Protecting His Brother’s Babies

by Katie Knight

  “I don’t know.” Lake pulled out a stack of files to go through. “I mean she could have been just like me, dazzled by Devon’s charm and slick persona and none the wiser about what he was doing behind the scenes. He was a master manipulator, after all.”

  “True.” Other than the burner phone, there was nothing in the desk, dammit. “But I still think we need to talk to her.”

  Drake stood and started going through the file cabinets while Lake went through the computer. There were lots of family documents and medical records, but nothing related to the Shepperton, Inc. financials or the mess they were dealing with. If Devon had been working his illegal deals and money laundering schemes down here, then he’d cleaned up the evidence before the accident.

  Two hours later, they left and went back upstairs for dinner. They shut off the lights in the storage unit and headed back out into the hall. Lake’s phone rang while she waited on him to close the overhead door and secure the storage unit again. Drake did his best not to listen in and give her privacy, but considering the acoustics in the place, it was impossible.

  “Lake Bailey. Yes. Yes, I’ll be there. Thank you.”

  Drake glanced over at her as he slid the key into his pocket. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. That was my OB/GYN calling to confirm my appointment tomorrow.” Her stomach rumbled and she brushed past him toward the stairs leading back up to ground level. “I’m starving. Let’s get upstairs so we can eat.”

  Lake had a funny feeling in her stomach as she climbed the stairs. Anxiety. Like something bad was about to happen, but she didn’t know what or when. She used to feel the same way when her parents were out running a con and she was left behind to wait for them. It left her unsettled and confused. There was no reason for her to feel that way now. Yes, things were crazy and messy at the moment, but she was a different person than she’d been back then. No longer a scared kid, she was a grown woman, capable of handling whatever life threw at her.

  And yes, sleeping with Drake hadn’t exactly been part of her planned agenda, but she wouldn’t have traded that night with him in their tent this past weekend for anything in the world. What they had might be temporary, but that didn’t mean it was any less real or precious, right?

  They reached the top of the stairs and exited the basement storage area. Drake sidled around her to head for the condo entrance while she lingered behind a moment to put her phone back in her bag. There was a chilly breeze tonight and goosebumps rose on her arms. She’d just zipped up her bag and started toward where Drake was waiting for her on the sidewalk, when an arm wrapped around her from behind and pulled her back into the shadows.

  She screamed fast before a hand clamped tight over her mouth, praying it was enough to get Drake’s attention. Fear and adrenaline pounded through her head, quickening her pulse and blurring her thoughts. Lake had learned a long time ago how to take care of herself in a scuffle—one of the few advantages of growing up the way she had—and she reacted on autopilot by stomping on her abductor’s instep, then jabbing her elbow into their gut when they doubled over in pain. A muffled growl echoed, definitely male. She swiveled in his loosened grip and faced her abductor, hoping to ID him, but it was impossible because of the ski mask he wore. Damn. She thrust the heel of her hand upward where she hoped his nose would be. A sickening crack of bone sounded, followed by another howl of pain. Finally she jammed her knee hard into the assailant’s groin, knocking the man to his knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Drake, tussling with a second man. Drake landed several hard punches to his assailant’s face and torso, sending the guy reeling backward toward the van idling nearby. Before she could catch her breath, the attacker she’d kneed in the balls managed to clamber to his feet and take off toward the waiting vehicle. The second man joined him and they tore out of the parking lot in a squeal of tires seconds later.

  Out of breath and shocked, Lake bent over to rest her hands on her thighs while Drake chased after the van, trying in vain to get a license number.

  “Shit!” he shouted, halting a short distance away before turning back to rush to her side. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, leaning on his solid forearm for support as he led her into the condo and sat her down on the sofa. “Who were those people?”

