The UN Series Complete Box Set

by Shantel Tessier

  “Have you told her?” a nurse in light yellow scrubs asks Slade. He stands over by the door with his back toward me. His head is down, and he runs his hand over the back of his neck. He slowly shakes his head, and the nurse frowns.

  “Do you want me to do it?” she asks.

  His hand falls down to his side, and he sighs. “I’ll do it. Last night was just not a good time.”

  I jump when a deep voice clears his throat from behind me.

  Tate! I forgot he was in here with us.

  The nurse and Slade spin around and their eyes fall on me. They narrow their eyes on me like I was eavesdropping.

  “Tell me what?” I say trying not to wince from the pounding headache.

  The corners of Slade’s mouth actually lift just a bit. He walks over to me and sits down beside me as I sit up straighter in the bed. He grabs my hand and smiles at me.

  “They ran some blood work when we brought you in last night, and they found something.”

  “What?” I say looking back and forth between him and the nurse. When my eyes finally settle on Slade, he gives me a slow and sexy smile. One that eases my nerves.

  “We’re going to have a baby, Angel. You’re pregnant.”

  Stunned would not even come close to what I feel right now. The longer I sit there and stare at him, the more his smile fades. “Say something,” he urges.

  “I’m on birth control.” I take it religiously. I never miss a pill.

  The nurse responds. “They are only ninety-nine percent effective.” She shrugs. “Have you been on antibiotics lately? That can reduce their effectiveness.”

  And right there is the million dollar question. I was, when we got back from New York.

  I feel my eyes well with tears. “We’re having a baby?” I ask looking back at Slade.

  His eyes watch me closely trying to gauge my reaction. “Yes.” He nods slowly.

  A smile cracks across my face, and I let out a laugh, “We’re having a baby,” I squeal, making him smile. He pulls me in for a hug and kisses my forehead.

  I pull away as a thought hits me. I start to panic. “The baby? Is the baby okay? Jax…”

  The nurse cuts me off. “We are going to do an ultrasound to check on the baby and see how far along you are. Once all that is taken care of you should be ready to go home.”

  “Thank you,” I say smiling.

  The nurse nods her head once and walks out. I turn to face Tate and catch him as he’s putting his shirt on. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

  He looks at me as if I’m being annoying. “No worries. I’m fine.”

  “Slade said Jax got a hold of you with a knife.”

  His eyes glance at Slade for a quick second. “Yeah, the bastard cheated. A man who can’t use his fucking hands deserves to get his ass kicked.”

  I turn back to Slade. “What happened to him?”

  “Jail,” is all the information he offers.

  I nod. “And the other guy?” I ask. I don’t remember much after Larry’s parking lot, but every time I close my eyes, I hear another voice.

  Slade looks up at Tate once again and the room grows tense. “What other guy?” Tate asks not taking his eyes off of Slade.

  “There was someone else there,” I say slowly looking between the two of them.

  Slade breaks away first and looks at me. “Are you sure there was another guy, Angel?”

  “Yes.” I frown. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Slade exhales. “He drugged you, we don’t know when exactly. But there is a very good possibility that you were out the entire time…”

  “I know there was someone else there. I heard them,” I argue, fisting my hands in the sheets. Could I be wrong? Was I out the entire time?

  “You didn’t see anyone else?” Tate asks.

  I shake my head.

  “Then how do you know for sure?” Slade asks pushing some long strands of hair behind my ear so he can look at my face.

  “I just know.” I sigh. “Every time I close my eyes I hear voices. There’s two of them.”

  “What are they saying?” Slade asks with concern.

  I shake my head. “I can’t make it out.” I look into his eyes pleading with him to believe me. “But someone else was there.” I look back down at my hands. They don’t believe me. Hell, I’m not sure I even believe me. I don’t even know where there is.

  Tate breaks the silence first. “Dallas did say that Jax had a roommate named J.”

  Slade doesn’t hesitate. “Check into it.”

