FlakJacket (13 page)

Her voice became suspicious. “You still don’t believe me about the baby, do you? This is a check to see if I lied.” Jordan wrinkled his brow at her statement, but she went on before he could correct her. “You don’t want this child, Jordan. Just admit it. The sex is great, and that’s it.” He veered the car sharply off the highway and onto the berm of the road, turning to her and taking her shoulders roughly.

“I already changed my will and created a portfolio for him, even though you haven’t bothered to give him a name yet. What else would you like me to do? He is half mine.” She didn’t answer him, her eyes wide in her face and tears starting. He softened immediately—he hadn’t offered the baby his name or his protection, and he just couldn’t do it at the present time. The memories of his first marriage washed over him: he had sworn never again, but he would do what he could.
Stalemate.

“You didn’t get much choice about the child, did you?” she whispered.

“Never forget,
Witch
. I chose my own path in regards to taking you. You have much to offer a man.”

“You will be a phenomenal father, and the child’s genes couldn’t get any better. He’s going to be a handsome guy.”

“With a great deal of power,” he muttered, shaking his head. He started the car again and pulled onto the road.

Madison wrote her name on the intake papers in the office. She left the name of the father blank, but Jordan ripped them out of her hand and wrote in his name, giving her the evil eye. The doctor’s visit confirmed her pregnancy. She was almost six weeks along, and doing well, except that the doctor didn’t like the tiredness in her small body. She prescribed prenatal vitamins and explained to Madison that she would be unable to keep her breakneck schedule and have few problems with her pregnancy.

“You will slow down, or you will be asking for a myriad of problems for you and the child. We’ll do a sonogram at 12 weeks to take measurements; my nurse will give you your next appointment. The blood work looks good; your blood pressure is still much lower than I would like it to be. She turned to Jordan. “Are you the father?” He nodded. “You need to look out for her.”

“I’m trying, but she’s somewhat of a handful.” The doctor laughed.

“Red head, huh?” and Jordan nodded with a smile.

The doctor had been sworn to secrecy about the child. “We’ll meet Saturday morning here at the clinic in four weeks. How has your stomach been? Do you need medication for morning sickness?” She went on with her checklist until Madison thought she would scream. Finally, the doctor allowed them to leave.

“Well, that was fun,” she sniped. Jordan was smart enough not to say a word. “You need to go and see Michael. Don’t say anything to him about the baby, yet.”

“I won’t, and WE need to go and see Michael.” Her eyes glared at him, but she knew this was another battle she couldn’t win.

“Maybe Jessica would like to come along when you tell him you’re going to be a father.” Jordan’s hands clutched the steering wheel tightly, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. That issue would be resolved tonight. They spent the afternoon at the hospital; Michael was doing much better, but his arm would take months to heal. Jordan offered his help with the business, and Michael accepted. Madison touched the arm with her hands often, running over the breaks slowly.

As they were leaving the hospital, Madison said with a faraway look, “There are anomalies in Michael’s books. You’d best look into them.” His mouth fell open as he watched her open the car door and climb in.
Another vision?
Being with her would never be dull. It took him almost three hours that night to explain Jessica to her, and Jordan didn’t often explain himself to anyone, but he buried Jessica’s relationship to him in Madison’s mind; then he buried himself in her to reinforce the discussion.
Witch!

He had been protecting her for almost six months; she still resided with him and graced his bed. Her pregnancy was reaching the place where it could no longer be hidden even with her loose clothing, but she still retained her figure for the most part—except for her emerging baby bump. Jordan had heard the baby’s heart beat at the last doctor’s visit and watched the image on the sonogram screen several times now at doctor’s visits. It shattered him in a way he didn’t think was possible; he had convinced himself that he would never feel again. He had hurriedly left the room during the last visit claiming an incoming call until he collected himself. It was definitely a boy!

The doctors at Michael’s hospital couldn’t get over the speed of healing in his arm and hand. They were discussing it as Jordan accompanied him to his doctor’s appointment. He remembered the witch touching it over and over; only he would have noticed that. He chose not to think about it.

