Someone knocked at the door, and before she could remove her improvised bump, a smiling salesperson walked in. Feigning embarrassment, Naomi quickly removed it, tossing the dress on the bench to cover her weapons before the woman saw them.
“You know,” the saleslady said, grinning, “We do have belly forms, if you’d like to get a visual on how certain things would look as you progress in your pregnancy. Would you like to try one on?”
As you progress in your pregnancy.
Progression… in the pregnancy. That was going to happen…like… for real. She was actually having a baby.
With a deep breath, Naomi glanced at herself in the mirror one last time before looking up at the saleslady again. “Yes. I’d like to try one.”
— & —
About an hour later, Naomi exited the maternity shop, bags in hand. She was positively giddy, a feeling that was strange, and unfamiliar, and… made her even more giddy. She glanced down at her bags, wondering if she left them out, would Marcus recognize the logo? That was what normal women did right, thought of a cute way to reveal to their partner they were having a baby?
Or, in their case… keeping a baby.
She slipped her cell phone from her pocket and turned it on, knowing that Marcus would probably track her as soon as her signal was available again. But that was fine. She was going to wherever he was anyway. She unlocked her screen, navigated to his number, and pressed the call button as she stepped off the sidewalk, into the parking garage.
“A maternity store, Mimi? I never, ever would have thought.”
Ice rushed through Naomi’s veins at the sound of Tomiko’s voice, and the feeling of something hard pressed against her head. She didn’t have to look to know it was a gun. Slowly, she drew the phone away from her ear.
“Tomiko… what a disappointment it is to see you,” Naomi said, as Tomiko moved so that she was in front of her.
Shit. Another mantra fail.
If she’d been diligent about her surroundings… this wouldn’t be happening. If she’d been focused on something other than cute maternity dresses… this wouldn’t be happening. If she’d listened to Marcus, accepted a bodyguard… this wouldn’t be happening.
Her agility… right now that wasn’t even a factor. She couldn’t fight Tomiko, not with the knowledge that it would very likely put the baby in danger. As subtly as she could, she maneuvered her phone with one hand so that her fingers could reach the button on the edge of the case Quentin had modified specifically for her. She pressed it, and held down.
One. two. Three. Four. Five. Six—
“Watch the smart mouth, bitch.” Tomiko pressed the barrel of the gun into Naomi’s chest, hard enough that she stumbled backward, and her finger slipped off the button.
Shit.
Swallowing hard, Naomi tucked the hand with the phone behind her, hoping that Tomiko wouldn’t notice. Looking into her former friend’s face, Naomi noticed that while she was still pretty as ever, Tomiko’s eyes looked vacant, and cold. She moved her finger back to the button and pressed it in again.
“Tomiko, what do you want?” she asked, trying to distract her long enough for the distress signal to go through.
Come on, just four more seconds.
Naomi’s nostrils flared, and her fingers slipped from the button again as Tomiko grabbed her by the front of her dress, pressing the gun to her head.
“I want you and your fucking sidekick to stop messing things up for me. We had a good life, taking what we wanted, but you and nerd-ass Q just had to “give back to the needy”,” she said, in a mocking voice. “Messing shit up. So I leave. I get away from you, I live my life, and things are fine. I finally get in with a man with some real money, and then here you come again. Next thing I know, Vick is dead, and my whole lifestyle is thrown out the window. Because of you and him. You’re in my way, and I’m tired of it.”
“Victor Lucas’s death wasn’t my fault, Miko.” Naomi kept her voice strong, confident. She wasn’t scared of Tomiko, but she was scared for herself, and the baby. Especially the baby, with Tomiko wielding a gun. “Damien Wolfe did that, in retaliation for what Lucas did.”
Tomiko sucked her teeth. “He’s your uncle, bitch. And you wouldn’t have even been on Vick’s radar if you hadn’t broken into his house. Do you know I’m gonna have a scar under here?” Tomiko asked, pointing under her chin.
