Twice the Malone

by Roberts, Laylah

  “Um, Richard, I . . .”

  “I’m in a hurry here, Scarlett,” he said impatiently. “Could you please move away from the door?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  She winced. That wasn’t the way she’d intended to tell her boss.

  Way to go, Scar. You couldn’t have come up with something else to stall him with?

  Apparently not.

  He froze. “What?”

  “I’m pregnant. Nearly eight weeks. I’ll, um, tell HR of course. I’ll need a bit of time off when the baby comes so we’ll need to find someone I can train. I, um, yeah.”

  “Who the fuck got you pregnant?” he snapped.

  Well, that was rude. The insinuation being that no one would want to sleep with her. Two people had, actually.

  “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

  He narrowed his gaze. “I can’t afford for you to have time off.”

  Her mouth opened then closed.

  “Aren’t you too old to get pregnant?”

  She glared at him. “Clearly not.”

  He let out an impatient breath. “I need that file. We’ll talk about this Monday.”

  “Sure, have a nice weekend.” She attempted to be cheerful when she felt anything but. When he left, she sunk into her chair. That was too close.

  * * *

  Richard was as crooked as the day was long.

  It was Sunday evening, she’d spent the whole weekend going through all the stuff she’d taken from his computer. And it was bad. She wasn’t even sure how bad, but she was pretty sure he was blackmailing a whole lot of important people. And if he wasn’t, he was holding onto evidence to blackmail them at a later date.

  And that wasn’t the only thing. There was evidence here of illegal business tactics. Of ways that he’d managed to damage the reputation and worth of businesses before he’d snapped them up at a bargain price to turn them around for a profit.

  She was sitting on a pile of evidence but had no idea how to use it. And unfortunately, there was nothing on Maddox.

  She couldn’t even send it to him since she didn’t have his email address.

  Shit. She could send it to the cops, but he probably had most of them on his payroll.

  Yawning, she signed into her work email. She always liked to check it on Sunday evening so she hit the ground running Monday morning. Then she saw it. The email.

  He couldn’t do this. That bastard! How was this legal?

  With hands that shook she called Margo.

  “You’re not getting out of the doctor’s appointment,” she said straight away. “You already canceled twice. No more. You’re going.”

  “It’s not that,” she told her.

  “What is it? What did you do? Please don’t tell me you did anything stupid, I don’t have any bail money.”

  “Margo, stop. Listen. That’s not it. Although, yeah, I did something stupid. I told him I was pregnant.”

  “Told who? Your cowboy hotties? If they were mean to you, I’m gonna go psycho on their asses.”

  “No, not them. Richard.”

  “Richard? He was mean to you? Oh, he’s going down.”

  “Margo, he fired me.”

  “What? What do you mean he fired you?” Margo demanded.

  “I have an email saying that I’ve been fired and that my stuff will be ready to collect from security in the morning. What am I going to do?” She barely had any savings. She’d been planning on doing some serious saving from now until the baby was born. But now . . . she’d need a new job.

  “Why would he fire you? You do the work of two employees.”

  “It must be because I told him I was pregnant.”

  “Well, he can’t do that. We’ll sue.”

  “With what money?”

  “There has to be a way to fight back,” Margo protested.

  “He’ll just say it’s my word against his. I didn’t put it in writing and there was no one else around when I told him.”

  Margo groaned. “Why’d you tell him? We haven’t even had your doctor’s appointment.”

  “I needed to stall him.”

  “Stall him?”

  “I didn’t want him going back into his office too quickly in case I hadn’t powered down his computer. Margo, I have stuff on him. Bad stuff.”

  “Shit. I’ll come over.”

  “No, don’t do that. You’re already doing enough for me. But Margo, what am I going to do? I can’t afford this apartment without that job.” She couldn’t afford anything without that job.

  “You’ll get another one. And you can move in here if you have to.”

  Margo lived in a tiny studio apartment close to the airport. There was barely enough room for her, let alone Scarlett and a baby.

  “Thanks, but I can’t do that. I’ll figure something out.”

  “I’m here for you, Scar. Whatever you need.”

  “I know.” She was the only person that Scarlett could rely on.

  And that terrified her.

  12

  Nine weeks.

  Nine, long, lonely weeks.

  Maddox should have pulled his head out of his ass by now. But he hadn’t. So, Beau could see it was going to be up to him to go get their girl.

  He would have gone sooner, but he’d spent six weeks in a cast. And then Alec had needed him home while he took Mia and baby Sebastian away on vacation. It had shocked all of them since Alec hardly ever left the ranch. But Mia deserved a break away.

  Still, it meant he had to be responsible and help keep shit running, especially as Maddox was about as useless as tits on a boar.

  Then they’d had some trouble on the ranch that needed his attention. But now Alec and Mia were back. And Beau was off-duty. And guess where he was now?

  Sitting in a café across the street from the Stanson building in Chicago.

  She worked there. Anticipation built inside him. Normally, he’d just give into his impulsivity and storm in there to see her, but he figured now might be the time to be a bit wiser.

  Huh, wise? Me?

