My Surprise Secret Baby (Romance Box Set)

by Lexi Wilson

  They were from a different time.

  “What…what the hell?” I asked, going through them.

  And pictures weren’t all. There were articles about Marcus, about various scrapes he’d had with the law.

  I was stunned, unable to process what I was seeing.

  “Thanks, Mom!” said Jamie, coming back into the room with the bag of candies and souvenirs I’d brought back.

  I shoved the box behind my back, not wanting her to see it.

  Whatever was going on, there was no doubt it wasn’t with happy intentions in mind.

  Chapter 22

  NICK

  The day back passed by uneventfully. I’d made a conscious decision to relax, to let my body and mind recover from the intense couple of days behind me.

  Not to mention that I was due for a little celebrating.

  So, I called up my buddy Damon and decided to meet him for drinks that night.

  At around nine I strolled into the Mirror Room, some kitschy bar near his place I liked to go to when we were younger. The crowd was mostly the early-twenties set, and just as noisy as I’d expect from them, but me and Damon managed to find a quiet booth in the back and order a couple of beers.

  “So,” he said. “I’m looking a Mr. International himself.” He gave me a hearty swat on the back. “Congratulations, bud!”

  I allowed myself a small smirk. “Load of my mind,” I said. “But the work’s just starting. I’m going to have to allocate manpower to our new London operations, and from what I saw when I was there at one of the construction sites their standards for workplace safety are lax as hell. Amber almost got crush by some falling planks.”

  His eyes went wide. “Are you fucking serious? Damn. What happened?”

  “I got her out of the way at the last second. But fuck, did I give that foreman a chewing out. It’s making me think about stopping by some of my own sites tomorrow and double-checking standards.”

  “Might not be a bad idea,” he said, nodding at the thought. Then he leaned in, a sly smile on his face. Right away I knew what was more pressing on his mind. “So, you had a nice little romantic getaway with Amber, huh? How’d that go?”

  “Unprofessionally.”

  He laughed, knowing right away what I meant. “Bud, time to consider the fact that you’re into this woman. Just accept it.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t Damon, she’s my secretary.”

  “As if a secretary falling for her boss isn’t a tale as old as time. And are you telling me you weren’t thinking about that when you brought her on for the job?”

  “I knew she’d be a solid hire. Sure, I might’ve been attracted to her, but that wasn’t why I gave her the position.”

  “Well, that doesn’t even matter now. What does is that you’re falling for her, whether you like it or not.”

  “Nah, that isn’t true. We’re…having some fun – that’s all. And it’s some fun I need to put a stop to before it gets too serious.”

  Another laugh. “Man, for someone who’s as smart as you are, Nick, you sure can be a dumbass. There’s nothing wrong with you being into her. Hell, you’ve spent so much time focused on Natalie and Horvath that you deserve a little fun for yourself.”

  “Not that I’m thinking about a relationship,” I said. “But…I can’t even imagine something like that that after…”

  I paused, not wanting to bring it up. Damon’s expression turned serious.

  “I know it’s hard what happened to Sarah. But you can’t just deny yourself of love because of that.”

  “Yes, I can,” I said. “I…can’t go through that again.”

  Damon nodded, as if understanding he wasn’t going to make any headway on this issue.

  “Anyway, tonight’s not about rehashing the past. You pulled a serious win out in London, and you deserve to celebrate. So, let’s fucking do it!”

  He ordered a round of shots, the two of us having another round of drinks before I decided it was time to head home and get some rest.

  That next morning I woke up and fired off a text to Amber, letting her know I was going to be spending the day touring construction sites around the city, and that she could do her work from home.

  But part of me wondered if I was putting off seeing her.

  Didn’t matter, I had work to do.

  After showing and throwing on some casual clothes, I put together a small list of sites around LA, with plans to drop in on them and see how up-to-standard they were when the boss came by unexpectedly.

  First stop was in East LA, an office park that had been under construction for a good few months.

  I was pleased. The crew knew who I was right away, and the foreman came out to greet me, taking me on a tour of the site, showing me the odds and ends.

  So far, so good.

  After that was a restaurant in Hollywood, an upscale joint meant to cater to the city’s elite.

  And it was the same story. Crew was on their game, and the foreman didn’t have his head up his ass about what was going on around the site.

  I was liking what I was seeing. It gave me confidence that the expansion to London wasn’t premature, that my men would be ready for the next huge step Horvath was ready to take.

  I checked out a few more sites and they were just as up-to-sniff. The day went on, and by late afternoon I decided I’d seen enough. There was one more site, however, this one in Van Nuys. But the moment I thought of Van Nuys I thought of Amber, who lived there.

  I wanted to see her like crazy.

  On the way to the construction site I went over the pros and cons of seeing Amber.

  But about halfway through that process I said “fuck it.” I wanted to see her, so I would.

  The foreman was just as helpful as the rest. If anything, he was excited for the chance to show the CEO what he’d gotten done so far. He made a hell of an impression on me, and I made a mental note to keep him in mind for advancement should I need some good workers overseas.

