Armored Attraction

by Janie Crouch

  Liam released a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding.

  “It was actually just bad luck on Ms. Epperson’s part that she was even exposed to them. Given another two weeks, it would be too cold for them to be in the water.” Dr. Turner shrugged. “Of course, given another two weeks, the water might have been cold enough to do Vanessa much greater harm.”

  “So why is she still unconscious?” Liam asked.

  “Mind protecting itself. We estimate she was stung over four dozen times—the pain was immense, I’m sure. Coupled with the elements she’d been exposed to, not to mention she’d been kidnapped, right?”

  Liam could see George and Rhonda’s shocked looks from the corners of his eyes.

  “Let’s just say she’d had a pretty traumatic night. Her body needed a break and her mind gave it to her. Now that she’s warm, hydrated and not in pain, she’s starting to wake up.”

  And Liam needed to get in there.

  “I’ll be back with the hCG numbers after we run the test again. I don’t want to confuse the situation for anyone.”

  She was either pregnant or she wasn’t pregnant. It wasn’t too confusing, as far as Liam was concerned. He just wanted to know which. Actually, right now he didn’t even care about that. He just wanted to see Vanessa.

  As he turned to walk down the hall, Rhonda Epperson grabbed his arm.

  “I know Vanessa doesn’t want to see us,” she said. “And we’re not going to force ourselves in there and upset her even more. It sounds like she’s been through enough.”

  Liam nodded. “I’ll tell her you’re here. Tell her you’re worried. She’s not heartless. Just stubborn.”

  “I suppose she told you about what happened eight years ago. The miscarriage...how I mislead you,” George said. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry. I honestly thought both of you would just get over it.”

  Tears welled in Rhonda’s eyes. “But Vanessa never did.”

  “If it helps, I never did, either,” Liam said.

  “I was wrong to interfere like that,” George said. “I was just trying to protect my only daughter from someone I thought might be of questionable repute.”

  Liam could understand that. He didn’t agree with Epperson’s measures, but he could definitely understand his motivation. “I’ll talk to Vanessa once she’s awake. Explain. Maybe it’s time for all of us to put the past behind us and just concentrate on the future.”

  “Do you really think it’s possible she’s pregnant?” Rhonda asked.

  “It could be possible, just not likely that she’s far enough along for them to detect it. So I think it’s probably an error.”

  Both George and Rhonda looked crestfallen. Evidently it didn’t bother them anymore that Vanessa could be permanently linked to Liam through having a child.

  That didn’t matter because, child or not, he planned to be permanently linked to Vanessa for the rest of his life. All he had to do was convince Vanessa. Which he planned to do starting right now.

  * * *

  EVERYTHING FELT FUZZY as Vanessa awoke. Thoughts seemed to process slowly, almost one at a time.

  She wasn’t in the water anymore. She didn’t have to swim. Those jellyfish weren’t stinging her anymore. Karine was safe. All the girls were safe. Liam was right here next to her.

  How did she know all this? She opened her eyes just the slightest bit.

  She knew it because Liam was lying next to her on her hospital bed whispering these facts over and over in her ear.

  She turned toward him. “Hey,” she whispered.

  She felt his lips move against the side of her face. “There you are.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “We’re not sure how long you were in the water. But you’ve been in the hospital a couple of hours.”

  “Have you been with me the whole time?”

  Liam pulled her closer. “As soon as they would let me in. You were stung a lot of times and there were some...considerations when treating you.”

  “What sort of considerations?”

  Liam shifted. “I didn’t really understand it. I’ll let the doctor explain.”

  That didn’t sound promising, but Vanessa let it go.

  “And the girls really are all safe?”

  “Yes, we got them out safely. I had a tracker app on Karine’s phone, so once we knew how to use it, we were able to get to you.”

  Vanessa explained how McBrien had found them at the house, using Andrea’s name.

  “McBrien was smart. If we hadn’t already gotten the girls out, he probably would’ve been able to get away. He definitely had no plan to go to prison, that’s for sure.”

  The doctor came into the room. Liam didn’t even shift except to pull Vanessa closer.

  “I’m Dr. Turner, Vanessa. I see your fiancé found you.”

  Fiancé? Vanessa looked at Liam. He just shrugged.

  “Thanks, Doc,” Liam said. “I had no problems finding her at all.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Nothing hurts, so that’s good, right?”

  “We have you on some pain medication through your IV, nothing too strong, given the situation, but it’s good you’re not in any discomfort. Given the nature of sea nettle stings, all pain should be completely gone by tomorrow anyway.”

  “Great, but given what situation?” She looked from Dr. Turner to Liam. What weren’t they telling her?

  “We double-checked those numbers I was telling you about before,” the doctor said to Liam.

