Allan spoke. “We love you, and we’re sorry we had to be away from you. The next few months won’t be perfect, but…” He looked at Ben.
They spoke at the same time. “Will you marry us?”
Overcome with her emotions, she couldn’t speak. She tightly squeezed their hands and nodded.
They stood and held her. “We’ll work out the details later,” Ben said. “Have Mandaline marry us, if you’d like. We want you to legally marry one of us for the health insurance.” They exchanged a glance. “We agreed it’s your decision, but maybe once we have a chance to look into our health insurance policies and see who’s got the better plan, it might be better to go that way.”
She shook her head. “I can’t decide between you. That’s not fair to even ask me.”
Allan caressed her cheek. “Seriously, we don’t care which one. You’re
our
wife.” He grinned at his brother. “And regardless, you’ll still have our last name. If you want to,” he added. “All we care about is making sure you and
our
baby are well cared for.” Both men pressed their palms to her stomach. “And we don’t care which one of us is the father, either,” he said.
“Seriously,” Ben added.
She looked from one to the other. “Honestly? I don’t know if I can handle a car ride today.”
“We’ll leave early in the morning,” Ben said. “Allan’s going to go get my stuff from the other hotel. And I need to make some calls and hand off cases I’m working on.”
“I, unfortunately, do need to get going,” Allan said. He leaned in and kissed her. “I’ll be back later tonight. It’s going to take me a while. I have to be very careful.”
She nodded. “I understand.” She touched his hair. “I never did like you as a blond.”
He snorted. “See?” he said to Ben. “I told you that looked like crap.”
* * * *
Alone with Ben, there was something she wanted no matter how bad her pain. She draped her arms around him and wiggled her hips against his.
Immediately, his cock stiffened in his slacks. “You sure you’re up for this?”
She nodded. “I can see you are, too.”
He edged her over to the bed, where he carefully laid her down. “You have nooo idea. I’ve had to rub one out every day missing you.” He nibbled her neck. “How busy have you been, my dirty girl?”
“None,” she meekly said.
He sat up. “What?”
“I missed you guys too much.” She didn’t want to start crying again.
He looked shocked and saddened. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.” He lay down with her and held her in his arms. “Christ, I’m sorry.”
“I just couldn’t,” she whispered. “I’d think about you guys and start crying. It…it just wasn’t worth trying.”
“Shh, it’s okay.”
* * * *
Ben hated himself. He knew she’d been lonely and in pain, but never dreamed this would also be a side effect of trying to keep her safe. Worse, now he felt like a selfish shit for masturbating while she was alone.
He got up, undressed, and quickly rejoined her. Slowly, he removed her clothes and kissed her flesh, wanting to take all her pain away, mentally and physically. He knew today couldn’t be one of their rough-and-tumble romps. She needed tender and sweet, mind and body.
After going down on her and making her come, he started to enter her when he stopped. “Crap.”
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
“I don’t have any rubbers.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
He sat up. “Dammit. I’ll have Allan stop on his way—”
“Seriously?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any. It’s not like we’ve needed them.”
She propped herself up on her elbows. “You know, for a cop, you’re being amazingly stupid.”
He didn’t understand her aggravated tone. “What?”
“Think about it for a moment. It’ll come to you.”
Puzzled, he stared at her. Her eyebrows arched skyward.
When it hit him, he felt like the most stupid idiot in the world. “Oh.”
She let out a snort. “Yeah, oh. You seriously kept you and Allan hid for months, and yet can’t remember I’m pregnant?”
He laughed. “All right, so I’m an idiot. Hey, it’s pretty new to me.” He kissed her, sliding his cock home as he did. Her chuckles turned into soft moans. It felt heavenly to finally be able to feel his flesh joined with hers like that without a barrier between them.
He found her hands and gently pinned them over her head. “I think you’re too mouthy. Let’s take care of that,” he whispered, kissing her again.
She whimpered, her hips rocking with his. It didn’t take but a moment for him to feel her come. While she’d come for him like this before, never had it felt this good. He kept his pace slow and even until he felt her come again a few minutes later. Only then did he pick up the pace, thrusting quickly until his balls drew up tight and for the first time able to bury himself deep inside as his cum flowed into her.
He rolled to his side, still inside her, arms wrapped around her.
“How do you think it happened?” she softly asked a while later.
“How what happened?”
“The baby.”
He laughed. “You don’t know how babies are made?”
“Smart-ass. We fucked like bunnies for months. I’ve only been feeling queasy for a few weeks.”
He shrugged, letting his fingers drift up and down her spine. “How late do you think you are?”
“I don’t know for sure. I didn’t really keep track of it.”
“It likely happened that last night. Maybe a condom ripped, or maybe one of us stayed inside a little too long after we came. Maybe one of us had some on our hands and it happened that way, I don’t know.” He kissed her. “I don’t care how it happened.”
“You’re really happy about this?”
He tipped her chin so she had to meet his gaze. “Very. No, the circumstances aren’t perfect. But absolutely I’m happy. So’s Allan.”
“I hope it’s okay.”
He squeezed her tightly against him. “It’s going to be beautiful and perfect, just like his or her momma.”
She snickered. “I can’t wait to tell Allan you were really worried about not having a condom.”
He laughed. “Personally, I say wait to tell him. Let’s see if he’s smarter than I am.”
She giggled.
* * * *
Allan hurried toward his office in his car, taking the time to backtrack a few times even though he knew there was no way in hell any of Bianco’s men could have spotted him. On the way back to the hotel later, sure, he’d damn well take all precautions.
