“How do you know that! Who knows what’s a lie and what’s real.”
I shake my head. “Dean doesn’t want this. I know it, Jess. He wants to be with me.”
“Sam,” Jess starts. I hold up my hand and point to the front of the building.
“It’s Dean,” I breathe. He’s being led to the car, and is thrown in the back seat. They drive towards us and we hide our faces as they drive by. I tap on the dash. “Come on, Jess. Let’s see where they go.”
She takes a deep breath but says nothing. We follow the black car from a short distance. Jess turns off the radio and we drive in complete silence. We follow them for just over half an hour until they pull up into a motel parking lot. I see Ronnie get out of the car and grab Dean by the arm. They push him up the stairs and throw him in a room. Ronnie and the other man sit down outside the room, guarding the entrance.
I turn to Jess. “We have to get him out. He’s being held hostage!”
“Samantha. You have a baby on the way. Your ex husband is holding your new boyfriend in a shitty motel. His billionaire family threatened your divorce settlement and said they’d ruin your career. What do you want us to do? Go up there and ask Ronnie to let him out? Let’s get the fuck out of here!”
The frustration builds inside me and I shake my head. Tears start prickling my eyelids and I look at Jess, pleading her with my eyes to understand where I’m coming from. She sighs and opens her arms up to give me a hug.
“Look, let’s just go home for now. We can come back tomorrow morning and see what happens. Just sleep on it, please.”
I nod. “Ok. Let’s go.”
Jess puts the car in gear and pats my leg. “It’ll be ok,” she says. “I promise.”
I nod and turn my head, staring at the door where Dean disappeared until it’s out of view.
By the time we get to Jess’s place, my head is a mess. I don’t know what to do. If I try to help Dean, I put myself and the baby in danger. If I don’t help Dean, I’m abandoning him to his family. I collapse into bed and stare at the ceiling. I run my hands over my stomach and let the tears flow out of me.
I don’t know what to do.
I hear Jess and her family making dinner and getting ready for bed. I don’t have the energy to get up. I don’t want to see her and Owen and the twins and be reminded of what a mess my life has become. All I want to do is lie here and forget about it all.
My phone buzzes and frown when I see Ronnie’s name.
I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.
My heart squeezes in my chest and the tears start to flow freely. I read the words over and over and all I feel is hurt and anger and betrayal all over again. I pick up the phone and dial his number. His voice is timid when he picks up.
“Sam?”
“What the fuck are you doing with him at that motel?” I growl into the phone. I hear Ronnie shuffle as if he’s getting up and walking away.
“How do you know where I am?” he says in a hoarse whisper.
“Answer my question,” I spit back. “Why are you texting me apologising when you’re keeping my boyfriend hostage. She got the divorce papers from you, didn’t she?!”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I’m sorry,” his voice breaks and I hear a sob. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Sam.” He repeats it over and over and I try to stop him.
“Ronnie, get out of there! Go back to Lexington. What are you doing!”
He sobs once more and finally stops. “I can’t,” he says, his voice more firm. “I can’t. Not until they’re married. Then she’ll let me go.”
“When’s that?” I ask, trying not to sound too forceful.
“I gotta go, Sam. I shouldn’t be talking to you.”
The phone clicks and I exhale. “Fuck!” I say under my breath. Dean’s mother must be using the divorce over him as well. I lay back and stare at the ceiling. The fire in my stomach starts to burn hotter and my resolve strengthens.
Jess is right about a lot of things. She’s right that this is dangerous and stupid and it might be suicide. But she’s wrong about Dean. He’s being held against his will and forced to marry someone who betrayed him. I sit up in bed and listen to the recording of our conversation again. I pull up Ronnie’s name again and type a message.
What does Mrs Shelby have on you? Why is she making you do this?
I grip my phone and hope he answers. If he does, I’ll have two small but powerful bits of ammunition against them. If the recording doesn’t scare them, maybe evidence of coercion and extortion will.
