Besides, the power he was afforded from the partnership tasted awfully good. Erin had made him feel like so much less of a man with controlling the money and only wanting to do good works. She was such a good person that it made him want to vomit. Where was the adventure and excitement? Hell, what was the point of having that much money if you were just going to do what other people expected? Now that she was out of the way, he the power to do as he chose and it was delicious.
The waitress brought Chris his drink and asked Jessica and Chang if they would like anything. Jessica asked for water and Chang waived off the waitress. Jessica and Chris waited for Chang to start. It was customary in their meetings to allow Chang the first words. For some reason, that was extremely important to him and this was not the kind of man that you wanted to piss off.
“You’ve lied to me, Dalton.” Chris looked up confused. He looked at Jessica and found that her friendly look of earlier was gone, replaced by a piercing stare.
“I’m sorry? I don’t understand. Is there a problem here?” Chris held onto his whiskey a little tighter. He didn’t like where this is going. Especially not now when he was about to get everything he had been working for. He leveled his eyes at both Jessica and Chang in a way that he hoped conveyed both respect and innocent confusion.
“When you came to me for a business opportunity, you told me that the Gamboli family was threatening your family. Then later when Erin died, you told me it was in retaliation for coming to me instead of giving into their demands. I know this may seem strange in my line of work but I expect all of my colleagues to operate at a certain level of ethics. When you operate outside of standard law, you have to have your own agreed upon laws or there is no respect. That is what happened here. I expected you to be honest with me. You broke that law.” Chang folded his hands on the table and looked Chris directly in the eye.
“I don’t know where you’ve gotten your information, Chang, but it’s incorrect. I’ve been nothing but forthright with you. I’m developing a business arrangement with you that I plan to profit from heavily. Why would I do anything to jeopardize that?” Chris took another swig of his drink to try to calm his nerves.
“I don’t know, Dalton. Why would you?” Chris looked up to see Gamboli himself come into the room. His heart began to race. He tried to slow it with another swig because he knew he was going to need his wits about him in order to talk his way straight. He looked at Chang and then Jessica but found no alliance there.
“See, Mr. Gamboli here paid me a little visit. It appears that you have spun quite the tale about being in danger from him and his associates. However, the truth became quite clear when he showed me the video surveillance of you asking for the funds to cover your embezzlement. The irony is that if you had been honest with me about your true relationship with Mr. Gamboli, I still would have provided you with protection because, as you said, our partnership was going to lead to quite a tidy sum. But now I can’t trust you. That’s unfortunate. However, in a way, I should thank you for bringing Mr. Gamboli to my front door. Now that we have spoken, we have found that if we join forces we can make even more money than you and I ever could together. Isn’t that right, Mr. Gamboli?”
Chris couldn’t believe this was happening. He had been so careful, so sure that he had it all under control. He looked at Jessica. Had she lead him to this? Did he reveal too much in their pillow talk sessions? He thought he could trust her.
“Yes, Chang. That is correct. Dalton, you betrayed too many people. But it’s okay, we have found a solution here. Chang and I have discussed this at length and we have come to realize that you have always had the easy way out. We considered killing you but, frankly, that would be too easy on you. No, we’ve decided it is time for you to suffer.” Chang and Gamboli turned and nodded at each other.
Chris looked at Jessica and saw a smile on her face. He realized that this was the first genuine smile he had ever seen on her face. Before he had time to realize what else he missed that had lead to this point, he saw Chang nod his head at Jessica in a way that Chris had seen signify that it was time to take someone out. Chris got up and ran to the door behind him and rushed into the restaurant. He was shocked when he ran directly into someone outside of the door.
“Christopher Dalton, under the authority of Interpol, you are under arrest for the crimes of murder, human trafficking, embezzlement, fraud, and anything else that I can find.” As the Interpol agent and his two friends turned him around to cuff him, Chris saw that the room where they had been meeting was empty.
Sixty Three
After charging a large, gourmet feast to Chris’ card in the Dining Room, Hailey and Maggie went back to the room to get ready. They were surprised to see that the Romance Concierge had arranged for a professional makeup artist and stylist to be in the room to help Hailey primp. She started with a warm bath and then allowed them to make her beautiful.