Naomi suppressed a smile, remembering the way she’d kicked Tomiko there that night at Lucas’s house. But, this wasn’t the time for fond memories. While Tomiko ranted, Naomi found the distress button again and pushed down. She had to hold it for a full ten seconds to activate it, to keep it from accidentally going off in her pocket, or purse when she carried one. She made a mental note though, to talk to Quentin about it taking so long.
“— care about who your family ties are, or anything else. Your ass is mine, and when I’m done with you, pretty boy and hacker bitch are next. Might throw Agent Calloway in there too, just for fun. All of you are responsible for me losing nearly everything I had, so I want you tell me again how this isn’t your fault.”
Seven. Eight. Nine —
“Answer me, bitch!”
Naomi cringed as Tomiko grabbed a handful of her hair, wrapping it around her fist as she snatched it from her bun. Cold metal bit into her skin as Tomiko pressed the gun to her cheek, and the phone, along with her bags, slipped from Naomi’s hands.
“Ohh, we’re gonna have so much fun. I’ve got a room set up, just for you.”
In one smooth motion, Naomi brought her hand up, using her fist to jab the gun away from her face before Tomiko could react. While Tomiko was still surprised from the attack, Naomi hit her wrist, with enough force to send the gun flying out of her hand and onto the asphalt.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Naomi said, aiming a fist for Tomiko’s jaw. Now aware of what was happening, Tomiko released Naomi’s hair to dodge the blow, then stepped back.
From the corners of her eyes, Naomi saw that Tomiko had assistance. Men dressed in black, armed with guns. Outnumbered or not, she wasn’t going anywhere with Tomiko. They’d have to kill her first. Moving swiftly, Naomi reached under her short dress and drew her own gun, pointing it at Tomiko.
“Stay back,” she demanded. “Or your boss dies.”
Tomiko smirked. “If I die, so do you.”
“Then I guess there will be new funeral announcements in the paper because please believe I will pull this trigger.”
On the ground, Naomi’s phone started ringing, and the second she took to glance at the screen was all it took for Tomiko to pull a knife and send it flying at her, before Naomi could even think to pull the trigger.
Pain erupted in her mid-section, and Naomi dropped to the ground on her knees, clutching at the knife embedded in her abdomen .
No. No, please. Please.
Hearing Tomiko begin to chuckle, Naomi looked up through tear-soaked eyes to see the other woman standing over her, grinning.
“Pregnancy has made you lose your touch, Mimi. Too bad.”
With tears streaming down her face, Naomi reached for the gun she’d dropped, but Tomiko kicked it out of the way. “Uh-uh-uh,” she said, leaning into Naomi’s face. “You lost, Black Swan, Arabesque… Madame Mimi, whatever it is you go by these days. Your ass is mine now, but don’t worry. I’ll make sure to keep you alive long enough to find out if the baby survives.”
Naomi saw Tomiko raise her fist, but was too weak to react before pain exploded against the side of her head, and everything faded to black.
— & —
Shit.
Harrison cursed again under his breath as the SUV pulled to a hurried stop in the parking garage. The other men were out of the vehicle before he was, easily picking off Tomiko’s armed guards before they could reach where she was, kneeling over Naomi.
Wolfe wasn’t gonna be happy about this shit, not at all. Livid was more like it, but Harrison would be damned if he was gonna be the one to catc
h that wrath. He’d found himself on the receiving end of Wolfe’s anger exactly once, and had the scars across his back to prove it. Harrison had stood up for himself then to prove himself, so he wouldn’t get blamed for shit like this now.
They’d been tracking Tomiko for the last few weeks, ever since they figured out she was the one behind the car attack, and the fire. She was using Lucas’s people, which were basically Wolfe’s people, since he owned Lucas too. It hadn’t been hard to figure out.
It was easy enough to sit back and wait, trying to see what she was up to before they figured out a plan, but once he got word that they were going after Naomi… all bets were off. There were few things in the world that Damien Wolfe cared seriously about. One of them was his family
Nah, Tomiko would have to pay the fine for fucking with Wolfe’s kin today.
