ERIC STAYED, AND THE OTHER men left in the helicopter before I even realized, as my sole focus was on Divinity. They were gone well before the police and ambulance arrived. Eric used basic medical training he knew to help Divinity, by wrapping her ribs in ripped cloths and cleaning her head wound and dressing it, he also taped fingers that looked broken and tidied up cuts that were scattered over her. While he worked on his daughter, Eric made sure I knew the story we were to tell the authorities, leaving out the extra men and saying we were dropped in by helicopter and it left. We got an anonymous tip where to go to get Divinity. The gun I’d used belonged to one of my securities so it was registered, but I would explain I took it to use to get Divinity back.
By the time the ambulance and police arrived I knew what I was supposed to say and do. It was odd, being on the other side of the law and being questioned. It helped that I was a detective, so I knew procedure and what would happen. The drug lab was a huge find and I was sure it would make any punishment I would receive light.
I didn’t leave Divinity, even when threatened with forceful removal by the police on duty. I flung all the power I had around. I used my badge and even my last name to get what I wanted and to stay with Divinity.
I don’t remember the ride to the hospital. I barely remember moving until nurses pried my fingers from hers and dragged me away from her, repeating over and over that she needed surgery and I had to leave. They sat me down in the family waiting room and I stared at the doors for hours waiting for information on Divinity.
I don’t know how long I sat staring at the doors before two people dressed in scrubs came to me. The taller of the two, a man in his late fifties, stepped forward. “Are you family to Miss Stamon?”
I stood and announced, “I’m her fiancée.”
“Her father,” I heard at the same time.
The man looked from myself, to Eric, and then nodded. “I’m Dr. Bradford. We stopped a brain bleed, but there is a lot of swelling. It’s something we will need to keep an eye on. We have her in an induced coma hoping that will help. We are taking her to get her other injuries dealt with now, but there are a couple of quick questions we need to ask before we proceed.” He glanced at Eric. “Is your daughter allergic to anything?”
I looked at Eric to see him shake his head. “No. She’s never had a reaction to anything.”
“Good. Good. Is there any chance she could be pregnant?”
“No,” Eric snapped.
At the same time, I said, “Yes.” I didn’t even bother to look at Eric. I could feel the anger radiating from him. “She wouldn’t be far along, but yes, there is a possibility.”
Dr. Bradford gave a curt tilt of his chin. “Okay. I’ll order the test from the lab. If she is pregnant, the baby should be safe, but we won’t do any more x-rays and I’ll write this on her chart.” He raised a brow at me. “Would you like to know when we get the blood tests back?”
“Sure.” I didn’t really care about anything right now besides Divinity getting better
“Yes,” snarled Eric.
The doctor turned to him. “I’m sorry sir, but that information is private.”
His growl was loud before Eric stomped off. I didn’t take my gaze off Dr. Bradford though. “When can I see her?”
“Her head injuries were our priority when she came in. We now will be focusing on her ribs, legs and fingers. I will make sure you are informed, but I don’t see you being let in to be with her until they have her injuries sorted out. She was in rough shape. It will take time to get to all her injuries. We will get you with her as soon as we’ve done everything we can.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, unsure what else I could say.
The doctor’s hand came down on my arm. “I’d tell you to go home, get a shower, food, and some rest, but I can tell neither you, nor her father will leave. Just remember you’ll be no good to Miss Stamon if you aren’t well yourself.”
“Thanks. I’ll be fine once I’ve seen her and know she’s going to be okay.”
“I’ll make sure they keep updating you. If you have any family for support I suggest you call them as it’s going to be a long night.”
I nodded and watched as Dr. Bradford and the nurse walked back behind the doors before I turned and received a right hook to my face.
“So not only do you get my daughter kidnapped, you fucking knocked her up?”
Shaking off the black dots that clouded my vision, I struggled to straighten and then glared at Eric. “She may not be pregnant, but I sure hope so. I want your daughter. She’s mine.”
“What the hell do you mean she’s yours? Look what fucking happened to her from being seen with you,” Eric yelled.
