The Bodyguard's Baby (Billionaire Bodyguard Series)

by Kristi Avalon

  In the end, Lindsey didn’t care. She wanted to see this bitch face-to-face, and confront her in front of Slone. See how far that got her, once he finally knew the truth—instead of preying on innocent pregnant women.

  No doubt, if Lindsey had shown the two months of letters to Slone, he would’ve gone maniacal. That wasn’t her goal. If her instincts continued to be accurate, Slone would’ve used the letters as an excuse not to let go of the past.

  Lindsey wasn’t about to deprive her child of an entire family because one woman needed her financial fix.

  Oh, they were going to Kentucky.

  What would greet them there was anyone’s guess.

  *

  During the twenty-four-hour drive to Kentucky, Lindsey had eventually talked Slone into revealing—and admitting—his father’s death in Vietnam. Damn her vixen ways. He mentally agreed his father’s death was probably why he and Uncle Jimmy had such a close bond.

  “He wanted to be there for you, as the father you didn’t have,” Lindsey said.

  Slone had firmed his grip on the steering wheel. “Maybe.”

  Once again, his little hormonal female hadn’t let him get away with half-assurances. “He loved you like a father, Slone. He took you under his wing during the summers and made you chop logs until you wanted to die. How is that not love?”

  Slone snorted. “Did you not just hear yourself describe my summer torture?”

  She swatted his arm. “You said yourself you learned more about the world, and your place in it, during those summers than you learned from anyone else. Even the military.”

  An intermittent highway street lamp revealed her steely expression. So, okay, she could be right. “Maybe.”

  “Well, maybe your maybes don’t cut it for me anymore. I want all your truths, Slone. Not your maybes.”

  “If I promise to tell you all of my truths, can I pull over and make love to you?” he asked while driving the middle of Kansas cornfields.

  “Right now?” She lifted a shoulder. “If you insist.”

  Although Lindsey had heard plenty of country songs alluding to the sexiness of doing it in the middle of a cornfield in a pickup truck, the reality wasn’t quite as simple. But whenever Slone put his mind to something, he found a way. His creativity left a big grin on her face for hours afterward.

  *

  Occasionally over the past twelve hours of driving, Slone reached over and touched Lindsey’s little baby bump. When he did, she was always asleep. It was probably too soon to feel the baby kick, but one time he’d placed his hand on her abdomen he swore he felt a flutter.

  Hey, little one. You have no idea how much you are loved. How much your mommy and I are glad you’re here.

  They hadn’t hit the three-month mark quite yet, when Lindsey felt comfortable sharing the news beyond family, but he couldn’t flippin’ wait. The warrior Celt in him wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But he’d settle for knowing his sperm were awesome and he’d gotten her pregnant on the first try.

  There was something slightly impressive, slightly hedonistic, about knowing he’d bring his baby into this world. With her.

  Lindsey had become his everything.

  The first night they’d spent together in his bed, after finding out she was pregnant, he’d had a dream. And he rarely dreamed. After all those years in combat, his subconscious had given up on dreams. Or so he’d thought.

  That long-ago night, he’d dreamed about his child. So intense. He hadn’t even shared the vision he’d had with Lindsey. He’d had a dream where he envisioned someone, a living, breathing soul, whom he couldn’t see but felt was there. Somehow the baby made Slone feel words he couldn’t hear, but could only accept as truth. Emotion beyond explanation. He’d never felt so close to God as in that moment. He doubted he’d ever feel that close again, until his child was born.

  Well, he might feel it again when he proposed to Lindsey. He hoped for that. So far, though, the timing just hadn’t been right. But he’d know the moment it came. He’d already picked out the ring he planned to give her.

  Slone’s boss Adam could gripe all he wanted about the stupidity of men becoming ensnared by a woman, dragged by the hose to the altar. The altar was exactly where Slone wanted to end up with Lindsey. If she declined his impending proposal, he was half-tempted to toss her over his shoulder and carry her there. He wanted their bond official, their life together written in stone. Old-fashioned, maybe. That’s the kind of man he was.

  He would make her his girl. No second thoughts. No matter what.