  Even he could scarcely believe it. Although he had a more serious side. He just didn’t let it out that often. He figured he’d hold back, watch her for a while. See if he could figure out if she was who he believed her to be or who Maddox believed her to be.

  Not that watching his Snow was exactly a hardship. Of course, first, he had to actually catch sight of her. Because he’d been sitting here in this café since six a.m. and she’d yet to enter the building.

  Shit. What if she no longer worked there?

  Then he spotted some white-blonde hair. His heart kicked up a beat. She was dressed more casually than he’d thought. There was a cold wind today and she’d bundled up in a jacket and scarf. No hat. She should have a hat on.

  For a moment, she paused outside the Stanson building. She stared at the place.

  What was going on? Why did she look like she was dreading going in there?

  She climbed the stairs. Why were her shoulders slumped? Barely ten minutes later she left the building, a cardboard box in her arms. Shit. She shouldn’t be carrying that, she could barely see over it.

  Beau stood and quickly threw some money down on the table before following her. At first, he was careful not to be seen, but when it became obvious she wasn’t paying any attention to her surroundings, he stopped worrying so much.

  Although now he was worrying about the fact that she didn’t pay attention to her surroundings.

  When Maddox heard, he was going to whip her butt . . . fuck, he wished his brother would stop being an idiot. He’d given him long enough to come around, but it seemed he wasn’t going to do that. Because Beau was certain Snow wasn’t who he thought she was. And he wanted her to be theirs.

  However, if Maddox wasn’t here to step into the disciplinary role, that left it to him. And that wasn’t Beau’s thing. He was the fun one. Not the strict one.

  Shit.

  But if she put herself in d
anger, he wouldn’t have much choice, would he? She needed to learn to look after herself. Then again, once she was back in Haven where she belonged that wouldn’t be such an issue because the whole town looked out for all the women.

  She walked to the train station. Thankfully, it wasn’t so busy this time of day. He was careful not to be seen as he followed her onboard. Getting off when she did was an issue when no one else did. But again, she didn’t look his way.

  Oh, this little brat needed her bottom warmed. It wouldn’t be hard to sneak up on her and steal her purse or hurt her. Someone could easily follow her home to attack her. She walked up to an apartment building. When she stepped in, he slid into an alleyway across the road.

  He didn’t like that she was using public transportation and he knew Maddox wouldn’t either. She better not use it at night. His hands tightened into fists.

  Okay, what to do now? His motel was about thirty minutes from here. Should he go back and get his truck? He might miss her leaving her apartment, but it would give him something to hide in.

  Making a quick decision, he took note of her address and hurried off to get his truck. He wondered why she wasn’t at work today. And what was with the box?

  An hour and a half later, he was back across the road from her apartment. He had a box of donuts, coffee, and eyes on his girl. Well, her apartment. But still, things were finally looking up.

  His phone rang and he sighed. It was about the tenth call he’d gotten from Maddox. He knew he couldn’t ignore them forever. He answered the call just as a small car came tearing around the block and slid into a parking space ahead of his truck on the other side of the road, narrowly missing the car parked ahead of it. Okay, someone was in a hurry.

  A tiny brunette jumped out and raced into Snow’s apartment building.

  “Hi, bro, what’s up?” he greeted his brother through the phone. “You missing me? You must be, considering you’ve called me around a hundred times.”

  “Where are you?” Maddox barked back at him.

  “Maddy, we’ve had this discussion before. You need to start a conversation with hello. I blame our nannies, they never taught you any manners.”

  “Beau, I’m not in the fucking mood for your games. Alec said you’re in Chicago. Please tell me that’s not the case.”

  “Well, I was taught not to lie, so nope, can’t tell you that.”

  “What are you doing there?”

  “Thought I’d take in some museums, a few restaurants . . . why the fuck do you think I’m here? I’m here to get Snow back.”

  “Stop calling her that, it’s not her name. And back? We never had her! And why would we want her back? She’s a liar, she played us, and she works for the enemy.”

  “So dramatic. And you don’t know that she did any of that. You just made assumptions, and you know what they say about that.”

  “Beau,” he said in a warning voice.

  “Look, Maddox,” he said seriously. “Maybe you can just easily dismiss what happened between us, but I can’t. I like this girl. I can’t stop thinking about her. I’ve tried. I can’t even look at another woman. I’ve had a long time to think things through. What if it was all a coincidence? What if she didn’t know who you were?”

  Maddox made a scoffing noise, but he didn’t say anything else. Which meant he was listening.

  “And if she doesn’t know what he’s like, but she’s working for him, is that safe for her? What if he puts her in a dangerous situation?”

  “Fuck. Beau, you don’t know that any of that is what’s going on. You don’t know she’s innocent.”

  “But you can’t be sure she’s not, right?”

  “You’re going to be disappointed, Beau. I’ve put her behind me, you should too. But when you find out I’m right, you owe me.”

  “Fine. What do you want?”

  “Your help. Building a house for us.”

  Beau froze. “What? Where?”

  “On the land I bought.”