  “No idea.” He rushed back to close and lock the condo door behind them, then crouched in front of her, running his hands over her as if to assure himself she was still in one piece. “But I swear to God if I get my hands on them again, they’ll regret ever coming after you like that.” Once he’d checked her over from head to toe, he slumped down on the sofa next to her and ran a shaky hand through his hair, his cheeks flushed and his eyes glittering with anger and affront. Drake took several deep breaths, the tension quivering through his muscled body eventually dissipating. Finally, he looked over at her. “Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

  Lake hesitated, then decided to let him in a little more. After all, he kind of deserved some honesty from her after the way he’d defended her tonight. She wasn’t used to people fighting for her like that and it touched her more than she wanted to admit. “I got picked on a lot as a kid. Learning how to fight for myself made life easier.”

  Drake watched her closely for a moment, then cupped her cheek and leaned in and kissed her sweetly. “I’m glad you’re okay. And no one’s going to pick on you anymore. Not while I’m around. I’ll take them out for you.”

  “Thanks.” She kissed him back, the unexpected sting of tears prickling the back of her eyes before she forced them away. Must be the pregnancy hormones or leftover adrenaline or something. Had to be. She wasn’t a crier. And she wasn’t getting overly attached to Drake Shepperton either, no matter how her traitorous heart might be racing for him right now. Thankfully, her stomach growled again, saving her from answering any more awkward questions. “Dinner?”

  “In a bit.” He kissed her once more, fast, then stood, pulling her up beside him. “First we need to call the police and report what happened.”

  She tensed. Police weren’t exactly welcome in her book, not after how she’d grown up with her parents. She’d already had to overcome her reluctance to turn to them when she’d first tried to report the break-ins and things after Devon’s accident. Their frosty reception then, and again after the vandalism of her car, made her even less willing to trust them now. “Are you sure we need to get them involved?” She rubbed her arms briskly, feeling a sudden chill at his confused frown. “I mean, they weren’t receptive to me before about what happened. And no real harm was done tonight. You didn’t even get a license plate number or anything, did you?”

  Drake’s frown deepened and he placed his hands on her shoulders. “No, the van was moving too fast and it was dark. The building has security cameras, but who knows how much they caught? We still need to make a record of this. Someone tried to kidnap you. I won’t stand around and let it happen again. Even if the police can’t do anything tonight, I want it on file so that if someone tries to get to you again, we have a paper trail for the future.” She opened her mouth to protest further, but he held up a hand. “Sorry. It’s not up for debate.”

  Lake sighed, her shoulders sagging. Hard as it was to face law enforcement again, she needed to do this. Drake wouldn’t always be around to protect her. She had to be proactive about this, whether the cops would or could do much or not. “Okay.”

  He dialed in to the desk sergeant on duty and relayed the information about the attack, then hung up, grim-faced. “They’re sending officers over now to take our statements and investigate the area. After that’s done I’ll make you some dinner.”

  Nodding, Lake sat down on the sofa again, covering her face with her hands. “Thank you.”

  “Nothing to thank me for.” He crouched in front of her and stroked her hair back away from her face. “We’re in this together.” When she finally looked at him, he grinned. “Speaking of together, I can take you to your doctor’s appointment tomorrow
too, if you want.”

  “Really?” She scrunched her nose. “You’d do that?”

  “Of course.” He took her hands and warmed them in his larger ones. “If you want me to.”

  Honestly, Lake hadn’t really thought about it, but after the attack tonight, she’d feel safer having Drake by her side. “I would. I’d like that a lot, actually.”

  Twelve

  The following afternoon, Lake sat in the waiting room to see her doctor. Drake was beside her, as promised, thumbing through a celebrity tabloid magazine with a look most people reserved for finding something foul stuck to the bottom of their shoe.

  “Do people actually pay money to read this crap?” he asked, his tone disdainful.

  “Yep.” She chuckled.

  He shook his head and tossed the thing aside, picking up a months-old copy of a nature magazine instead. “Now this is more my speed.”

  “Agreed.” She smiled, then looked over as the nurse came out to call her back. “That’s me. See you in a bit.”

