Twice the Malone

by Roberts, Laylah

  He moved into the living area to the mini-fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. When he returned, she was standing at the sink, trying to put toothpaste on her toothbrush.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Brushing my teeth.”

  “I told you to stay put. You’re too shaky to be moving around. You could have fainted and hit your head.”

  “I’m fine.”

  He lifted her onto the counter and took her toothbrush from her. “Next time, do as you’re told and wait, understand?”

  “Or what?” she challenged.

  Oh, he saw how it was. She thought he was going to stand down.

  Well, what else was she supposed to think? After the way he’d behaved since he’d arrived.

  “Or I’ll turn you over my knee and spank you.” The threat tasted bad in his mouth, though. He couldn’t spank her while she looked like death warmed over. What if whatever was wrong with her was something serious? Like cancer.

  One thing at a time. He needed to get her cleaned up and into bed. Then he could find out what was going on.

  He undid the bottle of water while she brushed her teeth, then held it up for her. “Easy, not too fast. That’s a good girl.”

  She eyed him. “You sound different this morning.”

  “That’s because I feel different this morning.” He leaned his hands on the counter on either side of her hips, crowding her. She split her legs apart. He knew it was wrong to be turned on right now. She was ill, she’d just vomited. She needed care, not sex.

  But it didn’t stop his dick from misbehaving.

  “I’ve had it on good authority that I’ve been behaving like an asshole. And that I . . . that I’ve been making more assumptions instead of just talking to you.”

  She watched him carefully. “And what did you want to talk to me about?”

  “Before we do that are you feeling all right? Is there any medication you need? Something you have to take? If you need to lie down we can talk about this later.”

  “I’m fine. I feel a lot better now.”

  She did look better. There was a hint of color back in her cheeks. After she brushed her teeth, he lifted her up against his chest. Shit, she felt light. God, what was wrong with her that she’d lost all this weight? Fuck, whatever it was he was going to make sure she got the best care. They needed to put some meat back on her bones.

  “Maddox, I can walk.”

  “Why walk when I can carry you?”

  She huffed out a laugh.

  “What is it?”

  “Beau said the exact same thing.”

  “Well, we are twins,” he reminded her as he settled her on the bed. He plumped up the pillows for her then pulled the bedding up over her. “Are you warm enough? Do you need anything? More water?”

  “I’m fine. You don’t need to fuss.”

  Far as he was concerned, that’s exactly what he had to do. Plus, he was stalling. As soon as he realized that he sat facing her.

  “I was jealous.”

  She stilled. “What? Jealous over what?”

  “You and Beau.”

  “Why would you be jealous of us?”

  “When I got here, and I saw the two of you laughing and having a good time. I guess I felt jealous of the easy way the two of you were together. And it seemed like you were doing just fine without me.”

  “Maddox, that’s not true. I haven’t stopped thinking about you. Not once these last nine weeks.”

  “I’m sure I don’t want to know what some of those thoughts were.” He grinned at her.

  “Probably not.” She grinned back. “But you have no reason to feel jealous. I didn’t . . . we didn’t . . . nothing felt complete without you.”

  He drew her onto his lap and hugged her tightly.

  “I can’t believe you would think I didn’t need you.” She leaned back to look up at him. “Um, is that why you’ve been acting so odd?”

  He let out a deep breath. “I’ve never really cared about what people thought of me. I’ve never really cared about anyone else. Other than family that is, and they have to love me. I made a big mistake. I treated you like shit. And you forgave me. Just like that. But I don’t think I’ve forgiven myself.”

  “You’ve been punishing yourself?”

  “I wasn’t a very good Dom to you. Communication is important, and I completely fucked that up. So, I’ll understand if you don’t ever want me to be your Dom again. I will give that part of myself up if that’s what you need.”

  “Listen to me, Maddox Malone. I need you to be you. That’s the person I fell for. The bossy, alpha male who wasn’t afraid of anything. I don’t want you to change or to give me just half of yourself. I want all of you.”

