Mended - Anniversary Edition (Broken Trilogy Book 6)

by J. L. Drake

  “Thirty minutes left, and the place is still packed.” He groans. “I’m so flippin’ beat, and all I can think about is passing out in Graham’s goose down duvet. I swear I’m only with that man for his blanket. Well…” he gives me a smirk, “that and one other thing.”

  “I miss my neighbor,” I pout, fighting down a surge of emotion. Seriously, this whole jacked up hormones thing is getting a little old.

  His hands fly to his hips. “You think I don’t lust over your coffee? Or your chocolate chip cookies? Oh!” He smacks my arm. “That reminds me. Keith was in here snackin’ on one earlier. What the hell, woman?”

  I chuckle, rolling my eyes. “He had some frozen from a while ago. Trust me, I’ve heard all about it from Mark.”

  “Mark doesn’t count. He could eat an entire cow and have room for seconds. He doesn’t love treats like I do, and I have no one making me any.” He gives me sad eyes and sticks out his cute little lip.

  “Fine. The can on top of my fridge.”

  “Hang on,” his eyes narrow on me, “you have some cookies in your apartment, like, right now?”

  I open a beer and hand it to a woman. “I need them to bribe Keith with.” I shrug, feeling no shame. I turn to my next customer and want to sigh, but I hold it together. “Hello, Don. Scotch, neat?”

  “You know I come to this place just to see you make my drink.” He smiles and places his credit card and his hotel key side by side in front of me. “I love how you wait on me.”

  I hold back my rolling stomach as I take the credit card, leaving the key behind. When I turn back around to hand him his drink, I jump when I see Cole sitting right next to him.

  Don slides the key at me. “You know you want to take it, sweetie.” I rub my face. My tolerance for this man drains out of me.

  “Are you going to want another? We close in fifteen,” I say rather rudely. Of course, he doesn’t notice. He’s too busy staring at my chest.

  I turn to Cole, whose jaw is ticking. I know he could punch Don once and kill the man. “Brandy?” I pull out a glass.

  “Please.” He nods, rubbing his face. He seems as irritated as I am. “How are you?”

  I pour him a double, slip a napkin under it, and slide it over. “Tired.” I shrug.

  “I can fix that, doll,” Don cuts in, waving his room key at me.

  Cole goes to speak, but I place my hand on his. “Trust me, Don, you’re not going to want anything to do with me in nine months.”

  He makes a disgusted face. “Fuck off. Seriously?”

  “Seriously,” Cole warns. “Show some respect.”

  Don takes a moment, not listening to him, then shrugs. “I’m into kinky shit.”

  Cole turns to look at him, and my blood runs cold. I actually fear for Don’s life right now.

  “Cole,” I reach for his arm, “please.” He squeezes his eyes shut, calming himself.

  “We’re done! Thank fuck!” Jake cheers behind me. “Here.” He slips my tips into my pocket then reads the situation. “Umm, I’ll punch you out and get your things.”

  I take my apron off and wipe down the bar. All the while, Cole and Don sit side by side, both watching me. Don has some balls, or he has a death wish, or maybe he’s just clueless, but he doesn’t move away from Cole.

  “Great job tonight, Savi,” Zack says, coming in through the dining room area. “Hey, Logan. So, the rumor is true.” I know they’re referring to the fact that Cole didn’t go with the Blackstone team.

  “It’s the first time in twelve years.” He glances at me. “Had a good reason to stay behind, though.”

  I give a small smile, letting the good feeling spread through me.

  Don flicks his head at me. “Last chance, doll.” He flicks his room key at me, hitting me in the chest.

  Zack manages to get between Cole and Don in a flash. “Easy, Logan,” he says calmly then turns to Don.

  “I’m going to give you exactly one minute to leave this bar before the Green Beret behind me bends you small enough to fit inside your scotch glass.” Don looks up at Cole. “I’ve heard you’ve been making trouble for my staff, and I’ve let it go because they’ve been handling it, but what you just did there was crossing the line. Get out, and don’t show your face in here again.”

