He watched her for a moment. “Did you know that I grew up poor?”
“What? No.” He’d shared very little of himself with her. Not that she could complain, there were still some big secrets she’d kept from him. For his own good, she justified, although she felt guiltier by the day for holding back.
He nodded. “Some days we barely had food on the table. My mother worked two jobs just to keep a roof over our heads. She worked herself into an early grave. I always vowed that my children wouldn’t grow up in poverty, that my wife wouldn’t work herself half to death.”
Her breath caught. “Derrick−”
“Then I let Cara do just that. She was so tired from working hard all day, that she fell asleep in the bus and missed our stop. She didn’t want to pay for another ride, so she walked back from the stop. Three men jumped her, pulled her into an alley. They raped and killed her.”
Jacey was speechless.
“I should have been there to meet her at the bus stop each night. I should have demanded that she not work so hard. But we had very little money and she insisted. Cara died because I couldn’t take care of her.”
“No, Derrick, that’s not true.”
He watched her with hard eyes. “But I can take care of you and this baby. If you’ll let me.”
“Oh, Derrick, you already take good care of us. We don’t need your money as well.”
“What good is my money, if it doesn’t protect and care for the people I love?”
“Y-you love me?”
Ignoring her question, he glanced at his watch. “We’d better go. We’ll be late.”
***
Holly glanced over at Derrick as she sat on the examination table. He sat in a chair across the room, the look on his face pensive. The car ride over had been silent.
He loved her? Did he mean it? Was he regretting saying it and that’s why he’d gone silent? Maybe he’d been remembering how much he loved Cara and his emotions had grown confused.
“Hello.” The doctor walked in, a friendly, older man. Derrick had arranged the appointment, so she knew he must be very good at his job.
“You must be Jacey.” He walked over and shook her hand. “And Derrick.” He moved to Derrick who stood and shook his hand.
“Thanks for fitting us in, doctor,” Jacey said. Derrick hadn’t been happy that they’d had to wait until now to see him, but Jacey knew he must have pulled a few strings just to get her in at this late stage.
“Not a problem. I’m only sorry I couldn’t fit you in earlier. After everything your fiancé has done for this hospital it was the least we could do.” He flipped open her file.
“I have your records from the hospital. How are you feeling after the bronchitis? Still coughing?”
She shook her head. “No, I feel fine.”
He asked a whole range of questions. His nurse had already taken her vitals and he discussed the need to raise her body weight. Derrick remained silent, but she knew he was taking in each word.
“Well, how about we do an ultrasound?”
Jacey nodded.
“Lie back.” He squirted some gel on her tummy after lowering her jeans.
Derrick came over to her side and Jacey held out her hand, grateful when he took it. She couldn’t help but feel nervous, worried they might find something wrong with the baby.
“And there is your baby.”
Jacey let out a soft gasp. In grainy black and white, there was her baby. The doctor took some measurements while Jacey just stared at the baby growing inside her.
“There we go, two arms, two legs and everything looks fine. We’ll do some blood tests too and get you back here in a few weeks. But at the moment, other than making sure you get plenty of good food and rest I don’t anticipate any issues.”
He wiped the gel off her stomach.
“Thank you,” Jacey said as the printer spat out two images of her baby.
“You’re welcome.” The doctor smiled as Derrick helped her up, and guided her to the door. “See you soon.”
They stopped at reception to make another appointment. As they walked to the car, Jacey bit her lip.
Derrick helped her into the car, before moving around to his own seat.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Hmm?”
“You’re worrying about something. You’ve gone very quiet.”
“So have you,” she accused. “Are you angry with me?”
Shocked, he stared at her. “Angry? No, why?”
“You seem angry. I know you didn’t mean it when you said you loved me, you were just thinking about Cara−”
He clasped her cheeks and she grew quiet. “You listen to me. I was not thinking of Cara. I mean, I was, but not when I told you I love you. I love you, Jacey.”
“Really?” she whispered.
“Really.”
“I love you, too.”
“Then you’ll let me look after you and the baby,” he said with firmly. “If you’re mine, this baby is mine. I will claim it as mine. Unless you don’t want that.”
She took a deep breath. “Are you sure?”
“Oh yes.”
She leaned over, throwing her arms around him. He kissed her. “You’re going to make a great daddy.”
He grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
“It’s costing you a lot of money, though, me not having health insurance and everything.”
“Like I said before, my money means nothing if I can’t use it to look after you. Besides, once we’re married you’ll have all the health care and insurance you could ever possible need.”
“You want to marry me?”
“Well, this isn’t exactly how I thought to propose. But yes, I want you and this baby to have my name.”
“We can’t get married, though, because if I file for a divorce then he’s going to know where I am.”
“I want to marry you. I want you and this baby to carry my name. I know you must be worried he’ll ask for custody of your child but I won’t allow that. I will find everything I need to protect you and this baby.”
“You just don’t understand, Derrick. You don’t know what he’s like. The lengths he’s capable of going to.”
“Because you won’t talk to me. I won’t allow him near you. Look, Jacey, I know you’re terrified, but you can’t live like this forever. You have to trust that I will take care of you and the baby.”