When Maggie steamed her wedding dress, Hailey was surprised at its beauty. Hailey hadn’t really looked at the dress before because she had been focused on getting out of this nightmare. But the dress was a designer’s dream. It was perfect. The lines of the bust perfectly accented Hailey in ways that made her look like a goddess rather than a very, very pregnant woman. It was truly a dream dress and Hailey was sad she would be wasting it on Chris. It was the exact dress that she would love to wear when she married Chuck. If that dream ever came true.
Once Hailey was prepped and ready, the Romance Concierge came up to the room and informed her that the groom and the minister were waiting. Maggie went to fill up the balloon but Hailey stopped her. “Maggie, as much as I love your idea, I just don’t think I can do it. I’m not brave enough and Chris will see through it right away.” She smiled sadly. “In case I don’t get a chance to say it later, thank you for all you have done to help me. I’m really blessed to have you as my friend.”
Maggie and Hailey hugged each other tightly and then followed the Romance Concierge to the front of the hotel. There they got into a town car that took them down the road to another small parking lot. The drive was literally just a minute but Hailey was glad not to have to walk too far. She wasn’t feeling terribly well but she wasn’t sure if it was stress from the wedding or the baby. Maggie and Hailey got out of the car and followed the Romance Concierge up a small walkway to a beautiful lookout point.
Hailey could see a minister talking to Chris. She couldn’t see how Chris looked because he wasn’t facing her. She looked down at her feet to try to summon her courage as she walked towards them. As she approached, she heard Maggie gasp and looked up. It wasn’t Chris standing in front of her in the tux. It was Chuck! Hailey looked back at Maggie to see John come out from behind a tree to swoop her up and kiss her.
Hailey turned back at Chuck in amazement. “But how? Where is Chris?” Chuck moved forward and kissed her, running his hands all over her body to reassure himself that she was there and healthy.
“Dalton is spending some quality time with Interpol. Based upon the evidence against him, it looks like that will be his final destination. You’re safe, Hailey. It’s over. We can be happy together.” Hailey started to cry as Chris got down on one knee. “Hailey, will you marry me?”
Hailey started to shout, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” as the tears continued to come down. She was glad the makeup artist had thought ahead and put waterproof mascara on her. She pulled off the giant diamond ring that Chris gave her and threw it over the edge, into the waterfall. Chuck slipped his ringer on her finger and she was the happiest she has ever been. Chuck’s ring was not as big or flashy as Chris’ ring. But it was from Chuck and it was the most amazing gift she had ever been given.
The minister cleared his throat. “Now that the bride has agreed to be wed, shall we start the ceremony?” In just a matter of fifteen minutes, Hailey and Chuck were man and wife. Maggie and John wished them well and went to go have some alone time themselves as Hailey and Chuck went back to Hailey’s hotel room. Hailey couldn’t believe that
her wildest dreams had just come true. But as Chuck closed the door behind him and looked at her, she realized that her happily ever after was just getting started.
Sixty Four
Now that they were finally alone together, Hailey was feeling nervous. She had no doubt that Chuck was everything she wanted but she was scared to lose this bliss now that she had found it. As Chuck took her into his arms and kissed her, it was as if he could kiss her worry away with every second that their lips touched. Finally he pulled back to allow them both some air and Hailey looked into his eyes.
“So, husband, are you going to tell me how this whole happily ever after came about?” Hailey touched Chuck’s face, still in disbelief that he was real. She could spend the rest of her life watching him. She listened as Chuck told her how he made an alliance with Gamboli and even about how he got Jessica Smythers to open up to her.
“From there it was clear that everyone had a common enemy and/or weak link in Dalton. I got ahold of my buddy in Interpol and found that he was willing to make a certain agreement with Gamboli and Chang. If they both were willing to cease illegal activity for five years, then Interpol would stop hunting them for five years to give them a chance at legitimate lifestyles. In exchange, however, they would have to turn in all evidence available against Dalton and help catch him. It turned out that they had evidence of Dalton’s embezzlement, Erin’s murder, and Dalton’s activities in human trafficking.” Hailey was amazed at the level of danger that Chuck had faced to take Dalton down.
“And what about the girl, Jessica? Does she get a second chance too?” Hailey sat up and held her stomach, which looking at Chuck. She tried to hide the fact that she was slightly jealous that Chuck had worked so closely with Jessica. Although she had had to play nice with Dalton herself so she wasn’t sure she really had any right to feel that way. She looked away from him in hopes that he wouldn’t see how much the idea of him sharing his attentions with another woman bothered her.