  Slone pulled into the snow-crusted, uphill drive of his parents’ house. Suddenly an anxiety he hadn’t experienced since boot camp slammed into his chest.

  On the drive here, Lindsey had successfully distracted his mind from dwelling on what he was about to face. Now, as she slept in the seat beside him, he had no more distractions to fall back on. Reality stared him in the face, and he wanted to look away, but he wasn’t a coward. She’d set this whole thing in motion, for him and their baby, to heal the past.

  His pained gaze fell on the love of his life. “Thanks, baby,” he whispered against her hair, kissing the top of her head. “I need you more than you know.”

  Lindsey blinked awake, yawned and stretched. “Are we here?”

  “Yeah. We’re here.”

  She sighed. “You don’t have to make it sound like we’re at a funeral. Your family is excited to see you, I promise.”

  “I wish they had indoor plumbing,” he grumbled.

  She gave a sleepy laugh. “I would hope so.”

  He shrugged. “They still use an outhouse ‘round these parts.”

  “You’re just trying to scare me.” She snorted. “And you’re a lousy liar.”

  “Excuse me?” He sent her a mock glare. “If I’m a bad liar, I was in the wrong business for twelve years.”

  “You’re bad at it when you’re lying to me.” She grinned cheerfully. “I’m okay with that.”

  “Seriously, there is an outhouse on the property.”

  Her eyes twinkled with humor. “Now that I have to see.”

  He made a face and wrinkled his nose. “You’ll probably smell it before you see it.”

  “Whatever. Stop stalling. I’m freezing out here.”

  Unhappily he accepted her nudging and joined her on the walkway. He kept an eye out for icy patches, ready to catch her if she slipped or fell. He always wanted to be there to catch her when she fell.

  They tromped through the snow and made their way onto his parents’ three season porch, cold and still as Uncle Jimmy’s old icebox. The porch was scattered with Valentine’s Day paraphernalia, as well as Christmas lights. His mom hated taking down the lights when the nights still grew dark so early. They offered soft lighting, and looking at Lindsey’s profile in the glow took his breath away.

  A second later she knocked on the door, but she didn’t wait for anyone to answer. Maybe she worried he’d hold her back and hightail it out of Dodge. He’d definitely considered it.

  Lindsey charged inside. “We’re here,” she exclaimed to the roomful of people.

  “Welcome!” He heard his sister Maggie’s voice before she raced to the door and drew Lindsey into her arms.

  Humbled by his family’s instant acceptance of his girl, he stepped aside and toed off his boots out of force of habit. Then his sister turned and threw herself into his arms. “You better hug me like you mean it, Slone.” She nearly squeezed the life out of him. “I’ve missed you, big brother.”

  Clearing his throat, Slone wrapped his sister in a bear hug.

  “That’s better,” she wheezed, and he loosened his grip. She grinned up at him, her fluffy dark hair framing her gray-blue eyes so similar to James’s.

  He leaned down and hugged her again. “I’m sorry. I should’ve been here for you. For everyone.”

  She sniffed tearfully. “You’re here now. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”

  When his sister tugged on his arm, dr
agging him out of the foyer and deeper into the house, he was met with cheers and squeals. His sister’s four kids, plus Makayla, bombarded him. He’d never received so many hugs in all his life.

  Above the throng he met Maggie’s gaze. “You’ve got some great kids. You done good, little sis.”

  She nodded, her chin trembling with emotion. “Glad they finally have a chance to meet you.”

  Eventually he became old news, and the kiddos drifted off to do their own thing. Except Makayla. “Hi, Uncle Slone.” The words sounded like music capable of repairing all the grief in his heart. God, she looked so much like James. “I got something for you today at the store.”

  He squatted lower so they were face to face. “I’m the one who brought presents for you. I don’t need a gift.”

  She shrugged her thin little shoulders. “They’re from the quarter machines. Can’t take ‘em back.” Holding them up to him in her palms, she lifted two plastic balls containing two prizes toward like she’d offered him twenty-four karat gold jewels. “For you,” she said.

  “Wow, all this for me?”

  “Look,” she said, doing the honors of opening the plastic and withdrawing the prizes. “It’s a ring pop. Purple. My favorite.”

