“Oh no, why? What does he want from me?” she asked.
“Just stay focused on driving,” Armand told her.
“Oh no!” Angelique screamed, and she hit the brakes right before she hit a delivery truck that came barreling out of nowhere. The large white truck blocked the roadway in front of her, she took her foot off the gas pedal.
“What happened? Angelique, are you okay?” Eloi yelled.
Angelique saw the black pickup coming up fast behind her then hit the brakes and skidded. He hit the back of her car, and she jerked forward, hitting her head on the steering wheel. She screamed as she realized what was happening. Through fuzziness she could hear Eloi, Armand, and Remy’s voices yelling to her to answer them. She looked up, and through the windshield she could see two men getting out of the delivery truck and one coming from a limo across the way.
“Talk to us, Angelique. What’s going on? Please answer us!” Armand yelled.
“I hit my head on the steering wheel. There are three men coming towards me. Two came out of a delivery truck that was blocking the road. The guy in the pickup truck hit me from behind. I know you told me not to stop, Eloi, but I had no choice,” she told him as her voice began to shake.
“Lock the doors!” Armand yelled.
“Yeah, baby, lock the doors. Can you start the car? Can you drive out of there?” Remy asked.
“I locked the doors,” she stated as she saw the men by the hood of her car. The two men from the truck went behind her car toward Chester.
“What’s happening?” Eloi demanded to know.
“The two men from the truck are going towards Chester’s pickup truck, it’s smoking behind my car,” she stated as she tried to start her car.
“I can’t start it. It won’t start, Eloi!” she screamed, and then she saw the third guy approach her driver-side window.
“Get away from me!” she screamed.
“What’s happening?” Armand asked.
Two gun shots went off, and she screamed as she covered her head.
“Angelique! Angelique, who’s shooting?” Eloi yelled to her.
She looked in her rearview mirror and saw someone she thought she recognized.
“They shot Chester. One of them shot Chester, and now he’s coming this way,” she told them as she rechecked the locks on the door and tried to start the car again.
The sound of the engine came to life, and she banged the wheel and screamed.
“I got it started. Oh God, I got it started.”
She stepped on the gas and turned the wheel, nearly hitting one of the guys. The other one jumped in her way, and she hit him then screamed.
“What happened?” Armand asked.
“I just ran one of them over. Oh God, I think I killed him,” she cried.
“Good. Get the hell out of there, woman. We are about ten minutes from you now!” Eloi yelled.
The third guy turned toward her, and she saw his face.
“It’s Vizier from the restaurant and that guy who’s always with him,” she yelled.
“Vizier?” Remy yelled, questioning who she saw.
“He’s got a gun!” she screamed just as the sound of the back window exploding filled the air. Angelique lost control of the car and landed in the mud of the bayou off the side of the road.
“I crashed. He shot out the window. I think I’m going to have to run,” she yelled as another shot rang out hitting the window making the glass hit her body and her arms.
“Angelique!” Eloi yelled.
“Shhhh…He’s coming,” she stated as Vizier yanked open her car door.
“You stupid bitch! You cost me time and money. Now I have to kill you either way!” he yelled as he pulled her out of the car by her hair. She landed on the ground, and as her knees hit the pavement, she landed on shattered glass and cried out in pain.
“We are going to have some fun, you and me. I figured you’d make a good ransom but now that your men know about my desire to acquire their land I have no choice but to kill you,” he stated.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Let's just say that the Lafont family and my family have never been friends.”
“Don’t touch me,” she yelled at him as he caressed her shoulder.
“You are really pretty. I can’t wait to taste you. You must be something good to be fucking four men at once. What do you say me you and Pierre here have a little vacation together?” He ripped her shirt, and Angelique screamed. She knew her men were listening and they were mere minutes away.
“Fuck you!” she yelled then swung her arm up hard hitting him in his groin. He retaliated by hitting her in the face with the handle of the gun. She screamed, but she fought back, kicking him then getting the gun away.
Pierre went to grab it, and she pulled the trigger, missing him and hitting Vizier in the chest. Pierre took the gun, and she ran into the swamp. Bullets whizzed by her head and her body as her feet sank deeper into the mud. She was trying to look for gators or snakes as she headed deeper into the bayou. She could hear sirens in the distance then trucks and cars skidding out. She could have sworn she heard her name as the perspiration dripped from her pores and she continued to struggle through the bayou. Her hair kept getting tangled in branches and Pierre was gaining on her. She heard her name again and recognized Eloi’s voice then Armand’s.
“Over here!” she yelled just as Pierre tackled her to the mud. He forearmed her in the mouth as she tried to fight him off.
“You stupid bitch! You ruined everything,” he yelled as he raised his arms up in the air holding a large, sharp hunting knife.
She grabbed for his wrists and screamed as images of her men flashed into her mind. Then she thought about the baby.
“No! Don’t do this!” she screamed when suddenly two shots were fired. She ducked as Pierre dropped the knife, and someone pushed him to the side and off of her.
As soon as she saw Eloi, she cried.
“You came. You got to me in time,” she cried as he, Armand, Remy, and Marcel gathered around her.
