by Tasha Fawkes
“Shit. How did I forget that?” he mutters.
“Just calm down,” I say, shaking my head. This is off to a great start. “We’ve got everything prepared, remember? All you have to do is get me to the hospital.”
“Right, well, let’s go.”
I ease myself off the bed, stand up, and slowly get dressed. The contractions are around six or seven minutes apart. I’m surprisingly calm—for now at least, but I’m sure that will change pretty soon.
Matt grabs his keys and then holds his other hand out to support me. He leads me out to the car. I get in, just as another contraction hits me. This one is so intense that I hunch forward and clutch my stomach. As soon as it passes, I belt myself in and make myself as comfortable as possible—which is pretty hard when you’re nine months and three days pregnant. I clutch my stomach and think about how much my life is about to change.
I’m about to become a mother.
I’m both excited and terrified at the same time, because this is something that has always scared me. What if I stuff it up? What if I’m a terrible mother? My whole life has been a struggle, especially when it came to my family. To not have anyone here for support, other than Matt, is scary. There’s not much I can do about it now. The only living family I have are my grandparents, who made it very clear that they wanted nothing to do with me. I'm sure they wouldn't want anything to do with their great grandchild either.
Matt jumps in the car and starts it up, then we speed off toward the hospital. Along the way, I have to remind him several times to slow down. He mutters something under his breath about this being an emergency, but slows the car down. We stop at a red light and he runs his hand through his hair, clearly stressed as he thumps his hand against the wheel. I reach over and place my hand over his.
“Just calm down, okay?” I urge him. “You’re starting to stress me out.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles.
By the time we get to the hospital, things have progressed fast. I gasp as another wave of pain spasms through me as I get out of the car. It takes my breath away, and as soon as I can stand on my own, Matt races in to get one of the nurses. I bend over and clutch on to my stomach as another one hits me, just as the nurse wheels out a wheelchair. I sink back into it, trying to relax as she wheels me into the hospital.
Matt insisted on the best private hospital, with the best doctors, and the best team of midwives. I’d rolled my eyes and teased him about it at the time, but as I’m wheeled into my five-star delivery suite, complete with huge double bed, spa bath, and a million other things I’d never have considered necessary, I’m so glad he did.
I get out of the wheelchair and walk over to the bed, standing against it. Matt is next to me, looking very helpless and a little green. I groan, my legs shaking as I work through the pain of another contraction.
“What can I do?” he asks.
“Get me something for the fucking pain,” I hiss, wincing.
He glances at the doctor, who has just walked in. “Can she have anything?”
The doctor helps me up onto the bed and examines me.
“Wow. Okay, I’m sorry to inform you of this, Charlene, but you’re too far gone for an epidural. Or much at all, really. This baby is coming now. The best I can do is some gas. Put that mask over your nose and mouth and take deep breaths,” he says, nodding at the nurse.
She hands me the mask, which I place over my face. I breathe in and out as best as I s can, but the pain makes it nearly impossible. It doesn’t feel like it’s doing much for me anyway. I gasp as my water suddenly breaks, soaking me and the bed. My eyes meet Matt's and I giggle, because the poor guy looks terrified. You’d think it was him about to give birth, rather than me.
The smile is wiped off my face pretty fast when another contraction comes on. I let out a yell, because it’s the worst one yet. Mat offers me his hand, which I gratefully accept, squeezing it tightly in a feeble attempt to dull the pain. I gasp, my heart racing as the urge to push overwhelms me.
“Okay, Charlene, I can see the head,” the doctor says. He speaks calmly, which I find reassuring. “When the next contraction comes, I need you to push, okay?”
“Okay,” I croak.
Matt leans over and kisses my forehead.
“You can do this,” he encourages me. I focus on him and not the pain, my eyes searching his for the strength I need to get through this. “A tiny little bit longer and you’ll be holding our baby in your arms. This will all be worth it, I promise you.”
I manage a smile, then groan as the urge to push hits me. I strain, pushing as hard as I can, until I feel like I’m going to pop open.
“Keep pushing, we’re almost there,” the doctor urges me.
I scream and push with everything I have left—which doesn’t feel like much—until the soft cries of my little baby fill the room. Tears continue to roll down my cheeks, only these are tears of happiness. I watch as the nurse bundles the baby into her arms and walks over to me.
“Are you ready to meet your son?” she asks, smiling.
“Our son?” I whisper.
A little boy.
She places him in my arms as Matt joins me on the bed. Tears run down his cheeks as he gazes down at our son's little face. He’s perfect, and I’m overwhelmed with how much love I can have for someone I’ve only just met.
“Our little man,” Matt says, his voice breaking. I look down into those little eyes, unable to draw myself away.
“He’s beautiful,” I whisper, stroking his cheek. “What shall we call him?”
Matt thinks for a moment. “How about David?” he asks. “That’s my middle name and my great, great grandfather’s name.”
I smile. “I’ve always loved that name.”
I nurse David for what feels like hours until Matt offers to take him for a little while so I can get some sleep. I carefully transfer him into Matt’s arms and watch him slowly walk around the room. I close my eyes, but I can’t sleep. Not with all that has happened. Eventually, I give up and open them again.
