by Marla Monroe
“Who is he? Damn it, Parker. I have a right to know who he is!”
“What is wrong with you? You don’t have any rights where I’m concerned. You lost those when you fucked my best friend in my bed.”
“That was a mistake. She came on to me, and I was weak. You hadn’t wanted to get married right away. It never should have happened.”
“It didn’t stop you from continuing to fuck her for the next six weeks! Get out, Michael. Get out now.” She managed to jerk her arms loose from his hands and back away from him.
“You’re going to regret this, Parker. I’ll smear your name all through the mud if you don’t agree to marry me.”
“You can’t do a damn thing to me, Michael. Everyone out there already knows what a slut I am. Nothing you can say or do will make it any worse.”
“What about the baby’s father? What happens when he finds out just how many men you’ve been with? I can pull men from everywhere who will swear they are the father of your baby. Do you think he’ll believe it’s his when you’ve got five other men claiming paternity?”
“A blood test will prove who the baby’s father is,” she finally whispered.
“Damage will be done by then. Who wants a slut? They might want custody of their child, but the mother? I don’t think so.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I need that money, Parker. I have several business deals that are contingent on my getting access to it.”
“Even if I marry you, I’ll never give you control of Montgomery Oil.”
“All I need is the illusion that I can get to the money if I need it. In fact, if you want out after a year, we can come to a settlement agreement for a divorce.”
“Get out, Michael.” She walked unsteadily to the door and opened it. “Get out.”
“Think about it, Parker. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to decide.”
Chapter Seven
Parker swallowed around the lump in her throat and prayed her breakfast would stay down. She rode by their house again still unable to turn in the drive. Nerves had butterflies winging their way around her stomach, making it difficult for her to concentrate on what she needed to do.
Finally, on the third pass, she stopped and pulled in to the drive. She had no idea if they were home, but she would go by there every day until she caught them. She climbed out of her Escalade and walked up to the front door to ring the doorbell. It was barely nine in the morning. She hoped they were up already. She had just decided they weren’t home and turned away when the door opened.
“Parker? Is that you?” Shane stepped outside wearing just a pair of jeans and nothing else. His sleep-tousled hair hung in his eyes. He absently batted it out of the way.
“Hey, Shane. Um, can I come in?”
“Sure, sure.” He lifted his arm indicating she should go first.
When he closed the door behind them, she jumped.
“What’s wrong, Parker? You’re nervous. We’ve never hurt you.”
“No. I know. I’m not nervous of you or Allen. Um, where is he?” She stood in the middle of their entrance hall afraid to go any further.
“Come on in and have a seat. I’ll go get him. He’s probably still asleep. We just got in from a job last night.”
“I’m sorry. I should come back later.” She started to turn and leave, but Shane stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Don’t go, Parker.” He led her to the living room and seated her on the couch. “I’ll be right back.”
He hurried to the stairs, taking them two at a time until he was out of sight. Parker resisted the urge to rub her tummy. She had gotten in the habit over the last few days of doing that. God, what was she going to say to them? Everything she had practiced at home sounded dumb now.
She was about to change their lives if the baby meant anything to them. They weren’t planning for a baby, and now there was one. You can’t just dump that on a man and expect him to take it in stride. She could only pray that they didn’t get violent. She really had no idea how they would act.
Bull, you know in your heart they wouldn’t hurt you. You wouldn’t have fallen in love with someone that was violent. What about Michael? You’re not in love with him.
She couldn’t keep going around in circles like this. It was driving her crazy.
“Parker!” Allen came bounding down the stairs into the living room.
“Hey, Allen.” She started to get up.
“Don’t get up.” He walked over and sat down next to her, taking one of her hands in his.
Shane stood in front of her but then crouched down to look into her eyes.
“What’s going on, Parker? You’re upset.”
“I, um, have something to tell you, and I’m afraid you’re going to be upset.”
“What is it, Parker?” Shane took her other hand.
“I’m pregnant.”
Neither man moved for several seconds. The silence was so absolute that Parker could have sworn she could hear her heartbeat.
“Um, okay. I told you.” She stood up to leave, but Allen stood with her and pulled her into his arms.
“That’s all that has you so upset? It’s okay, baby. We’re not upset. Are we, Shane?”
“No. How long have you known?” Shane asked, slowly standing up.
“For a little over a week. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you, but you weren’t home, and I didn’t have your phone numbers.”
“You’re what? Seven weeks then?” Shane asked.
“Eight weeks on Sunday, I suppose.” She looked from one to the other of them. “Aren’t you angry? You’re not even going to question that it’s yours?”
“We trust you, Parker. If you came to us, then you believe the baby is ours.” Allen squeezed her hand.”
“It is yours. I haven’t been with anyone since that day.” Tears began to fall now. It was too easy.
“Why are you crying, baby?” Allen pulled her back into his arms and urged her to sit again.