Madison was at a tea where she was the guest of honor. Two of Jordan’s men watched the perimeter and two others were among the guests since it was an outside affair under the trees in a garden. Jordan had an uneasy feeling about this one. Everything seemed to be normal. He watched a waiter take a tray to her, filled with delicious bites of food. He sat it beside her and opened the lid, offering her its delicacies. Jordan looked at the serving tables on the lawn, and hurried to her side. He grabbed the server’s arm and swung him around as his voice said in a low tone to Madison, “Don’t touch any of that food.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Take nothing from the tray.” The man whose arm he held looked around. “Pick the tray up and come with me.” Jordan growled at him.

“Is there a problem?” asked the host.

“Did you hire this man to serve Madison, separately from your guests?”

“No, at least I don’t think so.” Jordan called one of his men to get the tray and remove it. It would be tested for poison.

“If I am incorrect, I will apologize to this man and pay him for my error; for now, he stays with me. In a flash, the man broke from him and ran, jumping the fence and sprinting down the street with two of Jordan’s men after him.

“I’m afraid I must remove Miss Kelly from this event,” Jordan said through his teeth. He pulled her up and started towards the door.

“Jordan—please.”

“No.” He pulled her along almost causing her to stumble. His heart was in his throat. He was sure there was something in the food, and if he hadn’t noticed the anomaly of a buffet table and a single server, she would be deathly ill right now or maybe even dead; his stomach clenched at the thought of his son.

Toxicology reports later in the day indicated heavy amounts of cyanide in the canapés. The issue of her safety grew larger in Jordan’s eyes, and he decided he would no longer wait for the danger to come to him. Rather, he would take the fight to the men who would hurt his child.

Images of the three men who had attacked her were now in his hands, and he began a concerted effort to find them. Information on the man who had instigated the dissent at her speech several months ago was now available and frightening—the Senate committee on which he sat seemed to be leaning in the direction of supporting the takeover of the Jordanian lands; Jordan made plans to meet with the gentlemen in a not so public place in the next couple of weeks. There was talk of subpoenaing Madison to the committee to grill her about her involvement.

She would not settle that night as she pleaded with him not to take things to the next level; she feared for him. He was forced to leave town the next day to set up protection coverage for a visiting dignitary. He left Madison’s care to his men, but he constantly checked in with them. His plane had just landed when a text came in from Max:

Jordan texted back:

Jordan swept into his car to hear raised voices in the great room via his phone, Thomas Hull’s low booming one and Madison’s softer one. One of his men had called his number and put the phone on speaker, laying it on a stand inside the room. Thomas’s voice was sarcastic and furious. “How could you do this, Madison? You still think you’re the savior, don’t you—the perfect little saint. You’re still trying to make sure I can’t get this land deal done—with your sleuthing into my affairs. Well, remember, you’re a loose woman, Madison, not a Madonna.” His words echoed in the room. Jordan’s fingers closed in anger on the steering wheel as his foot pushed down further on the accelerator.

“I think no such thing. I am done with you, and I have been for two years. Call off your hounds, Thomas, or I will go to the press with my story.”

“And you think they will believe you over me—that stupid rape accusation?” He could hear heavy footsteps and the anger in Thomas’s voice and then the shock, as Thomas must have gotten a good look at her. “You’re carrying the child, aren’t you? You wouldn’t let me touch you, but you let someone else knock you up?” He heard Madison’s small cry of distress. “I can fix that—I still want what you won’t give me. It’s time for me to just take it.”

There were sounds of a struggle. “Take your filthy hands off me.” Anger punctuated her words. The speedometer climbed yet again.

“I should have finished what I started that night when you were flailing in my arms and scratching and biting me; then I could have fucked you over and over and made you pregnant, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation. One more slap would have done it. You’re damn lucky you managed to stab me with that letter opener before you ran, nearly naked, might I add. You wanted it, Madison. Don’t tell me you didn’t.”