I glance over at Matt. He sits in a chair in the corner of the room. I smile, watching as he cradles our son. He talks softly to him and if I listen hard enough, I can just make out what he’s saying. He makes a promise that he and Mommy will always come first. Will be his priority over work and everything else. Hearing him say those words makes my heart swell.
I close my eyes and roll over, exhausted and barely able to function. This time, I drift off to sleep. Any doubts until this moment are gone, because watching him with his son, I know this is a real for him as it is for me.
A week later, on Matt's thirtieth birthday, we gather in the office of his grandfather's lawyer. We sit in a conference room with his brothers and his mother, impatiently waiting to hear the news that the inheritance has been released.
Nobody talks, which makes me feel awkward. His family definitely has some major communication issues, which I think were there well before the inheritance became a problem. I study Rex out of the corner of my eye. I’m not sure what his story is. He’s certainly attractive like his brothers, but quiet and reserved. I don’t really know much about him at all. He’s said maybe ten words to me the whole of the last year. Maybe now all this is over with, I can get to know his family. They’re the closest thing I have to a family, but deep down, I think I know we’re never going to be that close.
I shift in my seat, my anxiety growing by the second. I’m so nervous and I’m not sure why. It's like I'm waiting for something to go wrong, even though we’ve met the requirements. Something always goes wrong. It’s like I’m waiting to hear back on an exam that I know I did well on, only to find out I studied the wrong section of the book.
I glance down at my empty arms and frown. I feel lost without David. This is the first time since he was born that he’s not with me. He’s just outside—in fact, I can see Margie rocking him to sleep from where I sit, but it still feels strange. It’s like part of me is missing and I don’t like it. I loo
k up as the door swings open. The lawyer walks in and smiles stiffly as he closes the door.
“Thanks for coming in,” he murmurs.
He sits down, shuffling through a stack of papers, while we all wait for him to speak. Matt glances at me and smiles. He reaches over and takes my hand, squeezing it gently. He's trying to reassure me that everything is finally over, that we’re finally free of his grandfather's controlling influence. While his warm touch comforts me, I know it’s not going to be that clear cut.
What if there’s more to this?
Matt lied to me about having to produce a heir. Is it that outrageous to think that there might be things that Matt doesn’t even know about? I shake my head, refusing to consider that. Stop being so dramatic. Everything is fine. The money will be released and we can finally get on with our lives together, as a family.
My new family is everything to me. I have so much hope and love invested in my two boys that something going wrong is a complication I don’t even want to think about.
“Okay. I’d like to begin by congratulating you both on the birth of your child and for succeeding in satisfying your grandfather’s stipulations.” He nods at Matt and me. I manage a small smile before he continues. “Now that we have that out of the way, I can move on to the next stage of satisfying the requirements for the release of the inheritance.”
I freeze. The next stage? What the hell does that mean?
Matt frowns and sits forward, obviously thinking the same thing.
“Excuse me? What are you talking about?” Matt demands. “The next stage? The requirement was that I get married and produce a child before my thirtieth birthday. That was all I had to do for the inheritance to be released. I've done that, so you’re required to release that money.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple, Mr. Harris.”
“What do you mean it’s not that simple? It is that fucking simple. Just like it’s a simple assumption to make that I’m going to break your fucking neck if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on,” Matt growls, banging his fists down on the table.
The lawyer glances at Rex. I frown, confused, when I catch the look they exchange. What does this have to do with Rex? What does Rex have to do with anything? I glance at Matt, and I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.
“You have something to say?” he barks at Rex.
Rex glares at Matt, his hands balling into fists on the table. The lawyer jumps in, trying to diffuse the growing tension. Only his words make things so much worse.
“Rex has his own stipulations that need to be fulfilled before the inheritance will be released,” the lawyer explains. Nate laughs, while Matt rises to his feet, glaring at the lawyer, and then Rex.
“What?” Matt roars, his eyes flashing. “What the hell is he talking about? If someone doesn’t fill me in right now on what the fuck is going on here—”
Rex jumps from his chair, facing Matt. “Don’t raise your voice at me, and stop talking to me like you’re better than me,” he growls.
“Rex, just tell us what the fuck all of this means,” Nate sighs.
“It means that Matt isn’t in charge anymore. I'm running this now. You want that money released? Then you both need to sit back and shut the fuck up. You need to start treating me like an equal and you’re going to show me some goddamned respect.”
Matt shakes his head and lets out a laugh.
“Because that’s what you deserve? What the fuck have you ever done to earn our respect, Rex?” He shakes his head. “This is ridiculous. I’m not going to sit here and listen to any more of this bullshit.”
Matt stalks out of the room, leaving me sitting there awkwardly with his family. I carefully stand up and push my chair in, excusing myself, before I walk out to find my husband. I find him cradling David, down near the elevators. He looks up and sees me, wrapping his arms around me when I reach him.
“It’s okay,” he murmurs, kissing my forehead. “We’ll figure this out.”