  *****

  I’ve been released from the hospital for two weeks now. The bruises have turned to the ugly greens now and my body feels pretty good besides being tired.

  The ultrasound confirmed that the baby is okay. It’s amazing how their tests can detect such an early pregnancy. I was just three weeks along at the time, which means the time of conception was either right before or the night of Missy’s birthday party, which scares me to death. We went to Vegas and I have drank alcohol since then. But the nurses assured me everything is okay.

  Slade has had me on house arrest since we left the hospital. Everyone has shown up at our house bringing things from stuff to eat for dinner and stuffed animals. Vivian even brought me a big bouquet of flowers. Her and Mark also took Peaches home with them, saying she felt the need to dog sit.

  Tate has stayed the night every night since I came home. He sleeps in the spare bedroom, and he doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. I don’t know if he’s here for me or if he’s here for Slade’s benefit. He seems to be keeping Slade’s mind off of everything that has to do with that day.

  Sometimes I see Slade staring off into outer space as if he remembers what went down the night they found me. The guys have been very tightlipped about what happened that night. I know Jax cut Tate with a knife and Jax got arrested. Other than that, I’m clueless on what they went through.

  Slade also sold my car. He told me he didn’t want me to have a reminder of what had happened. I agreed, it’s not a mommy car anyway. It didn’t even have a backseat.

  No one knows what happened to me, and Slade wants to keep it that way. He said with him being a defense attorney that the press would have a field day with what happened, making up all kinds of stories regarding someone having a vendetta for him.

  I was fired from the bank. Slade had called the bank while I was in the hospital and told them I would be out for a week. When he refused to give them a reason, they told him there was no need for me to return. He gladly told them to ‘fuck off’.

  We decided to keep the baby a secret for now. No one knows but me, Slade, and Tate. And right now we think that’s best for us.

  I haven’t had much sleep over the last two weeks. I still don’t remember much, but the things I have started to remember, I keep to myself. I have dreams where I’m hearing the voices and being held down. All I can hear is my heart pounding and my screams. I wake up every time screaming and covered in sweat. Slade is always there with a bottle of water and a warm washcloth. He holds me, which helps calm me.

  He has taken off work to stay home with me, and I have to admit he’s kind of smothering. Or it could just be the fact that I’ve been locked up in our house.

  The guys have not said anything about the other guy who I know was there. I’m pretty sure they just acted like they were going to check it out but I don’t think they believed me. And Slade could have been right, I was out of it. And for that, I am thankful.

  I lie in our bed watching reruns of Supernatural when Slade enters the room on his cell. “What the fuck do you mean you can’t come into work today?” he demands.

  I place another piece of my Crunch bar in my mouth listening to him. Chocolate, the breakfast of champions.

  “I’m where I need to be. At home with my fiancée,” he barks. “You need to get your ass to the office,” he shouts.

  I’ve noticed over the last two weeks that his temper is getting worse and worse. His fuse has gone fro
m short to non-existent.

  “Well, are you sick?” he questions walking into the closet. He’s silent for a few seconds. “Braxton,” he growls. “I need you at the office. I can’t be there right now.”

  I pop another piece of Crunch bar into my mouth as I turn down the TV to listen to his conversation. It’s much more entertaining than my show. “What in the fuck does that mean? A friend needs you?”

  I frown. I don’t think Braxton has many friends.

  “Fine,” Slade finally snaps. “But I’ll be emailing you shit to do and you better get it done.” He comes storming out of the closet and throws his phone onto the bed before he storms into the bathroom.

  “Braxton’s sick?” I ask before breaking off another piece of my Crunch bar, trying to get the scoop.

  “No.” I hear him turn the sink on. “He says he has to take care of a friend.”

  “Well, that’s nice of him.”

  He finishes up whatever he is doing in there and then walks out frowning. “No, it’s irresponsible.”

  I frown. “You don’t have to stay home with me, Slade. You can go into work if they need you.”

  He walks over to my side of the bed and sits down. “I’m not leaving you until you’re better.”