But only after he had a chance to stop by his house first. There was something tucked in a jewelry box in his top dresser drawer that he’d held on to for years and that he wanted to pick up before he returned to the hotel.
Their mom’s wedding and engagement rings.
He suspected Ben would agree that it was perfect. And it would be a tangible reminder, even when both of them had to be away from her, of their love.
He had to stifle a giggle as he hurried into the back entrance and to his office.
I’m going to be a dad!
He wanted to scream it to everyone and knew it had to stay secret.
Libbie had to stay secret.
He stopped by the receptionist’s desk. “Sorry I’m so late, had to take care of some stuff that cropped up. Anyone waiting on me?”
Technically, the first appointment wasn’t for another thirty minutes, but it didn’t hurt to check.
“Not yet. You all right, Allan? You look…different.”
He grinned. “I’m great. It’s a great day.”
She made an odd face. “It’s Monday.”
“I know. Isn’t it great?” He walked back to his office, resisting the urge to whistle all the way there. Even the uncomfortable, unfamiliar weight of Ben’s gun pressing against the front of his hip, combined with the bulletproof vest under his suit coat, couldn’t dampen his spirits.
* * * *
Florio sat parked in a lot across the street from the government building’s employee lot. He’d considered sending a man in there to wait at Allan Donohue’s car and jump him, but realized there was too much security, as well as regular patrol sweeps by bailiffs, to pull it off.
Instead, he sent one of his men to Donohue’s house to watch there. He had two other guys stationed on either side of the parking lot he now sat in, so regardless which way Donohue turned when he left the garage, at least one guy should be able to tail him until everyone else could catch up.
Finally, close to six thirty, he saw Donohue’s car pull out of the garage and head north. He alerted his guys via the two-way phones he’d equipped them with, and soon the three of them were trying to follow Donohue through Miami traffic.
One of his guys was soon left behind, caught at a light behind another vehicle. As Donohue whipped through traffic, he realized if they hadn’t been made, they soon would be. He called ahead to the guy in front of him, who was three cars behind Donohue. “Circle the block and come up behind me,” he ordered. I’ll pull closer. I don’t want him making you.”
“Got it.” His man took the next right turn.
Florio waited until his other guy, the one caught by the light, caught up with him. “We’re going to leapfrog this fucker, got it? I’m going to circle around and come up from behind. Do. Not. Lose him. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Florio felt his balls crawling up inside him as he turned off, losing sight of Donohue and his two guys. He was making another turn to catch up again when one of them called him. “He just took the Turnpike, heading south.”
“Stay with him. Take turns staying behind him. Don’t tip him off.” Traffic was heavy, but would quickly begin to thin out with the end of rush hour, increasing the chances of Donohue spotting them.
He made his way to the Turnpike and soon caught up with his men. He hung back several cars. “When he turns off, you two keep going and I’ll pick him up.”
That happened five miles later. Florio felt the sweat soaking his shirt despite the AC over the stress of not losing him until he knew his guys were behind him once again in traffic.
“I think he’s going to his house,” one of them said. “We’re close.”
Florio struggled with what to do. “Hang back. Let’s hope you’re right.”
Five minutes later, he nearly cried with relief when the guy staged in Donohue’s neighborhood, parked in the driveway of a foreclosed house nearly a block down, reported Donohue had just pulled in.
“Thank Christ. Something’s going right.”
* * * *
Allan had decided to go by his house before stopping by the hotel for Ben’s things. And it was so late that he’d grab his own stuff and check out tomorrow, after Libbie and Ben were safely out of Miami. He didn’t think anyone had followed him, although once or twice not long after leaving work it had seemed like maybe there was. Each time, however, the car had turned.
I’m just paranoid.
He quickly went to his bedroom and found what he was looking for. He hadn’t opened the velvet jeweler’s box in years. He looked at them, smiling as he thought how beautiful the rings would look on Libbie’s finger.
He closed the case, pocketed it, and hurried back to his car.
* * * *
“Look sharp, he’s coming,” Florio ordered. He’d told his guy who’d been waiting at the house to take the lead. With it growing dark, it’d be harder for Donohue to spot them. After thirty circuitous minutes, Donohue stopped at a hotel and pulled into their parking garage. Just as Florio was getting ready to send someone in to see what they could find out, Donohue reappeared with two suitcases, which he tossed into the backseat of his car and took off again.
“Now what?” one of his guys asked nearly an hour later after they’d followed him to another hotel, where he’d parked and gone inside.
“Now, we fucking wait, that’s what. Boss wants them both, but especially the cop.”
* * * *
Libbie still couldn’t believe how much life had changed for her in the past few hours. She honestly had never considered the possibility that her nausea was from being pregnant. Fibro was the gold standard of mystery symptoms, and sometimes they even changed from week to week. But while waiting for Allan to return, they’d gone ahead and used the third test kit.
Positive.
Ben had room service brought up for lunch for them, and was getting ready to order it again for dinner when they heard a knock on the door. Ben silently walked up to the door and looked through the viewfinder before opening it.
Allan rushed in, dumping the two suitcases on the floor before grabbing Libbie and pulling her into his arms.
“There’s my girl.”
“You okay?”
He grinned. “I’m going to be a dad. I’m better than okay.” He looked at Ben. “I had to struggle to keep the shit-eating grin off my face all day.”
“No one followed you?”
“No way. And I got this.” He pulled a black velvet case out of his jacket and showed it to Ben. “Mom’s.”