Twice the Malone

by Roberts, Laylah

  “Hey, I’m an open book. If I’m thinking it then I’m going to tell you.”

  “And most of the time, it’s stuff we don’t even want to know,” Maddox said dryly. “No putting your health or safety at risk. If I give you a rule to keep you safe then I expect you to follow it.”

  “I don’t get a say?”

  “Of course you do, you always get a say. I know I’m intense and bossy. I like to be in control all the time, if that gets too much for you then you need to tell me. But I promise, I’m going to put you first. Always.”

  “Same,” Beau added.

  “We’re gonna talk about rules. And whether we’re here or back home, you’re going to be expected to obey them. But they will all be to protect you and our relationship. I like to be in charge, but I’m not an asshole.”

  “If he is, I’ll smack him around a bit,” Beau added.

  “I’m sure you’d hate to have to do that,” Maddox said dryly.

  “It’s a sacrifice, sure, but I’ll do it for Snow.”

  She shot him a look and shook her head.

  “We can talk about limits, and you’ll have a safeword, and if anything gets too much. If you need me to back off, you can say the word. Whether we’re in the bedroom or not. This isn’t a side of me I can just turn off and on. It’s who I am. All the time. Can you . . . can you deal with that?”

  “If I say the safeword, will you be mad at me?”

  “Never, little one. I can guarantee I will never get upset with you over that.”

  “We’re doing this? The three of us? In a relationship together?” She looked from him to Beau.

  Beau put his hand out. “Together.”

  She placed her hand on top of his then Maddox put his down.

  “I feel like we’re going to do a sports cheer.”

  “A sports cheer?” Beau teased her. “Don’t watch much sports, huh?”

  She shook her head.

  “How about we seal this a different way,” Maddox murmured. Placing a hand around the back of her neck, he drew her in for a kiss that had her toes curling and her clit throbbing. Then he released her, and Beau drew her toward him to kiss her. Her heart raced. She wanted more. Needed it.

  When he pulled away, she whimpered, reaching for him again. She was horny as hell. They couldn’t just leave it at that.

  “Don’t stop,” she begged.

  Beau reached for her again.

  “Beau, we have more important things to talk about first,” Maddox warned.

  “Damn it, why did I want your bossy ass to get back to normal again?” Beau whined.

  “I don’t know, but it’s too late now to complain.”

  Maddox drew her face back to his. “Scarlett, we need to have a chat about what you did. I want to make it clear putting yourself in danger like that, even to get information that you thought might help me is not acceptable. Not to me or Beau, understand?”

  “But it sounded like he was going to hurt you.”

  “I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself. And I would always rather that he come after me than you, understand?”

  “But I want to protect you as well. It shouldn’t be all one-sided.”

  “In some things, yes, it will be more one-sided. You’ll always come first. Your protection. Your health. And there isn’t any negotiation on that, little one. It’s the way it works in this relationship. You don’t do dangerous things, especially for us. We can take care of ourselves and you, but we do need your co-operation. You have to promise that won’t happen again.”

  “But there wasn’t any real danger. I mean, I did think he’d left for the weekend so when he arrived back it was a bit of a shock. But I covered my tracks. I had to stall him for a bit because I wasn’t sure if I’d turned off his computer. That’s when I blurted out I was pregnant. By Sunday night, I had an email from HR telling me I was fired. I’m sure it was because I told him I was pregnant and not because he knew what I was up to, though.”

  Scarlett couldn’t understand why they were both staring at her like she had two heads. What was wrong with them? She’d been careful and she’d saved herself. Surely they could see how well she’d done.

  “Why aren’t you talking? The information I got on Richard was good, right? It looked good. If we can find someone who isn’t corrupt to pass it onto then we can stop him from doing this anymore. Only I’m not sure who we can trust. Do you have any ideas?”

  “No,” Maddox said. His voice sounded raspy, rough. Shit, she hoped he wasn’t coming down with something.

  “You don’t know anyone? Okay, well I can do some research. Or maybe we could go to the press rather than the cops. That way, we know it will get out and not be swept under the rug. Multiple news stations could be the way to go, don’t you think?”

  “No.”

  “Maddox, are you all right?” She put the back of her hand on his forehead. “You don’t feel hot, but your voice sounds funny. Maybe you should go to bed and take a nap, you can’t have gotten much sleep on the couch last night. Beau and I can brainstorm what to do while you nap.”

  “While I . . . while I nap?”

  “Uh-huh.” She was really concerned about him now. He’d gone pale except for two bright patches of red in his cheeks.

  “Come on, you can get into bed.” She tried to move, but he grabbed hold of her thighs. “Um, Maddox, you need to let go of me so you can get into bed and nap.”

  “Yeah, Maddy, it’s nap-time,” Beau said in a strangled voice.

  She frowned at him. Was he trying not to laugh? Then she looked back at Maddox, who looked like he was trying not to throttle her.

  “What is wrong with you two?” she asked.

  “There’s nothing wrong with me,” Maddox told her.

  “Are you sure? You look funny. And your voice is all raspy like your throat hurts.”

  “That might have something to do with the fact that he’s trying to hold back,” Beau suggested.

