Gordon's Dawn

by Hazel Gower

  “What? My car accident wasn’t an accident. Fuck, Father, is that all that’s happened? What else have you kept from me?”

  “There has been a couple of death threats, and I may have been shot at—”

  “What the fuck? How could you keep that from me?”

  His father’s head dropped. “It’s been getting harder as they have become more adventurous as of late since you’ve come back. I hired extra security. The police promised they were on it—but it’s all over now, son, they have them. Everything worked out for the best. All the police need is a statement from you.”

  Gordon could feel his heart racing, and he tried not to think of what his father meant by more adventurous, an image of Dawn flashed before him. He blinked and went to his phone calling James, who he knew was with Dawn now.

  “Hello, sir.”

  “Where is Dawn? Can you see her?”

  “She’s in the tattoo parlor with her friend.” Gordon relaxed only to tense when James continued. “I’ll go in now.”

  “You’re not with her?”

  “I was keeping a safe distance like she asked, and you agreed.”

  “Gordon,” his father interrupted, “Dawn is fine I’m sur—”

  “Don’t. You stay quiet.” He growled at his dad and to James said, “Tell me you see her now.”

  James was silent, and then Gordon heard him swear, and a loud bang, like something being hit. “She’s not here. The guy in here said she and her friend left out the back with his boss about fifteen minutes ago.”

  Feeling his heart about to beat out of his chest, he yelled, “Find her now.” Ending the phone call, Gordon turned to his now very deathly pale father. “You better fucking hope the police do have the threat.” Picking the phone up again, he called Dawn a couple of times only for it to go straight to voicemail. He then called his security and left to go to his car. Getting in his vehicle, he sat his phone in the holder and activated the tracker on Dawn’s phone while he frantically tried to call her. As he drove to the flashing light that said where she was, he prayed she was okay. He also promised that his family head of security Mathew was fired. He couldn’t believe what he and his father had kept from him. He’d deal with them later. Right now, he needed to know Dawn was all right.

  ****

  The owner, Bran, had personally done Ambers tat. He’d asked them about Australia, and they’d told him she’d just moved here and Amber was visiting. Bran was eager about her website design. He told them about his new store that was bigger, and he had originally bought it to move the current shop into the new one. When Amber was done, Bran offered to take them to go see the new shop. Without thinking of her guards, she left out the back with Bran and Amber.

  Dawn and Bran now sat going over what he wanted. Amber had walked down to the mall that was close to this location.

  “This shop looks awesome. It’s twice the size of the other and in a great spot. I think with the website and attaching some keywords to a search would have this shop booking out.”

  “We are busy at the other location, but I thought with the foot traffic here, and if we could link to the mall, it would bring in business.”

  “Do you know what direction you want to go with this?” Dawn had an idea, but if he had one she would go that way.

  “Any suggestions?”

  “I like the feel of both your shops. What do you think of having the same with the website?”

  “You could do that.”

  “Oh, yeah, I even think we should stick with the rooms to introduce your other artists. It’ll show their style, too.”

  “This all sounds too good to be true.” Bran winked. “All you need is tats and you’d be my perfect woman right now.”

  “Oh, I have tattoos. You should know, when you work in a shop, you at least have to have one.” Pulling down her shirt, she showed him her tree on her back and the affinity symbol on the back of her neck.”

  “Those are really well done. Is your tree finished?”

  She shook her head. “No. Actually, if you’re willing, I’d like to add to my tree.”

  Bran went and got a stencil, and Dawn told him what she wanted. He did two and put one design on her back. “What do you think?”

  “Perfect. That will be awesome.”

  “If you could come around the same time tomorrow that would be great. I can do the tat. We’re busiest at night, so if you come same time tomorrow, I’ll make sure I’m free.” Bran stood, and she followed him. “I better get you back. You can call your friend.” Dawn nodded and pulled her phone out of her black bag, frowning when she saw fifteen missed calls. “Do you have someone to show you around while you’re here?”

