Listen Pitch

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  I made a promise to myself that I would try to reschedule my flight for tomorrow after the photo shoot.

  I didn’t know that I could be away from him for that long.

  After all, technically we were still in the honeymoon stages of our marriage, right?

  ***

  Two weeks later, after a devastating loss in Toronto that ended the Lumberjacks’ playoff run, I found myself staring at…myself.

  And not in the usual way via a mirror, but on the very front page of Baller Magazine.

  Rhys, who’d gone with me to the grocery store specifically for this very thing, started to moan.

  “What the hell kind of dress is that?” he asked, sounding breathless.

  I bit my lip.

  I hadn’t realized that they were going to put me into something like that. In fact, I’d been downright surprised when they’d come out with the dress, and it’d actually fit.

  And after careful deliberation, I’d decided to stay quiet on my end about the shoot, and now I was glad that I did.

  Seeing the look of awe and lust on my husband’s face was enough to make the torture of that photo shoot worth it.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. “We have to go to a doctor’s appointment…”

  For myself.

  Apparently, one couldn’t just get birth control if they’d never been to the gynecologist before.

  I know, I know.

  I should’ve been. But, to be honest, I was a bad patient. And the thought of having my vagina waggling around in the air for a man to look at—seeing as there was only four doctors in my insurance’s network at the time—I’d forgone the visits. If a woman wasn’t sexually active, what was the point in going?

  I hadn’t needed birth control, and I hadn’t had anything crazy going on under my hood.

  Which led us to now, picking up a magazine before a doctor’s appointment that was imperative. Why?

  Because I didn’t like having sex with my husband with condoms.

  They sucked.

  And I knew exactly why men complained that they didn’t feel the same—because they didn’t. Not even close.

  “Fuck it.”

  “Rhys!” I whispered as he rushed me.

  Then I was up and over his shoulder, and we were heading to the bathroom.

  Moments after that, I had his cock in my pussy, and he was fucking me so hard that I couldn’t breathe—mostly because I was trying not to scream.

  The moment that my pussy clenched around him, he came.

  And I realized that we hadn’t used a condom.

  “We’re so fucked,” I whispered.

  He growled against my neck. “You were so fucked. But we’re not. I love you. You love me. There’s no way in hell that’s going to change. And…I have a big house to fill because I broke ground on a piece of land that is directly next to your mother’s.”

  My heart soared.

  “You what?”

  He grinned. “You’re not mad that I didn’t consult you?”

  I shook my head. “As long as you’re around, I’m pretty happy with just about anything.”

  I had no clue that, in the months to come, that statement would be put to the test.

  Chapter 28

  Seriously, some of you need to go to church because I don’t want you in hell with me.

  -Rhys to his teammates

  Rhys

  Six months later

  Pregnant women were demons.

  It took me two visits with the surrogates to realize that the two women we’d chosen to carry our children were likely the two worst possible choices ever to be had on the face of the Earth.

  Poor Henley kept trying to be herself, trying to smile and be happy. But by the end of the the last visit? Even she wasn’t trying to act excited about the appointments.

  Which sucked.

  This was supposed to be a happy time in the prospective parents’ eyes. Unfortunately, every single suggestion that came out of Henley’s mouth was met with derision or downright anger.

  For instance, the latest appointment, which was the appointment after the gender scan that not just one of our children—but none of them—cooperated. This particular appointment was the makeup scan, and when Henley suggested Surrogate 1 that was carrying ‘Baby A’ drink a Coca-Cola, Surrogate 1—I refused to learn her name when she was acting like such a bitch to my wife—had laughed in my wife’s face.

  And, since we were in the offseason, I had absolutely nothing to take my aggression out on since there was only so much running and gym time I could do. Meaning each time this bitch looked at my wife with a snarl on her perfectly lined lips, I got angrier and angrier.

  The headaches from my injury had subsided…only to be replaced by ones from two women that were complete dick bags.

  “I will not,” the woman sneered. “That’s the fastest way to poison a child.”

  My eyebrows rose. “They recommend not having more than a certain amount of caffeine. I believe that’s two hundred milligrams. One Coke won’t kill you.”

  “I signed a contract that stated I’d take care of my body—and drinking that filth will not be happening,” the woman refused.

  “How about some apple juice, Credence?” the ultrasound tech asked.

  Credence. Even her name sounded bitchy.

  “I suppose I could do that,” Credence acquiesced. “But only a small cup. I try to keep sugar to a minimum.”

  “Which is why the baby isn’t moving at all. Didn’t the tech tell her last time to drink a soft drink or something sugary?” I whispered into Henley’s ear.

  Henley punched me. “Be good.”

  I winked at her. “I don’t want to be good. I hate coming to these.”

  Henley shot me a look that clearly said to behave.

  Maybe I would. Maybe I wouldn’t.

  “We’re gonna wait outside while that kicks in,” I said, standing up and reaching for Henley’s hand.

