by James, Lylah
“Is he home?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
She shook her head. “He left for an urgent meeting an hour ago.”
“Okay, thank you.” I smiled.
Malay placed the tray on the coffee table and then excused herself, shutting the door behind her.
The bling on my left hand caught my attention again and I sighed, falling back against my pillows. Today was going to be a good day, I firmly believed.
The smell of warm butter and toast filled the room, teasing my nostrils and I gagged.
What the hell?
Since when did the smell of toast make me want to retch?
I reached for the glass of water on my nightstand and took a big gulp, hoping that it would alleviate the sick feeling in my stomach. But it only made it worse. Bile rose in my throat, tasting acidic on my tongue.
Oh God, I was going to puke.
I sprung out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, kneeling by the toilet – just in time for me to vomit my dinner from last night. I gagged, letting out a pitiful cry.
God, I hated puking.
My stomach churned and I continued gagging, even though I was done vomiting. There was nothing left but bile and an empty stomach. After flushing the toilet, I brushed my teeth and rinsed my mouth, trying to get rid of the taste of vomit on my tongue.
It wasn’t until after I had pulled on a dress over my head and the room swayed under my feet that realization dawned on me.
The reason behind my constant exhaustion over the last two weeks; my breasts being extremely sensitive, me being overly emotional and now… puking.
No.
This couldn’t be happening, right?
I quickly counted the dates in the back of my head, only to realize that I was ten days late for my period. I was never late. My period was regular, always on time or some times, a day early. But never late. And especially not by ten freaking days!
How did I miss all these signs?
Rushing to the bathroom, I fumbled through the cabinets and drawers to find the pregnancy test I always kept on me. When my marriage began with a contract, stating that I was practically a walking womb for the Romano and Spencer family, I had to be always prepared.
When I found the pregnancy test, my heart stuttered.
My stomach churned as I peed on the stick and then placed it on a napkin on the counter.
I didn’t know if I was scared or pleased…
Killian and I both knew what was expected from this marriage. An heir. We never used any protection, so this was bound to happen. Eventually. But we never specifically talked about kids.
The deal was for us to go our separate ways once I gave birth.
But that has changed now, right?
Our marriage was no longer a ruse. We were together for real.
Maybe we needed more time together…
Just the two of us.
We lost three years and while our relationship was somewhat stable now, we still needed more time to recover from all that went wrong between us.
Doubt creeped in, slithering into my heart, and I felt nauseous again. I walked away from the pregnancy test and paced the length of the bedroom.
There was anticipation burning under my skin – the thought that I could be carrying Killian’s baby pleased me.
But the worry coursing through my vein unsettled me.
After a few minutes, I started toward the bathroom again. To check for the result of the pregnancy test.
Except, I never reached the bathroom.
There was a rustling sound behind me, strange and uninvited. I fought back a shiver of dread. Someone was in my room…
I had been so consumed by the thought of finding out that I could be pregnant, I hadn’t noticed that there was someone else in the bedroom, other than myself.
My heart leaped in my throat and I lunged for the vase.
Too late.
A heavy arm snaked around my waist, tugging me back into an unfamiliar body and then a hand slammed over my mouth, muffling my scream.
I felt a tiny prick in my right arm, right above my elbow. My body went rigid before I started struggling, trying to escape my captor.
But he was strong and much heavier than me.
Whatever he injected in my veins was making me drowsy and…
No. Please, no.
I tried to struggle but my limbs wouldn’t cooperate.
The room swayed.
My vision blurred.
I heard a familiar voice, but I couldn’t place it.
A small groan rattled from me before my eyes rolled back into my head.
And everything ceased to exist.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Killian
I realized one thing in the last month. Loving Julianna was easy. Trying to hate her with no more apparent reason was difficult and pure torture.
I tried to find a reason to be angry at her, but I had long forgiven her lies and deception. It was that I never knew how to tell her that.
I was in love with my wife.
Recklessly and irrevocably in love with her.
It was a mad, mad love – and sometimes, I worried that I might scare her away with how intense my feelings were for her.
My gaze darted to the bouquet of ranunculi in my hand. It was time to put the past behind us and to start anew. Julianna wanted to re-write our story and I was going to grant her that wish.
I took the stairs to my room, my palms sweating and my heart racing. Why the fuck was I so nervous, acting like an amorous teenager who was about to go on his first date?
Goddamn it, I was whipped for my wife.
A grin spread across my lips as I stalked into our bedroom. “Julianna?” I called out, when I found the room empty.
The bathroom lights were on and the door was ajar, so I took a peek inside. But Julianna wasn’t there either. I turned to leave when something unusual caught my eye.
I slowly blinked and walked further into the bathroom, toward the counter.
A pregnancy test.
I peered closer at it and my heart leaped to my throat.
A positive pregnancy test.
Dumbfounded, this took a second to sink in.