“I know you think I’m overreacting, that I’m being silly−”
“He terrorized you, abused you, it’s okay to be afraid, Jacey. But the sooner we do this, the sooner you can see that he can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Damn it, Derrick, will you just listen to me!”
Derrick stared at her in shock and she was a bit surprised by the anger in her voice.
“I am not being over-dramatic. I am not making him out to be worse than he is. While I remain hidden, we’re safe, you, me and the baby. If he finds out where I am, he won’t hesitate to kill us.”
Chapter Thirteen
“So do you have a plan on how to get to her?” Stephan asked his brother impatiently.
“We’re watching Ashdown’s house around the clock. We’ll get her eventually.”
“Eventually isn’t good enough,” Stephan said angrily. “Just go in there and grab her.”
“He’s got a shitload of security. I’m sure we can get around it, but we go in without a plan and we’re toast. If you don’t think we’re doing our job properly, you could just come here and grab her yourself, brother,” Evan said silkily and Stephan knew he’d crossed a line with his stepbrother.
“Evan, I’m sorry,” Stephan said, injecting his voice with just the right amount of apology. “Of course you know your job, I’m just impatient to get my hands on her.”
“As am I, you’re not the only one in deep shit if she speaks, Stephan,” Evan said.
“You’re quite right.” Only Evan didn’t stand to lose nearly as much as Stephan did. He was a nobody
. There would be a bit of bad press, but Stephan had witnesses lined up, prepared to swear that Evan’s issues stemmed from abuse suffered prior to his moving in with Stephan’s father. No way was Stephan going down for his assistant’s death. No way in hell.
To ensure that, he was willing to get rid of anybody who stood in his way, including his wife. So far, he’d managed to hide her absence by telling everyone she’d gone to Europe on vacation. But that excuse wouldn’t last forever.
“You realize taking out Ashdown isn’t going to be that easy,” Evan said. “I’ve been looking into him, he’s got a lot of powerful connections. If Jacinta tells him the truth he could ruin you.”
“She won’t tell him. She knows he’s a dead man if she does.”
Evan chuckled. “Too bad she doesn’t know he’s a dead man either way.”
***
“Derrick, that nursery puts us to shame.”
Jacey raised her head as Derrick’s handsome brother-in-law stepped into the living room, his arm around his pretty wife, Holly.
Somehow, they weren’t quite what she’d expected. She’d had a picture in her mind of Holly being tall, slim and dressed in designer clothes with perfect make-up and hair.
Instead, she was quite normal looking. Her long, dark hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. She wore casual black pants and a pink shirt. Jacey knew Holly had injured her leg in a car accident, but she couldn’t detect a limp.
Her husband, Brax, was gorgeous. He had that whole cowboy thing going on, even though Derrick said he was in construction. His gray gaze didn’t miss much, but his eyes were warm when he looked at his wife.
Derrick walked into the room behind them. Brax led Holly over to the sofa opposite the one Jacey was sitting on.
“I just asked the lady in the store to give me the best of everything that I needed,” Derrick said as he poured sparkling water into wine glasses and handed one first to Holly then to Jacey. As her fingers brushed his, she shivered.
Things had been strained between them since her refusal to tell him anything about Stephan.
Telling him would only place him in danger. He would insist on doing something about it and that would bring him into Stephan’s line of fire.
What if Stephan does find me, what then?
She pushed away the disturbing thought, tuning in to the conversation as Holly told Derrick off for buying all the nursery gear. Brax watched on with amusement, taking the beer Derrick offered him.
Derrick then sat next to her on sofa. She smiled over at him.
“So how did the two of you meet?” Holly asked in a friendly voice.
“Oh, well, we actually met when Cece had crashed her car a few weeks ago,” Jacey replied.
“Oh.” Holly’s eyes widened as she stared over at Derrick and Jacey frowned slightly in puzzlement at her reaction. Was there something significant about Cece’s accident?
Derrick reached over and grabbed her free hand and gave it a squeeze. “I told Holly about meeting this amazing woman at Cece’s accident and how I couldn’t get her out of my head.”
“Oh.” Jacey blushed at the idea that he’d wanted her even then.
“I advised him to try and find you. I’ve never seen Derrick so taken with anyone,” Holly told her. “I’m glad he found you.”
“Thanks.”
Jacey started to relax. She’d been nervous about meeting Holly and Brax, scared about what they might think about her, but so far things were going pretty smoothly.
“So, Jacey, where do you work?”
“Umm, well, I just got laid off, unfortunately.”
“Oh no, that’s terrible,” Holly said. “The economy is terrible at the moment. I can’t imagine how hard it must be searching for a new job.”
“Jacey’s not worrying about that at the moment,” Derrick interjected. “She’s been ill. So she’s taking it easy and just concentrating on looking after herself and her baby.”
“Oh, you have a child?”
“No, umm, I’m pregnant.” She could kick Derrick. She shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. What would they think of her now?
“How far along are you? Is it yours?” She directed the last question to Derrick.
Derrick let out a snort of laughter. “I’d have to be a pretty fast worker. Jacey is about fourteen weeks now and her ex is the biological father.”