Jordan’s car screeched into the gated community. “Get out. Let go of me.” There was steel in Madison’s voice and sounds of  “No.”

The door crashed back into the wall as Jordan swept into the house, his menacing voice yelling, stopping Thomas in his tracks. “Take your hands off her.” Thomas stepped back and let go as Madison backed away from him, rubbing her arms. Jordan slowed and restrained himself; escalating the conflict was not a good idea. “Get out of my house.”

An evil grin snaked across Thomas’s face and his eyes zeroed in on Madison; he wasn’t through, his voice cutting as he loudly whispered. “Who’s the father, Madison? I will take care of him. Just tell me his name, the bastard. No one else gets this child but me.”

Jordan lost it. His fist connected with Thomas’s jaw. He pushed him back several steps, throwing two more punches for good measure.  Jordan’s low voice growled as his men came in: “Get him out of here. Call the police about a home invasion; I will file charges. You were told to stay away from her.”

Thomas’s look burned him. “I’ll get you, Lassiter, and I’ll get her. You can’t protect her forever. You better watch your back.” He was escorted from the room and held for the police. Madison didn’t know Jordan had heard her whole confrontation with Thomas, but his eyes met hers with an unspoken promise.
I will see personally that he pays for what he did to you.
Madison came stumbling to him; he opened his arms, wrapped her up, and held her tightly as tremors shook her body. As he positioned his arms tighter around her, something inside him cracked. Feelings swamped him, and he had to fight to retain his distance from her. It was probably just the shock of the encounter and the fact that he knew another man wanted her.

“He will never touch you again. I’ll see to that.”

Her agonized eyes met his. “Now everyone will know about the baby.”

“Why did you let him in?”

“I didn’t. When I turned around, he was standing there, in the great room. Jordan’s eyes met those of his men.

“Who slipped up?”

“I did, sir.”

“You’re fired.”

“No, please Jordan. Thomas is a snake; he probably crawled in while your people were doing their jobs. I don’t want this man fired.” Jordan looked at her set shoulders and braced himself. He seldom gave, but this time, he did.

“Then Tim will become your shadow to make sure Thomas never comes near you again.” His eyes met those of his man. “Don’t screw up again.”

“No, Sir,” he said. He turned to Madison. “Thank you, Ma’am.” She smiled at him through her water-filled eyes. A vision of Tim’s taking a bullet for her flashed before her.

“OUT. I want all of you out.” Jordan’s low voice cleared the room in two seconds flat. Madison was a mess. He took her hand and led her back the hall to their bedroom. He needed the whole story from her, but she was too fragile to ask at the present time; he had the main pieces now, and Thomas’s poison about her pregnancy would be spilled to the press just as soon as he was released from police custody, he knew. He sat down in the chair and held her tight, rocking her back and forth until he felt her muscles begin to relax and her breath even out. The tremors had slowed, but his hands kept rubbing her arms infusing his warmth into her.

She settled, and finally, she slept just as Jordan had planned. He managed to get her undressed and into bed, texting orders from his phone as he did so.

No one crossed Jordan Lassiter with impunity; Thomas Hull was a marked man.

M
adison awoke with a horrible headache, Jordan no longer with her. She climbed slowly out of bed to visit the bathroom, her stomach upset from her ordeal and on the edge of violently protesting. She thought she wouldn’t have to deal with morning sickness again. Tim had notified Jordan the minute she was up and moving, sending Jordan into the bedroom to check on her.

The baby never kicked when Jordan was around, so when she felt the hard kick of the child inside her, and then she felt it a second time, her small cry brought Jordan into the room on the run. When he arrived, her face was flushed and her hand rested on her stomach while a small smile played on her lips. Her eyes were filled with wonder as she looked up at him. “He’s kicking. Jordan, our son is kicking.”

Jordan’s own smile was his response as he crossed to her, his own hand covering her abdomen. “Well, it’s about time I get to feel him. He’s supposed to be a smart kid. He’s going into protective mode for his mother.” And he felt it, as a smile crossed his face. She giggled and he hugged her close.