  “If it’s your favorite, then you should have it.”

  Her forehead puckered with a frown. “No, that’s why it’s for you—‘cause it’s my favorite.”

  Pretty selfless for a nine-year-old. Slone started to get a little choked up. “It means even more to me now. So, what’s this other…thing?”

  “It’s a foam capsule,” she said. “Put it in water, and it turned into a big dinosaur.”

  “Wow, awesome.” He smiled until his cheeks hurt and tousled her hair. “Thanks, kiddo. Means a lot to me.”

  “You’re welcome.” She beamed like his own little sunshine. “Okay, bye.”

  Off she went to join the other children playing a board game on the living room carpet. “She’s cute as all get out. I’m so proud of her.”

  Maggie came to stand beside him. “You should be. She’s an amazing little girl. Now you can make up for lost time with her.”

  He muttered low, “What about Adele?”

  Maggie waved. “Oh, she’s around here somewhere.”

  “Uh-huh.” Not part of the welcome wagon, no huge surprise.

  Then he watched Maggie’s face slowly drain of color. “There’s something you need to know, Slone.”

  “Regarding Adele?”

  “No, no. More important. More serious. It’s Uncle Jimmy. He’s…not well.”

  Shit. Slone raked a hand through his hair.

  “He doesn’t have much time left. I think he’s held on this long because he knew you were coming. You’d better say what you need to say, before it’s too late.”

  “Okay.” Slone swallowed hard. “Thanks, Maggs.”

  After he confirmed the time his parents were supposed to arrive home after dinner for their surprise party, he went down the hall to the spare first-floor bedroom. There he found Uncle Jimmy in a sickbed with rails, like in a nursing home, but he couldn’t calibrate his brain to accept the sight before him.

  The man had always been on the slender side. Now, his uncle resembled a skeleton more than a living, breathing person.

  “Uncle Jimmy,” Slone murmured in the darkened room, his throat constricting with emotion. He sank onto a chair beside the bed and reached for one of his uncle’s frail hands. It weighed as much as a bird’s wing. “I’m sorry I didn’t know…”

  “Is that my boy?” Uncle Jimmy wheezed and coughed as he tried to raise himself in bed. “Did yer come home at last?”

  Supporting his uncle’s shoulders, Slone propped pillows behind his bony spine and eased him back against the cushion. “I’m home.”

  “If you ain’t a sight for these sore eyes. You’re somethin’ fancy, like you done landed in high cotton. City life treating you good?”

  “It is, Uncle Jimmy. I made something of myself. I have a good job and a great girl who’s here with me. I want you to meet Lindsey, the mother of my child.”

  “You expectin’ a child? Lawd, never thought I’d see the day. Maybe won’t, I come to s’pect. Breathing’s getting harder. Lungs ain’t gonna last much past the week. But while I still got breath in ‘em, wanted to tell you…you made me proud, son.”

  Slone’s jaw tightened. His nostrils flared. He blinked, glancing upward, desperately trying not to lose it in front of his uncle. “I know what you did for me. You treated me like your own. I see it now.”

  “Boy, your Pa would’ve given anything to be here for you. Just like you would’ve given anything for James.”

  Slone held the man’s trembling hand between both of his, shocked by the difference. Uncle Jimmy had always had such powerful hands.

  After a fit of coughing, Uncle Jimmy said, “I never said to you what your daddy told me in the jungles of ‘Nam.”

  Jesus. Slone hadn’t even known his father and uncle had been deployed at the same time. Just like him and James. Slone breathed deep. “What did he say?”

  “‘Take care of my boy,’ he said. So I did. I reckon I did the best I knew how. I wasn’t right, I wasn’t your daddy, but I gave you what I could.”

  Taking a red and white quilt from the foot of the bed, Slone unfolded the blanket and gently tucked it around Uncle Jimmy’s feeble shivering body, as the man coughed and hacked uncontrollably. He held a handkerchief to his uncle’s lips to catch the spray of phlegm. While they sat quietly together, he let his uncle’s words fill the old, festering holes inside him, coming to a place of wholeness within. Something he’d never experienced, and never would have, if he hadn’t come home.