Shane sat down on the other side of her but didn’t reach for her. Parker could tell he was waiting for the rest of the story.
“A reporter found out and posted that I was pregnant with my love child in the society paper yesterday. Everyone knows I’m pregnant now. I could deny it, but in a few months, it’s going to be pretty obvious.”
“Honey, does it matter what anyone else thinks?”
“No. At least it didn’t use to. I played it up for the papers to get back at my stepmother so everyone expects something like this from me.”
“What else has you so upset, Parker?” Shane turned her chin to face him.
“Michael is threatening to have men come out and claim paternity unless I marry him.”
“Absolutely not! You’re not marrying that cocksucker!” Allen jumped up and paced a few feet away He ran a hand over his short, spiked hair.
“Allen, calm down.” Shane drew in a deep breath.
“He thinks that if there are other men claiming paternity we won’t trust that you’re telling the truth.”
“Right.” She looked down at her hands. “I’m sorry I got you involved in my circus of a life.”
“We’re big boys, Parker. We can take care of ourselves. If you say the baby is ours, then it won’t matter how many men come out of the woodwork claiming it. A simple test will prove it’s ours,” Shane said in a calm voice. “I guess the question I have is, what are you wanting us to do?”
Parker looked up at him, then over at where Allen was standing with his hands in his pockets. She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“I–I don’t know. I really hadn’t thought about it past that you had the right to know. I don’t expect anything. I can take care of the baby with or without your help. I just thought you should know what was going on.”
“You don’t plan to marry that asshole, do you?” Allen demanded.
“No. He can smear my name all he wants to. I figure the best thing for you is to remain anonymous.�
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“Maybe we don’t want to. What if we want to be a part of the baby’s life?” Shane watched her closely.
Parker opened her mouth then closed it. A glimmer of hope sparked in her chest that maybe they would want to be a part of her life, too. Then it died remembering how Michael had promised to ruin her. She couldn’t let that bleed over to Shane and Allen. They’d been the best thing that had ever happened to her.
“Parker?” Allen walked back to her and knelt in front of her. “We can get married and that will stop everything, all the lies and the innuendos.”
“Oh, Allen. We can’t get married just because I’m pregnant. You can still be a part of the baby’s life. I would never cut you out.”
“Is it because of the will?” Shane asked, causing her head to jerk up.
“You know about the will? You’ve checked up on me?” Fear and a little bit of anger snaked into her heart.
“We were curious when you made your proposition as to what you were getting us into.”
“I guess I can understand that.” She looked down once again.
“Is it, Parker?”
“No. I would marry you regardless if we loved each other, but we don’t. We barely know each other.”
Allen started to say something, but Shane stopped him.
“Allen.”
“So, we get to know each other,” Allen finally said.
“You’d want to be friends?”
“We want to be more than friends, Parker.” Shane said. “We want to be partners in your pregnancy.”
“Both of you?”
“Is that a problem for you now?”
“No, but I just figured that you would want to know who the father was.”
Allen smiled and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter to us as long as it’s ours.”
Parker wasn’t sure what to think. Her mind swirled with all the possibilities until she felt dizzy. She ran a shaky hand over her face and licked her lips.
“I want what’s best for my baby. I think having the father—fathers—be part of his life is best. I’ll take you however I can get you.” She smiled despite the tears escaping her eyes.
“Don’t cry, baby.” Allen wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his lap.
“I can’t help it. I’ve been so worried about what you would think about me and that you wouldn’t want the baby.” She sobbed, knowing her face was getting all red and splotchy.
“You’re going to make yourself sick. Why don’t you lie down and rest? You have dark circles under your eyes. Did you even sleep last night?”
Parker could only shake her head through the tears. Allen sighed and picked her up. He carried her upstairs to the master bedroom and gently laid her down on the bed.
“Take a nap, Parker. Everything is going to be okay.”
Parker desperately wanted to believe him, but she knew nothing ever worked out that easily. At least not in her life.
* * * *
“What is it, Shane? I can tell you’re about to explode.” They stood outside on the back deck.
When Allen had come back downstairs, Shane had handed him a beer and indicated they should walk outside so they wouldn’t disturb Parker.
“Are you satisfied that the baby is ours?”
“Fuck! You don’t believe her?” Allen slammed his beer on the railing of the deck.
“I believe her. I just need to know where you stand on it.”
“The baby is ours. I can’t believe she would have willfully chosen a couple of bikers over someone she already knew.” Allen sighed and picked up his beer again. “She circulates with some important people in the world.”
“Exactly.”
“You wouldn’t let me tell her that I loved her. Why?”’
“Because I don’t think she’s in the right frame of mind to believe you, and because I think we need to wait and see what happens before we bare our souls for her.”
“You don’t think very much of her, do you, Shane? Yet you’re telling me that you love her.”
“It’s not that I don’t think much of her, Allen. I just know how society and duty can pull you in another direction, whether you want to go there or not.”
