OBSESSION (The Bening Files (Novella) Book 4) (12 page)

“Okay.” Lilly turned toward her, her lips pressed together. Her blue-green eyes were the exact same shade as Robinson’s and cracked fire as if Amanda had copped attitude. “You’re not asking. I’m forcing you to go home for a while.”

Amanda braced for the impact of Robinson’s agreement.

“Leave it be, Lilly.” The last came out on a bit of a yawn as he stood and stretched his neck.

Huh. Her muscles relaxed. Dark circles lined his eyes as if he’d been awake for a week straight. Exhaustion hung from his frame. He headed for the exit and stopped by her side. Then he took her cup. “You need something besides coffee, A.J.”

The initials ran together in that familiar way only Robinson used, and came out sounding like
age.
It conveyed so much. The rocky road they’d traveled together for too long. The way he always stood up for what was right no matter the cost. How he always had her back. Even when he didn’t agree.

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t find a way to get his point across. While he’d clearly articulated his suspicions concerning Davis, he’d been silent about almost everything else. Until last night.

Had she forced him into all of this? “So do you.”

“Already got it.” A sad smile lined his lips as he exited the room.

It hit her square in the chest. With a quick glance at Lilly, who shrugged, she followed him. She caught up as he neared the elevator, and touched the sleeve of his suit jacket. “Hey. Everything okay?”

He turned, the same forced smile in place. Dread settled in her gut. This was the most standoffish she’d seen him in forever.

“As good as can be expected.”

“That’s not…” She closed her eyes a second. “Everything is not okay. I get that. Last night was—” Awful. In more ways than one.

“Lilly’s right.” He sucked his bottom lip inward. “You should go home. Follow up with Davis and your case. I’ve got this covered.”

What was this? Did he think she was itching to leave? “I know this isn’t how you envisioned things.”

It certainly wasn’t how she’d imagined her life ten years ago, but she wouldn’t take it back. Would he? If he knew this is where they’d end up? In a hospital drinking sludge that didn’t pass for coffee. Arguing over decisions that shouldn’t be so hard. Fighting distrust of every person in their lives, when all they used to see was potential.

Innocent until proven guilty. Not the other way around.

His brows slammed together. “You’re saying that as if one of us can’t handle it.”

She shook her head. Couldn’t swallow past the sudden lump in her throat. After everything they’d been through—bombs, serial killers, accidents—this couldn’t be the insurmountable moment in their relationship.

He blew out a breath, then paced the area and turned back, one hand on his hip as he came to stand in her space, those beautiful blue-green eyes swirling a storm she’d never witnessed before. The mesmerizing kind a sailor would never be able to turn from even knowing his seconds were numbered.

“I could see why you’d be worried. And I get it. She’s
your
niece.
Your
responsibility. But
we
are married.
We
made a commitment to stick out all the times life throws us a curveball. That can’t happen if I’m never included in the decisions.”

He was the first, and only, person she wanted in every aspect of her life. “Robbie.”

“There’s a lot going on. I appreciate that. I’ve been hounding you about Davis. Your mom is mixed up in some crazy business you can’t seem to unravel. Adding Paige’s pre-term labor amps up the stress tenfold. And I know you’re freaked out about losing the Penningtons.”

“You aren’t?”

“No.” His voice was steady. Strong. “They weren’t good enough. They were too perfect. Too cute. And they acted as if they wanted Paige to be a part of those kids’ lives when they really didn’t.

“Look at how quickly they pulled out. Or how many tests they demanded we have completed. They were looking to make a perfect family and it doesn’t exist. Not in their definition. They would have crushed Paige eventually.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way.”

His face softened. “You can’t tell me they didn’t strike you as an odd couple? And not the kind that works when two really weird people get together. Odd as in everything they do is a show. Is an attempt to prove that what they have is best.”

Had she ignored it in the name of moving forward? After all her mom’s nurturing, had she taken the route of nature as Paige feared she would also do? Become disconnected and disinterested in the people around in favor of a cause she deemed more worthy?

As if he could hear her thoughts, he placed his palms on either side of her face. “Listen, I’m in this for the long haul. That means you, Paige
and
her babies.” He pressed his mouth to hers, a sweet meeting of lips that let her know she was insane to doubt him for a second. Even when they didn’t agree. And then he pulled back, his eyes glued to hers. “Even if we take them in as our own.”

Whoa
. The sound around them disappeared as if it were only the two of them in the universe.

“What?” She’d heard wrong. Kids had never been in the cards. The choice had been stripped from her long before any maternal urges had taken over.

Robinson had never been in the dark on that. He’d once joked that he was too much of a jerk and she was too sassy. They both took a lot of risks. That had been the end of it. “We don’t have diapers.”

“There’s this nifty invention called a store.”

“Furniture. Clothes. Names. We aren’t in our own house.” And Paige. How would that affect her?

“Slow down. That list has simple fixes.” He released her. “You’ve always been up for a challenge, so we figure out if this is one of them.”

The beat of her heart vibrated through her body. It would be an amazing adventure. And scary. She glanced back toward Paige’s room. If she couldn’t get it together with a nearly self-sustaining teenager, how would she do with two infants? “How long have you been thinking about this?”

“Just long enough that it still sounds crazy. And you know how I like that sort of thing.” The ding of the elevator sounded in the quiet. He stepped inside. “Think about it.” He put his palm across the doors, preventing them from closing. “Even if the answer ends up being no, you owe yourself the consideration. Keeping people safe so they can enjoy their lives is what you’re good at. Make sure you enjoy yours, too, or none of it means anything.”