She’ll make me lose everything in the divorce. Her lawyers told me they’d leave me with nothing.
I smile as I read the text over and over. Another one comes through.
Wedding is tomorrow at the courthouse at 9am.
I hold the phone to my chest and whisper a silent thank you. Ronnie may have betrayed me over and over, but for telling me this I’ll forgive him everything. It doesn’t matter, because now I can make everything right.
Chapter 44 – Dean
I feel like I’m going to my own funeral. I’ve slept a couple hours, but when I see myself in the bathroom mirror it looks like I haven’t slept in days. I sigh and splash some water on my face.
What’s the point. It doesn’t matter what I look like or how I feel, this wedding is going to happen anyways. I lean my hands against the mirror and close my eyes.
Sam.
I picture her laugh and the way her green eyes sparkle in the sun. I think of everything that I’ve anchored in my mind and I hang onto it. I’m doing this for her. I’m doing this to keep her safe.
I open my eyes and look at myself in the mirror before standing up a bit taller. I’m doing this for her. I can endure it all: the wedding, Victoria, my mother, my father. I can endure it all if I know that Sam is safe. I wipe my face clean and wait for Ronnie and the other man to lead me to the courthouse. I sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the stain on the carpet before lifting my eyes to the window.
I can do this. I can do this for her.
The drive to the courthouse feels short, too short. All too soon, Ronnie is opening my door and grabbing my arm to drag me out of the car.
“Alright, alright,” I say, ripping my arm away. “I’m getting out. Let go of me.”
He grunts and takes a step back. A gleaming black Rolls Royce pulls up behind us and my mother gets out, followed by my father, Victoria, and Victoria’s parents. All five of them are dressed impeccably. I look down at my dishevelled clothing and sigh.
Victoria takes a step towards me and I snort.
“Funny, I wasn’t expecting you to wear white today,” I snarl.
She rolls her eyes. “This wasn’t the wedding I was expecting either, Dean. Get over it.” She crinkles her nose and looks me up and down. “Would it have killed you to shower?”
“I’d rather you be disgusted with me,” I retort.
Victoria opens her mouth to respond when my father makes a noise. He frowns as he looks at his phone screen.
“What is it, Henry?” my mother asks. My father lifts his eyes and frowns, his thick eyebrows drawing together like two grey caterpillars.
“That girl. She sent me this.”
He turns the volume up on his phone and our voices ring out. My mother takes a step closer to his phone and her face freezes. The entire conversation when Sam was in the room is played over the speakers. I look at my mother, whose face starts to fall. It twists and contorts until she looks at Victoria and explodes.
“You just couldn’t keep your fucking mouth shut, could you!”
Victoria flinches. Her face is completely pale and she shakes her head.
“It’s ok. Daddy has the police commissioner in his pocket. She has nothing. She can’t do anything with this. Right, Daddy?”
Victoria’s father is beet-red. He looks like he’s about to explode. All five of them look at each other and then at me.
“She’ll go
nowhere with this,” my mother says.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Sam says. We all around to see her walking down the courthouse steps. She looks like an avenging angel, a halo of light around her as she walks towards us. She’s standing tall, her hair falling in loose waves around her head. A light breeze lifts her hair and makes it flow behind her. Her chin is held high and her eyes are blazing as she stares at my mother.
“I have copies of that recording in more places than I can count. If anything happens to me or Dean, it’s going straight to the press.” She smiles gently and opens her palms towards us. “Political careers are made and broken in the press. Even a small town girl like me knows that.”
My mother makes a gargled noise and takes a step towards Sam. Sam holds up a hand.
“If that doesn’t work, I have evidence that you coerced Ronnie into threatening Dean.”
With a gargled scream, my mother lunges towards Sam. Finally, the strength returns to my body and I jump between the two of them, holding my mother back before she can touch Sam.
My mother stops and lifts her eyes up to me. She looks at me with pure venom and I take a deep breath. I can feel Sam behind me and the fire of my family’s hatred in front of me.