  Maddox stared down at her without saying a word. Just when she was starting to worry she’d said something wrong, he leaned in and kissed her. She melted into his kiss, clinging to him until she remembered that she’d just vomited, and even though she’d brushed her teeth after, she couldn’t help but be worried that she still had vomit breath.

  She drew back.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Vomit breath.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t have vomit breath. I promise. Now kiss me.”

  She studied him for a moment then a smile tilted up the corner. “Is that the dark lord talking?”

  “That is definitely the dark lord talking. And you best be doing what he tells you to do.”

  “Hmm, let me think about that.”

  “Brat, you’ve been running wild while you’ve been here alone, haven’t you?”

  “Who me? Never. I’m a good girl.”

  “Yeah? Then how come you’re not kissing me right now?”

  “Sorry, dark lord.” She leaned up and kissed him. It wasn’t long until he took over, though, pressing his tongue into her mouth to tease her. She’d forgotten how good kissing him was. She was now a kissing convert.

  This time, he was the one who drew back.

  “Nooo,” she groaned. “I’m not ready to stop.”

  “As much as I want to keep kissing you, little one, we have a few things to talk about. Are you sure about this? About being with me and Beau?” He put a finger on her mouth. “Just hear me out first. This sort of relationship, it isn’t always easy. Especially on you, when you have both of us to deal with. I like control in and out of the bedroom. And Beau, well, he can be a handful.”

  “He’d claim that he’s more than a handful.” She grinned.

  He groaned, rolling his eyes. “Don’t encourage him. This relationship isn’t considered normal by most. I mean, in Haven it is, but that’s the exception. If you decide you want to stay here, well, we’d mostly have to keep our relationship a secret.”

  “Beau said you hate the city.”

  “I do.”

  “And you just bought that land, right? What were you going to do with it?”

  “It doesn’t matter what I was going to do with it.”

  “Really? Because I was kind of hoping that you were going to build a house for us to live in.”

  She heard him take in a deep breath. “You’d want to live there? In the country? For us?”

  “Not just for the two of you. For me too. I never thought of leaving here, but there isn’t much to keep me here. Other than Margo. No job, no apartment, but more importantly, no Beau and Maddox.”

  “You don’t know how happy that makes me, little one.” Then a shadow crossed his face. “But I think we should stay here.”

  Huh? That didn’t make much sense.

  “Why?”

  “Because there are better hospitals here.”

  “Um, there are hospitals where you live, right?” And what did it matter anyway? That seemed a strange thing to focus on.

  “Yes, but the closest hospital is nearly an hour away and it’s not that big. For a good hospital, we have to travel to Houston. No, we’d best stay here.”

  “Um, Maddox?”

  “
Yeah?”

  “Why do you care so much about the health care system? Is there something wrong with you?”

  “Wrong with me? No, there’s something wrong with you.”

  She blinked at him.

  “I know you were at the clinic the other day. And you’ve lost a lot of weight, plus you’re very pale and you were just vomiting.” He took her hands in his. “Whatever is wrong, I’m going to be here for you. Just . . . just tell me? Is it bad?”

  “Oh Maddox, I’m so sorry.”

  He tensed. “Are you dying?”

  “No, no, I’m not dying. I’m not sick. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I was just . . . you were acting odd and I . . . I was worried you didn’t want me anymore after everything that happened, that you couldn’t trust me.”

  “Little one, get all of that out of your head. I want you. I want to be with you. Just tell me, what is it.”

  “Okay, well, see . . .”

  “Scarlett,” he warned.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  20

  Beau walked through the door of the hotel suite. Hmm, it was quiet. Damn, he’d kind of hoped that Maddox would have gotten his shit together and be fucking their girl by the time he got back. He would have been completely down with getting in on that.