“Wow, seriously. I’m in shock,” Holly said. “This seemed to happen very quickly. And you don’t even look like you’re showing; while here I am at eleven weeks, already bulging out of my clothes like a fat piggy.”
“Holly,” Brax reprimanded sharply, while Derrick frowned at his sister-in-law.
Brax gently grabbed his wife chin, turning her so she was looking at him. “We’ve talked about you putting yourself down like this before,” he said in a soft voice that was nevertheless filled with command.
“Sorry, Sir,” she whispered. Jacey sucked in a deep breath. Brax was a Dom, she was sure of it. She stared at Holly, the other woman certainly seemed happy enough. Even now, with all of Brax’s focus on her as he reprimanded her, she looked back at him with love.
“Good girl.” He kissed her cheek.
“I actually wish I was showing a bit more,” Jacey told Holly.
“Guess we always want what we don’t have, huh?” Holly said, leaning against Brax.
“So you see, you needn’t scold me for buying so much stuff,” Derrick said. “There will be two babies to use it all.” He placed a hand over Jacey’s stomach and she stiffened in surprise at his touch.
“I’m not sure whether just replicating the nursery in another room wouldn’t be better though, because we’ll probably want this baby’s nursery a bit closer to our room, won’t we?” he asked Jacey.
She opened and closed her mouth. “Umm.”
“Wait, our room? You mean, Jacey lives here? With you?” Holly looked at them in shock.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But you two barely know each other.”
“Holly,” Brax said in a low, warning voice.
“Wait, so she doesn’t have a job, she’s pregnant with someone else’s child and she’s living with you? Derrick, do you know what you’re doing? Have you made her sign an agreement?”
“Holly!” Brax warned in a sharper tone. “That’s enough. This is Derrick’s life, it’s up to him how he wants to live it.”
“But−”
“But nothing. I think you owe Derrick and Jacey an apology, don’t you?”
Holly just glared at him.
“No, she doesn’t. At least, not to me.” Jacey sat forward. “Holly, maybe you and I could talk in private for a moment.”
Jacey hated confrontation, she’d normally run in the other direction, happy to let someone else deal with the issue. But she needed to convince Holly that she had Derrick’s best interests in mind.
“Fine.”
Holly stood and followed Jacey out of the room.
Jacey led them out onto the deck. “Look, Holly, I know what you must be thinking. I’d be thinking the exact same thing if I were in your shoes. You love Derrick and you want to protect him. Well, so do I.”
She took a deep breath and looked out over the grounds. “Believe it or not I tried to leave. I told Derrick that I didn’t want to take advantage of him. Derrick wouldn’t even consider it. I had my mind made up, and in the space of ten minutes, he had me promising to stay here and let him look after me.”
Holly snorted. Jacey turned to look at her, thinking the other woman thought she was lying. “I really did.”
“Oh, you probably did. I know what Derrick’s like. He’s nearly as bad as Brax in the bossy male department.”
Actually, Jacey thought Derrick probably had Brax beat in that department. But she didn’t want to argue with Holly.
“I promise you I would sign whatever Derrick wanted me to, Holly. I know you don’t know me, but the very last thing I want is take advantage of Derrick. He’s, well, he�
��s very important to me.”
“I love him like a brother,” Holly said. “I won’t allow you to use him.”
Jacey smiled wryly. “Do you really think Derrick would let anyone take advantage of him?”
Holly relaxed slightly. “No.”
“I know we’ve only known each other a short time and I really have nothing to offer him, but I love him. I’ll protect him the best way I know how, even from me, if necessary.”
Holly sighed, but nodded. “You seem pretty cool. But hurt him and I’ll hurt you, understand?”
Jacey nodded, knowing she’d do no less for a brother she loved.
As the women walked back inside, they heard voices from the front part of the house.
“That’s Ava, Roarke and Sam,” Holly said, moving swiftly toward the voices. Jacey followed more slowly.
These were close friends of Derrick’s and she owed it to him to get to know them, but Jacey was wary of others.
Derrick had told her that the three of them were in a relationship together. Sam and Ava were submissives, Roarke their Dom. She’d been a bit shocked. But it wasn’t like she hadn’t read a few ménage romances. All purchased in secret, of course. Her parents and Stephan wouldn’t have approved of her reading material.
She believed everyone should be free to live their life as they wished so long as they weren’t hurting anyone else. As long as Roarke wasn’t abusing his two submissives she had no issue with their unusual relationship.
She stood back a bit while everyone greeted each other.
“Holly, it’s great to see you!” A gorgeous man, with white-blond hair and amazingly blue eyes took Holly into his arms, giving her a huge hug.
“How are you, Holly?” A dark-haired man asked in a deep voice, pulling Holly from the blond man’s embrace. The blond man placed his arm around a tiny woman standing next to him who had to be Ava.
The dark-haired man had to be Roarke; there was an air of authority surrounding him that was unmistakable. He looked down at Holly, running a finger down her cheek. “You look pale. Are you feeling all right?”
Without waiting for an answer, he raised his head and looked over at Brax.
Just For You, Sir (Doms of Decadence) Page 11