He snapped his fingers at one of his armed guards, then motioned toward Tomiko, who seemed too paralyzed by fear to take off and run.
Always run, dummy.
While they collected her, he jogged up to where Naomi lay, passed out. He dialed a number on his phone for an EMT they kept available for such things, holding it up to his ear while he scanned her for injuries. There was the bruise developing on her head, where he’d seen Tomiko punch her, and then there was the knife still embedded in her stomach.
That made things quite a bit more complicated.
When he finally heard a raspy “hello?” on the other end of the line, he rattled off the address for where they were and a demand to “hurry the fuck up” before hanging up, and glancing around the nearly empty parking garage.
Beside her on the ground, Naomi’s phone was ringing. Harrison picked it up, glancing at the screen before he looked over at the large yellow and white shopping bags that had spilled onto the asphalt. A maternity store.
Shit!
When the EMT arrived, Harrison stood back to let him work, while he pulled Naomi's phone from his pocket. If he had to guess, her team was on their way, but he planned to be long gone before they arrived. The phone started ringing again, and he grinned at the screen. Marcus Calloway, aka Mike Lowery, calling for the third time.
“Mike! What's up, man?” He answered, turning his back as the EMTs loaded Naomi onto a stretcher to put in the back of the ambulance. He pulled the phone away from his ear as Marcus launched into a “who the fuck is this, where the fuck are you, you better not fucking touch her” rant on the other end of the line.
“Would you relax, Mr. FBI? Naomi is... indisposed right now, but Mr. Wolfe wants you to know... he'll make sure she's well taken care of.”
Without waiting for Marcus to say anything else, Harrison ended the call, then walked up to the ambulance just as they were getting ready to close the door. He quickly counted off a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it, along with Naomi's phone and bags to the EMTs.
“You know what to do.”
— & —
Heart pounding, Marcus rushed through the halls of the hospital, not caring about the people he almost ran over as he tried to get to Naomi. The only thing overshadowing the intensity of his anger was a desire to see for himself that she was alive. He already knew “well” was out of the question.
He and Kendall had been on their way to her way before Harrison answered her phone, from the moment Quentin called him to inform that she'd pushed that distress. They all knew Naomi well enough to know it was no accident.
Marcus was aware enough of the details of Naomi and Quentin's “friendship” that he knew they'd slept together, and the idea still made him cringe, even now. But today... He was glad Quentin knew Naomi well enough to track her phone, glad he had enough foresight that, knowing she was pregnant, and may not be on her usual “diligence, focus, agility” grind, he had reset her panic button to notify them at first press, instead of a delayed response.
He was already beyond furious that she’d dodged the body guard he assigned, although he’d honestly expected that of her. Learning that something had actually happened to her, and that Wolfe was involved… that was a feeling beyond simple anger. That feeling was closer to rage, wrapped in apprehension, topped with a need to rip something in half when he’d heard Harrison’s voice on the line.
Simply put, Marcus was sick to death of them both — Harrison with his smart-assed mouth, and his punk ass boss, Wolfe. They were preying on two women that he cared about deeply.
When they got to the location that she’d sent her signal from, the only thing they found was bloodstained concrete and a mostly empty parking deck, with Naomi’s car still there. Without any leads, Marcus followed the only option he felt he had. He went back to Inez’s house, down to the war room with her and the rest of the team to work out their plan to show up at Wolfe’s door and blow his brains out. The only thing that stopped them was the second call, nearly an hour later, from a nurse at the local hospital.
Naomi had been dropped off, and left in their care, which was all the nurse would say. As happy as he was that she wasn’t kidnapped, or worse… the fact that Naomi hadn’t been the one to call, that a nurse had to do it… Marcus considered that a clear indicator that she wasn’t okay.
And what about the baby?
The thought of that made him rush a little faster.
Naomi hadn’t been exactly open to talking about, or making plans for a pregnancy, a birth… a nursery. To Marcus, that said she was either unsure about what she would do, or that she was very sure what she would do, and the decision wasn’t in his favor. If she decided not to keep the baby… that was something he could process. Having the choice taken away from her… he didn’t think he could handle that.