  I sigh looking down at my wrists. The reminders are still there but they are healing. “You make it sound like I have a disease,” I whisper. He looks at me differently. He holds me, kisses my forehead, but he doesn’t touch me. Not with love and affection. It’s more like he is just doing it because he feels obligated, or maybe responsible.

  He places his finger under my chin and lifts my head to where I have to look at him. “I’m not leaving you alone until I know you are okay. Angel, I worry about you. Even when I’m in the office, which is one room over. I worry you are going to fall asleep and wake up screaming.”

  I know he’s tired of having to put up with me. That’s why I want him to go to work. Once I wake and realize I’m home, I’m okay. “I’m sorry. I’m trying to forget it.”

  “What did I tell you about apologizing?” he warns, arching an eyebrow. “Stop doing it. I’m not going anywhere.”

  I nod my head as he stands up. “I wanna get out of the house tonight,” I state.

  He shakes his head.

  “Please?” I pout. “Let’s go over to your parents,” I say.

  “Why?” he asks, like that’s a terrible idea.

  “Because I want to tell them about the baby.” I sigh.

  He frowns. “I thought we decided to keep it a secret?”

  “We did, at first. Everyone comes over and all they see is the bad that happened. I want to give them some good news.”

  The corner of his lips turn up, and he nods. “Okay. We will go over there tonight and tell them the good news.” And with that he walks out of our bedroom. Seconds later I hear him in his office on a conference call with his brother. Even though he hasn’t gone to the office, he is still working.

  *****

  SLADE

  I sit on my parent’s couch in the living room trying not to think about the event that took place two weeks ago. It’s always there, no matter what I do or where we go. I see Jax’s face, and I see Angel lying on that nasty mattress face down. I can’t shake it. I’m always angry and pissed off at the world.

  Angel on the other hand is doing great. She wants to move on, start planning our future—I’m keeping us in the past. But she doesn’t know how bad it was. She doesn’t know how we found her; drugged and bound. She doesn’t know that I had to have her sedated because she continued to freak out in the hospital. That’s how much the drugs affected her. They took almost two days from her life. She doesn’t remember asking me if I was the one who hurt her. Or what Tate did to Jax. He had to seek medical treatment before they were able to book him, which is a pity. I was hoping Parker would have let the fucker bleed to death before he called it in.

  I wish I could forget and move on as well. I’m going to try tonight. Jax is in jail. We are going to have a baby. So I’m going to smile and pretend that night doesn’t haunt my dreams like it does hers.

  My mother clears her throat, and I look up at her sitting across from us. She lifts her glass of wine and looks at Angel. “Would you like a glass?”

  “No,” I snap answering for her.

  Angel looks over at me with a frown on her face. She reaches over and pats my leg. That was a mistake, my eyes land on the marks that still circle her wrists and my jaw clenches.

  “No thank you,” she answer sweetly.

  My mom nods her head. “I shouldn’t have asked. You must be on pain meds.”

  I grind my teeth together, another fucking reminder.

  “No, actually…” she trails off.

  Actually she fucking refused them once she found out she was pregnant. Said she didn’t want them to affect the baby.

  I look up at her when I notice the room is silent. Angel nods her head toward my parents and her eyebrows rise.

  What?

  Oh yeah, she wants to tell them the good news. I lift my drink my father gave me when I walked in; scotch. I give my parents a big fake smile. “We are expecting a baby,” I announce cheerfully.

  I faintly hear my mother crying as she speaks about a grandbaby, and I feel Angel stand up from beside me as she speaks to my parents. I bring the drink to my lips once more. A baby! I take a big gulp.

  “Slade?”

  “Hmm?” I look up to see everyone staring down at me. “What did I miss?” I ask looking from Angel’s frown to my dad’s tight jaw.

  “Will you excuse us for a second?” she asks my parents before she sits back down beside me. “What is wrong with you?” she questions.

  I sigh. “I just have stuff going on,” I lie.