  Once I was done at the site, however, all I could think about was Amber. I fired off a text, letting her know I wanted to swing by to talk about some work matters. It wasn’t wrong – it was Friday, so that meant the weekend was starting. While I was happy to give her the time off to relax, I wanted to make sure we were ready for the week ahead.

  The reply was curious. “Now? Why?”

  “Told you – work stuff. Be there in a few.”

  There was no response.

  Something was off, and I wanted to know what it was.

  Ten minutes later, I pulled up to her ranch home. Jamie was out front playing, and Amber was seated on the porch with her laptop open in front of her, a pair of sunglasses on her face.

  I parked and stepped out, unable to resist having a big smile plastered on my face.

  “Hey, ladies!” I said, stepping over to them. “What’s up?”

  Jamie flashed me a big smile. “Hi, Mr. McQuaid!”

  “Hi, cutie pie! How’s th-“

  I didn’t get a chance to finish. Amber quickly closed her laptop and set it aside before hurrying over to Jamie and putting her hands on her shoulders.

  “Inside, now,” she said.

  “But I want to say ‘thank you’ to Mr. McQuaid for the stuff from London!”

  “Some other time.”

  There was definitely something wrong. I watched as Amber hurried her little girl into the house and shut the door before coming over to me, her body language tight and defensive.

  “You wanted to talk about work?” she asked, getting right to it.

  “Well, I wanted to talk about work, sure. I wanted to say ‘hi’ to you and the family, too.”

  “Jamie’s got…schoolwork to worry about. I don’t want to distract her.”

  It was a bullshit excuse, but there was such tension to her voice and body that I didn’t want to grill her about it.

  But damn, it was fucking weird.

  “You OK?” I asked. “Everything good?”


  It slipped out against my better judgement. And she regarded me with a curious expression, as if she couldn’t imagine why I would even asked.

  But it was forced. Something was wrong.

  “I’m…I’m fine. We’re fine. All good.”

  “Because if somethings wrong, you can talk to me about it. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get any more out of her than that.

  Silence hung in the air for several long moments.

  “Well, I’ll let you get back to it, then. Have a good weekend. And…if you need to talk about anything, you’ve got my number.”

  “Sure.” Nothing more followed.

  I went back to my car and gunned the engine. She watched me the entire time, as if I might do something unexpected.

  But I didn’t. Instead I drove off.

  She was lying. Something was wrong.

  And I was going to find out what it was.

  Chapter 23

  AMBER

  I regretted what I’d done the moment I watched Nick’s car disappear into the distance.

  “You really think you needed to be rude to him?” asked Nan, the two of us at the kitchen table drinking coffee later that day, Jamie in the other room watching Paw Patrol, totally focused on the screen.

  “I wasn’t rude to him,” I said. “I was being cautious. Are you really going to tell me I should’ve have my guard up after I got…that?”

  I nodded toward the package on the counter. Just looking at it was enough to send a chill of fear up my spine.

  “Why would Nick send something like that to you?” Nan asked. “Give me one good reason.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s totally messed-up in the head and that’s his way of making me scared and keeping me off-kilter. Maybe this ‘good guy’ front he’s putting up is his way of getting me to lower my guard.”

  “For what purpose?” asked Nan. “Why would he even want to do something like that?”

  “I…I don’t know. But I can’t trust him, and I can’t trust any other man. It was stupid of me to let him even get this close. The idea of something happening to Jamie…”

  I glanced over at her as she watched her show. I was happy that, at least for the time being, she didn’t know anything of the true nature of the world outside the safety of the front door – the world of men like Marcus.

  “Baby,” said Nan, reaching over and placing her hand on mine. “They’re not all like him. You know that, right?”

  “I’m not saying they’re all like him,” I said. “But enough of them are. And there’s something about me that brought at least one of them into my life. Not a chance in hell I’m going to let it happen again.”

  Nan regarded me with an expression of sadness before getting up and stepping over to the box, picking it up and bringing it over to the table.

  “Mom, please,” said, the sight of the box sending a fresh wave of fear through my body. “I don’t even want to look at it. Please.”

  “But you need to look at it,” she said. “Whatever’s going on here, whoever sent this damn thing, it’s your life right now. There’s a situation, and you’re not going to be able to deal with it by burying your head in the sand.”

  She was right, but I didn’t want to accept it. So, as if she’d sensed my hesitation, she began to go through the box, taking out the pictures and articles and setting them on the table.

  “Mom,” I said, glancing over once more at Jamie. “Don’t let her see any of this. Not yet.”

  “I know, I know,” she said. “I’m not going to bring her in on this unless we have to.”

  The contents of the package were the same as they were the last time I took a look at them. Pictures of me and Marcus, articles about him.

  “God, I can’t believe this was your life once.”