  Vanessa sat all the way up. “What numbers? What’s going on?”

  Dr. Turner took a step closer. “Treating the sea nettle stings was complicated by the fact that we found traces of hCG in your bloodstream.”

  She looked at Liam again then back at Dr. Turner. “What is hCG? Is that bad?”

  “No.” Dr. Turner shook his head. “It’s the pregnancy hormone. Every pregnant woman has it in her blood.”

  “The pregnancy hormone...” Vanessa’s voice trailed off, not sure she was actually understanding.

  “Your fiancé thought it might be an incorrect test reading, since you couldn’t be more than a few days pregnant.”

  “Yes, that’s true. Is it even possible to tell this early?”

  Dr. Turner nodded. “Yes, especially with a blood sample like we used. But what was even more interesting was the relatively high levels of hCG in your blood. That’s what made us think you were further along in the pregnancy than you are.”

  “Is that bad?” Liam asked. “Dangerous?”

  “No.” Dr. Turner smiled. “High levels of hCG is usually indicative of a mis-estimated conception date or, as in your case, it means you’re pregnant with multiples.”

  Vanessa couldn’t seem to process what the doctor was saying. She looked at Liam again but he looked just as dumbfounded.

  “What?” she finally asked.

  The doctor patted her on the shoulder. “We won’t know for sure for a while yet, so everyone should be sure to take that into consideration, but it’s highly likely that you’re pregnant with twins.”

  Vanessa turned and stared at Liam, who was staring back at her. As if from a distance she heard the doctor excuse himself and walk out, closing the door behind him.

  “You’re pregnant,” Liam whispered.

  “I can’t believe it.”

  “With twins.”

  Vanessa shook her head and put a hand over her stomach. “What does this mean?” It was almost too much to process, given everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

  “It means we need to finish that conversation we started the other day at your apartment.”

  Vanessa tried to pull away. She didn’t want to talk about Lia
m with other women. “Liam, look—”

  “No, I want you to hear what I have to say, Nessa. I should’ve said it years ago, and I would’ve said it now anyway, even if the doctor hadn’t just come in here and told us we’re going to be tied to each other’s lives forever with the baby—babies—you have inside you.”

  He cupped her face. “I’m not going to let our pride, or miscommunication, or well-meaning family keep us apart any longer. We lost eight years of our life together, and I don’t want to lose a minute more.”

  He brought his lips to hers and kissed her. Softly. Full of tenderness. The passion, for once, took a backseat. “Yes, there were other women. Too many. But none of them was you, Nessa. I thought I was being a playboy, enjoying my freedom. But really I was just killing time until I finally grew enough brains to come back and get you.”

  “Liam—”

  He kissed her again. “And I was coming for you, Nessa. I just didn’t know it yet. Your call gave me the excuse I needed. I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. I should’ve fought for you then.”

  “I should’ve fought for you, too,” she whispered. He wasn’t solely to blame in this.

  “I will spend the rest of my life fighting for our family. If there is one thing the past twenty-four hours has showed me, it’s that I have no desire to live without you.”

  “But what about our jobs? You live in—”

  “I. Don’t. Care.” He punctuated each word with another kiss. “I will quit my job and work at a convenience store before I will be separated from you again. Baby, babies, or just you and me—I don’t care. I’m not leaving your side again, unless I hear the words directly from you for me to go. And even then I don’t think I can do it.”

  These were the words Vanessa had dreamed of hearing for eight years. “Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that because I don’t plan to say them.”

  “Good.”

  There was a soft tap on the door. Derek peeked his head in. “Sorry to interrupt. We heard you were awake and someone was very interested in seeing you.”

  Karine flew in from behind Derek. “Vanessa!”

  Vanessa opened her arms and the girl ran into them. Liam got up from the bed to allow the girls to embrace.

  “I was so worried. I am so sorry I did not help more with swimming.”

  Vanessa smoothed Karine’s hair. “No, no. Don’t say that. We made it. Everybody made it. That’s what counts.”

  Vanessa looked over at the doorway, where a little girl was standing next to Derek. “Who’s that?” She smiled at the little girl.

  “That’s Tallinn. She’s one of the girls from the boat. The youngest one I told you about.”

  “Tallinn demanded to see Liam,” Derek said. “Especially when she found out Karine was coming here.”

  Liam made his way around the bed and knelt in front of Tallinn so they were close to the same height. “Hey, sweetie, how are you doing?”

  The little girl looked down at the floor. Vanessa’s heart melted as Liam put a finger under Tallinn’s chin and smiled at her.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “Want to come sit over here with me?”

  Vanessa didn’t know if the girl understood what Liam was saying, but she definitely understood the kindness in his voice. Liam sat on Vanessa’s hospital bed and reached down to hoist Tallinn so she was sitting up there with them. A few moments later Liam was showing the girl how to make the bed move up and down. Soon the girl was giggling softly and playing with the buttons.