He slowed down as the numbers on the doors neared the one they’d given him for Naomi’s room. A quick glance told him hers was the one at the end of the hall, in a corner, and he was pleased to see that the guard he’d sent ahead was indeed posted at her door, looking sufficiently menacing with his hand on his weapon.
The guard inclined his head in greeting, stepping aside so that Marcus could get in. He stopped just inside the door, taking a deep, cleansing breath before he ventured further, preparing himself for what he might see.
Naomi had her eyes closed, and she was curled into a ball underneath the hospital bed covers. She always slept that way, so that wasn’t a surprise, but seeing her like that, in this setting — an oxygen mask over her face, IV stuck in her arm even though she was buried under the covers — was… painful. He’d been so enraged that she “got herself into this situation”, but all that anger melted into concern as he approached the bed.
Pulling one of the wooden visitor chairs up to the bed, he slipped a hand underneath the covers to find hers. As soon as they touched, her fingers tightened around his palm, but she still didn’t open her eyes. He pulled her hand forward, kissing it as he leaned down, resting his chin on the bed. They stayed that way for a while, neither saying anything until finally she opened her eyes, moving her hand to stroke his face. Marcus caught it, keeping it secure between his as he kissed her fingers again.
“I’m scared to ask if the baby’s okay,” she said, her voice cracking as tears filled her eyes. “I’d decided we were gonna keep it. Marcus, I was so happy. I was getting excited, I bought clothes, I… I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it, if—”
“Stop.” Marcus reached up, cupping her face in his hands. “We don’t know yet, so… for now… just tell me what happened. Can you do that?”
Sniffling, she nodded, and Marcus pulled several Kleenex from the box beside the bed and cleaned her face.
“Um…,” she started, chewing at her lip. “I was leaving Bitty Buns, to—”
“Bitty Buns?”
She nodded again. “Yeah. You know, like… an itty bitty bun in the oven? It’s a maternity store, here in town.”
“Oh…” Marcus lifted an eyebrow. “So you’re telling me you skipped out on your protection detail to… go shopping?”
A fresh wave of anger began rising in his ch
est, and he sat back, creating distance between them. But… the distressed look on her face was like a bucket of ice poured over his ire.
“I know it was stupid, Marcus, but... it was more than just shopping. I wanted privacy, because I was still trying to work my feelings out.”
Marcus scoffed. “And look where privacy has you now.”
He regretted those words before they were even past his lips, but Naomi’s reaction to them, recoiling as if he’d hit her, made him feel even worse. Being upset with her was one thing, but being worried at the same time, especially now that even though he hadn’t verbalized it, he recognized that he loved Naomi… it was a fucked up mixture of emotion that made his head hurt. Marcus scrubbed a hand over his face, then leaned forward, taking her hand again.
“I’m sorry, Beautiful. Finish telling me.”
Naomi wiped her eyes, then cleared her throat. “Um… I was heading back to my car, and… Tomiko snuck up on me, and pulled out a gun. I didn’t want to risk the baby getting hurt, so I tried not to antagonize her. But she tried to get me to go somewhere, and I knew if she took me somewhere it was over. So I fought, and I had the upper hand, but I got distracted. And… she threw a knife at me, because she saw the maternity store bags, and she knew.”
Marcus climbed onto the bed beside her as she broke into sobs, the sudden movements sending the vital monitors into a frenzy, but he didn’t care. He pulled her against his chest, folding her into his arms as she cried.
“I don’t really know what happened after that,” she choked out through her tears. “I think she hit me in the head, but then I woke up here.”
Marcus frowned. “So you didn’t see Harrison at all?”
“No,” she said, sniffling as she looked up. “I don’t think Wolfe did this. It was messy, in broad daylight… this was all Tomiko.”
“But Harrison answered your phone, Baby. Said something about Wolfe making sure you were well taken care of.”
Naomi shrugged, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “I don’t know, Marcus. I was—”
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