“I had bodyguards on her. I didn’t think she w—”
“That’s the fucking thing. You didn’t bloody well think. She is not something for you rich pricks to use as property. She’s her own person and definitely not yours. I won’t allow it. She’s too good for the likes of you. This is all because of you!” He lunged for me, but this time Arron come out of nowhere and held him back.
“Dad. No. You’ll get kicked out of here. Stop! I saw someone run to get help. Oakley and Andrew went to stop them.”
I darted my gaze around the waiting room and saw my head of security and friend Chad, and Joel, one of the security that sat in the salon most days with Divinity, my mother and father, and my brother Tyson, who stood slightly behind me. I had no idea when they’d arrived, but I was grateful.
I glared back at Divinity’s father. “I knew the moment I laid eyes on Divinity, she was mine and I may not be good enough for her, but I love her. I love her with every fiber of my being and if I could swap places with her right now I would.” I raked my fingers through my short hair. “She would have had her bodyguards with her if she hadn’t been worried about you and what you’d say about us being together. She wanted to settle Arron back in with you before she left. She always thinks of everyone else first before she worries about herself. So don’t start the blame game.”
“Ha, if you were a real man you would have kept my daughter with you.” Eric crossed his arms over his chest.
I gave a hollow laugh. “Your stubborn daughter does what she likes. Have you even noticed that her mountain of shoes and clothes aren’t in her room? I moved my woman into our house, but she packed suitcases and snuck out to stay with you to settle you in after your time away.” I was getting sick and tired of Eric treating me the way he was. The situation we were in wasn’t a good one, but he hadn’t given me a chance at getting to know him. He’d belittled and growled at me, and now when we should’ve been learning more about each other, we were attacking each other. I sighed, frustrated. “Look I don’t want to fight or argue with you. I love your daughter and whether you like it or not you will be my father-in-law. For Divinity’s sake can we get on? Or at least have a truce until she’s better?” I held my hand out for a shake.
Eric shrugged out of Arron’s hold and slowly shook my hand. “Peace. Until Divinity is better.”
My eyes felt like they were glued shut and it seemed to take forever to get them open. The first thing I saw when I pried them apart was bright lights. It took a while for my eyes to focus and for me to realize I was staring at the ceiling. I took a moment to assess my body as memories flooded me of the last things I remembered. I hurt, but surprisingly, not as bad as I thought I would. I had a nice buzz flowing through me and as I carefully turned my head I saw a drip and what looked like fluids. Turning my gaze down, I saw a dark head resting on the bed and noticed pressure on my hand that had no needles attached to it.
Ryder. I knew those tats, and as I became more awake his manly smell was wafting to me. It was comforting and I squeezed his hand. “Ryder.” I croaked out. My voice was rough and sounded like I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. Slowly, I squirmed on the bed to test my range of movement and cleared my throat, only to groan at the dryness, but tried again. “Ryder.”
This time his head snapped up and his dark green eyes flashed before they caught mine. “Divinity. Oh God. You’re awake. Let me get the nurse.”
I shook my head but it didn’t move much. “No. Water,” I croaked.
He stood and a second later a straw came to my lips. “Sip slowly.”
I did as he said and swished the water around before I swallowed. “How long have I been out?” I asked as soon as I’d had enough water that I didn’t feel like something had died in my mouth.
I didn’t miss the grimace before he covered it with tight thin lips and sad eyes. “A little over a week. They’ve had you in a coma to help with the swelling you had in your brain. They brought you out last night and this morning is the first time you’ve been awake.” He looked me over and I didn’t miss the flash of relief in his gaze. “I pressed the nurse button. One should be here any minute and hopefully she’ll get a doctor to explain everything.” He squeezed my hand and I clutched his because right now he was my lifeline.
“So, my dad? Arron? Where are they?” I darted my gaze around the room.
“They’ve been here. Your dad swap shifts with me. When he’s here I shower, eat and catch up on what’s going on.”
“What is going on? What’s happened?” I was eager to fund out what happened after I passed out. Was I in trouble for killing a man? Had they found X among the men they’d killed? Did they know who X was?