  Liam would make a great father. Vanessa had no doubt about it.

  He caught her looking at him.

  “We’ve got to get these girls back to their families. Make sure they’re safe. Then we’re getting married,” he said softly to her.

  “Better late than never,” she whispered back. “And in case you were wondering, I love you, too. Always have.”

  He winked. “I know.”

  * * *

  One Year Later

  VANESSA AND LIAM stood in the judge’s chambers, the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado Springs visible outside the window.

  Vanessa hadn’t made Liam go through on his promise to work at a convenience store so they could be together, although she honestly believed he would have if she had demanded to stay in the Outer Banks. But she knew his work at Omega Sector Critical Response Division was too important to him—too important in general—for him to quit. They’d bought a house here six months ago, since one look at Liam’s bachelor pad had her decreeing she would never live there, nor allow any of her children to.

  Liam had readily agreed.

  It had taken two months of cutting through bureaucracy and red tape before they had been able to get the girls back to their families in Estonia. Vanessa had sworn she would never touch her parents’ money, but she’d been wrong. When proper channels weren’t working quickly enough to get the girls home, Vanessa found that her parents’ money helped things work much faster. She’d had no qualms about using it for the girls.

  Liam had helped her work through a lot of the anger with her parents. They had wanted to protect her, he’d explained to her more than once. Anything they’d done, as wrong as it might have been, had been done out of love. Vanessa would always mourn the years—and life—lost, but she could at least see his point and had begun to let them back into her life.

  When she’d found out that her parents had set up funds to pay for all the girls’ medical bills, had made sure they had one of the best therapists in Estonia to help them, and had set up college funds for all of them, she had given up the last hardness she’d held against them. These were her children’s grandparents.

  Her parents were here with them now in the judge’s chamber, each holding one of their grandsons. Twins. Born four months ago. Healthy and perfect.

  “Weren’t you just in here a few months ago?” the judge asked.

  “Yes, Your Honor,” Liam replied. “Since you had made our marriage official, we were hoping you’d make our family official, too.”

  The older man raised one eyebrow at them. “I’m glad to see you don’t have half of Colorado Springs here with you today like last time.”

  They had wanted to get married before the babies came, but between getting the girls back home, moving across the country and everything else that had been going on, neither of them had had the time or inclination to plan a wedding.

  They had decided to just get married in the judge’s chambers: simple and to the point.

  Vanessa had invited her parents, who had come. Liam had invited a couple of the guys from Omega Sector.

  The next thing they knew, so many people had come to witness their nuptials that the judge’s chamber had been completely filled. The judge had ordered them all downstairs to the courtroom, and had performed the ceremony there.

  Vanessa and Liam had both been touched by how many people had wanted to show their support. And especially touched by the fact that George and Rhonda had flown Karine and her parents over for the ceremony.

  Karine had stood as Vanessa’s maid of honor. Derek as Liam’s best man.

  “No, sir,” Vanessa answered the judge. “Just family today.”

  They had found the families of all the girls—had personally witnessed that they were good family situations with parents that had been distraught by their daughters’ abductions—and had returned them all to loving homes.

  All except little Tallinn.

  She’d been an orphan, had been one before she’d been kidnapped, and had no family to return to.

  When Vanessa found out, she hadn’t known what to do. The thought of putting her back in an orphanage where the same thing could happen to her again... Vanessa hadn’t been able to even stomach it.

  “She’ll stay with us. We’ll adopt her,
” Liam had said.

  It had taken money and time. And a special visa that had allowed Tallinn into the US because of the trafficking situation.

  She now stood between Vanessa and Liam, holding each of their hands, having picked up English in the way only a child could, and smiled at the judge.

  “I am happy to sign this final adoption decree for you to join this family, Miss Tallinn.” The judge smiled at the little girl. “Are you sure that’s what you want? For them to become your mommy and daddy?”

  Tallinn’s grin was from ear to ear. “Yes, sir. Then I want ice cream. Baby brothers can’t have any because they too little.”

  The judge chuckled. “Well, let me sign this so we can get on to other important things.”

  He signed the paper and handed it to Liam, who thanked him.

  Tallinn ran off to see her mimi and granddad and baby brothers.

  Liam wrapped an arm around Vanessa’s waist and pulled her closer as they walked out of the chambers. “It wasn’t the way we’d planned it, but we have a beautiful family, Mrs. Goetz.”

  Vanessa kissed him.

  “Forever.”

  * * * * *

  Janie Crouch’s

  OMEGA SECTOR: CRITICAL RESPONSE

  miniseries continues next month with

  MAN OF ACTION.

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