The Wife Code: Banks (Six Men of Alaska Book 4)

by Charlie Hart

  He’s in a suit and a too-tight winter parka. It pulls at his gut and I notice that he’s gained several pounds in the time we’ve been apart. He may want the world to think he is invincible, but he’s human even if he wishes he were herculean.

  And clearly, he’s been stress eating.Pressing my hand to my still flat belly I wish I had his problem, but right now I can’t manage to keep anything down. I swallow, hating that I am making light of any of this with my thoughts - but the reality is so heavy sometimes it feels good to pretend it isn’t all as dire as it is.

  His grin is more of a sneer when he looks at me. His beady eyes make my skin crawl and I exhale through my nose, thanking my lucky stars that I am free of him. Forever.

  “Let’s make this brief,” he says. “Where’s the file?”

  “We won’t be giving it to you.” Salinger meets Lawson’s hard gaze.

  Lawson’s eyes narrow on him, and a tick starts in his jaw. “I warned you not to play games with me.”

  “This isn’t a game,” Fallon says. “These are lives, innocent lives that you’re wanting to mess with. We won’t allow it.”

  “Then you forfeit your marriage.”

  “No.” Banks steps forward. “Tia is our wife, and we won’t let you take her.”

  Lawson chuckles roughly. “She’s my property.”

  Banks stiffens. “You may have paid a dowry, but a person is no one’s property.”

  “Coming from a man whose father owned half of the East coast’s whores.” Lawson grins viciously, doing his best to cut Banks deep. “But then his actions made you one too, didn’t it? And it’s exactly what your sweet little wife will become when I take her home with me. But then she’s used to being fucked by multiple men-”

  Before anyone else can move, Banks has Lawson by the scruff, his back against the wall.

  It takes Fallon and Emerson to pry him off.

  “You’ll pay for that,” Lawson sneers.

  “Get out of our house, now,” Banks yells, venom in his words.

  “When you give me what I’m owed.”

  “You’re owed nothing. Tia is our wife, and by federal and global law, she is bound to us.”

  “I have documentation that says differently.”

  Banks shrugs Fallon and Emerson off and straightens. He’s in a suit and tie, polished in so many ways--but now that I know him, I know that the layer beneath the sheen is a man as rough and rugged as all my other husbands. He will fight to the death for me whether I like it or not.

  “Those documents are null and void,” Banks explains coolly. “Tia is pregnant.”

  Lawson’s expression hardens, but I see the moment he realizes he’s lost.

  “Bullshit,” he mutters, his head shaking. But I look down and see his hands shake too. Lawson is scared.

  I bite back a smile. How I’ve longed to see this evil man weaken, to see his false bravado stripped away.

  The cards have been dealt and he’s lost this hand. No list, no wife. Nothing.

  “We have the tests results, and will be sending them to your lawyer in the morning.” Banks takes a step towards Lawson, and I’m afraid he’s going to hit him, but instead, he walks past and opens the door.

  Lawson glares at me. “I’m not the only one looking for you. Your father--”

  “Can’t hurt me.” I cross my arms defiantly.

  That makes Lawson laugh. “Oh, sweet, innocent Christina, you really have no idea who you’re dealing with. I would have cared for you. Protected you from that monster you call a father. You would have been safe. But now...” One corner of his mouth tugs up as he glances around at my husbands. “Now you’ll pay for your disobedience.”

  A shiver races through me.

  He starts towards the door, then turns and smirks. “You better hope that the child you’re carrying isn’t a girl, because I’m pretty sure daddy dearest will find ways of collecting.”

  Banks slams the door shut and my knees weaken. I may have fought off one threat, but have invited another one in.

  Huxley is by my side, and he catches my elbow.

  “He can’t...” I look at Banks, wildly. Trembling with fear. “He can’t take our child away, right?”

  Banks’ jaw tightens, and I look at Salinger who knows more about the law.

  “I don’t know,” Sal says, running a hand through his hair, and he looks just as terrified as I feel. “I’ve heard of men claiming a child as compensation for a financial loss, or as payment, but it isn’t something that has been done in Alaska.”

  “You don’t have to worry,” Giles says, we won’t let anyone hurt you, or our child. “Ever.”

  “It’s over,” Emerson says. “You’re pregnant, and you’re our wife. No one can hurt you. I promise you that.”

  Dear, sweet Emerson. I wish he was right, wish I could have the faith I see in his eyes. But when I glance over at Banks, I wonder if Lawson wasn’t right. Did we just trade one monster for an even scarier one?