  The tech blinked. Credence looked none too pleased.

  Henley looked exasperated.

  But if this wasn’t actually going to start for another half an hour like the ultrasound tech said, then there was no reason we should have to be subjected to Credence’s presence longer than we had to.

  Needless to say, we waited out there for a good long while, and only when the ultrasound tech came out to get us would we go back inside.

  Exactly thirty minutes later, the door to the ultrasound room opened, and the tech waved us inside.

  Henley, who’d been leaning against me as we played a word game on my phone, stood up with excitement in her step.

  This was her favorite part—seeing the babies. She adored all the other parts, but actually seeing them was the only way either one of us felt it was real.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” the tech said, sounding tired.

  Henley took her seat and I took mine, putting my arm around her as I stared at the large flat screen TV on the wall and waited.

  It didn’t take long, and we got to see our baby’s face.

  “Ohhh,” Henley whispered, looking closer. “Toes!”

  Yep.

  “Toes, hands, and knees all up by the head,” the tech explained, moving the wand around. “And it’s a girl!”

  I kept my eyes on the screen while Henley looked over at me with excitement. “A girl.”

  My stomach sank. “Shit.”

  Henley started to snicker. “Can we have a picture?”

  The tech printed her off twenty.

  And by the time we were leaving, we had a video, too.

  “Credence, if you’ll head down the hall, the doctor will be in with you in just a second,” the tech explained.

  “Bye, Credence,” Henley waved.

  Credence lifted her lip in a silent snarl that quickly turned into a fake smile when she saw me looking at her.

  “Goodbye, Henley. See you next week,” Cr
edence cooed.

  I rolled my eyes at the sickly sweet, falsely fake tone.

  “Lovely girl.”

  Henley smacked my chest.

  “You don’t have to like her, but you do have to appreciate her.”

  Unfortunately, that would be the last time I’d see Credence again because she died in a car wreck hours later, taking our baby with her.

  Our little girl.

  We named her Lillian.

  And we buried her on the property I’d bought next to my mother-in-law’s place.

  It was honestly the hardest thing I’d ever had to do in my life, and I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Henley felt the same.

  Chapter 29

  Don’t tell secrets in the garden. The potatoes have eyes. The corn has ears, and the beanstalk.

  Rhys

  One week later

  “You’re sure that you saw the tattoo?” I asked carefully.

  The witness nodded his head, looking scared shitless. “Positive. The guy had his arm hanging out the window. The tattoo on his left hand looked exactly like that.”

  The witness had just described the tattoo that Michael—my uncle’s enforcer—had on his left hand. But it wasn’t a tattoo. It was a brand that my uncle had put there himself.

  And there was no doubt in my mind that Pablo had ordered Michael to do it.

  Pablo had signed his death warrant.

  He’d taken my kid from me by ordering his enforcer to cause that accident, and changed the game.

  No longer was my family safe.

  No longer was I able to trust anyone or anything but Henley and my sister.

  Which was why, hours after speaking with the witness after the funeral of our unborn daughter, I sent Henley away along with our second surrogate. Though each went somewhere entirely different from the other, and I made sure that only the best of the best were there to take care of them—an organization named Free.

  “But, Rhys,” Henley whispered, looking broken.

  I’d done that to her.

  I’d ruined her life.

  I’d put that look on her face.

  “No, baby.” I shook my head. “This isn’t going to happen. This is going to end, and for that to happen, I need to know that you’re safe.”

  Henley looked sick to her stomach.

  “But I don’t want to go,” she whispered, a lone tear tracking down her cheek.

  I felt my heart break.

  “I’ve ruined your life.”

  She shook her head. “No, baby. You’ve made it.”

  With that, she gave me one more kiss on the cheek and walked away.

  The surrogate had left hours before, and I hadn’t felt the devastation—knowing that my kids would grow without me seeing them—that I experienced the moment Henley walked away.

  Once I knew they were safe, I turned my every waking moment on finding the son of a bitch and yanking his life away from him.

  Sadly, I wasn’t able to do that before the sudden birth of our twins just a couple short weeks later.

  Chapter 30

  Register for a blender on your baby registry. It drowns out the crying and makes really awesome margaritas.

  -Parenting tip

  Rhys

  Two days later

  The broker—the man that was responsible for looking after my inheritance and ensuring that I followed each rule to the letter—stood up as he walked toward me, his hand extended.

  “Rhys, I can’t say it’s a surprise that I have found you here,” the broker said, sounding deliberately neutral.

  “Joker.” I nodded my head. “I will give you half of everything that I inherit—more if you wish it—to make sure that my family lives.”

  Joker blinked.

  “Why would you want to give away that kind of cash?” he asked, sounding much more interested in the conversation now.

  “Because,” I replied huskily. “I love my family more than anything else that that money could give me. I now see why my sister was willing to give away everything to make sure that he stayed away from her.”

  Joker blinked. “I need a reason. I can’t just take a side in a situation like this.”

