by Mia Carson
Fuming, Max skidded to a stop at the end of the hall, his hands curling and uncurling at his sides and his lips screwed up in a snarl. He slipped one into his pocket, but Keith’s hold on her hair jerked her head back and she lost sight of whatever he did. “Let her go,” he whispered harshly.
“Why would I do that?” Keith smoothed his hand through Mia’s hair and she cringed, wiggling her body to try and break free. She turned her head, and Max’s curse as he stomped forward a few more steps told her he’d spotted the mark left by Keith’s rage. “Stay where you are or this gets messy.”
Max’s gaze softened as it shifted to Mia’s. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine,” she muttered through gritted teeth.
“Everyone will be fine,” Keith said happily, “if you let me leave with her.”
“You really think I’m going to let you walk away with my wife?” Max’s hand brushed against his pocket and his eyes glimmered as he stared intently at Mia.
She frowned. What was he telling her? She squinted at his pocket and realized his cell was in there—had he called the police?
“I came to reclaim my property. Though she might be damaged goods, now, after you spoiled her purity and infected her with your seed, I’ll be able to do as I’ve wanted with her.” He traced his fingers down her face, then lower.
Mia squirmed in his grip, but he lowered the revolver to her stomach and she gasped. “No, don’t, please.”
“Why not? He put it inside you, now I have to take it out.”
Max took a half step closer. “What’s he talking about?”
Mia smiled through the tears forming in her eyes. “This is not how I wanted to tell you, but you’re going to be a father.”
“But I thought you couldn’t have children,” he whispered, shocked.
“I thought so too. Apparently, I was wrong.”
Keith pressed the gun harder against her stomach, and Max flung curses at him to let her go. “Put the damn gun down and step away from my wife and child!”
“This is how this is going to go,” Keith informed him calmly as if they were discussing the weather. “You are going to let me walk out of here with my wife, and tomorrow morning first thing, you’re going to file for a divorce. The moment it goes through, Mia and I are taking a nice, long trip far away. Maybe to the country… we’ll get a nice farmhouse. Someplace I can keep a better eye on you.”
Her future flashed before her eyes, being trapped with Keith for the rest of her life, never able to see Max again, never able to hold the miracle baby growing in her belly. No, it wasn’t going to end like this. She had to get away from him, get to Max. If he’d called the police and they were listening, they would be here soon, right?
As if on cue, the elevator doors dinged out in the hallway, a sound that echoed through the penthouse since Max had left the door wide open in his rush to get to her. His eyes locked on hers and he nodded. Mia pushed her fear aside, and with a yell, shoved away from Keith, stepping on his instep hard to throw him off balance. Max rushed forward at the same time, stretching his hands out for hers. Everything happened in a blur. Several cops rushed in through the front door and yelled for Keith to drop the gun.
Keith screamed her name as Max quickly curved his body around hers in the hall. “No!”
A shot went off and Max grunted in pain, their bodies hitting the floor hard. More gunfire erupted, but Max tucked Mia’s head down, keeping her safe with his body. Then there was silence, a loud thud, and it was over.
“Max?” She shifted in his arms, trying to move him, but he didn’t budge. “Max? Damn it, say something! Max!”
Two police officers rushed over and helped drag Max off. He grimaced in pain, and Mia ran her hands up his chest, searching for wounds. He reached up to catch them. “Fine,” he muttered. “Perfectly fine…”
“Max!” She held his face hard in her hands. “Open your eyes, Max!”
Her eyes searched his body for any sign of a wound when she spotted the blood on the floor beneath his back. One of officers was already on the radio, calling for an ambulance and the coroner. Another cop rushed over to put pressure on the gunshot wound.
“Is he going to be all right?” she gasped. “Tell me!”
“I can’t tell where he was hit,” the cop told her. “I’m sorry.”