  Chapter 21

  Banks

  My hands shake as I run the test a second time, and get the same result.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Understanding Tia’s blood work has been challenging from the beginning, because of her father’s injections. But looking at her hCG levels, I know one thing for certain, Tia is carrying more than one child.

  I sit back in my seat and drag my hands through my hair, then rub them over my face. I’ll have to do an ultrasound to confirm it, but I’m almost a hundred percent certain that she’s carrying twins. At least one of whom is a girl, based on the antibodies that Tia’s body is already creating at increased rates.

  “Fuck,” I scream, tossing my coffee mug across the room. It shatters when it hits the wall, just as Salinger walks through the door.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I try to control my breathing, but I can feel something inside me unraveling.

  “I can save her,” I say, more to myself. “It doesn’t matter. I can still save her.”

  “You’re scaring me.”

  “We have to go.” I push my chair back, start gathering my things, and shove a portable ultrasound into my bag.

  “Banks,” Salinger says when I start towards the door. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know for certain... but... fuck.”

  Salinger walks towards me. “Is something wrong with the baby?”

  “No. I don’t know. She’s carrying a girl.”

  “That’s good news then.”

  “Except that her hormones are off the charts.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I think she may be carrying twins.”

  Salinger’s face pales. “Shit.”

  “I won’t know for certain until I do an ultrasound.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  We gather my equipment and load it into Fallon’s truck. I triple check everything, not wanting to miss anything that will slow us down and make us head back to my lab.

  We drive back to the compound in silence.

  As we pull to a stop in the driveway, Salinger glances over at me. “Whatever the results, you’ll help her. I know you will.”

  I close my eyes briefly.

  “Just...” Salinger lets out a shaky breath. “We can’t show her that we’re afraid.”

  “I know that.”

  “Good. Then get that look off your face, because you’re scaring the shit out of me.”

  I nod and reach for the door handle. “You might want to tell each of the men the same thing.”

  The house is quiet when we enter.

  “Tia?” I call out, lugging in the case holding the portable ultrasound machine. I hang up my coat, trying to think of how this is going to play out. I know Tia’s going to lose it.

  We’ve talked through the treatment plan for a female fetus. But if she’s carrying twins everything we’ve accounted for goes out the window.

  Which means
more time lost. My research obsolete.

  It can’t be twins. We can’t afford to lose more time. It’s already not enough.

  “Banks.” Salinger rests a hand on my shoulder. “You got this, man.”

  “Right,” I say under my breath. The only thing I have is bad news. It kills me knowing how Tia has been so adamant about keeping the house a positive zone.

  “Where is everyone?” Salinger calls as we walk through the house. I follow him into the kitchen and we see everyone is outside on the patio.

  “What is it?” I ask, stepping toward Tia. She turns, waving us over. Her face lit up as if it’s Christmas morning. “It’s a doe with her fawn.”

  I give her a soft smile. “You’re adorable.”

  “No,” Giles says. “That is adorable.”

  I step closer, resting my hands on Tia’s shoulders. It’s true, it is fucking cute.

  Tawny fur with white spots, barely able to walk on his tall spindly legs, his mother right beside him, urging him along.

  When the mother finally jumps over a snow drift, her baby follows close behind, Tia exhales. “That was so sweet.” She laughs, looking around at her burly ass men. “You’re all so good at humoring me. I know you’ve seen deer a thousand times... it’s just...” She blinks back tears. “Gosh, I’m a mess today. I keep crying over everything.”

  “You’re pregnant. I think it comes with the territory,” I tell her, taking her hand and leading her back to the house. Once we’re inside, I ask everyone to stay.

  “If you don’t mind, I want to do a routine ultrasound. Here, now.”

  “Why here?” Tia asks, a frown on her face. I hate that I’ve erased any of the pleasure she had only moments ago.

  “I noticed something in your hCG levels, and I want my eyes on it before anyone else.”

  She swallows, looking around the room. “Okay. Just give me a moment and I’ll be back.” She steps toward the hall, then turns to me. “Should I be worried?”

  I give her a small shake of the head. “No, Tia. Not when you’ve got six men of Alaska right here by your side.”

  When she’s gone, Fallon turns to me. “What the fuck is going on?”

  I swallow, terror taking hold of my heart.

  “We need to be strong for Tia, no matter what happens next, understood?”

  They nod, seeming to realize they will know more soon enough, and that the most important thing is providing our wife with the support she needs.

  A few minutes later, Tia is on the couch in the living room with her feet pulled up on an ottoman. She lifts the hem of her shirt and I apply a gel to her bare stomach.

  “It’s cold.”

  “Sorry,” I say. “But that will be the most unpleasant part of this.”

