The Legacy Collection Box Set

by Ruth Cardello

  Dammit.

  Nicole waved for her limo to pull closer. He backed up and opened the door. “Why not sit for a minute? Do you want me to call your service again?”

  Settling onto one of the plush seats on one side, Maddy said, “I’m sure I’ll be fine in a minute. I’m just tired. The air in here feels great.”

  Wanting nothing more than to drive off and away from everything Andrade, Nicole stepped inside and sat across from the reason she couldn’t. “Are you uncomfortable?”

  Maddy rolled her eyes. “I am due in a week and shaped like an overblown beach ball. There isn’t an inch of me that is comfortable.”

  They passed a moment of shared awkward silence.

  Maddy winced. “Oof.”

  “What is it?”

  “I must have sat wrong at my desk because my back is killing me.”

  Shame on Stephan for having Maddy continue to work this late in her pregnancy. Was there any trace left of the gentler Stephan she’d fallen in love with so many years ago? Had he existed at all, or had she projected what she’d wanted to see onto just another power-hungry suit? Little Maddy deserved better treatment. “Are you sure I can’t call anyone for you? How about your family?”

  “No.” Maddy made a face as she had another back spasm. “I’ll be fine as soon as I get home. I hate to ask you this, but do you think you could give me a ride?”

  “You’re welcome to take the limo. I don’t mind catching a taxi.” It would be a win-win. Maddy could get home safely, and she could escape from what was turning out to be another awful day.

  “Please don’t. I mean, yes, I’ll take the ride, but don’t leave. I don’t know why, but I feel funny about being alone right now.”

  What could you say to that?

  Nothing but yes, especially if you were well acquainted with how being deserted felt.

  “No problem, what’s your address?” Maddy shared her uptown address and Nicole repeated it to the driver. They pulled out into traffic.

  Maddy was the first to break the silence. “So, are you okay with Stephan going to China?”

  Nicole clasped her cold hands in her lap. “What Stephan does is none of my business.” A fact that was painfully clear after seeing him today.

  “Do you know why he’s going there?”

  “Like I said, none of my business.” She didn’t want to be rude, but the last thing she wanted to do was discuss the man she was planning to spend the evening trying to forget.

  “Even when it involves your brother?”

  “Especially when it involves my brother,” Nicole said, turning to look out the window.

  “That must be hard.”

  “I’m sorry?” Nicole answered, continuing to watch the people on the street.

  “Not getting involved. I don’t think I could do . . .” Her sentence was cut short by another back spasm.

  “Are you okay?” Nicole’s family had consisted of just her and her father since her early teen years. She had no experience dealing with pregnant women, but Maddy was looking more and more uncomfortable. That couldn’t be good.

  “Yes, just some twinges. This happened a couple of days ago. It was false labor. I’m sure this will pass. Don’t worry, even if it were real labor, this is my first, we’d have plenty of time.”

  Nicole’s stomach twisted and she almost lost her lunch on the vehicle’s floor. She caught her breath and said, “Labor? You could be in labor?”

  “I wish, but I’ll probably be one of those first timers who go past their due dates,” Maddy said with more confidence than Nicole thought the situation warranted.

  Nicole tapped on the driver’s window. “Jeff? Head to the hospital. Fast.”

  Maddy said, “I’m sure . . .”

  The driver window lowered. “Did you say the hospital?”

  “Yes, she could be in labor right now. How far are we?”

  “Lenox is on Seventy-Seventh I think. That’s not too far, but traffic is at a crawl.”

  “Can you go around?”

  “It’s all backed up. There must be an accident. Nothing is moving.”

  Nicole took a shaky breath and then another. Shorter and shorter breaths until she felt a bit light-headed.

  Maddy said, “Breathe. Nicole, I’m not in labor.” But she gave a small yelp and lost some of her confidence. “At least, I don’t think so.”

  Nicole could barely get a coherent sentence out. “You can’t . . . you can’t . . .”

  Maddy raised an eyebrow.

