As I get up to leave, he pushes the paper across the desk again. “He won’t marry you without that, I promise you.”
With a smile, I look over my shoulder at him. “I don’t even want him to marry me, Jackson. As a matter of fact, I’m taking marriage off the table. So shove that pre-nup up your ass. If you add a bit of lube, it might feel fantastic. That’s my opinion, anyway.”
Walking out the door, I know I’m about to break someone’s heart, but it has to be done. My only regret is that he didn’t get to have what he wanted for as long as he wanted it.
Chapter 5
JASON
After a quick text to tell Britt that I’m about five minutes away, I get my first text from her. Go to your place, not mine.
Calling her, I get her voicemail. She hasn’t spoken to me at all. I suppose the pre-nup has made her mad. I had an idea it would, but she has no idea of how badly I want her money protected.
The whole thing with Beatrice and the baby has me afraid of what might possibly happen in the future. I asked Jackson to get with Britt’s lawyer to come up with a pre-nup to keep her money safe.
He told me she refused to sign the paper that would allow him to confer with her lawyer on the agreement. When I called to explain things to her, she refused to answer.
And now it seems she doesn’t want me in in her home!
To say this day has been long isn’t even close to how I feel. I have jetlag from the hours spent in them in the last twenty-four hours. I have a headache the size of Texas and my insides actually hurt, as I feel terrible about what the woman I love has gone through.
My cell rings and I see it’s Beatrice.
My God. What now?
“Hello.”
“Thank God you picked up, Jason! It’s Morgan.” She breaks down and I hear a shuffling noise.
A man says, “Hey, I know we’re the last people you want to hear from. The baby is really sick. He has pneumonia.”
“Who is this?” I ask, as I drum my fingers on my leg.
“This is Bea’s brother, Cullen. I know the story about you and my sister. I know you may not be my nephew’s father. But this baby needs help my sister can’t afford. The doctors here aren’t doing all they can because Bea doesn’t have health insurance. I know this kid might not be yours, but, man, he needs your help right now.”
An irritation runs through me, making me itch. “What the hell can I do?”
“At the very least, could you get on the phone with the hospital and tell them to get little Morgan to the best hospital for him and that you’ll pay for it all?” he asks me.
I can hear Bea crying in the background. I need Britt here to tell me what to do. Then it hits me. I can make this decision on my own.
“Can you give the phone to whoever can make that decision, Cullen?”
“I can, and let me tell you something, Jason. There ain’t a member of this family who thinks Bea did right by doing what it is she’s done. Not a one of us. But she’s ours, and this baby is ours, too. If it turns out he ain’t yours, we’ll gladly pay you back every last cent you spend on saving him for us.”
“You don’t have to worry about doing that. I got this. And thanks for calling me.” I sit up a bit straighter as he hands the phone off to someone else.
A woman says, “If we’re to send him to the hospital he should be in, I’m going to need a valid credit card with at least a hundred-thousand-dollar limit, sir.”
“Not a problem. My cards all have higher spending limits than that. I want that baby taken to the best place for him,” I tell her as I take my wallet out.
The cab driver calls out as he stops. “Here we are.”
“Shit,” I hiss. “Hey, I didn’t get a chance to tell you to take me to my place, Ralph.”
“Not a problem, Mr. Brennan.”
The great thing about public transportation is they never get pissed about taking you one more place. The money makes it no problem at all.
“I’ll need a copy of the credit card emailed to our billing department and then we’ll get the child transferred,” the lady says. “I’ll send you the email address in a text, okay?”
“That will be fine. I’ll get it back to you as quickly as you send it.”
With the end of the call, I find my pulse higher than usual and sit back to take in deep breaths. No blackness is coming in, but a strange sensation is creeping over me.
Closing my eyes, I lay my head back on the seat and rest. I’ve been going and going for a long time now. I need rest. I need lots of rest.