  “Hold back from doing what?” she asked. “Oh, do you need the bathroom? You can use it first.”

  Beau burst into laughter, rolling on the bed.

  “Beau!” Maddox snapped. “This is not a laughing matter.”

  “It so is, though. It really is.”

  “Will someone tell me what’s going on!”

  “Did you know?” Maddox asked Beau. “Did you know she nearly got caught snooping around by him? While she was pregnant?”

  Beau sobered. “No, I didn’t know about that.”

  “I’m going to fucking destroy him.”

  “You looked through everything? There’s a lot of stuff we can use, right?” she asked.

  “There is no we.”

  “What?” Her heart sank. What did that mean?

  Maddox cupped her chin, turning her face toward him. “You will not ever put yourself in danger like that again. You’re lucky you weren’t ours when you did that because if you were, you wouldn’t sit for a week.”

  She gaped down at him. “What? But I got the information and nothing happened.”

  “If he’d caught you then you could have been seriously hurt! Wait, the person who trashed your apartment, they took your laptop, right?”

  “Well, yes, but why?”

  “You think it’s related?” Beau asked seriously. “You think he knows she took information from him?”

  “He can’t. That’s silly,” she said. “It was just some random person. Of course, they took my laptop. It’s easy to transport and sell.”

  “They take anything else? Jewelry? Other electronics?” Maddox asked.

  “Well, they took a bit of jewelry, but I didn’t have much worth taking.”

  “A normal thief would take more than a laptop and a few bits of jewelry,” Maddox said seriously. “And they wouldn’t usually wreck a place like that, to me that says it was either more personal or—”

  “They were searching for something. Shit,” Beau said, straightening. “Why the fuck didn’t I connect that?” />
  “So, what? You think Richard hired someone to mug me and search my apartment? Why not just take me?”

  “Maybe they were supposed to,” Maddox said seriously. “And Beau interrupted them.”

  “Oh, God.” She felt ill.

  “Was the stuff on the flash drive also on your laptop?” Maddox asked.

  “No, I wiped it from there and my email.”

  “He could still come after you, if he thinks you have a copy of the file.” Maddox ran his fingers through his hair. “We can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous.”

  “We need to get back to Haven,” Beau added. “I’ll pack everything up.”

  “Good. I’ll get her dressed and call Alec. He might know what to do with this stuff. I’ll send it to him before we leave.”

  “Wait . . . wait,” she said as they jumped up. “That’s it? We’re just leaving? Do you really think I’m in danger?”

  Maddox knelt before her once more, placing his hand over hers. She realized then she was holding her belly protectively. “I think that we can’t afford to brush this off, little one. Maybe he doesn’t know what you did. Maybe that was a random robbery, but I’m not willing to take that chance with your safety. Yours or the baby’s. Shit.” He looked up at Beau. “We need to make sure it’s all right for her to fly.”

  Beau nodded with a frown. “Yeah, maybe we should see her doctor before we leave.”

  “Okay, now you’re being way too overprotective,” she told them. “Of course it’s fine for me to fly. Other pregnant women fly all the time.”

  “Yes, but they’re not our women,” Maddox told her.

  “And they likely aren’t pregnant with twins,” Beau added.

  “Twins?” Maddox barked.

  21

  As Maddox lifted her into Beau’s rental truck, he still couldn’t believe that they were having twins.

  Twins.

  Fuck. What did he know about twins? Well, beyond being one himself. Was it more dangerous to carry multiples?

  Regent’s friend had managed to get them another appointment. So, they’d quickly gotten dressed and packed up their stuff. Well, he and Beau had. He’d made Scarlett sit and rest, much to her annoyance. She’d griped over it but eventually quieted down.

  The next argument had come when he’d gone to pay for the hotel room. For some damn reason she thought she was going to go halves on that shit.

  Like hell.

  Seemed like that was something they’d have to address if she kept it up. Money wasn’t something she needed to be concerned about. They had enough to worry about.

  He also needed to talk to Beau about appropriate food for a pregnant woman. He’d let her eat a donut this morning because they were in a rush, but donuts were a treat. Not breakfast.

  He’d already sent Alec the information from the flash drive, he was just waiting for him to look through it and get back to him. They pulled up outside the clinic.

  “Do we really have to do this?” Scarlett groaned as Maddox opened her door. “It’s pointless. We’ve come here twice already. All of these extra ultrasounds aren’t covered by Medicaid. It’s a waste of money.”

  “You’re having one because I want to see our babies,” Maddox told her. He studied her, this was something more than the money issue.

  “Is that the only problem?”

  After giving her a moment to respond, he placed a hand on her leg, which was jiggling up and down.

  “Scarlett? When I ask a question, I expect an answer.”

  She let out a sigh. “I hate anything to do with doctors. When my parents were in that crash, my mom didn’t die immediately. She was brought into the hospital and kept on life support. My grandparents would come in every day to sit with her. I didn’t understand what was going on. Why she wouldn’t wake up. My grandparents were so upset. I think now that the hospital wanted to take her off life support, but they refused. I was just so confused about what was going on. And then, one day everyone was more upset than usual. I think . . . I think that was the day they decided to take her off the machines.”