  Nicole finished lamely, “You can’t have your baby here. I don’t know anything about babies!”

  Relaxing back into the seat for a moment, Maddy rubbed her stomach, but she wasn’t sounding as calm as she had a few moments before. She said, “I’m sure this is nothing. Richard and I both panicked last time for no reason. I’ve taken all the classes. My water hasn’t even broken yet. We’re fine.”

  Nicole took out her phone and started searching the Internet for imminent birth indicators.

  Maddy joked, “Do you think there is an app for this?” But her joke was cut short by her first real cry of pain.

  Nicole said, “You need an ambulance.”

  Wiping a sudden sheen of sweat from her forehead, Maddy conceded, “You might be right.”

  Not expecting her to agree, Nicole sputtered, “What do you mean, I might be right? You said you were fine.”

  Maddy looked down at the seat beneath her and said, “I think my water just broke.”

  “You think?” Her water just broke? The traffic was at a standstill. They were nowhere near a hospital. Not good. Not good. Not good. Nicole gasped for oxygen as her airway closed in panic.

  Reaching across the limo, Maddy dragged Nicole onto the seat next to her with one yank. The sweet girl from earlier was quickly disappearing. She gritted her teeth and said, “Listen, one of us is going to have to remain calm here and chances are it’s not going to be me. You’re going to have to get a grip.”

  What did they suggest a woman do during birthing? Short breaths? Nicole took several shallow breaths, then several longer ones. When she’d calmed, she was able to think somewhat clearly again. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ve just never been around a pregnant woman before.”

  After quickly digging in her purse for her phone, Maddy called her husband. “Richard?” She broke off and exclaimed as pain tore through her. When it had passed, she said, “It’s time. Head to Lenox. I know it’s not what we planned, but it’s the closest one. Yes, we’re on our way. At least, we’re trying to be on our way—we’re stuck in traffic.”

  Nicole asked her driver frantically, “Jeff, can’t you get around these cars?”

  “We’re locked in,” he replied.

  “What about a medevac?” Nicole asked, grasping for any solution.

  “No place to land.”

  Breathing normally was getting more difficult again. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What do we do?”

  911.

  Nicole fumbled with her phone, dropping it twice before she succeeded in making the call. She chose speakerphone because, like it or not, Jeff was going to have to listen in, just in case she passed out.

  The dispatcher said, “Nine-one-one, what is the emergency?”

  Nicole gasped for a breath and said, “We’re having a baby. I mean, Maddy is having a baby in my limo. She can’t have the baby here.”

  “Ma’am, where are you located?”

  Nicole frantically looked out the window for signs. “We’re on West Fifty-Eighth and Fifth. In a black limo. The traffic isn’t moving. You need to send an ambulance right now.”

  “Okay, ma’am, there is an ambulance several blocks away. I’m directing it to your location now. Pull over and wait for them.”

  Maddy screamed.

  The operator asked, “How close are the contractions?”

  Nicole looked at Maddy, who was now reclined on the car’s long seat, breathing in short bursts. “Maddy, how close are the contractions?” T
ears started running down Maddy’s face and she let out another short scream. Oh, my God! “I don’t know. She’s in a lot of pain. Should she be in that much pain?”

  “Ma’am, you’re going to have to remain calm. Having a baby is natural, but it can be extremely painful. You need to ask the mother how close her contractions are.”

  As the pain eased, Maddy finally answered Nicole. “They are very close. A few minutes, if that.”

  “A few minutes,” Nicole said quickly into the phone. “Maybe less.”

  “Ma’am, you’re going to have to prepare yourself.”

  “Prepare?” Nicole asked, feeling time slow with the shock of it all.

  “The baby could come before the ambulance arrives. Unless anyone else is there, you’re going to have to assist.”

  Nicole gave the young driver a frantic look, but he shook his head just as wildly and said, “Don’t look at me. I pass out when I see blood.”

  “I don’t think I can do this,” Nicole said, panic closing in once again. She had never even applied a Band-Aid to anyone but herself, and this promised to be a whole lot messier than that.