I nod, wishing I believed that. I thought this was the end, that his grandfather was done controlling Matt, but apparently that isn’t the case.
This is only just beginning.
I hope you enjoyed Forced to Love. Turn the page to read Tagged Heart.
Get VIP: Taken By the Billionaire for free!
https://tashafawkes.com/get-your-free-book
Tagged Heart
Tasha Fawkes & M. S. Parker
One
Brin
Kimberley met me at the front door of my building a half hour later, holding a tray with two coffees in one hand and a delicious smelling paper bag in the other. I practically drifted over to her, drawn by the promise of a little pick-me-up. There would never be enough hours in the day to thank Kim for everything she'd done for me, and that wasn't even including tonight's treat.
"You're an angel," I said, pulling my keys from my bag and letting us into the building.
Kim grinned and made a little kissy face at me, long black hair rustling around her face in the dry breeze.
"I figured it must be something pretty urgent if you're not jumping straight into bed after your show."
I snorted. "Important is one term you could use," I said. "Batshit crazy is another."
She followed me over to the elevator. "Color me intrigued."
I laughed, snagging a coffee from the tray as we stepped inside and took a cautionary sip. Finding the coffee to be the perfect temperature, I took a deep swig.
"Color me very intrigued."
The elevator let us off just down the hall from my apartment, and I tossed my keys in the bowl just inside the door and kicked my sneakers into the corner. Kim did the same and the two of us made our way over to my ancient leather couch, which gave a croaking wheeze as we settled onto it. This couch was the first piece of furniture I ever bought, for a whopping twenty dollars at the flea market. Despite Kim's criticism, I wouldn't be parted from it for the world. To this day, it still smelled like freedom.
"So what's this big dilemma?" Kim rustled around in the paper bag and emerged with two glazed donuts. My mouth watered.
She handed one to me, and I took a bite before answering, "Do you know who Chad Harlan is?"
She took a sip of her coffee and leaned back into the sofa. "I've heard the name. He's one of those Internet celebrities, right?'
"He's like, the Internet celebrity," I corrected. "He's all about extreme adventures and crazy stunts. People eat his shit up like it's candy."
"And?"
I swallowed and licked the sugar from my lips. "He came backstage today and offered me...well, I guess you could say it's like a job."
"Like a job?" Kim repeated tartly. "Please don't tell me he wants you to—"
"No! God no!" I blurted. "At least, I don't think so..."
We hadn't discussed what exactly being his fake girlfriend would involve, something I was kicking myself for now. The excitement of the moment had been too overwhelming.
I shook my head. "Anyway, you know that's not a road I'm willing to go down. As far as I know, this is a publicity thing more than anything else. He's going to Hawaii for three weeks, and I guess he thinks it'll look good on camera to have a pretty girl at his side."
"Hawaii?" Kim's eyebrows shot up and a huge grin spread over her face. "You should have opened with Hawaii! How long have I been telling you that you need to get away?"
I tore off another bite of donut, suddenly ravenous. "That doesn't mean I should just hop on a plane with some rando with an adrenaline fetish."
"He's not some rando," she argued. "He's Chad Harlan."
"That doesn't mean anything. I'm a completely different person onstage than I am offstage. Who's to say it's going to be any different with him?"
Kim leaned over to set her coffee and uneaten donut on the table, licking the glaze from her fingers as she curled up into the corner. I eyed the donut with hungry eyes.
"So what? This could be huge for you! Think about your modeling career.
"
"What modeling career?" I asked bitterly.
She shook a finger at me. "Exactly! What better way to push yourself out into the world's eye than to play the part of Chad Harlan's girlfriend for a few weeks. People pay attention to those videos, babe. Important people."
Kim had been ultra-protective of me from the first moment we met, so hearing her tell me to go for it proved that my initial excitement wasn't misplaced. Still, a dark cloud of cynicism had crept in on the bus ride home.
"Doesn't it just seem a little too good to be true?"
Kim's eyes softened and she picked up her donut, handing it over to me with a warm smile. I chuckled and accepted it. The sugar and caffeine rush of her visit might keep me up tonight, but I doubt I'd be sleeping anyway with a problem like this weighing on me.
"I understand why you're worried. It's a strange situation to put yourself in, and there's always the chance that Chad's not going to be as harmless as he seems, but I think there's a lot of room for you to call the shots. Just because you're agreeing to be his fake girlfriend for a few weeks doesn't mean that he owns you. And think about how relaxing it would be to wile away your days on a beach in some fancy resort."
I sighed. "It would be nice. And there's no way I'll be able to afford anything close to that anytime soon."
Kim would jet off on a vacation with me in an instant. She'd offered to pay for one for me more times than I could count on one hand, but I always turned her down. Her meager salary at the casino might end up as more take home cash than mine, since I still had to pay for school, but she worked hard for that money and I refused to take any part of it away from her.
But here was an opportunity for me to get away without having to pay a cent. It would be a break from everything—from work, where the pressure to sleep with the customers was getting higher every day, from the hustle and bustle of the city, from the constant anxiety over money. Just endless sand beaches and the azure blue of Chad's eyes.