Before I know it, the cabbie is calling out to me, “We’re here, Mr. Brennan. Your place.”
“Oh!” I shake my head and hand him a hundred. “Keep the change.”
He shouts out his thanks as I get out. I didn’t take any luggage. I had it sent home. The lobby looks almost foreign to me as I walk in. It’s been nearly two months since I’ve been here.
Up my private elevator I go, and when the doors open I find my penthouse empty. “Britt,” I shout.
Nothing.
My cell dings and I look at it to find the message from the hospital. “Crap! I must have fallen asleep!”
Quickly, I open it and send back the information they need to take care of the baby. I get back a message from the hospital telling me they’ve completed the transaction and are sending the baby on to the Children’s Hospital in Dallas.
Falling on my sofa, I lay back on it and put my feet up on the coffee table. I’m tired as hell, but it makes me feel good to help the baby. If he’s mine or not, it makes me feel good to help him.
So I call Bea. She answers with a sob. “Thank you, Jason.”
“Yeah, not a problem. Hey, I can set your family up at a hotel near the hospital. Call me and let me know which one is closest and I’ll get as many rooms as you need for as long as he’s in the hospital.”
“Really?” she asks with tears in her voice. “Jason, after what I did, you would do that for me?”
“You, no,” I say. “The baby and the people who love him, yes.”
“I’ll make this up to you, I swear it,” she says.
“All I ask is that if he’s mine, work with me, not against me. I’m sorry for my part in our relationship too, Bea. None of what we did is his fault. I’m coming to terms with that. And I know this is probably emotion talking, but fuck it! Even if he’s not mine, I’m going to set up a fund for the little guy. He’ll never want for a damn thing. And if I’m not his dad and the man who is won’t do right by him, then he can still carry my name and I’ll be his daddy.”
“Oh, Lord, Jason!” she says with shock. “Are you messing with me?”
“I am not messing with you, Bea. You can take my words for the truth. Please keep me posted on his progress, will you?”
“Of course. Jason, thank you. In a million years, I never expected such a thing. Not ever. Thank you. I have to go. They’re moving him now. Thank you. God bless you, Jason.”
“God bless you too, Bea. And may God bless and watch over Morgan. Call me when things settle, okay?”
“I will. Bye, now,” she says, then ends the call.
My heart thumps in my chest and I feel hopeful for the baby. I don’t really know what’s gotten into me all of a sudden. I feel happy about it, though.
The smell of cigar smoke wafts around my nose. I look around and see no smoke. “Hello,” I call out.
Then I remember that no one has a key to my private elevator. Not even Brittany. I never got around to giving her one.
A shadow moves across the room in front of me. “Who’s there?”
The smell is getting stronger. I’m freezing all of a sudden.
“I’m okay,” I hear, as if it’s a whisper on a breeze.
“Who?” I ask as I sit up and look hard into the darkness of the large living room.
No one answers me. Then I feel a sudden jolt on my right side as a flash of light fills the room. The taste of cinnamon and sugar hits my tongue, and I reme
mber breakfasts with my grandfather.
We loved to eat that when I visited him. One tear runs down my cheek as I ask, “Are you here?”
The chandelier above me starts to shake and flicker as I look up at it and laugh. “You are! Gramps! I love you! I miss you! You have no idea. I never got to say goodbye. I never got to tell you that I loved you. You were taken away in that ambulance and I didn’t see you again until you were in that box in that funeral home. Gramps, I have so many questions.”
The lights go completely out. My heart sinks, then comes back as they light all the way up. Higher than the lights have ever been. So much light is coming from them, I’m afraid they’re going to bust. In a flash of intense light, they go out and the only thing left is the taste on my tongue.
The faint smell of my gramp’s cigar is in the air. The elevator door opens and in that bright light stands my angel.
“Britt,” I say as I sit on the sofa and wipe the tears from my eyes.
“You smoking in here?” she asks.
“Something like that.”