  Blinking, she looked up from her phone screen to Bran. She’d been warned by Gordon’s security not to tell people who she was married to. Supposedly, she could be kidnapped for ransom. She’d found it really hard to resist rolling her eyes when Gordon’s security had gone through a bunch of rules. She understood why Gordon had them, but she wasn’t the one worth millions.

  All the missed calls were from Gordon. Guilt assaulted Dawn because she had snuck out the back from the other shop. She wasn’t used to being told what to do so much. Having so many restrictions was taking its time to sink in. Dawn studied Bran. He was nice. He looked to be in his late twenty early thirties, and before Gordon, he was definitely what she would have drooled over. He had a body full of artwork, lean, green eyes, and dark short hair. Bran, she had learned from when she’d been in his other shop, also liked the same music and had the same taste in art. It had been nice to talk to someone so like-minded.

  Dawn didn’t have much experience with men. Was Bran asking her out? Or Amber? Or was he just being nice? She frowned and glanced down at her left hand, which held her wedding and engagement rings. Surely, he’d seen them and was just being nice and was asking for Amber. “I like exploring, but I have someone if I need company. Amber may want to go, though.” Gordon would come, but she knew he was stressing at the moment over the loss they’d taken while he was away and was making sure the people he promoted transitioned well. Dawn was trying to be an understanding wife, especially since he’d brought her best friend over, but she missed him and the time they used to spend together like crazy. She knew without Amber, she would have been lonely though. “I may need to get a job though, just to make some new friends.” She couldn’t stand many of the rich snobs she’d been introduced to so far.

  Bran’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. “Since you’re great with the computer, you know how to book appointments. You said you worked at a tattoo parlor in Australia. Would you like to work here in the afternoons for a couple of hours?”

  “I’d love that.” Without thinking, she hugged him. “Thank you.”

  “Holy shit,” Bran whispered before he pushed her behind him, and she stumbled and righted herself. Turning to see what Bran was swearing about, she groaned. James and Brad, security she knew of Gordon’s, invaded the front of the tattoo shop. At least Gordon wasn’t with them.

  Sighing, Dawn pasted a smile on her face. “Hi, guys. I see you found me. How’d you do that?”

  Brad raised his eyebrow. “Gordon activated the tracker on your phone.”

  “Crap, does that mean he knows I’m here or did he activate it before today?”

  Brad actual smiled, which Dawn thought was kinda scary. “What do you think?”

  Turning to Bran, she kept her fake smile in place. “Thanks again so much. I’ll be by tomorrow to take pictures and show you what I have in mind.” Dawn could see the question in Bran’s eyes, and then they grew large once again, and Dawn heard the door open and she knew who he was seeing.

  “I think your dad’s here,” he whispered

  Not able to help it, she burst out laughing. She laughed so hard, she almost doubled over. Looking up, Dawn saw no one was laughing with her. Well, Brad smirked like he wanted to laugh and so did James. “Sorry,” she mumbled. Dawn stared at Gordon, and her laughter stopped. He h
ad the Gordon she didn’t like up. His eyes were shrewd as he assessed everything, and his body radiated power.

  Going to him, he snatched her hand once she was within reach and dragged her against him. “Introduce me, sprite.” The bit in his voice had her wincing.

  Fine, if he were going to be like that, she could do it, too. “Bran, I apologize for all this. I’d like you to meet Gordon Wilks. Gordon, this is Bran, the owner. He is employing me for his website and offered me a couple of afternoons to work and meet new people and make friends.” Gordon’s gaze narrowed, and she smiled sweetly up at him. She loved him, but right now, he was pissing her off.

  Bran wasn’t saying anything. He just stared bug-eyed at Gordon. “It’s nice to meet you, Bran. I’m Dawn’s husband.” Fuck. Bran looked about ready to pass out.

  “Husband,” Bran whispered. “You’re Gordon Wilk’s wife?” Bran looked her up and down, and then went to her left hand. “Real?”