“I’m on leave pending an investigation, but don’t worry. The house was a wealth of information and has helped the investigation with leaps and bounds.” He brushed my hair from my face. “I don’t care about work or anything else but you right now.”
Was Ryder in trouble? Would he go to jail because of me? I stared into his eyes and tried to pry what I wanted out of them, but he didn’t give what I wanted away. Ryder looked tired. He had dark black bags under his eyes and his face looked like he hadn’t shaved since I’d come into the hospital. He had a decent beard going, but I wasn’t sure I liked it. His posture seemed limp and his usual cocky confidence was nonexistent. “Are you in trouble because of me? Is Dad in trouble?”
Ryder shook his head. “Don’t worry about any of that. My family lawyers and I have it sorted out.” He brought my hand up and kissed my knuckles. “I may have to find another job.” He shrugged. “I’m a Silverman, so I don’t really need to work. I have plenty of money. I could start my own business, or do whatever I wanted. So don’t worry about anything besides getting better.”
Nibbling on my lower lip, I tried to see if what he said was true, or he was just trying to not make me feel bad for all the trouble I caused. He winked, smirked, and kissed my hand again and I relaxed.
“What about me and the man I…” I trailed off unable to say out loud what I’d done.
His laugh was hollow but it did put me at ease. “Oh, my feisty little vixen, the man you killed is not even a blip in what’s gone on. The police accept it was done was in self-defense. The only thing they’re pissed about is he was moved from the room by your father.”
I opened my mouth to argue, because I was sure that it wasn’t my dad who moved the man, but saw the flash in his eyes and shake of Ryder’s head. They had a story, and right now wasn’t the time. Before I could say I understood a nurse rushed in apologizing for being held up. She checked my drip and asked how my pain was and then told me my doctor would be in any moment.
Almost as soon as the nurse left, the door opened and a man in his late forties came in with a white coat. The doctor. This was confirmed when he smiled a kind smile down at me, and picked up my chart off the hook on the end of the bed. “Hello, Divinity. It’s good to see you awake. I’m Dr. Linkon and I’ve been the head of managing your case. You are a lucky woman. You had a brain bleed that we stopped when you came into us. We’ve had you in an induced coma to make sure there was no more stress or anything to cause further damage for a week. Yesterday afternoon we slowly brought you out of the coma. How are you feeling?” He leaned forward and produced a small light that he flashed in one eye and then the other. He then did a pattern with it, nodded and put it back in his pocket.
“I feel better than I thought I would feel when I woke, but I now know I’ve been in a coma and a week has passed, so, I guess I feel like shit. I hurt.” I was in a lot of pain, too much considering I’d already had a week of healing.
He chuckled. “You won’t feel very good for a couple of weeks. You broke two ribs and fractured three others. Also, your left wrist is broken, three fingers on your right hand, your left ankle is fractured and your right knee was dislocated. You’re in bad shape.” He gently patted my arm. “The positive is the baby is healthy.”
“Say what now?” I choked out.
“Er…” He darted his gaze over to Ryder and I looked just in time to see Ryder give a swift nod. I narrowed my gaze and darted it from Dr. Linkon to Ryder. “Miss Stamon, I’m sorry. We needed to know if there was a possibility you were pregnant before we did x-rays or anything else that could harm the fetus. Your fiancée said it was possible, so we did a blood test and confirmed it. Congratulations. You and your fiancée should be expecting a new addition in a little less than eight months.”
I felt my mouth fall open and I then snapped shut as I realized my stupidity. Then I backed up, what did he mean fiancée? I shot a glare at Ryder and snarled when I saw him grinning like a loon. Of course he would be happy about this. He wasn’t the one who would have to squeeze a watermelon out of a hole of the size of an orange. The fiancée part I was sure Ryder and I had already discussed. I didn’t see the ring on my finger. I looked down at my hands and sighed. Not that any rings right now would fit on my chubby fingers. They were all swollen sausages, my left hand in a cast and three fingers were wrapped with a splint on my right. My ring finger might have been undamaged, but with a cast around my wrist and some of my hand and arm it was too big to have a ring on it.