  What was going on? Where were they? He placed his box of donuts and tray of coffee on the table in the living area and walked into the bedroom, to find Maddox pacing back and forth while their girl sat on the bed, looking far too worried.

  “Snow? You okay?” If Maddox had hurt her feelings, he really was going to kick his ass.

  “I’m all right. But I think I broke Maddox.”

  “Huh, thought he was already broken.”

  Maddox turned toward him, then pointed back at her. “She’s pregnant.”

  “I told him,” she added pointlessly.

  “Ah.” Beau leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. “Is that a problem?”

  “A problem? A problem? It’s a problem that I only just found out. How long have you known?” Maddox growled at him.

  “How long do you think I’ve known?” he snapped back, not liking the asshole’s tone of voice. “I found out the day before you got here.”

  The tension eased out of his brother’s shoulders at those words. Then Maddox turned his glare on Scarlett. Oh, no, he didn’t. Beau tensed, ready to interfere if he hurt her feelings. He didn’t want her to cry again. He was running out of things to bribe her with.

  “Scarlett? When did you find out you were pregnant?”

  “I only found out about ten days ago when I took a test. I didn’t really think about why I might be feeling ill, and my period has never been that regular. I really have no idea how I got pregnant. I mean, we used protection, and I’m forty! I’m way too old for a baby!”

  “It’s my super sperm, baby. They can’t help it.” Beau grinned at her.

  “Oh, so you’ve got lots of babies out there, do you? With your super sperm?” she asked.

  Oh, fuck. Oh, shit.

  He opened his mouth to say something but had no idea what to say. Way to dig yourself a hole, there, man.

  “I, uh, no, that’s not what I meant. There’re no other babies, I promise. Maddox, don’t you have some things to ask Scarlett,” he said desperately.

  Luckily, Maddox was too engrossed in his own thoughts to rub in Beau’s mistake.

  “That’s why you were at the medical clinic?”

  “Yeah. I went the other day with my friend to see the doctor and get an ultrasound.”

  “And you definitely don’t have some horrible disease?”

  Oh, shit. Is that what Maddox had thought? Crap. They should have told him about the baby right away.

  “Maddox, I’m fine. I promise. I’m so sorry, I should have told you when you got here.” Scarlett went to climb off the bed, but Maddox pointed a finger at her.

  “Stay where you are.”

  She flinched.

  “Maddox,” Beau said warningly.

  Maddox glared at him.

  “You can’t blame her for not telling us. She thought I’d ghosted her and that you hated her. She didn’t have any way of contacting us.”

  “I was going to come and find you,” she said quietly, sniffling.

  Crap. Fuck. No more tears. He wasn’t going to survive this pregnancy, he swore.

  “But I wanted to get some evidence on Richard first. I was worried he was going to do something to you for revenge. Plus, I thought you might believe me if I brought something to you about him.”

  “Fuck. Fuck.” Maddox leaned against the wall and bent over, his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths.

  Scarlett sent Beau a wide-eyed look, but he just shrugged. The guy was his twin and even he had no idea what was going through the fucker’s head.

  “Maddox? Are you all right?” she asked gently, rising off the bed.

  “Back on the bed,” he growled at her, pointing without raising his head.

  Tears filled her eyes, and Beau’s hands clenched into fists.

  “Maddox, if you’re going to be an asshole then leave.”

  “What?” Maddox raised his head and looked at Beau.

  “I said, if you’re just going to be a jerk, you can go.” He nodded his head at the door. “I’m not going to sit by and let you upset Scarlett.”

  “Upset her?” Maddox turned his confused look to Scarlett, his eyes widening as he took in her pale appearance, the tears that dripped down her cheeks.

  “Little one, you’re crying. Why are you crying?” His voice had grown soft.

  Beau raised his eyebrows. He’d never heard him use that tone of voice before. Ever.

  Scarlett let out a small sob, shaking her head.

  “You won’t let her touch you,” Beau explained.