Max’s grip on her hands loosened and his eyes slipped closed again. “No, look at me.” She kissed his lips hard. “Max, please, you have to be all right, you can’t… you can’t leave me now.”
His lips twitched. “Pocket.”
“What?”
“Pocket… coat pocket.”
Fumbling with his leather coat and cursing vividly under her breath until he laughed with a wince, she found a small box and pulled it out. “This? What is it?”
He squinted one eye open. “Yours…”
Confused, she flipped the box open to find a sparkling single ruby stone set on a band of white gold. It was shaped in a circle, the band twisting around it. “A ring?” He nodded stiffly. “You got me a ring… what… why?”
“Propose to you… the right way.”
She laughed through the tears pouring down her cheeks. “You damn idiot. You had to wait until you got shot to propose to me?” She stared at the ring, running her finger over it in disbelief until his head slumped to the floor. She dropped the box with the ring and scooted around to hold his head in her lap. “Max, please. You have to open your eyes. We’re getting married—for real this time—and you’re… you’re going to be a father and I can’t… I can’t do this without you, okay? I can’t.”
The cops close by whispered under their breath, but what they said, she didn’t understand or care. She only had eyes for Max, could only listen to his ragged breathing.
“I didn’t think I could love until you came into my life.” She smoothed his hair back from his face, tracing his scar. “You taught me what it meant, you saved me twice, and it’s not fair… it’s not fair for you to just go out like this so you have to make it. Please, God, you have to make it.”
His hand raised slowly, cupping her cheek as his lips curled into a smile.
The paramedics arrived and she was pulled to her feet and out of the way as they loaded him on the stretcher. The police said they needed her statement as the paramedics checked the wound on her face. Her eyes shot to Keith’s body, and words failed her as she swallowed hard. He was dead. They covered his body and she blinked a hard few times before quietly telling them she was pregnant, and the second set of paramedics escorted her to another ambulance to get her checked out as well. Numb, she let them direct her where to go and told the police weakly what had happened. There were questions and she thought she answered them, but her only care was for Max and seeing him open those blue eyes again.
She was walking towards the ambulance when the events of the last twenty minutes took their toll and the world went dark.
He floated in a world of shadows and voices whispering to him. Max cringed as bright lights flashed overhead before disappearing. Beeping… so much beeping, and then silence. He thought he heard crying—Mia, maybe? He thought he’d reached for her, swore she’d gripped his hand, but there was nothing there.
How long he was out, he wasn’t sure, but when he attempted to open his eyes, pain flooded his body and he winced against the light filling the room. It was dim but still hurt, and he tried to turn away from it, grimacing at the pain ricocheting up his back.
“Careful, Maxwell, you’ll rip your stitches,” a man said and two hands eased his shoulders gently back. “How are you feeling?”
Max blinked to clear his vision so he could see a young man’s face staring down at him quizzically. “Feeling? Pain… does that count, doc? Hell, are you even old enough to be a doctor?”
The man laughed. “Afraid so. Dr. Jones. I’ve been out of school two years now.”
“Two years, great. So I should expect to be dead soon.” Max grunted and tried to sit up, but Dr. Jones forced him back down
again. “I have to get up.”
“Do you remember what happened?”
Max sank against the pillow and shut his eyes tight. What had happened? He had gone out to the office then to get dinner for him and Mia… came back and… and… “Mia! Where is she? Is she all right?”
“Your wife is just fine,” Dr. Jones said and putting a finger to his lips, nodded towards the chair in the corner. “She and the baby are doing well.”
“Baby?” That’s right, she was pregnant with a miracle baby. He laughed in disbelief. “The penthouse and that man… he shot me.”
“He did, but lucky for you, he missed any major organs. You lost a decent amount of blood, but you’ll recover soon enough. From what the police told me, you saved your wife’s life. That bullet would’ve hit her and probably killed her and your baby.” He patted Max on the shoulder as tears welled in the large man’s eyes. “They’re safe, Max. You all are.”