Realizing I hadn’t replied to the doctor, I darted my gaze back to his and forced a smile on my face. “Thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help me heal. Thank you for making sure to ask about me being pregnant. I would have been devastated if I found out I’d lost a baby because of some medical procedures. Thank you.” What I said was true. This baby was a surprise, but I welcomed any new life, especially one I created with someone I had come to love.
This time when I gazed at Ryder, I felt no anger or annoyance, only hope for our future.
The next time I woke up it still took me a moment or two to remember where I was, but when I did, I was surprised to see three women sitting in chairs by the bed, talking. A young woman maybe a couple of years younger than me with jet-black hair and a round face with big green eyes smiled at a woman a little older with strawberry blonde hair. “Who needs a nanny when I have Gillian for a mother-in-law? I swear between her and the rest of the family I only see and hold my baby when I feed him.”
The strawberry blonde laughed. “Ha! I hear you on that. My daughter has more outfits than me. I don’t think she’s worn the same item twice.”
A girl with brown hair who looked close to the same age as the jet-black haired girl sighed. “It’s so fun buying all the babies’ outfits.” She beamed at both woman. “Your babies have made me totally clucky, but also helped me get my fix. The awesome thing is I get all the good stuff like dressing them in cute outfits and cuddling, but hand them back when unpleasant things like diaper changes are needed. Its win, win for me, I love them and then give them back and focus on uni.”
As I stared at them and listened, I wondered if they had the wrong the room. I didn’t know any of them. They weren’t who I expected to see when I awoke. Clearing my throat loudly I got their attention. “Hello. Have you got the wrong room?”
All three women stopped talking, turned to me, and smiled, their gazes holding pity, concern, and a good dose of interest as they stared at me. “We have the right one. You’re Divinity?” the strawberry blonde asked.
“Um, yeah. I don’t know you three, do I?” I narrowed my gaze and wracked my brain for anything on the three women before me and came up with nothing.
The brown-haired girl waved her hand as if shooing a problem away. “You don’t know us yet. I’m Jade and I’m married to Stephan, Ryder’s cousin.” She pointed to the jet-black haired girl. “That’s Bailey, and she’s married to Richard, another of Ryder’s cousins. The strawberry blonde Annabelle is married to Carl, Ryder’s uncle. We came to keep you company while the guys drag Ryder away to force him to eat, shower, and sleep. Now you’re awake we can all take turns, not just your father and Ryder, so you’re not alone. You also have a guard out at your door too. Gillian and Carol and my mother-in-law Evelin were going to be here, but we thought it best it be us. We know how you feel over the Silvermans. Trust me when I tell you I know how they come in and take over. We didn’t think you were ready for the mothers yet.”
I nodded as I studied the women. Jade and Bailey barely looked old enough to be married, and I was sure I heard Bailey say she had a baby. I furrowed my brows. She’d explained why Ryder wasn’t here, but she said my father took Ryder’s shift and stayed with me when he wasn’t around. So where was my dad now? Did I still need the guard? My mind swirled with questions and I was glad it was them and not Ryder’s mother or aunts. “Nice to meet you,” I mumbled.
“We wish we were meeting you under better circumstances.” Annabelle stated and darted her gaze to the other two women. She took a deep breath. “We wanted to check to see not just how you’re doing physically, but mentally. We know how crazy the Silverman men get over their woman, and we just wanted to see if we could help so you didn’t have to lie to Ryder, er if you do, do that.” She groaned. “Let me explain, when I was giving birth to my twins I learned to down play my pain, because even though my hubby is a doctor—so he knew that delivering his children would hurt— he freaked out about me being in so much pain. The nurses had him removed twice before I learned.”
Bailey giggled. “She’s right. I don’t think I walked for like a week after Sebastian’s birth. I ended up needing stitches.” She shivered. “Anyway, I got carried around because all I said was, ‘It hurts to walk’. Which made Stephan’s caveman side come out.” She grimaced. “I hope you get what we mean.”
