by Lacey Silks
“No! Axel!” I cried. I couldn’t stop screaming. I let my lungs pull all the force they had and kept repeating his name over and over again. Somewhere between my screams I remembered telling him how much I loved him and that he had to live because we were having a baby — but it was also possible that it was all in my head.
I didn’t remember how we got to the hospital. It was all a daze. I must have gone in and out of consciousness because I remembered the sounds of the sirens and red and blue lights flashing. When I woke up, Beth was sitting beside me. Charlie was in the corner, snoozing in a chair.
“Axel?”
“He’s okay, Chloe. He’s out of surgery, but he’s lost a lot of blood and… but he’ll be okay.”
“You have to tell me everything. Tell me what happened. How long have I been out?”
“Five hours.”
My hand flew down to my stomach.
“The baby’s okay,” Beth confirmed. “But you cannot stress yourself anymore.”
“You know?”
“Doctor Sanders came by earlier. He assumed I knew and, well, I didn’t want to tell him that I didn’t. I’m so happy for you, sweetheart.”
“It’s Axel’s. The baby’s Axel’s.”
“I know, honey. And I’m so happy.”
“Tell me about Axel, please. I want to see him.”
Beth passed me a cup of orange juice. “Get this in you to have some strength. We have to make sure that my grandchild is healthy.”
She wasn’t telling me everything, and I felt my hands shake. I drank the orange juice and waited patiently. Charlie woke up and smiled.
“What happened in there, Charlie?”
“Dwayne shot and I shot.”
“So did I.”
“You missed, Ms. Chloe. I didn’t.”
“Oh, my God! This is my fault.”
“It’s not. It is mine. It was my job to protect him. I should have known better.”
Beth squeezed my hand. “What Axel hasn’t told you, Chloe, is that Charlie was hired specifically to protect Axel’s affairs after my husband finished his other businesses. He has specific background in bodyguard services that Axel needed when the business was winding down. We always knew there’d be threats from the outside, so Axel kept Charlie on as one of the staff, undercover of course, with the purpose of ensuring his safety. With time, there was no reason to keep up a high guard, but Axel decided to keep Charlie on hand just as a backup.”
“And I failed.” Charlie lowered his head. “I should have never let you go in there on your own, Ms. Chloe.”
“If you didn’t, Dwayne would have shot Axel right away, wouldn’t he?”
He nodded in admission.
“This is not your fault, Charlie. It’s part of the job,” Beth affirmed.
“Okay, so Dwayne’s dead. How is Axel doing? When can I see him?”
They both looked from one another and sighed.
“Tell me how Axel is doing.”
“He’s out of surgery, but he’s in a coma, and we don’t know how long it will be.”
“What?”
“Honey, his injuries were life-threatening, but they’re expecting him to make a full recovery after he wakes up. We just… we don’t know when that will be.”
“I want to see him.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Yes. There’s nothing more that I want.”
Beth helped me into a wheelchair and rolled me down the hall to where Axel was staying in the intensive care unit. Tubes ran out of his lungs, draining blood, and one out of his mouth, helping him breathe.
I covered my mouth with my hand and wanted to cry. Seeing him like this was breaking my heart.
“Stay strong, Chloe. Both Axel and the baby need you to stay strong for them.”
I nodded and pushed the tears and despair back. I could do this. I would be here for Axel, no matter how long it took, the way he had been here for me since that day on the balcony ledge.
Chapter 25
It was a beautiful summer day. The sky was clear and I opened the hospital room window to let some fresh air in when I heard him shift. I’d been waiting for this moment for months, and so I pressed the red button to call the nurse.
“He’s moving,” I said. “And I saw his eyes open for a moment.”
She checked his pulse and all vital signs before smiling my way. “Looks like today may be the day. Go easy on him with the news, Chloe. It could be overwhelming. I’ll call Dr. Lee in.”
“This is what we’ve been getting ready for, isn’t it?”
“Looks like it could be.”
I rubbed my protruding belly. “Thank you, Stacy.”
Getting around was becoming more difficult by the day, and I knew that I still had plenty of challenges ahead of me. Now I had two guys in my life I had to worry about. It would be a long road to recovery, but Axel had a strong young body and now he had a reason to get better.
I sat down on a chair beside his bed and waited, holding his hand, wondering whether he’d heard all the hopes and dreams that I’d told him about when he was in a coma. But even if he hadn’t, I felt like our love had become so much stronger over the last few months. Of course I’d never tell him that because then he’d make fun of me – that it took him going into a coma for me to tell him that I loved him and for our relationship to grow to the level where, I had a feeling, he’d always seen us.
His eyes fluttered, opening slowly. I rubbed my finger over his knuckles.
“Hi, there,” I said quietly.
“Hi. What happened?”
“Everyone’s okay, you’re okay, and I’m okay. So, I need you to stay calm.”
“Why are you so calm?” he asked. “This is a hospital, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I’ve had a while to adjust to this.”
“What?”
“And before you say anything else, there’s something I need to say to you. I love you, Axel Wagner.”
His eyes opened wider and his mouth curved up.
“You love me. I… I think I heard you. No, I know that I heard you. I love you too. Wait, I’m not dead, am I?”
I laughed. “No, silly. Yes, I love you so, so very much. I’ve been saying it every day for the past five months.”
“Whoa. Five months?”
I nodded.
It took a moment for him to understand what I’d said and what it meant.