  He was telling the truth.

  Part of what made the broker so good was that he was a neutral party in every situation. Someone would have to have broken a law—one of our laws—for him to step in.

  “Killing my child wasn’t enough?” I asked, sounding just as sick as I felt.

  Joker’s eyes flared. “I apologize for your loss, but no. Unfortunately, I don’t have any say so in who kills who. Life doesn’t work like that. I only clean up after it’s finished.”

  He was telling the truth.

  I smiled. “I found something out, but it’s not anything against the ‘rules’ as you might put it.”

  “And what’s that?” He was back to sounding bored.

  “That girl that you’ve tried so hard to hide from everyone?” I asked. “Michael and Pablo have forced her into servitude.”

  If there was one thing that I knew about Joker, also known as Lynn, also known as so many other names that I’d lost count, it was that there was one woman in this whole universe that could make him break—and that was a girl no one, not even me, was supposed to know about.

  “You know this how?” he asked, his entire demeanor becoming still as stone.

  I swallowed. “You weren’t as careful as you thought you were…and I know a couple of people that are so good with computers that they didn’t even need to leave their house to find this information out.”

  Though, I hadn’t known them in truth. Tyler, Henley’s brother, had known the woman. Which just so happened to be how I’d gotten the name of the corporation that made it their life mission to help women in need.

  “This will be done free of charge,” Joker said, sounding deadly. “Because I made a promise that’s beyond you. I’ll be taking care of your problem for you.”

  I stood up to leave.

  “Within the hour I’ll have names.”

  He was right.

  He did.

  And three of them pointed directly at the doctor’s office. One the doctor that had performed the in-vitro fertilization, and two surrogates who just so happened to be willing and ready the moment that we needed them.

  I placed two calls.

  One to a friend of a friend who was a police officer and could look into the matter of the doctor. The second call was placed to the organization that was hiding the surrogate. Extra security was provided for her. But little did our surrogate know that the security wasn’t for her well-being, but to ensure that she didn’t do anything stupid or hasty and endanger the lives in her womb.

  Chapter 31

  Before. B-E-F-O-R-E. Not B4. We speak English, not Bingo.

  -Text from Rhys to his sister

  Rhys

  Four weeks later

  They were born early—so fuckin’ small that it physically hurt to look at them—and they struggled to live.

  I watched them over the monitors that were installed in their makeshift hospital room.

  I’d hired the best of the best to take care of my children in case this very thing happened. They had state of the art equipment to help them get well, also.

  It had cost an arm and a leg, and I’d pulled every single favor that I had saved.

  The babies were fighters, and they were going to make it.

  But one thing was for certain—the suddenness of our second surrogate’s labor wasn’t due to anything natural.

  It was due to Marsala’s sudden awareness that her life—according to her—wasn’t worth putting at risk for someone else’s children.

  My guess was that she’d gotten wind somehow that her secret was no longer secret anymore.

  I was in the middle of watching Joker interrogate Michael, Pablo’s right-hand man, when I got the news that the nurse—who also happened to be
a highly trained individual that was also there as added muscle if the need ever arose—had stopped the attempted suicide mission that would either rid her of my children, or kill them all—including Marsala.

  Unfortunately for her, she didn’t realize that every single person in that safe house with her was not only fully capable of saving her life, but also saving the lives of my children.

  Also unlucky for her, the phone call she was able to place would send the man she’d been hoping would save her somewhere hundreds of miles away from where she was actually being held.

  ***

  Henley

  The last month had been god awful.

  I’d done nothing but worry about Rhys and the other surrogate that was holding our children safe within her body.

  I’d lost weight, had constant nightmares, and honestly done nothing but pace my cell—I mean safe house.

  But, I’d realized a few things rather quickly after the suddenness of Pablo’s attack. One, I’d do anything if it made Rhys happy.

  Two, if I had to stay in this place and raise our children for the rest of my life, knowing that Rhys wanted me to do it would make it all right.

  And three, Rhys would fix this. I had complete and utter faith in him.

  Which was why, when I’d received the phone call from our second surrogate, Marsala, that she was in labor, I hadn’t hesitated. Why? Because Marsala had given me the safe word. The one that Rhys had told me and had said that he’d only ever give to anyone else if he wanted me there and I was safe to do so.

  I hadn’t even hesitated.

  Chapter 32

  What’s being a parent of infants like? Read the side effects of the closest medication you can find…it’s kind of like that.

  -Rhys to a teammate

  Rhys

  The monitors showed that Pablo was there, and I wasn’t surprised.

  The last-minute information that Marsala had been able to get out had sent her their location, which inevitably signaled Pablo exactly where he needed to go—kind of. At least, Pablo was under the impression that he was going to the correct place.

  He wasn’t. But I’d tell him that later.

  I rounded the final corner that would lead me to the second NICU we’d set up in the small safe house and found myself face to face with Pablo, who was pointing his gun against what he thought was a baby’s head.