Julianna was… pregnant.
I didn’t know why I was so shocked. We never used any protection, because the sole purpose of our marriage was to provide an heir. Though, everything changed when Julianna’s truth was revealed.
Our marriage was more than that now.
My legs shook and the room swayed for a moment before I quickly regained my composure. Julianna was pregnant with my baby.
Jesus Christ.
I was going to be a father.
But where the fuck was my woman?
I clenched the bouquet in my hand and rushed out of the room and down the stairs, calling out for her. Malay came forward, her hands fluttering to her chest. “Killian, is something amiss?”
I looked around, as if my wife would somehow materialize into thin air. “Where’s Julianna?”
“She has been in her room all this time,” Malay said, her brows furrowing. “I brought her breakfast in bed, like you instructed.”
Though I had rushed out of the room, I remembered seeing the breakfast tray on the coffee table. It was untouched.
My blood ran cold. “When did you bring her breakfast?”
Malay looked thoughtful for a second before nodding. “About three hours ago.”
“She’s not in the room,” I said, swallowing past the lump in my throat. My mind raced. “I want every single staff looking for her. Right now!”
Thirty minutes later, the search party was unsuccessful. Julianna was nowhere to be found and apparently no one had seen her.
I scrubbed a shaky hand over my face. “Samuel, I need you to check all the security footage,” I ordered, trying to remain calm, except I felt anything but.
My insides churned and it felt like acid was flowing through my veins. I followed Samuel into the basement, where ou
r security room was. He ran through all the video footage that surrounded the premises of Spencer Manor and my stomach dropped when he rewound through one specific piece of footage. The balcony outside my room – three hours ago.
Terror gripped me when I saw a masked man carrying Julianna over his shoulders. He climbed down from my balcony, almost expertly, as if he had done such a thing many times.
Bile rose in my throat when I saw Julianna’s precarious position. She was limp, hanging dangerously over her captor’s shoulders. She was absolutely helpless to prevent herself from a deadly fall.
My fists clenched at my sides. Samuel rewound through different footage, this one showing the masked man dumping an unconscious Julianna into a black car, with tinted windows.
“Fuck,” Samuel swore. “How did he get through our security?”
“It doesn’t matter how,” I growled, fury burning through my veins. “Too bad for him, I’m one step ahead.”
I fished out my phone and opened the tracking app.
It was her ring. The one I put back on her finger last night. Once I found out that someone was hunting Julianna, I knew I had to take drastic steps.
Which included putting a tracking device on her.
And what better way to hide a tracking device than in a diamond ring?
But it was sheer luck that I replaced her rings last night and she was kidnapped today. What were the odds?
If I were one day later…
I shook my head, refusing to think of the outcome.
Right now, my priority was saving Julianna and my unborn baby. From now on, they were my sole focus.
Two hours later, the car slowed in front of a two-story house, in quite an old neighborhood. I lunged out of the car before it even came to a complete stop and took a quick peek at the tracking app. We were right over the red mark. Julianna had to be here.
“That’s the car,” Samuel barked. “The one from the video footage. I recognize it.”
I was already stalking to the front door, my men following closely behind me. Not bothering to knock, Samuel and I used our combined strength to kick the door open.
A man, with spiky hair and a scarred face, came running at the sound of his door crashing open. His eyes widened at the sight of me and ten more bulky men standing behind me.
“What–”
I lunged forward, not even giving him a chance to finish his thoughts. My fingers wrapped around his throat and I slammed him into the wall.
“Where is Julianna?” I snarled. “What. Did. You. Do. To. Her?”
His face turned purple as he struggled to breathe. My thumbs pressed deeper into his throat, feeling the fragile pulsing veins under my fingertips.
I brought my face closer, staring him down. He watched me with dark, frightened eyes.
“If anything happened to my wife, if she and my baby were harmed in any way possible, I’ll make sure you regret the day you were born,” I hissed into his purple chocking face. “I’ll make your life a living hell. And that’s a Spencer’s vow.”
I released him and he stumbled back, gasping for breath. “I don’t… know what… you’re talking about.”
Samuel rushed back down the stairs. “She’s not here. We looked everywhere. But we checked all the footage carefully. That’s the same car that she was taken away in and the tracking device…”
“Boss,” George called, cutting off Samuel. My head snapped toward him and he was holding…Julianna’s ring between his fingers.
My blood ran cold.
“I found it in the car, under the seat.”
“My car?” the man choked, his face white as a ghost. He slumped against the wall, falling onto his ass. “That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know what you’re taking about.”
His face paled and then he stuttered, looking both panicked and fearful. “W-wait. My brother used… my car today.”
“Who is your brother?” I barked, glaring down at him.
“Simon Jones? He used to work for Bishop Romano, as a bodyguard.”
Simon…
The name was familiar and when realization dawned on me, my heart rate sped up.