He wiped his eyes quickly and muttered a gruff thanks to the young doctor. “And the man who attacked us?”
Dr. Jones’ eyes fell and he shuffled his feet as he set Max’s chart back at the foot of his bed. “Shot dead by the police once they arrived. Rest, Max. I’ll have a nurse check on you again in a few hours.”
The doctor left, and Max watched Mia sleeping, curled up in the chair across the room. Her head rested on her arms, she’d kicked her shoes off, and from this angle, he could see the black eye where that bastard had clocked her. Max’s hands fisted in the sheets, ready to bring Keith back to life and pummel him right back into death with his own hands. His back throbbed, but he pushed the pain aside. If anything happened to Mia or their baby, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself, probably wouldn’t be able to live at all. She was his world now, and all he had in his life that he cared for. He pushed himself up in the bed, and the change in angle gave him a view of something red and glittering on Mia’s left hand. She wore the ring he’d picked out to propose to her.
Unable to stay away from her any longer, he gritted his teeth and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His weak legs gave out when his feet hit the floor, and he cursed, falling into the wall with a loud thud.
“Max? Jesus, what the fuck are you doing?” Mia snapped as she rushed to his side. “Get your ass back in bed right now.”
He sat down hard on the bed but wrapped his arms around, holding her close and breathing her in. “Thank God you’re all right,” he muttered roughly, tears pricking his eyes again. He held the back of her head, kissing her forehead as she clung to him in turn.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “We’re… we’re both fine, but you have to lay back. You were shot, remember?”
He did as she ordered, chuckling at her fierceness. She sat on the bed beside him, holding his hand and smiling at him, but the longer they stared, the worse the pain in her eyes became before she collapsed against his chest, sobbing against him.
“This is all my fault. I’m sorry,” she wailed. “You never would’ve been shot if I hadn’t… if I’d left that first day instead of staying.”
Max hushed her and dragged her against his body so he could hold her in his lap. She was so small, and he cradled her securely, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “Mia, what did I tell you about apologizing to me?”
“You were shot, Max. It’s my fault.”
“No, it’s that dead bastard’s fault. He tried to destroy your life and he failed. If I had to do it all again, I would,” he said forcefully. “I do not regret a moment of our time together, do you understand me?”
“But—”
“No,” he growled and crushed his mouth against hers, needing to taste her lips and know she was really there and this was going to be his future. The kiss deepened until he tried to move and his stitches tugged. He hissed. “Damn.”
“I guess we should hold off on a proper reunion,” she mused and kissed his nose.
“Afraid so.” He lifted her left hand and admired the ring. “Is this a yes, then?”
She tilted her hand this way and that, batting her eyelashes as she said, “Nah, I just thought I’d keep the ring and run off.” She hugged him close. “Of course it’s a yes, moron.”
“Good, because you’re getting a real wedding,” he promised. “One fit for the wife of Maxwell Ward.” A flicker of worry appeared in her eyes and he rested his forehead against hers. “Mia, it’s over, really over. You’re free now.”
Smiling softly, she took his hand and settled it on her stomach. “You ready for this, too?”
Max hated how his eyes grew blurry again, but he couldn’t help it. His love for this woman and the babe growing in her belly was too much. “I never thought I’d actually find a woman I loved before you, never imagined actually have a child. Now, I have everything I could ever ask for.”
“Good, because you’re stuck with us both for a very, very long time.”
She settled against his chest as he closed his eyes, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “God, I hope so.”
15
Three Months Later
Mia rubbed her hand over her quickly growing belly as she stepped out of the car with Stephanie by her side. Max had been busy all day, working on plans for their new house, so she took the time to work on more wedding plans with his sister and her matron of honor, Gina, who she had reconnected with as soon as it was safe, with Keith now being gone.
“I still can’t believe this,” Stephanie breathed, staring at the ultrasound picture.
