A hand slid around her waist to rest on her hip. She leaned into Malcolm’s body. His touch was so familiar, so good. It felt as if nothing had changed.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?”
Her heart beat faster to hear him call her by that name again, but doubt niggled at the back of her mind. She smiled up at him. “Fine. Just tired.”
The woman offered her hand to Malcolm. “Mr. Stevenson, I’m Marlene Shaw. My husband, Jack, has raved about you so often lately that I feel like you’re a regular dinner guest.”
Malcolm slid his arm from behind Darcy and greeted the lady. “It’s great to meet you, Marlene. Jack has told me a lot about you. Please call me Theo.”
Now the woman’s identity clicked. Darcy had worked with Jack briefly several years ago on a project for Victor. She couldn’t recall him ever mentioning his wife, but he had several photographs of her, one a wedding portrait that had to be a couple of decades old, on his desk.
Marlene leaned closer to Darcy, making it obvious she wanted to impart confidential information, probably juicy gossip. “It gets better in the second trimester. The fatigue disappears almost overnight, and you feel like you have boundless energy. Take advantage of it to get everything ready for the baby before you feel like an elephant tromping around the house. Are you experiencing any other symptoms?”
Horrified, Darcy stared at Marlene. What possessed people to ask such personal questions? Nobody but Amy knew about the pregnancy, so Marlene’s assurance was based on pure assumption. Being tired late at night didn’t mean someone was pregnant.
The silence stretched on for too long. Marlene looked from Darcy to Malcolm and back to Darcy. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I say things I shouldn’t.” She looked at Malcolm again, squeezed Darcy’s wrist reassuringly, and fled.
Malcolm wrapped his hand around her arm, an iron shackle she had no hope of escaping, and stalked from the room, dragging her after him. With the fatigue temporarily displaced by anxiety, she lengthened her stride to keep up with him and to lessen the appearance that he was taking her away for a private argument.
He pulled her into a vacant room and turned on the lights. Darcy recognized Victor’s home office. She stood in the center of the room and watched as he closed the door, sealing her fate. She hadn’t wanted to tell him like this. After last weekend, she wasn’t sure what to say or how he’d take the news.
He stalked toward her, a man on a mission. He removed the discreet earpiece that let him communicate with Keith, turned it off, and slipped it into his pocket.
Darcy held up a hand. “This isn’t something we have to talk about right now.”
“No.” He shook his head.
She didn’t know if he was agreeing with her, denying the pregnancy, or something altogether different. He continued closer. His predatory bearing made her heart beat from somewhere in her throat. She swallowed, urging it down, and backed up. When her behind hit the rear of a sofa, she was forced to stop moving.
Malcolm rested his hands on top of the couch, parking them on either side of her body and caging her in his arms. His dark eyes, less than six inches from her face, glittered with a dangerous light. “You’re pregnant?”
Unable to speak, she nodded.
He closed his eyes and exhaled harshly. She could feel the tension radiating from his body.
“I don’t expect anything from you.” Until that moment, she had actually expected something from him. Whether or not they decided to stay together, she never took him for the kind of man to walk away from his child. She was more than a little miffed at his reaction.
His eyes popped open, and she saw layers of anger and fear behind the steely determination. “You don’t expect anything from me?”
She shook her head slowly, not certain it was the right thing to do.
“This is my child, Darcy. My baby. Our baby. And you don’t expect anything from me?” He spoke in a low tone that only underscored his vehemence.
She lifted her hands to his chest and shoved hard, but he didn’t move an inch. “I only meant that I’m having this baby no matter what happens between us. If this isn’t what you want, I’ll understand. I’ll resent you and hate you, but I’ll understand.”
Stiffness left his shoulders, and he gathered her in his arms. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.” He smoothed his hand over her hair and massaged the base of her neck. “This explains why you’ve been throwing up and why you’re tired and moody.”
She tried to jerk from his arms at that crack, but he held her tighter. “Finding out the man I love isn’t who I thought he was definitely has something to do with all those things.”