  Maddy said something into her phone, then put it on speakerphone. “Nicole, it’s Richard. He wants to say something.”

  “Nicole? Nicole? Are you there?”

  “Yes,” Nicole said, her hands shaking so badly she almost dropped her own phone.

  “You have two of the most important people in the world to me with you right now. Please take care of them.” His love for his wife had a calming effect on Nicole.

  Every once in a while, life threw you an opportunity to redefine yourself. You could either rise up to the challenge or live with the regret.

  This is one of those moments.

  I can waste time crying and hyperventilating myself into a blackout, or I can put on my big-girl pants and stop thinking this is all about me.

  “I will, Richard. They are both going to be fine,” Nicole said and was surprised to hear the strength in her voice.

  “Ma’am?” the 911 operator interrupted. “Do you have a place to wash your hands?”

  Nicole shook herself out of inaction and assessed what was available. “The limo has a little bar area. I have hand sanitizer and bottles of water.”

  “Wash down quickly and then check the mother.”

  Nicole washed quickly, grabbed some fresh linen from the bar, and knelt to help Maddy out of her underclothes. What she saw almost sent her sprawling backward onto the floor of the vehicle. “I think I can see the top of the baby’s head.”

  The contractions were more frequent and increasing in intensity. Nicole put the phone down to help Maddy, who was alternating between pushing and screaming. For what felt like hours, but was in fact only a sliver of that time, the operator called out advice that Nicole quickly followed. Nicole helped Maddy get as comfortable as possible and knelt on the floor, preparing to support the head and catch the baby.

  It all happened quickly. First the head popped out, then the baby turned to one side, and suddenly a very slippery infant slid into Nicole’s waiting hands. Nicole used one of the clean linens to wipe the baby’s face and mouth. She wrapped it in another linen and laid it face down on Maddy’s chest. The baby took its first deep breath and let out a wail.

  Nicole wiped her shaking hands and laid out more linens on the floor. “It’s okay. The baby is okay.” She was vaguely aware of tears pouring down her own cheeks.

  The operator said, “The ambulance is on Sixth now. You should be able to hear the siren in a moment.”

  Maddy was looking down at her new baby in wonder.

  A male voice revealed that Richard was still on speakerphone. “Maddy? Nicole?”

  Nicole answered, “The baby is fine, Richard! Can you hear it crying?”

  “And Maddy?”

  “She’s still in some pain, but she’s smiling.”

  “Is it a boy or a girl?”

  Nicole realized she didn’t know and laughed. “I don’t know. I didn’t look.”

  Richard said, “Should I worry that you couldn’t tell?”

  Nicole shook her head, then realized he couldn’t see her and said, “No, all I cared about was that first breath.”

  Maddy peeked inside the linen and said in a happy but exhausted voice, “Tell him it’s a boy.”

  “It’s a . . .”

  Richard exclaimed, sounding like he was choking on a few tears himself, “I heard.”

  The driver said, “Party’s over, ladies. The ambulance is here.”

  Maddy half smiled and said, “Smack that man later.”

  Nicole smiled at her in relief. “I promise.”

  The limo was soon crowded with two EMS paramedics, who moved Nicole over to evaluate the mother and child. Nicole stepped outside of the limo for a second. A crowd of people was gathering on the sidewalk, speculating on what could have happened in the limo that required emergency care. Several pointed at Nicole. She moved away to hide behind the ambulance when she saw the first camera phone.

  Her driver walked around the front of the limo and handed Nicole her phone. “The operator said you did great.”

  “I still can’t believe it. Jeff, I just delivered a baby.”

  “Yes, you did. And luckily you have more than one limo or we’d be using my Mercury this summer. I draw the line at cleaning that out.”

  That’s what happens when you let the twenty-two-year-old son of your regular driver cover for his father for the summer. Unlike Arnold, who blended into the background as seamlessly as furniture and anticipated your every need, Jeff brought a bit more attitude with him.

  Not that she could blame him in this case. “I’ll ride in the front with you on the way home and we’ll have it cleaned. Deal?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  I just delivered a baby.

