Once I get her back that is.
“Me either. Are you okay?”
“Eh. Morning sickness and some mild dizziness. Otherwise I’m doing…okay.”
I hate that I’m not with her, seeing her through this from the get go, but I will be, even if I have to lock old Mel up till she gives birth and steal my kid.
I’m not giving Nic and my family up though, not after finally pulling my head out of my ass and realizing that I can’t live without them.
They’re it.
She’s the one.
Now I just have to fix things.
“Er. I gotta go.”
I’m not ready to say goodbye yet, but I let her go after promising to call Cody, and then I’m on the phone, making a call I should have made at the very start.
“Cris, I need your help.”
The asshole laughs and says a few things in Greek that I would beat him to death for if I was anywhere near him, before sobering and drawling cockily.
“Lawson, my old friend, you seem to need a lot of help these days. Can you hold your own cock at the urinal or do you need assistance with that, too?”
“I can handle my dick just fine, asshole. At least I don’t have to sit down to take a piss,” I say with a growl, laughing when he curses me through his own chuckle.
“What do you need?”
A time machine. A kick in the balls. A second chance.
“Remember that trip we all took to Monaco with Justin Groves?”
Cris snarls and mutters a few choice words under his breath, and I remember why I like the guy so much. He’s a good judge of character.
“Do not mention that bastard’s name to me. A friend of mine invested in one of his schemes never to hear from the little idiot again. I’m searching for him as we speak, and once I get my hands on him…”
Huh.
“He’s a con artist?”
That gets me thinking, and before I know it, I’ve come to some really startling conclusions. Now I just have to prove it.
“Yes. He lost his trust fund and his father cut him off, so he started playing fast and loose with other peoples’ money. He won’t get far though because I will find him,” Cris snarls.
I could almost feel sorry for the guy, but then again, I have a suspicion that I’m being played myself, so I’m more than happy to give him to Cris and watch him suffer the Greek’s wrath.
“What would you say if I told you he’s here in New York?”
“Tell me.”
“He came to see me a couple weeks ago and let me know that Melissa St. Ives was looking for me. Turns out our one night together resulted in a baby, and I now find myself married to the woman.”
“I would say that that would be impossible, my friend. The woman you took to your room was Trish Boone, a friend of the little blonde I was enjoying. You must remember. They let us suck shots from their—”
I snarl as a flash of memory bombards me.
The details are sketchy, but I recall hanging out with the little brunette and taking her upstairs for a quickie. I was so drunk at that stage that when I came to with Melissa draped over me I’d been confused and a little annoyed to be honest.
She’d been pawing at my dick, no matter how limp it was, and that’s when I told her to get lost and ended up sleeping off a hangover in Cris’s room on the sofa while he screwed the blonde for hours.
Those conniving assholes.
“Please tell me Justin tapped the bitch.”
“I can do you one better, Law. I have the camera footage Drake was taking all night. He caught them going at it in one of the upstairs bedrooms. We still shudder to see it. Skinny women are really not attractive unless you’re drunk, and believe me, with the way you kept looking at that photo of dear Nicolette that you keep hidden in your wallet I do not think you would have given Melissa a second look.”
I’m smiling by the time we make arrangements for him to fly out.
Things are looking up.
Chapter Thirty-five
Nico
“Oh God.” I moan into the toilet bowl, feeling my gut heave again despite the fact that there’s nothing left in me to puke up.
I’ve been hanging out with the porcelain for a good twenty minutes so far, and from the feel of things, I’m not going to be up and out of here any time soon.
I feel so bad that when my stomach finally settles enough to move, I collapse to the cold tiles and close my eyes, intending to spend my time right there on the blessedly cold floor.
This is in no way anywhere close to the easy pregnancy I had with Cody, and I feel awful wondering if this kid might kill me, but honestly who wakes up at four in the morning to puke?
I start when a cold washcloth settles over my face and groan at the bliss, wanting nothing more than to lie just here and fall asleep. It’s been two months since I told Law about the baby, and despite feeling relatively calm about everything, I still resent the fact that I’m doing this alone.
“Nic, babe, you okay?”
I vault up and moan, falling back to the floor when my head swims, and I move the cloth enough to get one eye open. I meet a set of startling blue eyes and feel my stomach dip, this time in a good way, when I see Law on his knees beside me, his face a mask of concern.
“Law?”
The cloth is whipped away, and he’s lifting me in the next instant, his arms cradling me as he carries me to the bed and gently lowers me to the soft surface.
“What are you doing here, Law?”
And please tell me you did not witness me puking a minute ago. I can only imagine what I looked like with my ass in the air, exposed by the t-shirt that I know rode up and exposed my panty-clad ass.
Maternity undies are not sexy, and no, you can’t judge me for thinking about looking sexy in front of Law. The guy might be married, but he’s my baby daddy, too, and I hate the thought of looking like a hippopotamus with my ass in the air as I wretched up my stomach lining.
“Cody, Dad, and I are going fishing.”
Oh yeah, I forgot about the fishing trip.