  She passed over one of the pictures and I took it. The shot was of me and Marcus, the two of us at the beach, me in a bikini and Marcus in a swimsuit. He was big and burly with long, dark hair and a thick beard, his features rough but handsome. It was a photo taken of better days, his arm wrapped around me a happy smile on my face. His bare upper body was covered in fearsome-looking tattoos – tattoos that made me crazy for him when we dated.

  “Wow,” I said. “This was right after me and Marcus met…back when I was still in college.”

  “Right,” she said, craning her neck to look at the photo. “You were something else back then – young and gorgeous and brilliant, your whole life ahead of you.”

  “You’re saying I’m not now?” I asked with a slight smile, half-worried she was right about me having wasted my potential.

  “You know I think the world of you, baby. You’re still beautiful, you’re still smart as they come, and most importantly, you’re still young. But back then you didn’t have the…baggage that you have now.” She tapped the box with her finger when she said the world “baggage,” and I knew exactly what she meant.

  Nan went on. “You could’ve had any man in the world you wanted, and you picked him.”

  “Mom,” said. “I know. I don’t need to hear it again.”

  “You need to hear it as many times as it takes to make sure you don’t repeat the past. What was it about him, anyway? I mean…” she looked at the photo. “I can see how you might think he was handsome, in an ex-con sort of way. But he was trouble, through-and-through.”

  “That’s what I liked about him. I was young and stupid back then, and when my friends took me to that biker bar and he pulled up in that giant motorcycle, the engine roaring, his arms covered in tattoos…I couldn’t resist.”

  Mom shook her head. “That’s why I wish your father had been still around. Not a chance he would’ve let you run around with a thug like that.”

  “He was sweet at first,” I said. “Which took me totally by surprise. He was charming and protective and unlike any man I’d ever met.”

  “But he was mean. The warning signs were there for the man he really was deep down.”

  She was right. More than a few times I’d run home to Mom from college when Marcus would get drunk and aggressive, or when he’d gotten into trouble with the law for drug-running and gun-smuggling and all the other illegal business he’d get up to with his gang, the Blood Hawks.

  “You know I was too naive to pay attention to things like that, Mom.”

  “I know, I know. And there’s no sense in going over ancient history again. And we all know how it ended – with you two running off to get married and him showing his true colors.”

  I knew all too well. Half-way through my senior year I’d found out I was pregnant. I’d been so excited to tell Marcus, certain that the idea of fatherhood would be just the thing to calm him down, make him want to turn away from the dangerous life he led.

  But he didn’t react that way – not in the slightest.

  Instead, he was furious, convinced that I’d let myself get pregnant as a way to trap him, to steal his life of freedom away.

  He snapped, burst into a rage. I remembered that night, remembered being scared out of my mind at what he might do.

  And I remember the punch.

  He’d thrown his fist into the wall just beside my head, punching a hole right through. I remembered staring at his fist, being keenly aware of the kind of damage he could’ve done to me -me and my baby- if he’d really wanted.

  But he didn’t give me the chance to react. Instead, he’d tossed his wedding ring on the ground, told me to forget he even existed.

  Part of me still felt like I should’ve chased him, made him be the father to his child.

  But the bigger part of me knew I’d made the right choice. A man like him in my life would’ve been dangerous – both for me, and for Jamie.

  I’d known it wouldn’t be easy to be a single mom, but it was the decision I’d made. So, I graduated from college and got the job at Diamonds, doing whatever needed to be done to put food on the table for
my little girl.

  “It’s over now,” I said, pushing the photo away. “And I don’t ever want to think about him again.”

  Nan gave me a grave look. “But…that might not be the case,” she said. “What if Marcus was the one who sent these pictures? I meant, look at the articles.”

  She passed them over to me. I picked one up and read the headline – “Parole For High-Ranking Members of Local Gang.”

  I scanned the article, reading that it was about how Marcus and several other members of the Blood Hawks had been released from state prison as part of some rehabilitation program.

  “What if he sent it to let you know he was back out and ready to be a part of your life again?” she asked.

  “Or what if it was from Nick,” I said. “Maybe he put this package together as his way of letting me know that he’d found out about my past.”

  “You don’t really believe that, do you? Nick doesn’t strike me as that kind of man. Marcus, on the other hand…he’s exactly the kind of man to intimidate like this.”

  “What would he want from me?” I asked. “He had his chance to be a part of my life and he threw it away. He made it clear as hell he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

  “Maybe he’s had a change of heart. He is still your husband, after all. Maybe he’s going to try to reconcile.”

  The idea was enough to make me sick to my stomach. There was a real chance I was about to be torn between two men, one who represented a future I was uncertain of, the other the past I’d desperately tried to flee.

  Whatever was going to happen, I knew deep down there would be no running away.

  Chapter 24

  NICK

  I’d had so much to think about over the weekend.

  But she was the only thing on my mind.

  The incident at her place was strange – to put it mildly. Something was wrong, and it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

  Whatever was going on, Amber had decided to handle it by being defensive and distant. And the way she’d reacted to me speaking to Jamie…it was almost like she was scared of me.