“Hey.” Chuck moved so that he was in front of her. “There’s nothing to be jealous of. Jessica was simply a girl who got caught up with the wrong people and didn’t know how to get out. She’s not you, Hailey. It’s not the same. I don’t feel the need to just rescue every damsel in distress. I just care about rescuing you and in order to do that, yes, I had to help Jessica too. Interpol is giving her a second chance. They died her hair and changed her name and sent her off to a new life. By the time the five year agreement ends between Interpol and Gamboli and Chang, she will be well established in her new life and safe from reach.”
Hailey was glad to hear the Jessica was somewhere safe where she could start over. After all, Hailey herself had just been given that same gift. Who was she to deny it to someone else? But secretly she was also glad that Jessica and Chuck would not have additional contact. She was ready for a clean break from this life.
She fingered the wedding set on her left hand. She loved its symbolism for the future. She turned to Chuck and kissed him with all her might. Chuck laid Hailey down and finally did what he had been wanting to do from the start. He made love to her gently, taking special care to keep her in a comfortable position with her pregnancy. After an hour, they both collapsed into a peaceful slumber that was extra sweet with the peace that comes with knowing that they no longer had to sleep with one eye open.
Sixty Five
Hailey woke up with a start in the wee hours of the morning and realized something was wrong. First, she noticed the pain in her belly. It wasn’t until the pain subsided that she found that the bed was wet beneath her. It caught her so by surprise that it took a minute for it to take root in her brain that her water had broken and she was in labor.
“Chuck! Chuck, wake up!” Chuck slowly stirred and then saw her face and jumped up.
“Hailey, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?” Hailey tried to say yes but the pain grabbed ahold of her again. When she cried out, Chuck grabbed the phone next to the bed and called 911. He gave them the address and room and told them to come quick because his wife was in labor. Despite her pain and panic, she felt a small thrill at the sound of Chuck calling her his wife. She held onto that feeling as the desk clerk let the EMTs into her room to take her out in the ambulance.
As scary as it was to face the idea of giving birth and being in an ambulance, Chuck was by her side the whole time. Chuck had been terrified the whole time that Hailey was held by Dalton. But he thought he might even be more scared now that the baby was actually coming. When they got to the hospital, the doctors let Chuck stay with her and he held her hand the whole time during the birth of the most beautiful baby girl Chuck had ever seen. The baby may not have been theirs by biology but it was by love.
Hailey was holding the baby as a strange man in a suit walked in. Chuck instinctively moved between his little family and the unknown man. But instead of being offended, the man smiled. “You must be Hailey’s husband. My name is Jim McCarthy. I am the attorney for the estate of Erin Dalton.” Mr. McCarthy shook Chuck’s hand and smiled at Hailey. “Well, actually, I was more than that. I was a friend of Erin’s too. I was the one who suggested the clause in her will regarding the birth of her child. I was tipped off by a journalist about a rumor that the baby was born. I’ve been caught up with regards to the unusual adoption and I have to say that I’m sure Erin would have wanted nothing more than to have her baby safe with you, Hailey. She spoke of you often with the kindest words. Because of my knowledge of Erin’s intentions and my role as executor of her estate, I come bearing a check for the sum of Erin’s assets as well as the deed to the Dalton mansion. I also took the liberty of drawing up the paperwork to allow Chuck to adopt the baby as his own as well. With understanding what Mr. Dalton put Hailey through, I am assuming that you will want the mansion to be sold and turned into a liquid asset to start our new life together. I’ve got everything ready to go. To finish the paperwork, I just need to know the name of the baby and where you intend to reside.”
Hailey and Chuck looked at each other in pure shock. It was Hailey who spoke first. “Her name is Erin Theresa, in honor of my best friend and my late Gram.” Chuck beamed at both her and the baby. He could not think of a more perfect name for such a perfect blessing.
Chuck looked up at Mr. McCarthy. “And we intend to move to Paris, France as soon as mother and baby are ready to travel.” He and Hailey shared a kiss. They were finally getting their happily ever after.
Dying to know what is coming
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Last Chance Baby Page 16