“I get it. Ryder grabbed the nurse and made sure I received pain relief the first time I awoke.”
Jade moved a little closer. “What happened to you was crazy.”
It was insane. I had a feeling when I wasn’t doped out on pain meds and being distracted by people I would freak out about it too.
“I was almost kidnapped, but my bodyguards saved me.” Bailey said. “Um, we also wanted to come by because we heard what you did, and how you fought and well, um…” She looked down and then her gaze caught Jade’s and Annabelle’s.
“We want you to consider teaching us some moves and self-defense. We want to learn how to defend ourselves.” Annabelle babbled out. “We heard you even escaped too, or would have.”
I was shocked at what I was hearing. How and who did they hear all this from? “How? Who?”
Bailey smiled, lighting up the whole room. At first glance she was a shy, plain looking young woman who, and then she smiled and she became stunning. “Ryder. He told us. He’s so proud of you. Your father and brother are too, but, well, your dad stays away from all us. He’s, er, not much of a talker, but we can tell he’s proud though.”
It sounded all jumbled and took me a second to catch up. I wasn’t sure about what they said about escaping myself and even teaching them self-defense. My confidence had taken a beating. My body, too. Closing my eyes for a moment I wished my mother was alive. I could really use her love right now. Hell, I’d even settle for my father. That thought made me realize that I just needed a parent’s love right now. I opened my eyes. “My dad, where is he?”
Jade shrugged. “We don’t know where he is when he’s not here. I know your brother Arron is staying at Ryder’s parents’ house. I can go get someone to call him.”
“Yeah, please.” I was getting really tired. The little talk I’d just had had taken what little energy I had. I fought my lids to stay open and not shut. I’d sleep. “Thanks for visiting. It was nice to meet you and I’m glad I woke up to you and not your mother and sister-in-law’s.”
“It was nice to meet you even, so briefly. I’ll go tell them to call your father.” Jade patted my arm before she left the room.
“Nice to meet you. I look forward to seeing you more. My husband is close to Ryder so I’m sure we will. I’ll bring Sebastian, my baby, next time if you like.” Bailey smiled down at me and I could tell she was just one of those really nice sweet people.
“I’d love to meet your baby, and it was nice to meet you too.” I watched her nod to Annabelle before she strolled to the door.
“I would like to come back to visit. Is there anything you need? I’d offer to bring in my babies. Like I said earlier, I have twins. My daughter is the only girl born into the family in over a couple of centuries, at least that is what we found out from the research we did. So she is spoiled and held and cuddled almost twenty-four-seven. My son, well my mother never had a son or brothers so she just thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread. Thank God I breast feed otherwise I’d never see my babies.”
I couldn’t help my laugh at what I’d been hearing. It eased my worry over how being pregnant, which I still hadn’t fully accepted. It was all so surreal. If this woman could cope with twins, I could come to terms with one.
“Anyway.” Annabelle brought me back to her. “I’m a librarian, or was before I had the kids. Um, what I’m saying is that when I come back, if you’re okay with that, I’ll bring you some reading material. What do you read?”
“I love fiction, fantasy, sci-fi and romance. I have an iPad with a Kindle app on it. I’d really appreciate if you could get it from my dad or get my brother to get it. I left it at my dad’s. He lives on the base.”
“Sure. I’ll get that and make sure the bag that gets packed will be actual stuff you need.”
I sighed as a weight I didn’t even realize I had lifted off. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem.” She came and squeezed my hand. “You get some rest and us girls will organize and make sure you have everything.”
My lids drooped and I was losing my battle to keep my eyes open. “I know we are going to be great friends. I didn’t even know I needed to meet you guys right now, but I’m so glad I did. You’ve given me hope and have helped me. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all again.” My eyes closed and I knew I was about to crash. “And Annabelle…if you can steal your babies back I’d love to meet them.”
I barely heard her reply of, “Sure,” before I lost my fight to stay awake any longer. I hoped the next time I awoke it was to my father or Ryder.