  Drake looked up at her. “Want me to go back with you?”

  “No. I’m fine. You stay here.” The look of relief on his face nearly made her laugh out loud. “I won’t be long.”

  “Okay.” He sat back in his chair and paged through an issue devoted to conservation efforts in Zimbabwe. “I’ll be here.”

  She followed the nurse back to an exam room, got weighed and her blood pressure taken, then took a seat on the paper-covered table to wait. At least she wasn’t due for another vaginal exam today. Just a check-up and an abdominal ultrasound to see if the baby’s heartbeat was present and to get an accurate due date. She was around twelve weeks according to her estimations, but she wanted to know for sure.

  “It’s nice that the baby’s father came with you today. Are you sure you don’t want him to come back with you to see the baby for the first time?” the nurse said from the counter against the wall where she was entering Lake’s vitals into the computer.

  “What?” Startled, Lake snapped her attention to the woman. “Oh, he’s not the father.”

  After the nurse left, she exhaled slowly, rethinking her decision to have Drake come with her today. Last night it had seemed like a good idea, with the attack and all, but now…ugh. Maybe she shouldn’t get so worked up about it. She didn’t care what people thought and she really did feel safer having Drake there with her, in case those guys from last night decided to try and abduct her again. She could take care of herself, but it was nice to know he had her back too. Especially since the police had turned out to be as unhelpful as she’d feared. They’d filed their report and looked around the parking lot, taking pictures of the skid marks from the van’s tires and stuff, but again, they hadn’t had much to offer as far as assurances went. They didn’t think it was likely that they’d be able to find the van, and there wasn’t much they could do to track down the men. When Drake had told them about his brother’s accident and about the previous break-ins she’d reported and how he and Lake thought they might all be related, the cops nodded and said they’d make a note of it in the file, then left. So yeah. Lake wasn’t holding her breath for much progress there.

  Finally a knock sounded on the door and Dr. Irbani entered, an ever-present smile on her pretty face. “Lake, so good to see you today. How’s everything? Any problems with your pregnancy so far?”

  “No, not really.” She’d always liked the older Indian woman and felt comfortable telling her most anything about her health or body. Lake mentioned a couple episodes of morning sickness and the occasional abdominal cramp, but confirmed that there had been no bleeding. “I’ll be glad to get a firm due date today though, so I can start planning ahead.”

  “Agreed.” Dr. Irbani continued the exam while they chatted about the weather and life in general. Finally, the doctor had Lake lie back on the exam table and pull up the hem of her sweater. “This gel will feel cold and you’ll feel some pressure, but you shouldn’t experience any other discomfort during the ultrasound. Ready?”

  “Ready,” Lake said. The doctor lowered the lights in the room, then pulled up a stool beside the table and wheeled the ultrasound machine in front of her. The gel was icy on her skin, but that was soon forgotten as grainy images filled the screen beside her and she got her first look at her baby. The steady koosh-koosh-koosh of the baby’s heartbeat filled the air, bringing tears to Lake’s eyes. The doctor pointed out a head and tiny little limbs, though it was hard for Lake to make out any clear details. Her heart was full and her head was swimming. While she’d loved her baby since she’d first discovered she was pregnant, seeing her little one onscreen for the first time brought it all home in a new and real way. Lake just lay there and marveled at it all. “Wow.”

  “Wow is right,” Dr. Irbani said, grinning at Lake before refocusing on the computer screen. “All the measurements look normal for this stage of gestation and I’d say based on the crown-rump length, we’re right on track at twelve weeks. That would put your due date at around April 12th, give or take a week either way.”

  “A spring baby.” Lake struggled to keep the wonder from her voice and failed miserably. “Spring’s my favorite season.”

  “Now you’ll have one more reason to love it.” Dr. Irbani captured a few stills and printed them out for Lake to keep then finished up the ultrasound. She was just about to stop when something onscreen must have caught her eye, based on the way she frowned and leaned in closer.