Gracelynn’s lover?
He did have a motive for wanting to harm Julianna – an act of vengeance. But was he also behind the accident that night?
That didn’t make any fucking sense.
“Where’s your brother right now?” I asked, my voice cold and low with warning.
“I don’t know,” he cried.
I slammed my foot over his knee, hearing the bone crack. He howled, his face twisting in agony. “That’s not the right answer. Try again. Where’s your brother right now?”
“I don’t… know…” he chattered. “We used to live… together, up until last week. It was unlike him, but he suddenly said that he was moving out. He’s been renting… this place. It’s up north, an hour from here.”
That was all the information I needed. After he gave us the address, I silently motioned for George to stay behind. To keep an eye on Simon’s brother so there would be no communication between the two.
We broke all traffic laws, cutting the driving time from one hour to thirty-five minutes.
Please be okay, Princess. I’m coming for you.
As soon as I pulled into the driveaway of the address that was given to me, my gut churned with a sick sense of dread. The house was in the middle of nowhere, lonely and looking practically deserted. The closest neighbor was probably twenty miles away from here.
As much as I hated it, this was the perfect place to hold someone captive.
Instead of going through the front door, we entered the house through the side door, which was real fucking easy to crash open. The house was eerily quiet. My men rushed inside, checking every corner of every room.
I made my way upstairs, gun in one hand. After checking the bedrooms and finding them all empty, I went to the last door at the end of the hallway. It was closed and locked from the outside.
My chest squeezed as I opened the latch. Julianna had to be in here.
Please be in here. Please let this be the room.
I pushed the door open, eyes darting around the room – only to find it empty. I walked inside, fist clenching and my heart dropping to my stomach in dread.
She wasn’t in here…
SLAM!
Pain exploded inside my head.
I turned around, my head pounding. I blinked several times. It fucking hurt and I staggered on my feet. The world spun and my vision blurred. I was bleeding. I had to be.
My gaze caught Julianna’s wild hair and feral grey eyes, before drifting down to the metal rod she was holding in her hands.
Blood dripped down my temple.
“Jules…” my lips parted to say her name before my knees buckled and my world went dark.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Julianna
The moment my gaze met Killian’s dark one, I was too late to realize that I had attacked the wrong person. His eyes rolled back into his head and my husband slumped to the ground with a hard thud.
I didn’t hit my captor.
I ended up unknowingly attacking my savior.
God, how much of a fool I was!
I fell to my knees next to Killian’s body, shaking his shoulders. “Killian?” I said, heart in my throat. “Open your eyes.”
Frantically, I looked around the room and then peeked outside. The hall was empty. How long did we have before Simon came back? Did Killian come to rescue me alone? My throat went dry at the thought. I would hope not, because we were going to need back-up.
A bump was forming over the spot where I had hit him and he was bleeding. Not heavily though. It was a small wound, thank God.
Killian groaned and after much cajoling from me, he finally blinked his eyes open. Dazed and pained. But when his dark gaze met mine, I saw fear and wonderment. “I found you,” he grunted.
“You found me,” I whispered, sniffling. “I was so scared, but I knew you’d c
ome.”
Killian sat up, wincing, but I saw the unmasked rage in his eyes. “I’m going to kill him. Simon is a dead fucking man,” my husband growled.
I shook my head. “It’s not Simon who wants me dead. He has been used as an alibi. A cover up. Like the maid.”
His chest rattled with a sound and his fists clenched. “Who would want you dead then? Who is trying to kill you?” he asked, his voice deceptively calm.
“I know who it is,” I confessed softly.
His eyes flared and his jaw tightened. “Who?”
It pained me to say it, but sometimes the truth was more bitter than lies and deception.
“My father.”
Two hours ago.
I woke up with a pounding headache, drowsy at first, but then my memories came crashing back to me. My heart stammered in my chest. With a gasp, I sat up. My eyes searched my surroundings, only to realize that I was in a windowless room.
The room was bare of any furniture except the bed that I was sitting on and the wooden chair across the room.
I had been captured, taken. By the person who had been hunting me. My hands shook and I tried to remain calm, but I couldn’t.
Tears welled up in my eyes, but I blinked them away. No, this was not the time to cry. I had to figure out how to get out of this place.
For too long, I had been weak. Depending on my father and husband to protect me.
Not anymore.
I spent the next twenty minutes trying to break free from the room, only to realize that there was no escape. The door was locked from the outside.
I had to wait for whoever had kidnapped me. I had to know who it was and then I could decide the probability of me successfully escaping this place.
Dread filled me because I knew how hard it was going to be. To escape when I had no idea where I was.
Where are you, Killian?
I sat on the bed, fidgeting for the next few minutes until I heard the rattling of the lock. My eyes widened as the door slid open.
Thud.
A shadow loomed at the doorway, big and imposing. It was a man.