“Oh, damn, baby, you’re hurt,” Eloi stated as he lifted her up into his arms.
She cried as they each caressed her and Eloi carried her out of the bayou.
When they got to the clearing by the side of the road, the place was swarming with police and paramedics.
“She’s injured. We need a medic,” Armand yelled to the paramedics.
They carried her over to the medics and placed her on the gurney. Immediately they looked her over.
“She should go to the hospital. She may have a concussion and her pupils are dilated,” the paramedic stated.
“Oh God,” she said, holding her hands over her belly.
“I don’t want to leave y’all,” she told them as she cried. Her head was hurting as well as her mouth and her legs. There were cuts and bruises all along her knees and thighs from falling onto the glass.
“Armand and Remy will go with you. Marcel brought his truck, and I got the sheriff’s truck. We’ll meet you at the hospital,” Eloi told her then kissed her softly on the lips.
“Let’s get her there, Sheriff,” the paramedic said as he strapped her in, and they helped him get the gurney into the back of the ambulance.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Marcel stated as they closed the doors.
“We’ll take care of this, Sheriff. That’s one tough woman y’all got you, and brave, too,” the investigator told him.
Eloi thanked him, and then he and Marcel headed after the ambulance.
Epilogue
Marcel, Eloi, Armand, and Remy stood in the waiting room talking with Angelique’s sisters. Eloi had contacted them and sent two deputies to pick them up. They were just as good looking as their sister Angelique but had totally different personalities. It appeared to Eloi and Marcel that Deputy Leon Rue was interested in the older one Ellena. Finally the doctor came out and said that Angelique could have some visitors and that they would determine in
the next hour whether they would admit her overnight for observations or release her.
The men went in to see her first.
Immediately they saw the bandage on her head, her swollen eye and swollen lip, and the bandages on her legs.
“Fuck!” Eloi stated, and she moaned.
“Eloi?” she asked as she tried to smile.
Armand and Remy were by her side caressing her cheeks and giving her light kisses.
“How are you feeling, sugar?” Marcel asked.
“I feel like I got hit by a truck. It’s just my head really that’s throbbing,” she added as she opened her eyes best she could.
“Damn, baby, I wish we could have got to you sooner. You scared the crap out of me,” Armand stated.
“I was pretty damn scared myself,” she told them as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
Eloi cleared his throat, making her look at him.
“I’m real proud of you, woman. You were strong and fought hard. You’re our bayou goddess with a Cajun kick,” Eloi stated, and they all chuckled. He felt his cheeks warm as he smiled. But then there was this annoying beeping sound.
“What is that noise?” he asked, more so trying to get the attention off of him for acting like a sap. Only Angelique could make him smile and get him to admit his emotions. He was straight faced now as he waited for an answer. His gut clenched as Angelique looked at all of them then at the monitor.
“Is that your heartbeat or something mixed in with some drums?” Remy asked then smiled as he patted her arm.
She gripped the sheets and smiled at them.
“No, that’s the sound of the baby’s heartbeat,” Angelique told them then moved the blanket aside to where the monitor wires attached to sensors on her belly.
“What?” Armand and Remy asked.
“Did you say baby?” Marcel asked.
She nodded her head, and they all cheered then kissed her, making her laugh and cry out in pain.
Eloi stood there staring at her in amazement. She was pregnant with their baby.
“How long did you know this?” Eloi asked firmly, and the others looked at him as Angelique stared back at Eloi.
“I found out last night. That’s why I was headed to town today to tell you. I wanted us to talk, Eloi, and try to work out all this crazy stuff. I took one of those tests, and also Mama Cherise told me I was pregnant. I didn’t believe her, but now the doctors say sometimes you can hear a heartbeat pretty early,” she stated.
“Well, first things first, we getting married. We want you as our wife, and now with the baby coming, it’s important you know how we feel about you. We should have asked you to marry us, not just move in,” he admitted, and she smiled.
“Y’all really feel that way?” she asked.
“Yes. We love you, baby,” Armand told her then kissed her cheek.
“I love you, too. I’m so happy that we can work it all out. There’s so much to figure out.”
“Well, we don’t have to do it all today. You need some rest and we’ll figure everything out when we’re back at the estate. First about the wedding, then the business, and then the baby,” Armand stated.
“Babies,” Angelique stated with a smile.
“Babies?” Eloi asked as he moved closer to Angelique and gently laid his hand on her belly. She covered his hand with her soft delicate one and his heart soared.
“Babies, Eloi. They think at least two.”
“Yeah, brothers, I think we got a lot to talk about,” Remy added, and they all smiled.
* * * *
Tye and Mike headed into the waiting room and stopped midstride when they saw a petite young woman with shoulder-length black hair talking to a sheriff, some deputies, and three other women who looked a lot like Angelique Aubert.
“Excuse me, are you Angelique’s sister?” Mike asked the attractive woman, and she smiled wide as she looked at both him and Tye.
“Yes, I’m Angelina, and you are?” she asked in the sexiest and sweetest voice he had ever heard.