  “What?” Lake asked, concern flooding her system. “Is something wrong?”

  “No. Not wrong.” Dr. Irbani squirted more gel on Lake’s stomach and shifted the placement of the probe on her abdomen, trying to get a different angle. The rush of the baby’s heartbeat seemed to grow louder, echoing through the room. The doctor gave a low whistle, then sat back to click several keys on the keyboard in front of her, snapping more photos and recording more measurements. “I’m afraid I have some news for you, Ms. Bailey.”

  Fear, worse than anything she’d experienced before, froze the blood in her veins. Worse than the day her parents had been arrested. Worse than the day she’d testified against them in court and essentially put them away for life. Worse than the day of Devon’s accident or even the attack last night. She swallowed hard and stared at Dr. Irbani as she promised herself that whatever it was, as long as her baby would be okay, she’d deal with it. “What is it?”

  The doctor shut off the ultrasound machine and turned up the lights once more, taking off her gloves and tossing them in a biohazard bin nearby before washing her hands. The suspense was killing Lake and if Dr. Irbani didn’t spit out the news soon, she might just shake the woman silly to get it out of her.

  Finally, the doctor took a seat on her stool again and wheeled over to face Lake, handing her the extra photos from the ultrasound. Lake looked at them, but couldn’t really understand what she was seeing. She’d had a hard enough time making out anything in the first ones. With her blood pounding in her ears and her heart racing, it was impossible now.

  “Please tell me what’s wrong,” Lake said, her stomach cramping from anxiety. “I can’t tell what’s what in these.”

  “Nothing’s wrong, Ms. Bailey.” The doctor patted Lake’s knee and smiled. “Your baby’s fine. Both of them.”

  It took a moment for Lake’s brain to register that information through the fog of worry. When she did, she felt completely poleaxed. Perhaps she should have expected it, knowing about Devon and Drake, but still. “Both?”

  “Yep.” Dr. Irbani gave a joyful laugh. “Congratulations, Ms. Bailey, you’re having twins.”

  Drake checked his watch again, then gazed out the windows across from him. It felt like he’d been waiting out here forever, but in reality it had probably only been half an hour. He should have insisted on going back there with Lake. He didn’t like being separated from her after last night.

  Each time a door opened from the area where the offices were located, he started to get up, hoping it was Lake. But
each time he’d been disappointed. He’d read through every decent magazine in the place and even a few of those stupid tabloid ones too. He was just about ready to get up and go to the desk to check and see what was taking so long back there when Lake finally emerged back into the waiting room, her checkout paperwork in hand and her face far too pale for his liking.

  “What?” he asked, rushing to her side and taking her icy fingers in his. “What’s wrong?”

  She didn’t answer, just walked past him out the door and into the sunny parking lot. Drake cursed under his breath and followed her outside, mentally calling his dead brother every name in the book for leaving Lake in this situation, to deal with all of this all alone.

  They walked to the car and Drake opened the door for her, helping her inside before jogging around to climb in behind the wheel of his company SUV. The suspense became too much, though, and he couldn’t wait any longer to ask. “Please just tell me that there’s nothing wrong with the baby.”

  “Huh?” She looked up at him, frowning, as if just then realizing he was there. “No, the baby’s fine. They’re both fine.”

  Drake blinked at her a moment, taking that in. “Both?”

  Her dazed expression slowly gave way to uncertainty. “I’m having twins.”

  “That’s…” He was about to say “great,” or maybe “wonderful,” or “congratulations.” But the look on her face stopped him. Based on her pale complexion and wide eyes, Lake was terrified. He gathered her into his arms instead and held her as closely as possible given the awkwardness of their position in the vehicle. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. I promise.” He kissed the top of her head, rocking her slowly until she relaxed against him. “We’ll figure it all out. Together. Partners, right?”

  She sniffled and sat back, her dark brows knit as she stared down at her hands in her lap. “This is beyond helping me with the mess Devon left behind. You don’t have to—”