He smiled. She felt his grin stretch against her temple, and he peppered kisses there. “But seeing me doesn’t make you sick, and you’re not so depressed that you just lie in bed all the time. I love you, Darcy. I know this is fast, but I think we’ll make good parents. My family is going to love you so much.”
He sounded too satisfied with himself. Still, she had needed to hear him say those things. She needed to know he still loved her. Since her arms were pinned between them, she couldn’t hug him back. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, closed her eyes, and basked in his embrace. “This doesn’t mean everything is okay between us.”
“But it will be.” He kissed her temple again, and then he trailed his lips down the side of her face. “It will be.” Then he released her and took a step back. Tilting his head to the side, he studied her critically. “I’m going to have to rethink how I’ll punish you for this.”
Partly shocked and partly worried, she put her hand over her heart. “I haven’t given you back the right to punish me, and besides, I’ve done nothing needing punishment. You, on the other hand, you lied to me.” She jabbed her finger at his chest to emphasize her point.
He shoved her finger away. “And you withheld vital information. How long have you known you were pregnant?”
In some ways, the past week seemed to stretch forever. In others, it seemed to have been no more than a strange night’s dream. She did the mental math. “Almost a week. I suspected last Friday, so I took a test Saturday morning.”
He stepped back, putting even more space between them. “I understand that you wouldn’t want to tell me yet because of the state of our relationship. I get that. But you let me bring you here. You let me…keep you out late. That earns a punishment.”
She knew he was furious because he’d unwittingly put their baby into a dangerous situation. While she accepted this part of being the submissive party in a relationship, she didn’t like his logic, and she had no intention of accepting the punishment. Crossing her arms over her chest, she narrowed her eyes at him. “So you’re okay with keeping me out late as long as I’m not pregnant?” She still wasn’t completely convinced Victor presented a danger to her.
The gap between them disappeared. He grabbed her roughly, his fingers digging into her upper arms. “You need your rest, sweetheart. That’s more important than anything else.”
She struggled against his hold, and he released her. “You wouldn’t be welcome here without me. Victor doesn’t want you; he wants me. He’ll take you in order to have me. My original motivation for coming hasn’t changed.”
Even though she didn’t know where her relationship with Malcolm would end up, she realized Amy had been right. She needed closure. She needed to mourn Scott, say her good-byes, and let him go. Whether the next stage of her life brought love and a child or just motherhood, she needed to move on.
Malcolm shook his head. “It’s not worth it. I’m pulling the plug on this entire evening. We’re getting you out of here.”
He took her by the arm, gently this time, but she fought him hard. “You don’t get to make that decision. I’m here because I want to be here. Do you honestly think I would help the FBI with the case they have against Victor if you didn’t have something to point to Scott’s involvement? Hell no!”
In two moves, he had both of her arms pinned beh
ind her back and her body once again pressed between his and the back of the sofa. Danger glinted from his eyes, sending shivers of anticipation down her spine to curl her toes. No wonder he’d been so skilled at subduing her. And to think, she’d been afraid of hurting him if she fought back too hard.
“Don’t push me on this issue, sweetheart.” He savaged her lips with a punishing kiss that only fueled her desire. “You won’t win. I’ll never agree to put my child in harm’s way. There are other ways to accomplish your goals.”
She shook her head. If there was another way, if there was any evidence at all, then the case would have been closed by now. But before she could defend her position, the door opened. She peeked over Malcolm’s shoulder, and she was instantly glad he held her so firmly. All the strength fled from her legs. She would have collapsed.
Victor came in first. Mickey Halter followed at his heels. The two men, one distinguished and one slickly handsome, wore grim expressions. Mickey closed and locked the door. He held a big gun in his hand. Victor pulled one from under his jacket. A sick feeling formed in the pit of her stomach. It made her earlier nausea feel like a small twinge of discomfort.
“Gun?” Malcolm’s whisper wasn’t much more than a mumble.
