waist with his hands. “Shawna, we agreed to trust each other and I do trust you. I love you, baby, and I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

  Her head fell to his chest, which he knew raced like a derby horse, and she sighed. “I can’t say it, Gage. Things were going so well between us and now this.”

  Now what? He frowned, trying to figure out what she was telling him. “Now what? Tell me what’s going on. Please.”

  She opened her mouth, and her shoulders fell. “I…” That was all she got out before she started crying.

  In fact, she’d been crying a lot lately. He’d thought it was depression over her injuries and the state of their relationship. “Are you sick? Did you get an infection in the hospital?”

  She smiled but it was as sad as those glittering eyes he loved so much. “No, I’m not sick.”

  “Please, tell me what’s going on. I have a ring in my pocket, and I’m ready to ask you to be my wife, and you’re holding out on me.” He was getting angry, and that wasn’t the best setting for a marriage proposal.

  “You what?” Hands to her mouth, she looked up at him with even more tears shimmering in her eyes. “No, don’t.”

  “You don’t want to marry me?”

  She rolled her eyes and smacked his stomach. “Of course, I do, but I can’t. Not until you know.”

  “Know what, babe?”

  “I didn’t go to the doctor about my ribs, Gage; they’re fine. I went because I’d been feeling sick lately and now that I’m all better, I started to track my period. But thanks to the accident, I’ve been on antibiotics and painkillers and… well, I just hadn’t even thought about it until that moment.” She grabbed his hands and pressed a kiss to both palms. “I love you, and I hope you’re not upset about this but… I’m pregnant.”

  He frowned. “How? We just made love for the first time since your accident a few weeks ago?” It didn’t make sense, but he trusted her so there had to be an explanation.

  Her smile was radiant. “How could I forget that day? The first day I made love to the man I love.” He groaned and she laughed the sweetest sound he’d heard all day. “It happened a bit longer ago. Remember that morning
in St. Lucia when I was half asleep?”

  He laughed. “Top five fucking, baby, I’ll never forget that morning.” He winked and another laugh erupted out of him. “I’m not surprised that morning did it. I was so gone over you, and all I could think about was being buried deep inside you.”

  “So now you know.”

  He smiled. “Now I know. We’re having a baby. This is good. Right?”

  Shawna nodded. “I think so. Do you?”

  “Hell, yes, I do! The first heir to the Steele fortune.” He kissed her long and hard, pouring all the love he felt for her into that kiss so she would know, would never doubt, how he felt about her. And about their child.

  “Now about this ring.” He pulled it from his pocket and removed the ring from the box before dropping to his knees. “Shawna, we’ve had a hell of a road. Plenty of bumps and bruises to make us certain that we’re perfect together. That we will fight for our love and our family because we know how it feels to live without them. So, Shawna Annabelle Peterson, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and letting me love you forever?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing tight while dotting his face with kisses. “Oh, Gage, you silly wonderful man, of course I’ll marry you. I love you, and I can’t wait to start our lives together.”

  “Let’s get married soon, before the baby.”

  She smiled and cupped his face. “We can get married as soon as you want.”

  He smiled, because there was an all-night chapel right inside the casino. “Great!”

  “After I sign a pre-nup.”

  “Aw, hell, baby. Come on!”

  “If you plan on loving me forever, this won’t be a problem, but if you don’t, you can rest assured knowing that I didn’t marry you for your wealth.”

  And this was why he loved her with all his heart. Would walk through flames to make sure she, and their child, would always be all right. “I know you’re marrying me because I’m handsome and great in the sack.”

  She laughed and kissed him again, melting against his body. “Don’t forget modest.”