Slowly, I turn towards Sam who finally looks at me. My knees feel weak as her eyes break through the fire and anger inside me. Her presence is like a cold drink of water on a hot day, soothing the cracks on my heart and dulling the hatred inside me. I take a step towards her. I take a step towards love, towards goodness, towards Sam.
I can hear my father’s protests but I ignore them. Sam extends a hand to me and I slip her fingers into my palm. The instant my skin touches hers I feel revitalised. I stand a little taller, my start to shoulders relax, and the tension in my face starts to fade. A small smile starts forming on her lips and she nods to me.
The two of us walk down the rest of the steps hand in hand and head off down the street. In this moment, I know that I’ll never let her go. No matter who comes between us, what threats are levelled against me or her, I’m not going to let anyone hurt her or keep her away from me.
She’s mine, and I’m hers. Nothing can keep us apart.
She squeezes my hand and guides me down the road. Once we round the first corner, she lets out a long breath and starts chuckling. Her laughter gets louder and her shoulders start to shake. After a few moments, the last bit of tension in my body disappears and we lean against each other as we laugh and laugh and laugh.
We walk a bit further until Jess rushes towards us. A torrent of emotions passes over her face when she sees us, from concern to confusion to finally a relieved smile.
“It’s over,” Sam says. “It’s over. I was shitting my pants, but it’s over.”
Jess’s face breaks open into a smile and tears start forming in her eyes. “Well what are you guys waiting for, kiss each other or hug or something! Don’t just stand there laughing!” she says, laughing as she says it.
I turn to Sam and let my laughter fade, not needing any more encouragement to tilt her chin towards me and wrap her in my arms. I kiss her like I’ve never kissed anyone before. I kiss her with the knowledge that I’ll never kiss anyone else, that she’s the one for me and I’m the one for her.
Chapter 45 – Samantha
I’m floating, or dreaming, or dead and gone to heaven. I’ve never felt this good. Dean opens the door to his apartment and we glide in. He lets out a big sigh and my hand flutters to my stomach. I open my mouth to tell him about the baby but the words don’t come. He looks at me and grins.
“What?” he says. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
I shake my head. “Nothing,” I say. I don’t know why I don’t tell him about the baby. I don’t want to ruin this moment. I don’t want to change anything about his mood or the air between us. Right now, I just want to be with him and feel his arms wrapped around me and his lips on mine. Nothing more, and nothing less.
As if he reads my mind, he takes a step towards me and slides his hands over my waist. He pulls me into him and my arms wrap themselves around his neck. He rubs his nose back and forth over mine and lays a soft kiss on my lips before leaning his forehead against mine.
“I love you, Samantha. You’re the strongest and most courageous person I’ve ever met in my life. I can’t believe you did that for me.”
“For us,” I correct. For us and our baby. My heart feels so full I think it might explode. He pulls me closer and I close my eyes to enjoy the heat of his body so close to mine. We stand there swaying gently from side to side until I open my eyes again and smile at him.
“I love you too,” I whisper. His face breaks into a smile and he drops his hands to my bottom. He hoists me up and I wrap my legs around his waist.
We don’t say anything, because there isn’t anything to be said. He crushes his lips against mine as he carries me towards the bedroom. He lays me down onto the bed and presses his weight on top of me. I tangle my fingers into his hair and pull his kiss into me. My legs are still wrapped around his waist like I’m afraid to let go.
He runs his hand up my shirt and I shiver as his fingers leave a trail of sparks on my skin. The space between my legs is a ball of electricity, and I can feel his shaft pulsing against me.
We tear at each other’s clothes, at each other’s bodies. I kiss anything I come in contact with. I touch everything that my hands can reach, gripping and scratching and squeezing every part of his body. He groans as he devours me, covering my entire body with kisses. He moves to my hip and lays a kiss on it before looking up at me.
“I love this mole on your hip,” he tells me.