She made a girly sound that was almost a squeak, and then she berated herself to get her act together.
“How many?”
With her arms held behind her back, she could flash numbers at him. She held up two fingers.
“You are to hide, Darcy. When you see an opening, run and don’t look back.”
She wasn’t going to abandon Malcolm, and she wasn’t about to go anywhere until she knew the truth.
Malcolm cleared his throat loudly. He didn’t release her wrists, but he loosened his grip a lot. “We’re having a private moment here. Can you give us just a few more minutes?”
Victor lifted the gun, and it made a clicking noise she knew indicated he meant business. She wasn’t sure if that was the sound of the safety turning off or a bullet loading into the chamber. Either way, it was ominous. She felt her eyes widen.
Victor smiled reassuringly. “Darcy, step away from this man. He’s going to try to put you in prison for the rest of your life.”
Seizing the opportunity, she jerked her arms free. To her surprise, Malcolm let her go. He turned to face Victor and Mickey, careful to keep his body in front of her. She debated making a break for it, dashing across the room so she could seem to be on Victor’s side.
But that was unlikely to make him confess. So she whispered a prayer to Scott and tried to walk around Malcolm. Victor would never hurt her, so she could use her body to shield Malcolm. But he moved with her, protecting her despite her best effort to turn that table.
She inhaled, breathed through her frustration at his interference, and prepared for Malcolm to get really, really angry with her. “I know who he is, Victor. I brought him here because I know you killed Scott. We needed proof, which Agent Legato found. You’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison.”
Malcolm, who had remained calm from the moment danger approached, went stiff, and she knew that fury was directed at her. “Darcy, I’ll handle this.”
Victor chuckled and shook his head. “Scott Yataines. I didn’t understand what you saw in him, Darcy. Really I didn’t. I offered him a job, a huge paycheck, stock options, anything he wanted. In return, I wanted you to be the face of Snyder Corporation, and I wanted him to design and run all the computer-related parts of the business. I offered the two of you everything, and he threw it all in my face. And he had the balls to threaten me. Nobody threatens me and gets away with it.”
He was entirely too patronizing and smug. His statement wasn’t a denial, and it clarified his guilt. Scott had been trying to protect her from this monster, and he’d been killed because of it. Darcy saw red, and then she exploded. “You wanted to own us. Scott wouldn’t do what you wanted, so you killed him!”
One more word from her mouth, and Malcolm was going to lose it. He couldn’t attend to her the way he wanted and keep his eyes on Halter and Snyder. She seemed to be unaware that Halter was moving steadily to his right to close in on them. Reaching back, he did his best to hold her still while safeguarding her with his arm.
“Darcy, shut up. Don’t say another word.”
Snyder waved the gun. “Get on your knees.”
If he had been alone, Malcolm would have complied right away. Though he’d turned off his comm, he realized Keith still had eyes and ears through the microphone and camera in Darcy’s accessories. He’d forgotten about those when he’d dragged her in here to confront her about being pregnant.
His team knew they were in trouble.
But Darcy escaped from where he’d forced her to stay behind him. She stood next to him with her hands on her hips. “I’m not getting on my knees for you or any man.”
He flashed her a look, and he hoped she understood the message. When they got out of this, he was going to punish her for disobedience. And he was pissed that she’d confirmed his identity. She hadn’t given him a chance to talk his way out of the situation. He could have turned it around to get Snyder to trust him with deeper levels of access to his organization.
She’d ruined months of prep work, seven weeks of undercover work, and any chance they had of finding evidence that connected Snyder to Yataines. That last part was punishment enough for that transgression. However he still had to address her blatant insubordination.
The look was wasted. She concentrated on Snyder with laserlike precision.
But she’d distracted Malcolm enough to take his eyes from Halter. The man moved in close and pressed the gun against Malcolm’s temple.
“On your knees. Now.” Halter growled the command. “Both of you.”