  Frowning, she glanced down at her ring and then back at Bran. Why would he think she’d wear a fake wedding and engagement ring? Did he think she was too young or did the ring look to good to be true for someone like her? “Yep, you’re going to tattoo the date we meet and our wedding date as branches tomorrow.”

  Gordon squeezed her hand, stepped closer, and she felt his lips come down on her neck before he rasped against her ear, “I love you.”

  Relaxing against him, her annoyance at how he was acting and what Bran thought evaporated. “I love you, too,” she said loud and clear.

  Bran seemed to gather himself. “It’s nice to meet you, Gordon. Your wife and I were discussing what time she should come tomorrow.”

  Dawn felt the tension leave Gordon the more he and Bran spoke. Amber wandered back in with her hands full of shopping bags.

  By the time they were ready to leave, Bran was behind on his appointments, but had gained someone interested in a business venture that could earn him some big bucks. He was getting her to come back tomorrow to talk about the website, working at the shop, and adding to her tattoo. Dawn felt like a piece of her new life was coming together. Now she just needed her sister and nephew to move to America.

  Gordon and Bran were shaking hands and saying their goodbyes. She stood from the sofa, beyond ready to go, and if she admitted it, quite hungry. Stretching, a light headed feeling washed over her and before she could sit back down, blackness clouded her vision.

  ****

  He’d called and told James and Brad where Dawn was, and he’d arrived, packed, and watched his security enter the tattoo parlor. As he waited for an okay from James or Brad, he called Mathew and told him to deal with the police on the threat until he had the chance to get to it. He gave Mathew a quick rundown of Dawn and told him he wasn’t sure how long he’d be.

  He got out of the car and moved closer to the shop. When he saw the clear interest in the guy talking to Dawn, his blood had boiled, and he decided not to wait and followed his security into the shop. Bran wasn’t as bad as he thought. He’d stayed and talked to him, and by the time they were ready to leave, Bran knew his place and had also been given an opportunity and a potential business venture for Gordon.

  Amber was back, and they were all ready to go. Gordon gazed over at Dawn to see she looked tired and a bit pale. Shaking Brans hand, he turned to Dawn to help her but she stood on her own and stretched. Then, as if in slow motion, she swayed, and all the color left her and she dropped to the ground. Amber screamed, and he bolted the last couple of steps to her fallen form, kneeling.

  Gordon could hear James on the phone to the ambulance, and Brad dropped down on her other side. Gordon reached out only for Brad to bat his hand away. “Don’t touch her, Gordon. We can’t risk moving her, or you touching her until we know what’s wrong.” Brad checked her pulse and spoke to James like it was just another day, and Gordon’s whole world hadn’t just shattered. His security team’s voices and visuals faded in an out. The only thing he could see was Dawn’s pale form.

  Seconds, minutes felt like hours as he stared at the love of his life. When the ambulance finally came, Gordon watched and followed sitting in the truck, still unable to speak. It wasn’t until they reached the hospital—and his father and mother were there already ordering people around and throwing whatever weight they had to make sure Dawn had the best—did he snap out of it.

  He hadn’t seen his mother since he and Dawn arrived in Dallas, and she did something he couldn’t remember her ever doing. She came over to him and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s all right, son. Dawn will be okay, Gordon.” She squeezed him, and blinking, he gazed around him and gathered himself together.

  Wrapping his arms around his mother, he leaned down and kissed her head. “Thank you. Yes, she will be. She has to be.” Gordon wouldn’t allow it to be any other way. He wasn’t willing to ever live without Dawn. He loved her too damn much.

  Chapter Nine

  Dawn could hear yelling to her left. The room she was in was an off white, and as she turned her head to the right, she saw green curtains on the window. Blinking as she got used to the light, she turned to the sound of the yelling. Gordon stood towering over a man in a white lab coat.

  “Why the hell isn’t she awake yet? If you tell me she should wake soon, I swear, there won’t even be a hospital in the middle of nowhere who’ll take you.”