Her silhouette moves out of the elevator toward me. “I’ve missed you,” she says.
Rising, I go to her and take her in my arms. “I’ve missed you, pumpkin.”
Her lips touch mine and I see it all. My future. And it’s not at all what I expected!
Chapter 6
BRITTANY
Peppering kisses all over his handsome face, I find myself in his warm embrace. “I’m so sorry, Jason.”
“Don’t be,” he says as he hugs me tightly.
Pulling back to look at him, I ask, “How much trouble are you in for beating Elmer up? And how badly did you hurt him?”
“I’m not in any trouble, thanks to a nice captain who made sure the charges were dismissed by one of her judge friends.” He pulls me back into his arms and presses my head against his chest.
But jealousy courses through my veins as I heard the word, her, come out of his mouth. “Her, Jason? A woman helped you?”
With a sigh, he eases his hug and pulls back to look at me. “It was a woman, yes.”
“What did you do to get her to help you?” I ask, and feel a knot forming in my stomach.
His face splits into a wide smile. “Man, I wish I had a lie detector because I so want you to know I’m telling the truth.” He takes my hand and pulls me along to sit on the sofa with him. “Britt, the cop came onto me pretty damn hard. I was handcuffed, and she was all leaning over my back, pressing her boobs against me, and she even ran her hands over my dick.”
“What?” I shriek. “Jason, you let her?”
His eyes go big as he shakes his head. “Britt, did you hear me? I was handcuffed. My hands were behind my back when she did that. Anyway, listen. Okay, so she did all that, and I told her I wasn’t going to do what she wanted. I told her, no!”
Some relief moves through me, but the knot in my stomach is still there. “Then why did she help you?”
With a shrug, he says, “She just did. I didn’t touch her at all and she helped me, anyway. The thing is, I told her no. That’s literally the first time I told a woman that. Aren’t you proud of me?”
“Um, yeah. Well, of course. But I just don’t understand why a professional like that would try that shit on you.”
“It happens to me all the time. I can’t explain it. But I’ve learned to say no. You fill my heart. It’s all because if you, baby. I love you. I love you more than you can imagine.” He pulls me into a hug again. His lips touch the top of my head as he groans, “I missed you so much.”
“It’s hard to believe it’s only been a day. And not an entire one at that.” Looking up at him, I see nothing of what I thought I’d see when he looked at me after seeing that video. “Jason, how badly did you hurt that kid?”
“No bones were broken, if that’s what you mean. I did no permanent damage, which is amazing, seeing how mad he made me. That kid fed you drugs, baby. I don’t hold you responsible for anything on that video. I hold that little pervert responsible.”
His cell rings and he looks over at it as it lies on the coffee table. “I better answer that. They’re moving the baby to a children’s hospital.”
“What?” I ask, as I’m completely confused.
“Hold on,” he says as he picks up the phone. “I’ll tell you everything.” He answers it, “Hello.”
I don’t hear a thing. Then he looks at me and smiles as he puts the phone on speaker. Then I hear a woman’s voice, “He’s being taken in a helicopter. The rest of us are driving to Dallas. I’m sending you a text with the hotel information. There will be three of us. My mother and brother and me. You can put us all in one room.”
“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable if you each had your own rooms, Bea?” Jason asks.
I’m in shock as I listen as Bea answers, “You don’t need to spend that much money.”
“Nonsense,” he says as he waves his hand. “It’s no problem. I’ll get three of them. Let me know how he’s doing when you get there.”
“I will. Thank you, Jason. You have no idea how much better I feel now that the baby’s getting the help he needs. I’ll call you soon. Bye.”
He ends the call and looks at me. “Okay. The baby has pneumonia, and she took him to a hospital but she has no health insurance and they couldn’t send him to where he needed to be without it.”
“And you offered to pay for that?” I ask as I look at him with disbelief.
This man was saying he might not even have anything to do with the kid even if he was his. A few hours without me and he’s managed to find some compassion he didn’t seem to have before.