  “Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how much money I spend here?” Don grumbles, grabbing his jacket. I hand him his card and his bill to sign.

  “I don’t care. Don’t need your money,” Zack says, pointing to the door. “Leave.”

  Don looks over at me and grabs his crotch, making a total ass out of himself. “Your loss, doll. Could’ve been epic.”

  Cole starts to move, but Zack grabs Don by the jacket, yanking him toward the door.

  “Always exciting since you started working here, Savi.” Jake laughs, trying to bring the tension level down a little. “Here.” He sets my things down on the bar top. “Graham is waiting for me. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He gives me a quick hug, says bye to Cole, and heads out front.

  “You done?” Cole asks, shrugging on his jacket. I can feel the anger pouring off him. I want to kick Don’s ass for putting him in this mood. I switch my shoes, tug on my jacket, and grab my bag, coming around to meet him on the other side of the bar. “Come here.” He pulls me over, wrapping his arms around me. “I love you.” He kisses my head and lets out a long sigh. “More than anything.”

  “I love you too,” I whisper.

  Back at my apartment, I snuggle deeper under my blanket on the couch. Cole is next to me while we watch Zero Dark Thirty. I ask a few questions about how real certain parts are. Kind of neat asking someone who really knows the truth. “Are you upset you’re not there?” I ask guiltily.

  He shifts from behind me. “A little, yes. I get a high from the hunt.” His hand slides over my stomach. “But I’d be craving to be right here the whole time, and that would endanger the team.” My hand covers his. “I know you’re scared, baby, and we have some things that need to be dealt with before we can move forward, but we’ll do it together, all right?”

  I turn, loving his words. I reach up and run my fingers over his stubble. “All right.”

  “All right?” he asks as if he’d been waiting for a fight.

  I nod with a smile. “I won’t lie. I am scared, but if I know I have you with me, then I’ll be all right.”

  He leans down, capturing my lips and giving me one hell of a kiss. I have to push him away when my phone goes off and won’t stop ringing.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, honey.”

  I mouth ‘it’s your mother’ to Cole. He nods and looks back at the movie.

  “Sorry for calling so late. I was wondering if you’re free tomorrow. I was hoping we could all have dinner at the house. What with you working then having the flu, I thought since you’re feeling better now, we could get together.”

  “Sure. I’d love that. I could trade shifts with someone. I could do the morning instead—”

  “Actually…” She pauses, then there’s a strange noise.

  “You have the night off, Savi,” Zack says into the phone. “Go spend time with your family.” I laugh and glance up at Cole, who looks at me oddly.

  “Thanks, Zack, I appreciate it.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Hope that was all right,” Sue says, feeling me out. “Daniel and I just ran into him.”

  I smile. “Of course. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

  “Wonderful. Me too. Either Mike or I will come pick you up whenever you’re ready.”

  “Okay, thanks. Bye, Sue.”

  I slide my phone on the table and snuggle back into my warm spot. My apartment can be so cold sometimes. Cole’s hand immediately lands on my belly. I sigh, thinking how lovely it feels.

  “What did my mother want?”

  I tuck the edges of the blanket around me tighter, feeling a draft from somewhere. “She wants to have a family dinner tomorrow night. She even got me out of work t
omorrow.”

  “Mmmm, you back at the house?” He nuzzles my hair, breathing in. “I love my mother even more right now.”

  I tip my head back and look into his dark eyes. His smile makes them crease along the edges. His stubble is the perfect length, and my fingers twitch as I reach up to steal a quick feel. He leans in, kissing my hand. He shifts so we’re lying down, his body flat along the back cushions, with me staring up at him. His hand sneaks up my shirt and runs along my side.

  “Hard to believe there’s a little something inside this tiny belly of yours.” He stares at my stomach, fascinated. “Did you get to see Sim when you had your appointment?”

  “I’m sorry, what?” I laugh. “Sim?”

  “Yes, she and him, therefore, ‘Sim,’” he says, deadpan, circling my belly button with his finger. I hiccup, trying to contain my giggle fit. “Hey, now, stop. You’re going to make Sim sick with all that shaking.”