Malcolm put the flat of his hand on her shoulder and shoved her to the ground. If she’d been cooperative, he could have been nicer about it. She looked at the place where Halter’s gun met his temple. Fear was absent from her clear blue eyes. He’d never seen her so furious.
When she’d discovered his identity, she’d lashed out at him. She’d growled and shouted and slapped his face. Now she looked like she’d use a gun if she had one. Cold rage radiated from her pores. Darcy with such iron control of her temper was an eerie thing.
Snyder threw zip ties at them. “You broke into my home, crashed a dinner party, tried to steal from me, and then you threatened my life. But my trusted personal guard came to the rescue. Unfortunately you couldn’t be stopped peaceably. Put these on.”
Malcolm hated zip ties. They had no give. Why couldn’t Snyder go the old-fashioned route and use rope like a good bad guy? He picked one up from the floor and held it to Darcy.
She stared at the foreign object and shook her head.
He couldn’t assure her that everything would be okay, that he was in control of the situation and she was safe with him. She wasn’t safe, and she damn well knew that. “Breathe, sweetheart. You can do this.”
She rubbed one wrist and protested with a more insistent head shake.
Halter shoved his gun in the waistband of his pants, took the zip tie, grabbed her wrists, and did the deed. Darcy struggled, but her attempt was pathetically futile. She had more fight in her than that. Malcolm frowned at her game. He made a mental note to keep her out of future operations. She was too much of a wild card.
He put the zip on himself, leaving it as loose as he could without drawing suspicion.
“Victor, is this really necessary?” Darcy lifted her wrists. She came up fast and nailed Halter between the legs with a double fist.
Halter lifted his hand to retaliate. As soon as he saw the man’s intention, Malcolm lunged, knocking Darcy to the ground and out of harm’s way. The sharp report of a gun firing registered a second before searing pain shot through his side.
He had to give her credit for not screaming. She grabbed for him even as he fell on top of her.
“He shot you.” She said the words incredulou
sly, as if she hadn’t believed the guns were real or that they would really use them. “The son of a bitch shot you.”
Malcolm concentrated on breathing through the pain and using his body as a shield to keep her safe from Snyder. It was a little more than a flesh wound, but he still had some time before he lost too much blood.
“Get her. Take her out of here. Then come back and dispose of this one.” Disgust laced Snyder’s voice.
Three minutes, Malcolm thought. Just keep it going for three more minutes.
Halter grabbed Darcy by the hair and pulled. Darcy choked back a sob. He could see that she wanted to resist, and he shook his head. Getting her out of the room meant he could overpower Snyder without having to worry about Darcy. Halter wouldn’t do anything to her until after they’d eliminated Malcolm.
He’d disable Snyder and then go after Darcy. Even if Halter disregarded Snyder’s order and tried to kidnap Darcy, the FBI was en route. Halter wouldn’t get off the property.
She tried to slide out from beneath him gently. With his hands bound, he couldn’t lift up. He rolled to his good side to help her out. As soon as she was clear of him, she kicked at Halter.
“Get your slimy hands off me, you fucking asswipe!”
Maybe the pain in his side got to him. Malcolm snapped. “Damn it, Darcy. Cooperate with him. Don’t bait him.”
She looked at him, fear dilating her pupils, and chewed on her lower lip. She kept looking at his side. He pressed the flat of his arm against the wound to put pressure on it.
Halter dragged her toward the door and into the hall. She stumbled after him. Malcolm hoped she would continue to cooperate. Keith wasn’t too far out, just over two minutes by his estimation.
Snyder came closer, adjusting his aim as the angle changed. Malcolm stayed where he was, playing weak and vulnerable to the best of his ability, and waited for Snyder to come within reach.
“This is very disappointing,” Snyder said. “I thought you were the one. So malleable. Eager to please. Handsome enough to catch Darcy’s attention. Dominant enough to keep it. I really thought you could be the one.”
Re/Bound (Doms of the FBI Book 1) Page 32