“I know. You think Max will handle it well?” She leaned over to stare in awe again.
“He’s going to fall over, that’s what he’s going to do.”
“Nah, he’ll just be pissed you got to be there instead of him, but with so many appointments, I know he can’t be there for them all.” She was a high-risk pregnancy because she wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant. There was too much scar tissue from the accident. What she found out today was only going to up the ante even more, and if Max wasn’t a worry wart already, he would be now. “At least we’ll get free babysitting from you, right?”
Stephanie leaned over and pressed her cheek against Mia’s belly. “Why do you think I’m moving back to Seattle?”
“You and your parents are getting along now?”
Shrugging, Stephanie straightened and they walked towards the front door of the house. “Working on it, though thanks to you and Max’s trickery with the fake marriage, it kind of took the heat off me for a while.”
That night had been a rough one, but she and Max had faced the family together, coming clean about everything. It was a long night filled with a bit of yelling, cursing, drinking on the part of those who could, and ended with hugs and kisses as Mia was officially welcomed into the family. Now, as they stepped inside the Ward’s home, she did indeed feel as if this was her family. They treated her like a daughter; to her, Stephanie felt like a sister, and even Jeremy was the older brother she never had.
“We’re back!” Mia called out. “Max?”
“Out back!” he replied through deep-throated laughter.
“Good sign. He’s in a good mood,” Stephanie pointed out.
“Here we go,” she said. They strolled through the large house towards the back patio. It was January, but the men stood outside, grilling as if it was July. The heaters were on full blast as the sky darkened. Snow was supposed to fall at some point that day, but the weather was not one of Mia’s biggest worries. Max spotted her and set his beer down so he could wrap her in his arms. “How’d the house plans go?”
He kissed her full on the mouth as Jeremy and Dennis hooted and hollered close by. “Perfect. We’ll able to move in at the end of March.”
“Great, I’m excited,” she said and averted her gaze.
Instantly, his face fell and he clasped her chin gently. “Mia? What’s wrong?”
“Well, we went to a doctor’s appointment today.”
“The baby,” he whispered. “Are you all rig
ht?”
“I’m fine, no need to panic. Just another checkup, but I do have some news.”
His eyes wide, he bent lower so his face was level with hers. “And?”
She held up the ultrasound photo in front of his face. “See for yourself.”
He took the photo and squinted his eyes at it until his mouth feel open and he gaped at her.
“Well? Man, what is it?” Jeremy asked as he reached over and took the photo. “Holy shit! You’re having twins!”
“Twins,” Max repeated as Mia nodded. “Twins?”
She leaned in close and whispered, “Twins.”
His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. Then he leaned down and kissed her hot and deep, showing his love for her again. She laughed in his arms as Dennis wiped tears of joy from his eyes nearby.
“What’s all this then?” Carrie asked as she joined them on the patio.
“I’m going to be the father of twins,” Max informed her proudly.
Carrie squealed and rushed forward to hug Mia close. “Oh, darling, that’s wonderful! Will you be all right?”
“There’s more risk, but the doctors say everything looks good so far.” She held onto Carrie’s hand. “There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, though.”
“Of course, dear, anything.”
Mia glanced to Max as he tilted his head, curious. “I… ah, I didn’t exactly have a good mother growing up, so I never really had any experience or someone to learn from. With the babies, I just… I might need help, and I was hoping that even after all the crap we put you through, you’d help me.”
Max’s eyes softened and Carrie sucked in a breath before she pulled Mia back into her arms and cried against her shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I? Anything you need, you only have to ask. We won’t be far away.” Mia cried with her, realizing how much she’d gained in finding Max. Not just the love of her life, not just a husband, but a family. A whole loving family was there to support her and guide her, and there wasn’t a thing more she could ask for.
After Carrie let her go, Max strolled over and took her hand, leading her back inside. She leaned against his arm, loving the warmth radiating from his body and flowing into hers.