Maybe I am bad for him.
“I did. She called me and her brother got on the phone and out of the blue, it came to me to help the baby out. I also told her I’d set up a fund for him and he’d never want for a thing.”
“Wow!” I find myself feeling shocked he did all that.
“Also,” he says as he looks a little sheepish, “I told Bea that if I wasn’t the baby’s father and the real father didn’t step up that he could keep my name and I’d still be his father. You aren’t mad, are you?”
Shaking my head, I say, “No. Not at all. I’m kind of confused. All this time I’ve been telling you to do the right thing by the baby and you’ve seemed dead set against having anything to do with him. I’m not around you for a while and suddenly you become very generous. It’s confusing, is all.”
“I don’t know what to say. It just hit me, and I went with my feelings. I suppose not having you around and not worrying about hurting you had me freeing up my mind.”
He does do things differently because of me.
“Jason, that brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about.”
The moonlight coming through the large window behind us reflects off his blue eyes, making them glisten. Though there're no lights on in the large living room, a soft glow fills it. Jason looks amazing in the light and it makes my heart ache with what I have to tell him.
His hand squeezes mine. “What do you want to talk about, sweetcakes?”
“Time,” I say as I move my other hand over our clasped hands. “You need time, Jason.”
“For what?”
The way he’s looking at me, with a slight grin, has me feeling odd about what I have decided. But I forge ahead. “You need time to mend. Time to let things settle into your head. Jason, you and I need to slow way down. I’m taking marriage off the table.”
He shakes his head. “No, you’re not.”
With a nod, I say, “Yes, I am.” Moving my hand to caress his cheek, I look deep into his eyes. “Jason, you’ve been moving from one woman’s arms to the next, looking for something you’ve lost. I’m merely the next set of arms. A familiar set, a comforting set. But you need to know how to find comfort in yourself first. Then, if you still want to marry me, I’ll accept your proposal. But you have to mend yourself first.”
“Britt, I don’t understand.” His hands move
over my shoulders and hold me tight.
“Your grandfather’s death hurt you. You obviously never processed it. You’re continuously looking for that comfort your relationship with him gave you. But you won’t find that in another person. You have to find that in yourself.”
“I love you, Britt, but you are no therapist. I know I want you in my life. Do I need you? The answer is easy. I do.” He pulls me tight and kisses my cheek. “It’s okay to need someone.”
Pushing his chest, I make him loosen his tight grip so I can look at him. “Jason, I don’t think it’s healthy to need anyone. Just look at what you were doing about that baby because you were afraid of hurting me. I want you to do what makes you happy or what you feel like you should do, without thinking about me or what I’ll think.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Britt, I think you need to see my shrink. I love you, and I’ll always think about what it is I’m doing or saying and how it might affect you. Don’t you do the same for me?”
Taking a moment to ponder what he’s asked, I find myself agreeing with him. “But, Jason, I don’t want to be your crutch.”
“You aren’t. You are my rock, snuggle monkey. And I hope I’m yours. I’m striving to be, anyway.” Pulling me close to him again, he kisses the top of my head. “And you and I are getting married. I saw it all when that elevator opened. So don’t even try to think that you know best because you don’t.”
“Jason, I …” His mouth stops my words as he quickly pulls me back and kisses me.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I lean into him. His kiss is soft and sweet and takes all my thoughts away.
Gently, he pulls his mouth away from mine, leaving me barely breathing. “You wanted to say something, my love?”
“You sure about this? Are you sure you don’t want to take some time?” I ask and pray his answer is what I want to hear.
“I want you. I want every part of you. And I want you forever.” His mouth takes mine again and I know I’m home.
Wherever this man is, is where I belong. No matter what thoughts I’ve had about him needing time alone, I was wrong. His kiss seems to nourish me in a way I didn’t know was possible.
The Surgeon’s Secrets: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 80