“Oh. Uh—”
“Nic, don’t take this the wrong way, babe, but you don’t look so good. Are you still getting morning sickness?” he asks, caressing my forehead, as he gently pushes my hair out of my face.
The action is tender and everything I wanted four months ago.
“It’s not as bad as it was in the beginning. I ate cookies before I came to bed that’s all.”
He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, still stroking my face and instead of shoving his ass away and kicking him out, I’m leaning into the touch and sighing in bliss as the action settles me.
“Cookies, huh?” he chuckles.
“Yeah, not a good idea,” I whisper, trying not to breathe as I become aware of the fact that I haven’t brushed my teeth and my breath probably smells like it tastes.
Death.
Er, this is getting awkward, and after a few more minutes of basking in the bliss of his stroking hands, I yawn and look pointedly at the door.
“You should go.”
Law nods and stands, smiling the whole time as he makes his way to the door, turning back to look at me from the doorway.
“I got an annulment yesterday. The baby wasn’t mine.”
He leaves without another word, his smile at my shock so annoying that I look around for something to throw at the door before collapsing back with a groan as I bury my face into the pillow.
Well, how the heck am I supposed to go back to sleep now?
Two things jump out at me the second I allow my brain to think of anything other than the fact that Law is free. One, he got an annulment which means he never consummated his marriage, and two, the bastard is so making a play for me again.
I really hope this baby is a girl because the arrogance of these James men is just ridiculous.
I fall asleep minutes later with a smile on my face that really shouldn’t be there.
***************************
**********************************
“Mom! I caught a fish and it was huge! It was so much bigger than Grandpa’s or Dad’s, and then they took a picture and we released it back into the river, and Dad says it was definitely much bigger than anything they’ve ever caught.”
I laugh as Cody barrels in, all arms and legs and excitement. He launches himself at me for a hug and kiss before doing the same to Min and streaking off for the kitchen and Rose.
Minnie and I share a grin from our seats on the sofa where we’ve been sitting together to arrange a charity play day for underprivileged kids.
“That kid is definitely mine. Brilliant technique,” Law says, as he saunters in, a huge grin on his face.
“Or just because he’s absolutely focused on size,” I shoot back, laughing when he blushes and throws his head back for a good laugh.
The action makes me tingle from head to toe, and I frown at the happiness that bubbles forth seeing him so relaxed and joyous. I shouldn’t care about his feelings or anything that makes him happy right now. I really shouldn’t, but that day we’d spoken in his office…I hated seeing him so tense and exhausted.
“The two of you are looking fantastic.”
Minnie laughs and pats his cheek when he leans down to kiss her and then comes over to fall down beside me, the picture of paternal pride.
“Whatcha doing?”
I look down at the lists in my hand and raise a brow to Min.
“Lawson, is your father creeping upstairs to prank me while you sit here distracting me?”
He blushes again and throws her a wink, getting a squeal as Minnie leaps to her feet and runs for the stairs.
“What was that all about?”
He leans closer to inspect my work and chuckles when I shove him back and raise a brow.
“Last time we went fishing, Dad made me talk Mom’s ear off so he could put a fish head on her pillow. She knows him too well though and switched her pillow with his before he went to bed.”
We laugh together for a while, him telling me that Jack has always tried—and subsequently failed—to prank poor Minnie since the dawn of time because she always seems to know and usually turns the tables on him.
“Why did you try again today? Seems he’s just asking for a fish head pillow.” Law shrugs and grins at me, shifting closer. I eye him and scoot over a little, trying to put a little distance between us without seeming to. When I end up pressed to the sofa arm, a grinning Law peeking at me through his lashes, I stop my nervous shifting to glare.
“Is your dad distracting your mom for you, Law?”
He grins wider and shrugs easily.
“Maybe.”
Chapter Thirty-six
Law
I see the way she tries and fails to move away from me, her teeth worrying at her lip when she realizes there’s nowhere to go. It’s a bastard move to crowd her this way, but I can’t force myself to give a crap when the heat and scent of her wrap around me, pulling me in, reforming me.
The last two months have been an absolute torture for me. I managed to not only catch Melissa and Justin in the act, laughing and enjoying themselves as they screwed and discussed plans to swindle me out of millions, but I got to take my findings to a judge and get an annulment.
Melissa confessed that the baby she was carrying is not mine and that Justin had planned the whole thing. Seems that guy hadn’t minded his lover being taken by another man, or that I would raise his kid for the two years that they planned for us to be married.
His goal had been to bleed me dry and then secure a divorce worth millions after Melissa left me with the child and flitted off back to him.
Just the thought of that woman raising a defenseless kid set my teeth on edge, so instead of just crucifying the bitch, I was forced to fly to her family and set everything on the table.
They were horrified, of course, and made immediate plans for the little liar to go back home for the remainder of her pregnancy and delivery—after which they would keep the baby while Melissa is kicked to the curb.
So now that everything’s taken care of, and I am once again a free man, I feel the need to claim what is mine, namely the hot, very nicely rounded woman currently eyeballing the tar out of me.