  She looks down to her engagement ring and slowly turns it around on her finger. “Do you no longer want to be with me?”

  “What?” My eyes look at hers. “How can you think that?”

  She nibbles on her bottom lip nervously. “Then is it the baby?” she questions. “Do you not want it?” she whispers. “I can do it by myself.”

  I place my drink on the end table and take her hands in mine. “Why would you ask me that?”

  She pulls her hands from mine. “Because you act like it’s killing you to be happy about it. I can see your smiles are fake, and I also see how angry you’ve been.” She takes a deep breath. “You said we would work through ‘whatever happened’ together but I seem to be the only one trying to work through it.”

  I sigh, trying to relax. I thought I’ve been there for her but I haven’t, not really. “I’m sorry, Angel. I am excited about our baby. I love you. Both of you.” I place a hand on her belly.

  “I know it’s hard, Slade. But what did you tell me when Jax came back into our lives?”

  That motherfucker! I roll my shoulders. “What?” is all I can manage, voice tight.

  “You said to not let him win. Look what we have ahead of us.” She pats my hand that rests on her flat belly. “Don’t let him win.”

  I sigh. And she gives me a smile. This beautiful Angel is sitting beside me and no matter what life throws at us, we will have each other along with a baby.

  “You’re right.” I smile. And it’s my first real smile in over two weeks.

  My mom and dad reenter the room, and my mother instantly asks about the wedding.

  “Have you guys picked a date yet?” she asks as she dabs the corners of her eyes.

  “No.” Angel shakes her head.

  “Well I’m thinking a winter wedding,” my mother says excitedly. “Wouldn’t it be beautiful to have a wedding while there is snow on the ground?”

  “No.” I frown. “I don’t want to freeze my ass off. You know I’m not a winter kind of guy.”

  Angel laughs.

  “Well let me get a calendar then.”

  I see Angel shift uncomfortable, and it makes me nervous. I watch as she looks down at her engagement ring once again. “Are you o
kay?” I lean over and whisper.

  She continues to look down at her ring, and she gives me a small nod. I swallow getting nervous. “Do you not want to get married?” I ask slowly.

  She looks up at me with big eyes. “No, I do,” she says sadly.

  “Then what is it?” I push a piece of hair behind her ear.

  She bites her bottom lip as she looks around the room... I follow her eyes and notice we are alone again

  “I...” She pauses for a second and swallows. “It’s just I don’t have any family to invite. I won’t have my dad to walk me down the aisle.” She looks up at me as tears fill her eyes. “My mother…”

  I feel a pain in my chest. I’ve let my anger consume me that I haven’t thought about not having someone walk her down the aisle. I have tried to be understanding to why Tate keeps his secrets but right now I want to tell her about her brother. The big brother who could walk her down the aisle, but there’s still that possibility that she will run from him. Throw him out of her life, and he will miss everything.

  So, instead I take her hands in mine. “I’m sorry, baby. Would you like to elope? Just the two of us?” She deserves more than that but I don’t want her to feel obligated to anything that will make her feel uncomfortable.

  She gives me a small smile as I reach up and wipe a single tear off of her cheek.

  “I like that idea but your parents…”

  “Can I say something?”

  We both look up at my mom and dad standing in front of us once again. Angel nods to him.

  He takes a deep breath as he sits down next to her, looking into her eyes. “I don’t want to overstep my boundaries,” he says gently. “But if you don’t mind, I would love to walk you down the aisle. Vivian and I already see you as our daughter. I would be proud to give you away.”

  And just like that, all my anger is gone and replaced with love. I feel my throat close up as tears threaten my eyes.

  “You would do that for me?” she whispers.

  My father nods. “Of course I would. I know I can’t replace your father, but I would be honored to have that opportunity. We love you, Samantha.”

  She releases my hands and wraps her arms around my dad’s neck as she hugs him. “Thank you, Mark.” I hear the crack in her voice, and it once again tears at my heart. I look up at my mom when I feel her hand on my shoulder. She has tears in her eyes as well.