  Ah, she was in the hospital. That made sense since the last thing she remembered was feeling dizzy. “Gordon,” she croaked. Clearing her dry throat, she tried again. “Gordon. Gordon, stop intimating the doctor.” His whole body froze, and he spun around and bolted to her side.

  “Sprite, you’re awake.” He leaned over and kissed both her cheeks before brushing his lips over hers. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like crap.” Lifting her arm that felt like lead, she stroked his cheek. “How long have I been out?”

  “Two days.”

  “What? What happened?” she rasped and tried lifting her other hand, which had a drip going into it.

  Gordon turned and went to a shelf and came back with a bottle of water. “Take a small sip.” She nodded and did as Gordon said. “You passed out.” Gordon narrowed his gaze on her, clear anger on his face. “You hadn’t eaten or drunk anything all day, and that’s one of the reasons. I agreed to let you look after yourself, and not have Jane or the security so close and always there, and this is what happens.” Gordon sat and gathered her hand in his. “Not anymore. Never again.” He reached up and brushed the hair away from her face. “Dawn, sprite, um, did you forget to tell me something?”

  Racking her brain, she tried to remember if there was anything she needed to tell Gordon. Nothing came to mind. “No. Why what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Well, something. Dawn, you’re pregnant.”

  Dawn shook her head on the pillow. “No, I can’t be, I’m on the pill, remember.” She went back over in her mind, and she hadn’t forgotten any. She had changed the time she took it, but… “No, I can’t be.”

  “Sprite, you are.”

  Holy crap, she couldn’t remember when she had her last period. Wow, she was pregnant. That would explain why she’d been so moody and emotional.

  “The doct—”

  Gordon was cut off as a doctor walked in with two others. “Hello, Mrs. Wilks. I’m Dr. Field. This is Dr. Trent, and to my left is Dr. Rockstin.”

  “Hello,” she mumbled, still trying to process what Gordon had said.

  A big machine was pushed through her room door, and Dawn felt her heart rate speed up as she saw what it was—an ultrasound machine.

  “Now, has your husband had the chance to tell you what happened?”

  She nodded. “He says I’m pregnant, and I passed out due to lack of food and being dehydrated.”

  “That’s the rough story,” Dr. Field said. “We’ve had some tests come back, and before I go any further with your permission, I’d like to do a scan.” Nodding, she looked at the machine. “Would you like your husband to leave while
I get ready or is he welcome to st—”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Gordon growled.

  “I want him with me.”

  “Okay. We think, for how far you are, we will need to use the stick, which will mean we will put this,” he picked up a long round looking nozzle looking like a scanner. He put a protector over it and covered it in gel. Dawn felt her eyes grow and didn’t know if she wanted to do this. Dr. Field moved down to the end of the bed and lifted the sheet. She squeaked in surprise when she felt the stick go up where only Gordon had been before. Surprising, it didn’t hurt.

  The other doctors fiddled with buttons on the ultrasound, and then weird looking shapes showed up. Dawn stared at the three round shapes with white flashes in them on the screen.

  “Just as I thought,” Dr. Field said as he looked at the screen. “Triplet.”

  “What?”

  “Congratulations, Mrs. Wilks, you are…. I would say six and half weeks pregnant with triplets.”

  Gordon made a choking noise and stared down at me in amazement as he looked at her to the screen.

  “Triplets?” she repeated over and over. Sure, she was a twin, but triplets? Holy shit, she wasn’t just pregnant with a baby, she was pregnant with three babies.

  Dr. Field did measurements and pointed out that the white flutter was the heartbeat. They listened to the sound of three little heartbeats, and Dawn fell instantly in love.”

  “What do I do now?” she asked staring at all the doctors.

  Dr. Rockstin looked down at his tablet then back at her. “Your blood pressure is low. Your iron levels are the same. I understand you’re very lucky as Dr. Field is personally taking your case, but you also need a nutritionist. I have been assigned. You will need to eat at least five meals a day, more as your pregnancy progresses. Your water levels were low, and that is something we can’t have. You will get dehydrated very easily.”