She couldn’t argue. In the last month, every day had been filled with anxiety and second guessing that left her in uncharted territory. And Robinson floundering to make it right.

“You’re not scared, remember? Said so yourself last night.”

That seemed like years ago.

“I’m going to get some coffee.” He stepped farther into the elevator. And then the door shut, leaving her in the hall alone.

Did he really want to adopt Paige
and
her twins? Could they even do that? Their life had been chaotic before taking in the teen.

Adding two infants to the mix of hectic schedules and potentially dangerous work seemed risky. Rash. And yet, it would ensure they were together. That they had a family who loved them, because no matter what she and Robinson decided, those babies would enter the world.

###

EVERY SYLLABLE OF Robinson’s words hummed in Amanda’s brain as she turned from the elevator and caught sight of a tall woman in gray slacks, a peach blouse and stylish heels. A white lab coat covered the ensemble. She neared Paige’s hospital room with confident steps. Her blonde hair was clipped at the base of her neck in a sophisticated ponytail.

Amanda would know the regal stature of her biological incubator anywhere.

Her heart picked up speed as Paige’s maternal grandmother—a woman who’d easily dismissed her birth thirteen years ago and Amanda’s years before that—opened the door and stepped inside.

As if she belonged there.

What the…?

She raced toward the room. Spotted Lilly at the main desk speaking with another nurse, leaving Paige alone. With a woman who could care less about her.

A dark emotion burned through her chest and gathered with a heap of jitterbugs in her stomach.

You’re not scared, remember?

Amanda burst through the door, but didn’t let it hit the wall like she would have liked. She couldn’t afford to wake Paige and have to start another explanation that might bring those babies into this world sooner than needed.

Sandra stood at the edge of the bed with a chart in her hands.

“What are you doing here?”

“What does it look like?” She flipped through the documents. “Checking up on a patient.”

That was the worst joke ever. She snatched the binder from the other woman’s hands, noted Paige’s name across the top. “Get out. You’re not her doctor. You don’t have any right to be here.”

Sandra’s gaze flicked to the teen still sleeping in the bed, as if contemplating waking the child and giving her a dose of the harshest reality possible. Amanda moved between the girl and a woman neither of them needed contact with.

“She’s too young to have this kind of responsibility.” Annoyance dripped from Sandra’s words.

Even though they could agree on that point, it still set a boil to Amanda’s blood. Made her think of all kinds of really horrible things to say to the woman that shared her DNA, but had no interest in her beyond giving unsolicited advice. “I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

She raised one well-manicured eyebrow. “I’m sure you realize this will ruin her future.”

Even if that means we take them in ourselves.

One breath in. One out. “Children don’t ruin futures.” Sure, it took work, but it was worth it. One month with Paige had taught her something she’d witnessed in her friends with children. She’d give anything to make sure this girl was safe. Protect her at all costs and with her last breath, because that’s what happened when you fell in love with someone on sight. When you surrendered to a connection you couldn’t control, because it was like breathing. “People with no willpower ruin it for themselves.”

“I know a talented doctor who could help.” She dug in the pocket of her lab coat and produced a card. Shoved it in Amanda’s hand. “It’s relatively painless.”

Women’s Health North ran across the top of the card. An artful drawing depicted a pregnant woman. Doctors Borian and Dillion boasted thirty years of collective experience. On the back, the office listed some of its services. Everything ranging from family planning to abortion.

The churn in her stomach hit an all-time high.

“What is wrong with you? Life is supposed to be sacred. Not something you suck out and dump down the disposal.”

While she worried the pair would be separated, this woman didn’t think of them at all, beyond the quickest elimination.

“I’m hardly insinuating that.” Sandra’s cool blue eyes scanned the room as if she were talking to a patient and not her own flesh and blood.

“Aren’t you?”

“I’m coming from a place of experience, dear Amanda.”

A choice the other woman would redo, if her steely gaze was any indication. Amanda clenched her fists at her sides. Let the twisted endearment slide over her and burrow deep. “None that I want to repeat.”

That cold and cool gaze flicked to Amanda’s injured elbow, came back up. “I wouldn’t expect you would. Not with the way you find trouble all on your own.”

The anger she’d been battling hit a boiling point. “Get. Out.”

She didn’t move.

“I wouldn’t cross her today, Sandra.” Robinson walked through the door, a grim look that indicated he might have heard everything. “Or me, for that matter. I’m really itching to put someone in handcuffs. And messing with my family pretty much fits the bill.” He reached Amanda’s side and stole the card from her grasp. Then tore it into four pieces.

The older woman crossed her arms and stood tall, as if imposing her five ten stature might intimidate Robinson. Then she started for the door, a smirk on her face. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“The best adventure of our lives? Sounds rough. You should try it. Oh, wait. You did.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And you messed it up.”

She pressed her lips together, shot them both a quick glance as if she understood something they didn’t. “That’s a matter of opinion.” She headed for the door, but turned back. “How’s Eileen? Any improvement with the AD?”

What? Everything inside Amanda stilled.

Sandra made a low sound in her throat and exited the room.

Oh, no. That wasn’t the way things worked. Amanda rushed after her. The ugly monster inside worked itself up to massive proportions.

Breathe. The last thing you need is to claw her eyes out.

Oh, but it would be the highlight of her day. “You better start explaining yourself, Sandra.”

The older woman turned to face her.

“You can’t walk into my niece’s room—”

“My granddaughter.”