  “I thought you did that to keep it out of Stanson’s hands.”

  “I did. And I bought it for us. What do you say, brother?”

  “I say I’m in. But should we make plans before we have our girl? After all, she’ll want a say.”

  Maddox just sighed and hung up. It was all right, though. He could be a doubter because Beau had enough hope for them both.

  He watched as Snow walked down the steps of her apartment building, along with the bad driver from earlier. She climbed into the small car with her. With a frown, Beau started up his truck and picked up his phone.

  Beau: She’s getting in a car with a terrible driver.

  Maddox: What? Who? A man?

  Beau: Following them. Talk later.

  Yeah, like fuck Maddox had put her behind him.

  The firecracker didn’t drive any better with his Snow in the car and Beau had to grit his teeth and grip the steering wheel so that he didn’t do something stupid. Like force them to pull over then drag Snow out of the car and scold her for being so reckless and stupid.

  He followed them across town, keeping back slightly. It wasn’t until he started to notice the signs that he realized where they were going.

  A medical clinic.

  Fuck, was she sick?

  13

  “Right, are you ready for this?” her gynecologist asked cheerfully, a large smile on her face.

  Scarlett was trying not to freak out about being at the clinic, so she didn’t manage to smile back. This was her worst nightmare. She hated anything medical.

  So far, she’d been weighed, had her blood pressure taken, had to pee into a plastic container, and had blood drawn.

  Just wonderful.

  However, this part, she was looking forward to. Margo took her hand as the doctor squirted some gel on her tummy and used the wand to find her baby.

  “Nice strong heartbeat.”

  Her eyes widened as the sound of the heartbeat filled the room. “Is it supposed to be that fast?”

  “Yep, that’s perfectly normal. Well, hello there.”

  “What? What is it?”

  “Nothing to be concerned about. But there isn’t just one baby in there.”

  She stopped breathing. What. The. Fuck.

  “Are you saying . . .”

  “She’s having twins?” Margo asked when she couldn’t force any more words from her lips.

  “She certainly is.” The doctor smiled at Scarlett. “Congratulations.”

  Twins? She didn’t think she could manage one baby, how was she going to deal with two?

  Twins.

  Holy. Shit. She was lost in her head when she heard Margo calling her name.

  “Scar! Scar! It’s okay. She does this sometimes. Scar, you want pics, right?”

  Oh, Lord, she’d done it again! Gone off into her own mind and she’d missed the entire ultrasound. She burst into tears. Both Margo and the doctor stared at her in shock.

  “I missed it! I missed seeing them! What kind of a mom am I going to be when I can’t even pay attention long enough to watch an ultrasound? What if I’m not with them while they’re eating and they choke? What if I forget to watch them while we’re crossing the road and they get hit by a car? What if I don’t set the brake on the stroller and they go over a cliff?”

  “Whoa, okay, dude, calm down. You’re gonna be a great mom. You have a lot going on. You’ve got this.”

  “Of course you do,” the doctor added kindly. “It’s normal to feel concerned about being a new parent.”

  “Is it normal to be forty, jobless, pregnant with twins, and not know who the father is?”

  Okay. She didn’t mean to blurt that out.

  Whoops.

  The doctor opened her mouth and closed it.

  “Maybe we’ll just get cleaned up,” Margo said, shooting her a wide-eyed look.

  Yeah, she got it. She was insane.

  * * *

  “What do you mean, she’s at the doctor’s? Why? What’s wrong? Fuck
, is she sick?”

  “I don’t know, man, she went in there with a friend. Maybe the friend is sick. Maybe that’s why she drives like a maniac with nothing to lose.”

  “I don’t want her getting back in that car,” Maddox said in a low voice. “I want to know what’s wrong.”

  “All right then, Operation Steal-Snow goes into effect.”

  “What? No! You can’t kidnap her, Beau.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s illegal.”

  “Since when have we cared about that?”

  “Beau, you’re not in Haven anymore. You can’t do that shit in a big city without getting arrested.”

  “But that’s only if I get caught.”

  “She’s not ours, Beau. You can’t keep following her or kidnap her. Just come home.”

  “Right, so you’re not interested in why she’s here? If she’s ill?” Beau snapped.

  “It’s none of my business.”

  “Sometimes, I don’t know you anymore.” He closed his phone and followed them back to her apartment. It was getting dark by now. He debated finding a motel close by or just knocking on her door and explaining why he was there. He’d tell her he didn’t give a shit what she had or hadn’t done. He wanted her, no matter what.

  But her friend was still there. And there were a few things going on here that didn’t add up. He’d watch her for a bit longer, see if he could figure out what was up.

  For now, Operation Steal-Snow was on the backburner, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t resort to that if he had to.

  * * *

  Scarlett looked around the apartment while trying to keep the disgust off her face.

  How am I supposed to raise two babies in this shithole?

  But what other choice did she have?

  Even if she found another job soon, it was still going to be hard to afford her apartment. Maybe she could live here for a few months, save a whole lot of money then move before the babies were born.

  Or she could go to Haven, track down Beau and Maddox and tell them what’s going on.