  Shit. He looked over at Beau who’d come to stand next to him.

  “Oh, little one. I’m so sorry that happened to you. They should never have taken you into the hospital. What were they thinking?”

  “I guess they didn’t have anyone else to watch me. But now I have this fear of hospitals. So can we skip the appointment?”

  He cupped her face. “I get this is hard. But we’ll be with you the whole time. If you need one of us to constantly hold your hand, we will. Okay?”

  She bit her lip and his insides knotted. Shit.

  “If you really can’t do this, we won’t.” He was aware of the shocked look Beau sent him. “I’ll call your doctor instead and talk to her about your care or go in now by myself. You and Beau can wait out here.”

  “But you wanted to see the babies on the ultrasound.”

  “I can wait until the next one. Although this doesn’t mean you’re getting out of other appointments. You’ll do what is necessary for your health.”

  He waited and then she shook her head. “No, I want you to see them. I got this. I can do it. Both of you will stay with me all the time?”

  “Absolutely.” He kissed her gently and lifted her down then Beau hugged her.

  “Fuck man, she has you wrapped around her little finger,” Beau muttered to him while she wasn’t paying attention.

  “We can never let her know, or she’s going to rule us.”

  Beau snorted. “Like that won’t happen anyway.”

  * * *

  When they left the clinic again, she felt like a weight had lifted off her.

  The doctor, to her credit, hadn’t blinked over doing a third ultrasound. Or the fact that she had an extra man with her. But Scarlett felt like she’d blushed enough for the both of them.

  Then Maddox had started in with his questions. Oh, Lord, she thought Beau had asked every embarrassing question possible.

  Not so.

  Hopefully, once they were back in Haven, she wouldn’t have to worry about holding both of their hands at once or kissing one then the other in public. It had been surprisingly hard to remember not to do that, despite the fact they hadn’t even been together long.

  Truthfully, she was looking forward to getting to Haven. Away from all this trouble with Richard. Although she was a bit nervous about meeting their family.

  “Beau, do you see that car parked two rows back from our truck,” Maddox said suddenly, as they reached the truck.

  “Yep, pretty sure it’s the same one that followed us here.”

  “What? Are you sure?” she asked, turning to look.

  Maddox crowded her against the truck. “No looking, little one.”

  “But what are we going to do? Do you think it’s someone else that Richard hired?”

  “I think so,” Maddox replied. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She reached for her door handle and Maddox brushed her hand away with a growl. “Nope. That’s not happening.”

  She huffed out a breath but let him open her door. He lifted her in and pulled the seat belt over her. Then he ran around to the driver’s side while Beau got in.

  “You gonna try to lose him?” he asked Maddox as he pulled out.

  “Yeah, but if Stanson knows we’re with her now, then he knows where we’re headed.”

  “You think we shouldn’t go to Haven?” Beau asked.

  “Call Alec and see what he says,” Maddox said. “Little one, I want you to brace yourself, all right? You feeling okay? Not sick?”

  “I’m scared.”

  “I know,” he told her calmly as Beau spoke quietly into his phone. “But we’re going to take care of you, all right?”

  “O-okay.” She didn’t feel all that reassured, though. Someone was following them. “Why didn’t he confront us?”

  “My guess is there were too many witnesses. And he wouldn’t have been able to get to us in the hotel because we
were on a private floor. Right, ready?”

  She let out a gasp as they took the corner swiftly.

  “Got it, Alec, bye.” Beau turned to Maddox. “Alec is arranging a new truck for us. Be best for us to lose this ass first, though. He’ll text me the details.”

  He took another corner fast and she cried out as she was thrown against the door.

  “Fuck, Beau, you need to get in the back and hold her. I don’t like her swinging all around the place.”

  He then undid his belt and climbed over with her.

  “Beau, be careful!” she cried.

  “I’m all right, Snow.” He sat next to her, tucking her into his side and bracing himself.

  “You need to put on your seatbelt,” she ordered as Maddox took another turn.

  Oh, Lord, she’d never been one for roller coaster rides or bumper cars. Sure, Margo liked to drive fast but even she drove less erratically than this.

  “I’m fine, Snow. I need to be able to move quickly.”

  What did that mean?

  “Beau, please. I don’t want anything happening to you.”

  “I’m gonna hit the highway soon,” Maddox told them as Beau gave in and put his belt on. His arm went across her as Maddox had to brake suddenly. She barely moved with his weight against her, but she still let out a small cry.

  “Scarlett? You okay? Beau? Is she all right?”

  “Snow?” Beau turned to her, his face frantic.

  “I’m okay. I’m okay. I just feel a bit sick, and I got a fright.” Her stomach rolled nauseously.

  Maddox took off again. “Beau, is there something she can be sick in if she needs to?”

  “Here, baby.” Beau plucked up Maddox’s jacket off the back seat, placing it in front of her. Yeah, she wasn’t puking in Maddox’s jacket.

  “Poor Snow, it’s all right. We can stop soon. She probably needs food. She hasn’t eaten much today.”

  “Shit, we need to start carrying some crackers or something around,” Maddox replied.

  “Please stop talking about food,” she told them both.