“So you’re still in love with her?”
“Nothing has changed about the way I feel about her. We need to decide how we are going handle this.”
“I want her to move in with us,” Allen said in a firm voice.
“She’s probably not going to go for that.”
“Then at the very least, she dates us and gets to know us. We get to be a part of the baby’s development from now on.”
“That Michael is going to cause problems.” Shane knew it in his gut.
“Yeah, I figured as much. We’ll just have to deal with whatever happens.”
“She’s really high profile. It will mean that we’ll be, too. How do you feel about that?”
“Doesn’t bother me. I’m a biker and a construction worker. Who the hell cares?”
Shane sighed. Allen was fired up and ready to take on the world. Parker’s pregnancy was the answer to his prayers. Shane wanted it to be the answer to his as well, but he knew more about how the elite worked. They were like piranhas. They would turn on their own at the first sign of blood. He and Allen weren’t even one of their own.
“We need to talk to Cole and Zack about all of this before we go any further.”
“Not that I care that they know, but why? What does it have to do with them?”
“The backwash could affect them because of their association with us.”
“Hell, I hadn’t thought about that. If things get nasty, it could affect the company.”
“Right.” Shane pulled out his phone and pressed speed dial for Cole’s number.
“Yeah, do you know what fucking time it is?” Cole’s voice sounded sleep-roughened.
“Sorry, but we have a problem that we need to talk about.”
“If your ass is in jail, I’ll come get you this afternoon.”
Shane heard Zack’s voice in the background. “Who the fuck’s in jail?”
“We’re not in jail. Can we come over later today?”
Cole’s sigh was heartfelt. “What’s wrong, Shane?”
“I’d rather not talk about it over the phone. It’s complicated.”
“Sure, come on over after lunch.”
“Thanks see you then.” Shane heard Cole disconnect. He shoved his phone back into his pocket.
“I gather you woke him up.” Allen had a small smile on his face.
“Yeah. He wasn’t happy.”
“Let’s go look in to Michael and see what he has to play with.” Allen turned up his beer and drained it then turned to go back in the house.
“Good idea. If he is trying to blackmail her into marrying him, he won’t give up just because we don’t balk at the barrage of men.” Shane emptied his beer can and followed Allen inside.
After an hour of sifting through the Internet, they knew quite a bit about Michael Humphrey and his business interests. He came from money, but wasn’t filthy rich at all. Most of his money was tied up in the stock market and two enterprises that were not doing the best in the world.
“He needs her money. That means he’s desperate. I don’t like desperate men.” Shane gritted his teeth.
“They’re usually dangerous men. Why did he screw up a sure thing by cheating on her? Doesn’t make sense.”
“Some men just can’t keep their dicks in their pants. He probably thought he wouldn’t get caught.”
“We need to warn her that he’s desperate for her money. She needs to be careful around him.” Allen closed down the computer and stretched. “I drove by her condo one day and he was coming out of it. I was scared then that they had gotten back together.”
“I figured something like that had happened. She says she’s not going to marry him. We have to trust her on that.”
“It’s him I don’t trust. He’s a snake in the grass.
He’ll be looking for a way to get to her, Shane. I wish we could talk her into moving in with us.”
“Me, too. I don’t see it happening, though.”
“Let’s go take a nap. Then I’ll cook something for lunch before we go over to Cole and Zack’s. I take it we’re taking Parker with us.”
“Yeah. They need to meet each other. She’s going to eventually be our wife, we hope.”
“A baby.” Allen shook his head. “Fuck. I can’t believe it.”
Shane couldn’t stop the little grin that stole over his mouth. He was almost afraid to believe it. Then he sobered. They weren’t daddies yet. They still had to convince Parker to marry them and get past whatever was going on with Michael.
He followed Allen upstairs where Parker was still sacked out on the bed. She had curled up around her belly with one hand lying over it. It was cute. Neither one of them pulled off their jeans. They just lay down on the bed next to her and dozed off and on. For Shane, it was more off than on.
He wanted to curl around Parker and lay his hand over hers, but they really weren’t to that stage right now. They were having to start from scratch on getting to know each other despite her being pregnant with their baby. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
A little over an hour later, he felt the bed dip as Allen got up and padded downstairs to start lunch. He probably should get up and shower, but he was reluctant to leave Parker alone just yet. He was afraid she would disappear from their lives, and this time they would never find her again. He didn’t think he could survive that after finding out she carried their child inside of her. Now all bets were off. He was playing for keeps.
Chapter Eight
“Parker. Time to wake up.”
She frowned and slowly opened her eyes to stare into Shane’s dark ones. He was lying right next to her and still didn’t have on a shirt.
“What time is it?” She rubbed her hand over her face hoping she hadn’t drooled.
“A little after eleven. Allen’s got lunch ready. Do you need to freshen up before we go down?”
“Oh, um, yeah.” She started to sit up and groaned. She was stiff.