“You’ve been in a coma but you’re okay. The doctor will be here in a moment to check on you.”
That’s when Axel lowered his gaze to my blooming stomach. “What happened?”
“I’m pregnant, Axel. Well, we are, actually. We’re going to have a baby.”
“How? When?”
“Well, remember when we had sex for those couple of months before you got shot?”
“I got shot?”
“Dwayne? Hell’s Root?” I waved my hand. “It’s not important now. What’s important is that you’re going to be okay.”
“You were on the dining room table.”
“Yes, I was. That was the first time.”
“And the couch, stairs, and the bed.”
“Honey, we were like bunnies on the first day of spring.”
He grinned. Well, at least that memory was intact. The doctors were afraid he could have some temporary memory loss, but couldn’t give me certain answers until he woke up and they ran some tests.
“That answers the when. As to how, well, the doctor never actually said that it was impossible, so I guess we’re going to have a little miracle in about three months.”
“This is real? I’m not dreaming?” He had tears falling down his cheeks, nearly sobbing.
“Yes, your son is doing very well.”
“We’re going to have a son?”
“Yes,” I laughed, feeling him kick. I took Axel’s hand and brought it to my stomach. “I think he can hear your voice right now.”
When the baby kicked again, his eyes gre
w wide. “This is your daddy, Trevor,” I whispered.
“Trevor? I like that.”
“I was hoping you would.”
“And he’s healthy?”
“Yes, very healthy. Keeps me awake at night. Which means you have to get better for that diaper duty I remember you promised.”
He tried to move, but I could tell that it was more difficult for him than he wanted to admit.
“Stay down. Let me take care of you, so that you can take care of us.”
“I think I’d really like that. Wait, do my parents know?”
“They do, and they’re very happy.”
“And my brothers?”
“No, we’ve been keeping it a secret so that you can tell them yourself.”
“How did you manage? They’re nosy.”
I shrugged. “I’ve got a couple of tricks up my sleeve as well.”
He appeared in shock, as he should have been. I leaned over and kissed his warm lips, for the first time in five months feeling him reciprocate. My heart beat faster and that wave of happy endorphins I’d been waiting to fill me came rushing in. Whatever our future held, I knew that I’d always be near this man. My heart would belong to him, no matter what.
* * *
Afterword
Chloe is the final novel in the Cheaters series. If you’ve just started with this novel, you can go back to the beginning. Each book is written so that it can be read as a stand-alone novel. I hope you enjoy!
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For all the links to the series, visit my website at http://laceysilks.com/books/
Also by Lacey Silks
Dazzled by Silver (prequel to the Layers Trilogy)
Layers Deep (Book 1)
Layers Peeled (Book 2)
Layers Off (Book 3)
Crossed (prequel to the Crossed Series)
Layers Crossed (Book 1)
Double Crossed (Book 2)
Crossed Off (Book 3)
When Things Go Wrong (short prequel)
Cheaters Anonymous (Book 1)
Loyal Cheaters (Book 2)
Broken Cheaters (Book 3)
Chloe (Book 4)
Perfectly Equipped (short prequel)
Perfectly Seduced (Book 1)
Perfectly Kissed (Book 2)
Perfectly Loved (Book 3)
Friends to Lovers Series
My First, My Last
Yours and Mine
Short Stories
My Only One | Dance With Me | Teacher’s Pet
Bossy Request | Over The Limit | My Neighbor’s Will
Mistresses (a five story collection)
Connect with Me Online:
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About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Lacey Silks writes erotic and contemporary romances with a touch of suspense. Her stories come from her life, dreams and fantasies. She’s a happily married wife with two kids who uses her husband to test out the more intimate scenes for her writing – he said he doesn’t mind it at all.
Lacey likes to make her readers blush and experience the story as if they were the characters. Drawing on the reader’s most sensitive emotions through realistic stories satisfies her more than… …ok not really, but you get the point ;)
She likes a pinkish shade on a woman’s cheeks, men with large feet and sexy lingerie-especially when it’s torn off the body. Her favorite piece of clothing is a birthday suit.
@LaceySilks
LaceySilksAuthor
www.laceysilks.com
This and That…
Also known as Acknowledgements
I absolutely loved writing Chloe. This is the fastest book I’ve written (15 days) but I’m sure it was only because the two main characters were already developed in Broken Cheaters. As I was finishing Trish’s story, I saw what happened to Chloe, wrote it all down, and then it was just a matter of putting it all together.
I struggled with the idea of writing a story for a character who I knew died, but I wanted to show that the short life Chloe lived, was a fulfilled one. She had no regrets and found true love. Knowing that her heart was donated to her sister, I still felt like Chloe was with me, living through Trish.
Some special mentions:
To my AA (not what you’re thinking) group: I’ve learned so much from everyone there, thank you, thank you, thank you.
To the LOL Ladies : you’re the funniest and most supportive chicks ever! <3 you so much!
To the Bimbos: I wouldn’t be where I am today without you.
To my cover designer: Melissa, from MGBookCovers & Designs - thank you for Chloe’s cover. I love it! This is definitely one of my faves.
To my readers: I love your emails and adore your excitement. You make me want to write more. There’s nothing better than knowing you’ve enjoyed my work.
To anyone who took a chance on my books – thank you!
To my family, I could not do what I love without you. Mom, your go getter attitude has rubbed off on me. Dad, your humour is infectious. Mike, “all you need is love”. Maya and Alex, you are who I live for. You are my life.