  She nods. “I’ve had these before. My father wanted to do a twice-yearly measurement on the uteruses of the women at Saint Augustine’s.”

  “All of them?” I ask, my brows furrowed having never heard this from her before.

  “Well, not all of them. Only five of us. He tracked the women who had been there since before their first cycles.”

  “Why?” Emerson asks. I have a feeling he’s the least informed about her twisted father.

  “I don’t know. I think he wanted to expand them?”

  “Expand your uterus?” Fallon asks, eyes raised. It’s clear this topic is not his forte.

  “I never asked why,” Tia says. “One of my thousand regrets when it comes to my dad. I never asked enough questions, especially the ones that pertained to me.”

  “Hey,” I say, knowing she’s getting lost in her head. Right now she needs to be grounded. I take her hand in mine and squeeze it. “That’s the past, remember? Let’s focus on the now. And right now, you’re going to hear your baby’s heartbeat for the very first time. That’s a good thing, Tia. Okay?”

  She nods. “Okay,” she says breathlessly, as I adjust the volume on the ultrasound machine, making sure the screen is viable to everyone. Then I press the wand low on her abdomen and gently move it around.

  My jaw tenses as I focus. When I pick up the sound of a heartbeat, Tia’s eyes go wide, but I quickly shake my head. “That’s your heart. It’s not as fast as the bab--” My words stop as I get another signal and a grainy image fills the ultrasound screen.

  The blurry image begins to clear.

  The heart beats loud.

  The men around me clap and cheer. Tia’s beaming.

  But then.

  Then everyone stops, and become as quiet as when they watched the doe and her fawn on the snow-streaked lawn.

  It isn’t one four-chambered heart staring at us.

  It’s six.

  Continue the Journey

  About the Author

  Swoonworthy romances from the heart!

  ❤️

  Chantel Seabrook writes hot, steamy paranormal and fantasy romances with possessive bad boys, and the passionate, fiery women who love them.

  She also writes contemporary romance as C.M. Seabrook.

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  http://eepurl.com/cB56an

  Also by Chantel Seabrook

  Reverse Harem Fantasy

  Cara’s Twelve

  Therian Agents Series

  Chasing Payne

  Turning Payne

  Taming Kiera

  C.M. Seabrook Books

  Men with Wood Series

  Second Draft

  Second Shot

  Fighting Blind Series

  Theo

  Moody

  Wild Irish Series

  Wild Irish

  Tempting Irish

  Taming Irish

  Savages & Saints Series

  Torment

  Standalones

  Melting Steel

  About the Author

  “Stories with ❤️ and soul.”

  Charlie Hart writes fantasy, paranormal, and science-fiction romance with a high heat level.

  "Reading is dreaming with eyes open."

  Charlie also writes contemporary romance under the name Frankie Love. "Reading is dreaming with eyes open."

  JOIN CHARLIE HART’S MAILING LIST AND NEVER MISS A RELEASE! And find Charlie on FB!

  Also by Charlie Hart

  BOOKS BY CHARLIE HART: DAUGHTERS OF OLYMPUS:

  Daughters of Olympus:

  Their Siren

  Their Mate

  Their Phoenix

  Their Shade

  Their Goddess

  MOUNTAIN MAN CANDY MOUNTAIN MAN CAKE MOUNTAIN MAN BUN

    

  Stand-Alone Romance:

  BEAUTY AND THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  HIS BILLION DOLLAR SECRET BABY UNTAMED

  RUGGED

  HIS MAKE BELIVE BRIDE

  HIS KINKY VIRGIN

  WILD AND TRUE

  BIG BAD WOLF

  MISTLETOE MOUNTAIN: A MOUNTAIN MAN’S

  CHRISTMAS

  F*ck Club:

  A-List F*ck Club Small Town F*ck Club

  Our Virgin:

  Protecting Our Virgin Craving Our Virgin Forever Our Virgin

  From the HIS Collection:

  HIS Everything

  The Mountain Man’s Babies:

  TIMBER BUCKED WILDER HONORED CHERISHED

                         

  The Modern-Mail Order Brides:

  CLAIMED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  ORDERED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  WIFED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  EXPLORED BY THE MOUNTAIN MAN

  CROWN ME:

  COURTED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE

  CHARMED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE

  CROWNED BY THE MOUNTAIN PRINCE

  CROWN ME, PRINCE: The Complete Collection

  Las Vegas Bad Boys:

  ACE KING MCQUEEN JACK

  Los Angeles Bad Boys:

  COLD HARD CASH

  HOLLYWOOD HOLDEN

  SAINT JUDEr />
  THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

  ❤ ❤ ❤