  He held his uncle, held all the memories the man had given him, and said thank you. Told him he loved him. That’s more than a lot people have with the folks who’d most impacted their lives. He wouldn’t have had this chance to say goodbye, if not for Lindsey. He knew he couldn’t do this life without her.

  His pulse slowed, and he wondered if his heart had a hard time pumping all the emotion shooting through his bloodstream. He thought he might crack apart any second. Tears filled his eyes, threatening to spill over. Even though he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t break down.

  “You were the most amazing role model a kid could ask for, Uncle Jimmy. You changed my life in the best ways. All the ways that make you count your blessings. I love you for that.”

  “You, too, son.” His uncle patted his shoulder. “You, too.”

  *

  After watching Slone’s heartfelt reunion with his uncle, Lindsey quietly backed out of Uncle Jimmy’s sickroom. She reentered the hallway, then stopped in the kitchen to add a few more marshmallows to her hot chocolate.

  Within seconds a heaviness wrapped around her as if an invisible noose had garroted her neck. Her head snapped up. Her eyes met Adele’s determined stare.

  Instead of avoiding the woman, Lindsey wanted to reveal the truth out in the open. Now that she and Slone were here at his parents’ place, she found no reason to keep Adele’s letters to her a secret anymore.

  Or, what she had assumed were threatening letters from Adele. If she’d been the one sending the cruel, dark messages to her, Slone and their unborn child, then this confrontation needed to take place. Preferably before Slone and Maggie’s parents arrived home, so they could clear the antagonism hanging in the air.

  As Adele approached her with rapid strides, Lindsey guessed she’d uncover the truth any minute. Just before Adele reached Lindsey, her daughter Makayla bounced up to her mother. “Mommy, Mommy, I won the game!”

  “That’s nice, sugar pie. You can tell me about it later. Right now I need to talk with Uncle Slone’s mistress.”

  Charming. Lindsey shook her head.

  Makayla wrinkled her nose. “What’s a mis-trays?”

  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it,” Adele said in a sweet as sin southern accent, then turned her sharp eyes on Linds
ey. “Can you meet me, darlin’, on the front porch?”

  Determination overcame her initial prickle of warning. She nodded.

  Oh, yes, I will.

  Back in Slone’s parents’ three-season front porch, she noticed a Native American mandela or dream catcher in every window. Had they sensed an evil in their midst? Would they have ever guessed the source?

  On high alert, Lindsey sat down on a rocking chair covered with a sheep skin throw. Across from her Adele sat in a rocker without the benefit of warmth from a blanket. Lindsey would’ve traded places with her in a heartbeat, not condoning the slaughter of animals for food or clothing. But for Slone’s benefit, and to maintain a steady internal body temperature for the baby, she stayed where she was and faced Adele.

  “I feel it’s my Christian duty to warn you about the man you think you know as Slone. You have to understand, he is tarnished goods,” Adele said with a great show of concern. “If you have his baby…well, you’ll put yourself and that child at risk.”

  “Is that so?” Lindsey deadpanned.

  “At heart he’s a bad, bad man.” Adele worked herself into more of a frenzied state as the story unfolded. “Right after he got back from his first tour, he went huntin’ with some fellas I’m friends with around these parts. Y’all know Slone wasn’t ever right in the head to begin with, but when he came back from his first mission as a Navy SEAL, you could see the hate in his eyes.”

  Lindsey stared at Adele evenly. “What about the hunting trip did you want to tell me?”

  “My men friends told me Slone showed all the signs of a cold-hearted killer. When they went huntin’ with him, they said he shot innocent animals, picked off squirrels for no reason. Just for the sport of it. And they said he laughed! Oh, it’s frightening.”

  “That’s not the Slone I know.” Lindsey may have been the tree-hugger, but Slone had carefully removed the cracked branches from their backyard pine tree, taking every measure to spare the tree itself. Killing innocent creatures for sport? Never. “Maybe your memory has lapsed.”

  Adele cupped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, no. I swear he did those things. Everyone knows about it. That’s why I’m afraid of him coming near my girl Makayla. God knows what violence he has in him. He’s killed hundreds, maybe thousands of men in the dark parts of the world. You must be terrified of him, deep down. Even just a little?”