  “Oh, Cole.” I full-out laugh and bring up my legs to stop the hurt. “Stop, I can’t breathe.” I roll onto my side and take slow breaths.

  “Finished?” He pokes at me. “Well?”

  I roll back over, and he resumes his circles. “No, I haven’t. I’ve just had the urine test so far. I have an appointment in a week.”

  “First, we have an appointment. And how do they know? You may not be.”

  “Oh, trust me, baby, that stick had two neon strips that could light these mountains right up.”

  He grins, making me confused. “You called me ‘baby.’”

  “Is that bad?”

  “No, I liked it.”

  “Baby,” I joke, biting my lip playfully.

  He swoops down and nips at my lip, freeing it momentarily before he draws it into his mouth and sucks softly. He pulls back, eyes dark as night, and checks the time on the phone. “What if I called Dr. Brown tomorrow and ask her to do an ultrasound?”

  “You can’t just call—” The look on his face tells me otherwise. “If you can make it happen, Sim and I are on board.”

  His face breaks out in his ‘she gave in without a fight’ smile. I yawn, turning into his chest, and he pulls the covers over us and holds me close.

  “What do you think we’re having?” I ask as sleep begins to creep over me. Cole tucks me under his chin.

  “Girl,” he says in a matter-of-fact tone. “The world really needs two of you.”

  My heart swells to the point of pain. I move to give him a kiss on his chest. This man has made me feel more love in just a few months than I’ve ever felt from another man in my whole life.

  Cole looks completely at ease in the sea of pregnant women. He worked his magic and got us an early afternoon appointment at the hospital with Dr. Brown. How he did it is beyond me, but I don’t care. I just want to see our little baby.

  “Here,” Cole pulls out a bottle of water from my bag, “you should drink this.”

  “I’m all right,” I say, scanning a magazine on breastfeeding versus formula. He takes off the cap and nudges it in my hand.

  “You need to drink more water. You should be on your second one of these by now.”

  I chuckle and take the water and finish off the bottle. “Someone’s been doing their homework,” I tease, loving that he has been.

  His hand falls on my thigh and gives it a light pat. “I want to know everything so I can take care of you two.”

  “Ms. Miller,” the nurse calls, glancing around the room. Cole mumbles something as he takes my hand and leads me into the hallway.

  “Hi, Savannah. My name is Lane. I’ll be helping you today. First, I need you to give a urine sample, then you can meet me and…” She looks at Cole.

  “Cole, the father.” Cole rubs my belly from behind.

  “We’ll meet you in room four, okay?”

  After I fill my cup then get my blood pressure and weight taken, I find the door to the room where Dr. Brown is already waiting and deep in conversation with Cole, who is firing questions.

  I smirk. He’s so cute.

  “Hello again, Savannah,” she says as Cole pulls out a chair for me. “You look a lot better than the last time I saw you.”

  I shift, remembering how sick I was then. “Yes, the pills are helping a lot.”

  “All right, so, let’s get you undressed from the waist down and see how the little one looks.”

  Cole nearly doubles over when he sees the probe that’s about a foot long slide inside me. He’s three shades of white until the little pulsing ring appears on the ultrasound machine. He suddenly grabs my hand and holds it tightly, but his eyes stay stuck to the screen.

  “Strong heartbeat,” Dr. Brown says, clicking a few buttons, “and I would say you are right around eight weeks, a little farther along than I thought. Which will make your due date about early August. Congratulations, you two. You have a healthy-looking baby. Let’s keep it that way.”

  “You gave the doc a run for her degree,” I joke in the car after our appointment, digging in a bag of trail mix to steal the chocolate chips before he notices. He scoops his free hand in, pouring a handful into his mouth while keeping his eyes on the windy road.

  “I had questions,” he says with a shrug. “And I don’t wanna see you with a cup of coffee.”

  “Cole, she said a small cup is fine.” I roll my eyes. These next seven months are going to be interesting.