Aaah, Nic, so suspicious, I think, chuckling silently at her distrust.
I can’t say I blame her for her attitude, but I hate that she has a right to feel this way, and I hate even more that she won’t be an easy conquest. I can see from her narrowed eyes and tense body that she’s probably on to me already.
Crap.
“Law!”
I look up from her lips when she squeaks and slaps at the hand I didn’t realize was creeping its way up her thigh. I smile, feeling the urge to laugh at the fact that my hands and brain are so desperate for her. Here I am, wanting nothing more than to reassure her and find a way to ease her into this, and my hand’s already going for broke. Can’t say I blame the poor bastard.
We’re so starved for her that—if I could—I’d be in her already.
“Sorry, babe. Got a little ahead of myself there,” I say sheepishly, holding back a grin when she leaps to her feet and takes a seat across from me, her mouth in a stubborn line.
“Got a little…more like your brain is no longer working, a-hole. What’s going on? And stop freaking smiling at me Lawson, you’re starting to scare me.”
I’d scare her if I told her what my dick wants to do to her sweet self.
“Sorry, babe. I don’t mean to scare you; I just missed you is all.”
Her cheeks heat, and she eyes the door, probably ready to bolt, and I shake my head, letting her know that I see her intentions.
“We need to talk about what I said this morning.”
“Er, no, we really don’t, Law. This is really none of my business, and I can’t say that I’m too eager to know half of the things going on in your life either.”
“Nic, babe, that simply isn’t true. You deserve an explanation after what happened, and I want to give it to you.”
“No.” She leaps up and makes for the door, gasping when I shove it closed and lean in, pinning her body to the barrier and settling my face close to her, just taking in the feel and scent of her beautiful, round form.
I want her so much right now that I’m trembling with the need to restrain myself. For starters, I want to lay my hand on her belly and feel the life that’s growing within.
I’m so turned on just thinking about my baby in her that most mornings I have to jerk off before I roll out of bed, or I know I won’t get a damn thing done for the day.
And that leads me to the other things I’m desperate to do. Three months I’ve been deprived of her, and I can tell you I am so hard and needy that if she so much as grazes her lips anywhere near me I’ll probably come in my pants.
Mostly, I just want to hold her and reassure myself that she’s still mine. Dad and I finally had that talk while we watched Cody fish and hop around all day, and I know what he was trying to tell me all along.
I find it hard to put much credence in some old family curse that dictates that any James man will be cursed to an unfulfilled life unless he meets his soul mate, but I’m one hundred percent on board with the whole loving only once thing.
I’ve never loved another woman besides Nic, and I can safely say I don’t think I ever will love another. She’s it, my one, and I will want and love her for the rest of my life.
I’m praying that that includes having her beside me for the remainder of my life not only as my wife but also as my lover, best friend, and partner in crime.
I just need to convince her to take a chance on me.
“Nic. We belong together, babe, and you know it.” I take in her shivers when I smooth a hand down her side and rest it securely on her soft round belly.
The contact is so profound that I’m forced to shove my face into her neck and breathe deeply when arousal and pure love surge through me, making my knees weak with need and longing.
/> “Law, no.”
Her voice is a choked whisper that leaves me feeling some hope even as she scoots out of my arms and scuttles behind the sofa, her hips swaying at her escape.
I allow her the small space and turn to lean against the door, as we stand staring at each other.
“I went a little nuts when Justin told me that I was going to be a father, and then to hear that Melissa was going to give my baby away if I didn’t marry her…”
Nic gasps and frowns deeply, her eyebrows coming together in a maternal show of anger and offense. I almost laugh when her hand shoots to her belly, as if calming our child and assuring us all that nothing like that will ever happen to him or her.
See, I knew she wouldn’t be anything like that cold-hearted bitch Melissa, not even after everything that’s happened. Nic is a natural nurturer, and she would be horrified to know that Melissa was cursing and threatening to abandon the poor baby first chance she got after I let her know that Justin was being arrested and taken back to Monaco to face charges.
“Oh, Law, that’s terrible. How could she even think about giving her child away?”
“She’s not what you’d call…loving. She fell pregnant by a man who isn’t very good or caring, and they planned to take me for a ride, using that defenseless little kid. Unfortunately for them, I snapped out of it real quick when you told me you were pregnant, and I went searching for answers I should have searched for before even thinking of marriage.”
Nic blows out a huge breath and falls into a seat, her eyes looking so sad for a moment that if not for the hand she puts up I would go over to comfort her.
“What, the baby isn’t yours?”
“No, babe. The baby is Justin’s,” I say, taking my own seat and stretching my legs out as tiredness swamps me suddenly.
I’ve spent so much time and lost so much sleep trying to get everything done and squared away. Not to mention the effort it took not to come here and do something stupid. I am finally feeling the long hours and sleepless night.
“Justin? Isn’t he that smarmy dick I met when I went to your office?”
LUCI (The Naughty Ones Book 2) Page 82