I laugh. “Why?”
He shrugs and laughs with me. “I don’t know. When I was sitting in that motel thinking my life was over, I was imagining you and all I wanted to do was kiss this mole.”
“You’re a weirdo,” I laugh, running my fingers through his hair. I smile and he dips his head back towards my hip, kissing my mole one more time.
The frantic energy between us slows down and our touch becomes tender. It’s like we’re learning each other’s bodies for the first time all over again, running our hands over each other’s bodies and trailing kisses behind them. His lips taste sweeter than I remember, and his body feels stronger and smoother than before.
When he enters me, I feel complete. He fills me up until my back arches and my lips fall open. He dips his head and bites my bottom lip as he pushes himself into me. Pain and pleasure mix as I cry out and let myself be carried away by bliss.
Our bodies dissolve into each other and we become one. We move together, moan together, kiss together, touch together, until I don’t know where he ends and I begin. Our hearts beat as one.
When he comes, I come, and when I come, he comes. Our climax is like I’ve never felt before. Both bodies contract and arch and moan together and I feel his orgasm as viscerally as I feel my own. He’s mine, and I’m his.
It’s not until our heartbeats return to normal and my head is resting on his chest and I take a deep breath and feel like myself again. I run my fingers over and back across his chest as he strokes my hair.
“I love you,” I whisper. My heart is beating in my chest and I feel the love of our child in my stomach. I open my mouth to tell him but nothing comes out. He wraps his arm around me and squeezes me closer.
“Let’s have a baby,” he whispers. I lift my head and look up at him, frowning slightly.
“What?”
“Let’s have a baby. I know it’s early, and I know we just got away from my family, but Sam, you’re the one for me. I want to be with you forever and I want to have a child with you. I don’t see the point in waiting. If you want to, obviously. I can wait.” He bites his lip. “I don’t know why I said that. Fuck, you probably think I’m a weirdo,” he laughs. “I’m sorry. I just love you so fucking much.”
I laugh. “Well yes, I do think you’re a weirdo. But that’s bes
ide the point.” We stare at each other for a few moments and I take a deep breath.
“What if I told you we are going to have a baby?”
He smiles. “I don’t mean eventually, Sam. I mean let’s have one soon. Let’s have one now. Get off the pill and let’s start trying.”
I shake my head. “I don’t mean eventually either.” He frowns slightly and I smile gently. I have to whisper the words that have been on my mind ever since Jess and I went to the doctor.
“I’m pregnant, Dean.”
His jaw drops open and his eyes widen. Suddenly a smile breaks out across his face and he starts laughing.
“What! No. Really?” I nod and he laughs again. “Why didn’t you tell me!”
“I didn’t want your parents to use it against you or me, and then I was afraid you’d freak out.” I smile. “So you’re happy?”
“Happy? I’m fucking ecstatic! Sam! We’re going to be parents! I’m going to be a dad!”
I laugh as he wraps his arms around me and turns me onto my back. He dips his lips towards mine and kisses me so tenderly that I can feel the love radiating between us.
He pulls back and stares into my eyes, smiling as he runs his hand over my stomach. I smile and put my hand over his. I still can’t quite believe that we’re here, together. I still can’t quite believe that I’m this lucky. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him one more time. He nuzzles my nose with his and I laugh.
He’s mine, and I’m his. This is what happiness feels like.
Epilogue – Samantha
My hands are shaking as I tear open the envelope. I pull out the letter and scan my eyes over it before letting out a sigh and smiling at Dean.
“I’m officially divorced.”
He smiles triumphantly and wraps his arms around me. “Good. I can make an honest woman out of you now.”
“Not so fast,” I laugh. “I’m not going to jump into another marriage without some serious thought.”
“I can wait,” he says, running his fingers over my growing belly. He kisses me gently and then pulls away and claps his hands together. “We should celebrate!”
Knocked Up by the Billionaire's Son: A Secret Baby Romance Page 16