  “You need to eat more meat too.” He gives me a sideways glance. “She said your iron is low, and that’s one of the reasons you’re so tired.”

  “Cole—”

  “Speaking of being tired, you should think of cutting back your shifts—”

  I snap the lid on the trail mix and toss it down by my feet. “Please don’t start, Cole. I love my job.”

  He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, then he reaches for my hand and brings it to his mouth, kissing the back of it. “Sorry. I’m trying really, really hard not to let my controlling side take over. But when you toss in our baby, it’s even more of a struggle. I just want you to get as much rest as possible and for this pregnancy to go smoothly.”

  “Look, I’ll make you a deal. When I feel work is too much for me, I’ll stop.”

  “No offense, baby, but you’re incredibly stubborn.” I see him fight a smile, and he uses my hand to hide it.

  I want to be truthful, for him to see I’m taking all this seriously. “I learned my lesson the first time, Cole.” His smile fades. “I promise when it gets too much, I’ll tell you.”

  “All right, but if I see you’re fading, I will say something.” He rolls his window down to speak with the guard at the gate.

  The baked apple smell hits my nose when we walk in, and my stomach forgets all about the snack on the way up. I grin when I see June’s green scarf hung over her black pea coat, and Abigail’s boots next to one of Scoot’s many beds. Keith’s snow pants and mitts are by the door. Everything is as it should be, just as normal should be. I close my eyes, savoring the comfort that is this house. It’s perfect.

  “You coming?” Cole asks. I hold up a finger, asking for one more moment. “You all right?”

  I open my eyes, seeing his puzzled expression. “I’m just thinking.”

  “About?” he asks, taking my hand in his.

  “Things.” I lean up to kiss his cheek. “Happy things.”

  “Hi, honey!” Sue beams with delight as we round the corner and see everyone in the living room enjoying some afternoon drinks before dinner. She stops in front of me, studying me for a moment, then leans in and gives me a hug. “Are you feeling better?”

  “I am, thanks.” I hug Daniel after he comes up behind her.

  “See, nothing to it!” Mark hands me a martini with a wink. “Thought you could use this, just until you’re ready to tell.”

  “Does this mean…?” I look at Cole, who grins.

  Mark tosses his hand in the air in excitement. “Yes, as of six-fifteen this morning, José Jorge is on U.S. soil, behind bars, with a shitload of charges ag
ainst him. He’ll be spending his next three lives as someone’s prison bitch.”

  “Well, that’s something to celebrate!” I cheer ecstatically.

  “We have lots to celebrate,” he says over his shoulder, heading for the kitchen.

  Cole keeps me close to his side. Every so often, his hand slips over my belly, letting me know he’s thinking about little Sim.

  “Hey, guys.” Keith joins us, checking his phone. “I hate to ask this, but can I steal Logan for a moment?”

  Cole leans in to give me a quick kiss. “I’ll be back.” I nod and watch the two hurry off to his office.

  I mingle with everyone, sipping my water. Davie and Dell are telling a story from a few nights ago when they were in town at Chaps. I pretend to listen, but I’m more interested in where Mark is hurrying off to. I scan the crowd and see Daniel is gone too.

  Where the hell is everyone? Oh, no…is something happening? My father?

  “Savannah?” Mike calls from the entryway. I whirl around. “Can I see you for a moment?”

  A strange feeling creeps over me as I set my drink down and hurry over to him.

  “Let’s take a walk.” He waits as I get ready, growing more nervous with every moment.

  He opens the door to let me go first. It’s dark, and the temperature has dropped, so I wrap my scarf around my neck and wait for him to lead the way.

  “How have you been?” He guides me across the driveway toward the woods.

  “Cut the crap, Mike. You didn’t ask me out here to see how I’m doing.”

  He smiles and shakes his head. “Yeah, you’re right.” His face changes, softening a little. He points to a glow in the woods. “Follow the light, Savannah.” He nods for me to head in that direction.

  Puzzled, I start to walk. After several steps, I hear Mike whisper something. I turn and look back, but he’s walking away from me. What’s going on?