  “What?”

  “You k-keep telling me t-to stay over here. You don’t want me a-anymore.”

  “Fuck. Fuck.”

  Beau stepped toward her, but Maddox waved him away and walked over to kneel in front of her. “Little one, listen to me. Listen, please.”

  Please? Holy. Shit.

  Reaching up, he wiped at her tears. “Of course I want you. There will never be a day when I don’t want you. I wasn’t telling you to stay on the bed because I didn’t want you to touch me. You were just ill, and you look so pale, I wanted you to stay on the bed to rest.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away.”

  “No. Don’t be sorry. Sh, stop crying. You didn’t do anything wrong. Not about that anyway. We’re going to have a bit of a chat about the fact you tried to lift those boxes earlier.” He frowned. “And about why you went snooping through your boss’s stuff. Don’t you know how dangerous that was? Damn it, little one, never do anything like that again, understand me? Or you won’t sit for a week.”

  Beau walked over to sit next to Scarlett on the bed.

  Scarlett just nodded.

  “Words,” he commanded.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “Yes, Sir.”

  Maddox placed a kiss on her stomach. “That’s why you were just ill? Because of our baby?”

  “Yeah. I’ve been nauseous most of this pregnancy. The doctor gave me some anti-nausea tablets, but I haven’t had any since yesterday morning. I feel more nauseous with movement or when I go for too long without eating.”

  “Why are you going for too long without eating?” Maddox frowned up at her. “And how is it you’ve lost so much weight? What did the doctor say about your weight loss? Is there anything we need to know? Have they run tests?”

  She opened her mouth to answer but he cut her off.

  “You know what, let’s just make another appointment, and then I can talk to your doctor myself.”

  “I’m not going to another doctor’s appointment. I didn’t want to go to the first one, let alone the second one. I’m not doing a third. Nope. No
way. I’m putting my foot down.”

  Maddox’s eyebrows rose. “Putting your foot down?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Uh-huh. The foot is down. I’m not going. I hate hospitals and the doctor is going to think we’re insane, the way I keep going back for ultrasounds with different men. Not happening.”

  “First, I don’t give a shit what the doctor thinks. They’ll do their job and if they make one comment about both of us being with you, I’ll sue. Second, are you forgetting who is in charge right now?”

  She bit her lip. Maddox reached up to pull it free, his face softening slightly.

  “Your health is the priority right now. And that means I want to talk to the doctor personally.”

  “But we won’t be able to get another appointment.”

  “I’ll call Regent again, call in another favor with Knight,” Beau said to Maddox. “He got me a last-minute appointment. We’re gonna owe them both, though.”

  Maddox just nodded.

  “But Beau already asked the doctor a million questions. I can’t face her again. It’s too embarrassing.”

  Maddox looked over at Beau. “He did?”

  “Yes,” she wailed. “You won’t believe what he asked her. He wanted to know what sexual positions were off the table and if he could spank me.”

  Maddox nodded at him. “Good man.”

  Scarlett gaped at Maddox then over at Beau. “What? No. You cannot encourage him. He’s acting insane. He thinks I need to eat for two and that I can’t carry anything heavier than my handbag.”

  Maddox frowned. “Your handbag?”

  “Yes, tell him how crazy he’s being.”

  “Her handbag could be too heavy,” Maddox said to Beau. “You know how much crap Mia carries in hers. Did you weigh it before letting her carry it?”

  “Already on that,” Beau answered. “She’s barely got any stuff in it.”

  “The two of you are being insane. You can’t treat me like I’m a delicate flower. I’m pregnant not an invalid.”

  Maddox gave her a firm look. “We’ll take care of you the way you need to be taken care of. You can argue, but this is the way it’s happening. There will be no more risks taken, understand me? From now on, you are not to attempt to carry anything. That’s what we’re here for. There is no more keeping anything from us, and we promise the same, right, Beau?”