“Oh, you’re the two men working with Angel on the business deal right?” another woman asked, and they nodded their heads.
“I’m Ellena, her sister, and these are Mikayla and Illeana, her other sisters.”
Mike and Tye shook their hands and noticed that the one sheriff eyed Illeanna as if she were his, along with one of the deputies, and Deputy Leon Rue was standing really close to Ellena and giving him and Mike the stare down. Were they staking a claim or something?
“We heard what happened and were concerned for Angelique. Is she okay?” Mike asked.
“She’s doing great, and we’re going to be daddies!” Remy stated as he walked into the crowd of people.
They all cheered and shared in the excitement.
“Can we go see her?” Ellena asked.
“Sure can. She’s waiting for you,” Eloi said as he, Armand, and Marcel walked into the room next.
Ellena, Angelina, Mikayla, and Illeanna walked out toward their sisters’ room.
* * * *
They hugged and kissed their sister then listened to the heartbeats and smiled.
“Mama Cherise was right again. Damn, that woman is good,” Ellena stated.
“Maybe you should get some information on that deputy Rue, Ellena. He and his brother couldn’t seem to take their eyes off of you,” Angelina teased, and Ellena blushed.
“Oh, and how about the way your mouth dropped when Tye and Mike came into the room? You looked ready to jump them right there,” Ellena teased.
“Honey, you have seen those fine-looking men. I want me some of that, and I don’t care what you say. They Cajun hot, aren’t they, Angelique?” Angelina asked, and Angelique chuckled.
“Just be careful, you two,” she told them.
“Oh, it wasn’t just us two who were getting or giving those looks, sista. Our own Sheriff Johnny Boudoux followed Illeanna here. I bet his brothers are on their way here, too,” Angelina teased, and they laughed.
“Hey! I told you a thousand times I am not interested in him or them,” Illeanna stated.
“Yeah right!” Ellena teased, and they all agreed.
“Well, it looks like everyone but Mikayla has their eyes set on someone either around here or in Orchidea,” Ellena said then smiled.
“I don’t need no man right now, thank you very much,” Mikayla responded.
“What did your men say about the babies, Angelique?” Mikayla asked, changing the subject for the moment.
“They were real happy. We’re going to get married, and we’re going to work out everything we need to work out. I love them so much. This was really scary today.”
“We’re so happy for you, sister. We’re glad you safe,” Angelina added.
“So why don’t I see if we can take you home to Orchidea?” Ellena asked as she moved away from the bed.
“I think the men want me to go back to their place. We need to be together.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to live in Orchidea without you, sista,” Illeanna stated sadly.
“Who said anything about me leaving Orchidea? I was thinking that it would be a great place to set up my first store. It could bring more business and revenue into Orchidea, too,” Angelique told them with a smile.
“Which should bring more of Tye and Mike, right?” Angelina asked with a wink.
“How about that deputy of your sheriff’s?” Ellena asked with a smile.
“I think that the five Aubert sisters of Orchidea are going to be together forever, and there isn’t any man or men going to ever tear us apart,” Mikayla said, and they all agreed.
“To Orchidea and an expansion of our family as we all find true love on the bayou,” Angelina stated.
“To Orchidea,” they all said then laughed as they held one another’s hands and promised to always stay close and be a part of one another’s lives.
THE END
WWW.DIXIELYNNDWYER.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
&
nbsp; People seem to be more interested in my name than where I get my ideas for my stories from. So I might as well share the story behind my name with all my readers.
My momma was born and raised in New Orleans. At the age of twenty, she met and fell in love with an Irishman named Patrick Riley Dwyer. Needless to say, the family was a bit taken aback by this as they hoped she would marry a family friend. It was a modern day arranged marriage kind of thing and my momma downright refused.
Being that my momma’s families were descendents of the original English speaking Southerners, they wanted the family blood line to stay pure. They were wealthy and my father’s family was poor.
Despite attempts by my grandpapa to make Patrick leave and destroy the love between them, my parents married. They recently celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary.
I am one of six children born to Patrick and Lynn Dwyer. I am a combination of both Irish and a true Southern belle. With a name like Dixie Lynn Dwyer it’s no wonder why people are curious about my name.
Just as my parents had a love story of their own, I grew up intrigued by the lifestyles of others. My imagination as well as my need to stray from the straight and narrow made me into the woman I am today.
Also by Dixie Lynn Dwyer
Ménage Amour: Were Trilogy 1: Were She Belongs
Ménage Amour: Were Trilogy 2: Were Love Found Her
Ménage Everlasting: Were Trilogy 3: Were Love Conquers All
Siren LoveXtreme Forever: The Men of Five-O #1:
SWAT Team One and the Social Worker
Siren LoveXtreme Forever: The Men of Five-O #2:
SWAT Team Two and Miss Robin Hood
Ménage Amour: The Town of Pearl 1: For the Love of Anna
Ménage Amour: The Town of Pearl 2: Stacy’s Destiny
Available at
BOOKSTRAND.COM
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Dwyer, Dixie Lynn - Angelique [Orchidea: Love on the Bayou 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 23