Chapter Twenty-Three

Gibson

"Audrey-car keys!"

My sister was in the sunroom, talking to Mamma. She looked up as I entered and reached out her hand. In her palm was the electric key fob to her husband's Audi. "I'm way ahead of you, brother. Bring it back spotless, or don't bring it back. You know how Richard is."

"Thank you."

Ignoring the disapproving look on my mother's face, I raced to the front door. In seconds, I was in the car and heading down the driveway. Hopefully I was only minutes behind Sacha.

I made it out of the neighborhood and headed toward the freeway. She said she was going home. I had to get to her and convince her she was wrong about me. It was true I saw our situation as the chance to have a family again, but that wasn't the only reason I wanted to be with her.

It was her, Sacha. Her spark, her fire. The way she pushed back at me and wasn't afraid to argue. She was not like the other women I had been with. Even Bianca, God rest her soul, had deferred to me in most things. The money changed people. It colored their perceptions. I could never trust that it didn't influence friends and lovers, at least to a degree.

Sacha and I had met and grown to know each other on equal ground. Until today, she saw me as an average guy, and that was who she had made love to, whose shoulder she cried on last night. Yes, I qualified for the term "billionaire," but that was only my financial status. I was still the same person I had been all my life, so her accusation that I had misrepresented myself wasn't entirely true.

She wasn't without her faults, either, but I didn't care. The way she told me to go to hell when I needed to hear it, like today, only made me love her more. Sacha was a strong, independent woman. For her to leave the way she did, knowing I was heir to my family's fortune, spoke volumes about her integrity.

"She's also stubborn as a mule," I muttered, turning onto the freeway onramp. Dodging trucks and changing lanes, I drove as fast as I could, keeping an eye out for state troopers and for Sacha's car. I saw neither.

My stomach churned as I reached Sacha's street. I was trying to imagine where else she might have gone, when I saw her car parked in front of her building. As I came to a stop behind it, I noticed a figure on the grass a few feet away.

It was Sacha, on her hands and knees, with one hand on her stomach. Her pretty face was contorted, and her eyes were shut tight. I was out of the vehicle and at her side in an instant. Placing a hand on her back, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket with the other.

"I'm calling 911. What's wrong?"

She gasped in a lungful of air and blew it out. "It hurts. I threw up, and my pulse won't slow down."

No. This can't be happening.

The call went through and I described the situation. I stayed on the line, keeping the dispatcher informed and attempting to calm Sacha at the same time. I was outwardly placid, but my insides were at war. Once she was safely on her way to the hospital, I was sure I was going to puke. But for now, I had to be in control.

It seemed an eternity had passed before we heard the sirens. I had her lay on my lap, and kept stroking her hair, talking to her. Coaxing her to breathe slowly, hoping her heart rate would ease. A small crowd gathered as Sacha's neighbors came out from their apartments. A few rushed to her side to see if they could help, but most hung back, curious. Melanie was not among them, and I wished she was. It would help to have a friend nearby.

The medical team arrived, and within minutes, they had Sacha in the ambulance and on her way to the emergency room. I hadn't dared to ask the questions that were foremost in my mind-would she be okay, and would she lose the baby?

Both thoughts consumed me as I followed the ambulance to the hospital. Had I caused this to happen? If I hadn't insisted on going to my parents' house today, maybe she would have gotten help sooner. Maybe the stress of the surprise had affected her health.

My own heart was beating furiously. I had so damn much to make up for. If they lived through this, I was going to make sure Sacha and our child never wanted for anything. Even if she no longer wanted to see me, I was going to make things right.

~*~