  Even though the experience was chock-full of details she neither wanted to relive nor share with anyone, holding that new life in her hands and helping it into the world would forever rank as one of the most amazing events of her life. If she had a friend, she would have called her right then and shared her euphoria about the baby arriving with no complications for mother or child. Friends, however, were difficult to make and even harder to keep when you were a Corisi.

  The only meaningful relationships she’d maintained into adulthood were with the top executives at her father’s company. Unfortunately, she was no longer the little girl who could run into their offices and burst out with a story. They’d stayed in touch, even after she’d gone on to college and worked in various computer software companies in and around New York, but they were no longer part of her day-to-day life.

  However, Nicole had never stopped being grateful for the years of kindness they had shown her when everyone else in her life had walked away. As she’d learned about business in college, she’d used what little influence she had with her father to improve their workplace. Surprisingly, she’d often gotten her way, not because it was best for the company, and certainly not because her father valued her opinion, simply because her father knew she would talk to him until he made whatever small concession she was asking for. He’d trivialized her interest as vanity, a need to leave her mark on what he’d created. Still, giving in had gotten him what he wanted: a reprieve from her presence, something he considered an even trade for approving a few human resource initiatives. That knowledge never stopped hurting, but it had been useful when she’d sought childcare and flextime for those she cared about.

  She would do just about anything for ones she loved—even put herself at the mercy of a man who had once broken her heart. Admittedly, going to Stephan for help had been far-fetched, but George and some of the other top executives had stood by her these past few weeks as her father’s health had declined. They’d sat with her at the hospital, and had come to her house to make sure she was okay when her father passed away from a fatal heart attack.

  They and their families had comforted her, while her own brother
had chosen business negotiations in Beijing over attending their father’s wake and funeral.

  They were all she had left.

  “Ma’am?” asked one paramedic in a tone that implied he’d been unsuccessfully trying to get her attention.

  “Sorry. Yes?” Nicole asked, shaking off her thoughts.

  “Are you coming in the ambulance with us?”

  Nicole had barely opened her mouth to say no when Maddy raised her head, baby wrapped warmly beneath blankets on her stomach, and reached for her from the stretcher. “Please come,” she said weakly and laid her head back on the pillow.

  Concerned, Nicole looked at the paramedic, who quickly assured her, “She’s just tired, but I need to know if you’re coming with or riding behind.”

  Nicole leaned over and gave Maddy’s hand a supportive squeeze. “I’m coming with.” To Maddy she said, “I won’t leave you, don’t worry.”

  Stephan reclined in the custom-designed seat of his private jet and tried to close his eyes. He needed to be well rested if he was going to be on his game as soon as he hit the ground in Beijing. Dominic was not going to stay in the States long. Stephan needed to have a solid standing with the Chinese minister and his council before Dominic returned if he was going to have any chance of pulling this off.

  Several members of his team had been in Beijing for almost a month, laying the groundwork and cultivating the connections that would make this coup possible. Revenge doesn’t require luck, just patience. Like a snake curling in preparation for a strike, Stephan had waited years for Dominic to slip up.

  And he finally had.

  Sleep was elusive. Stephan looked around the small cabin of the jet. It wasn’t impressive by Corisi standards, but it gave him the advantage of speed. He could get almost anywhere in half the time of his flashier rival.

  When Stephan closed his eyes again, all he saw was Nicole. He didn’t need to torture himself with an old photo this time—she was back in all-too-vivid detail. Nicole in a hot little red dress. Nicole buttoned chastely up to her neck in her navy pantsuit. Nicole deflating before his eyes when he told her he wouldn’t help her.

  She’d been beautiful in her early twenties, but the woman she’d grown into was runway gorgeous, tall and lean with legs that went on forever. Her flawless features and her unusual dark gray eyes belonged on a magazine cover. Not that she seemed to care. Most women would have used their natural assets to gain the upper hand in situations, but Nicole attempted to hide hers beneath severe clothing.