Forbidden Attraction: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  I did as I was told, and in a matter of two minutes, our second daughter came wailing into the world.

  I was in shock as the EMT’s loaded me into the ambulance. All I kept asking was, “Where are my babies? How are they?”

  Colin managed to push his way up to me, our baby girls in his arms. They were so tiny, but they were alive. Their skin was pink and they both had heads of dark hair like their father. Colin leaned down and kissed me, whispering, “They’re going to take you all to the hospital, sweetie, but they’re fine. They’re great, actually, considering being born premature. They’re going to be okay.”

  Those were the last words before my world went black, and I fell into a deep, dark sleep out of sheer exhaustion and blood loss.

  Ooo000ooo

  It took me a second to remember what had happened and where I was at. The room was stark white, and there was so much beeping around me. The lights nearly blinded me when I opened my eyes.

  Then it hit me. I was in the hospital. I’d given birth to my twins, in Colin’s living room. He’d delivered our little girls himself.

  I tried to sit up in the bed, but Colin was nearby to stop me.

  “Whoa there, you need to take it easy,” he said.

  “Where are the babies?” I said. “Are they alright?”

  Colin stroked my cheek and said, “Our girls is fine. They’re currently in the NICU, but only because they’re small and premature. Otherwise, they’re healthy.”

  Tears stung at my eyes as I relaxed back into the hospital bed.

  “This is my fault,” I said. “I did this to them.”

  “What? No, there’s no way this is your fault, sweetie,” Colin said.

  “I shouldn’t have been up moving things around,” I said, wiping my tears away. “And then I got upset. I’m sure that’s what did it.”

  “No, not at all, Hope,” he said. “You’re a diabetic, it’s normal for babies to be born premature. It happens a lot, and there’s nothing you could have done differently. Besides, they’re going to be fine.”

  I wanted so badly to believe him, but until I saw them with my own eyes, I had a hard time knowing if it was true.

  “When can I see them?”

  “I’ll page a nurse and see if we can go visit them now,” he said. “As long as you’re feeling up to it?”

  “Of course. I have to see them, Colin. I need to be with them,” I said. My cheeks were wet with tears, and Colin wiped them away with his fingers.

  “Alright. Just give me a minute,” he said.

  Colin stepped out of the room but was back a second later with a wheelchair and a smile. “The perks of working at the hospital,” he said with a playful wink. “Come on, let’s go see our baby girls.”

  Colin helped me into the wheelchair, and he pushed me down the hall, and into an elevator. My little girls weren’t even on the same floor as me, and for some reason, that made my heart hurt. I wanted them close to me, not several floors away.

  When the elevator doors opened, he pushed me down a hallway and pressed a button that required permission to access. It opened for him. Then we entered the room and were surrounded by babies.

  He wheeled me over to one of the incubators, and inside were the tiniest, most beautiful little girls. They were side by side and wrapped in blankets, and there were pink hats on top of their heads. The name plate said, “Baby Camden One and Baby Camden 2.”

  “They’re beautiful,” I said, my tears of anxiety turning into ones of joy upon seeing then for the first time.

  A nurse standing nearby asked me, “Would you like to hold them?”

  “Can I?” I asked. I looked at the nurse, then Colin, then back at the nurse.

  “Sure, they’re stable enough,” the nurse said. “We just want to keep them in here since they’re underweight, but they’re doing really well. You must have been very careful during your pregnancy.”

  It felt nice to hear that. Apparently, I’d done something right, even though I blamed myself for their early admission into the world. The nurse lifted my little girls one at a time from the incubator and placed them in my arms.

  They weighed hardly anything at all. Their little eyes barely opened, but they both looked up at me. I took their little hands in mind, and their fingers tried to grip mine.

  Colin kissed the top of my head, and placed his hands on my shoulders, staring down at our daughters from above. I looked up at him, and he had tears in his eyes.

  “Do you have any names picked out already?” the nurse asked.

  “We hadn’t really talked about it,” I said softly, marveling at how small her little fingers are. “But I was thinking something French, to honor where we met.”

  I glanced back up at Colin who nodded his head. “I agree. I think that’s perfect.”

  “Whatever you decide, I’m sure it’ll be beautiful,” the nurse said. “Beautiful name for two beautiful little girls.”

  Holding them in my arms, a sense of peace washed over me. I knew, in that moment, that everything would be okay. Whatever troubles Colin and I had, we’d find a way to move past them for our daughters. He was going to make an excellent father, I had no doubt. Already, he’d gone above and beyond for our little girls. Not many men can say they delivered their own babies on their couch and managed not to fuck things up. But Colin was good at what he did; I never had a reason to doubt him.

  I still had some questions about Whitney, but I’d get the answers eventually. Anna was right. It was bound to be a misunderstanding. There’s no way this man would ever abandon his child. I couldn’t believe it, not for a second. Not after what I’d witnessed.

  Epilogue

  Hope - One Year Later

  Eloise Nicole Pierce and Giselle Eliette Pierce had indeed turned out to be a healthy baby girls. They were small, they might always be smaller than others, but that would never, ever hold them back. They were only a year old, and already, they were able to travel with their mama. Their daddy joined us too, when he could. He took more time off than he used to, focusing more on the family. One day, we’d take our little girls to Paris, back where it all began, but for now, they were still a bit young for that long of a plane right.

  Instead, I took them on day trips. Auntie Anna tagged along when Colin couldn’t make it. She had changed jobs, took something less stressful as she focused on getting her own writing career off to a good start. She wanted to travel the world, like me, and I had connections. I was no longer writing, not while Eloise and Giselle were young, but one day, I’d go back to it. One day, I’d write about traveling with children and all the challenges and adventure it brought. But for the moment, I was content just being a mother.

  Being at home with twins was plenty of adventure for me, but the girls seemed to have inherited my love of travel. They were always so well-behaved and seemed fascinated by every little thing.

  Colin had told me all about his deal with Whitney, and it only made me love him even more. That’s the moment I realized I loved him, by the way. He’d told me that the moment he realized he’d loved me was when he saw me give birth to our daughters. From that moment on, he said, he was smitten.

  We got married just a few short weeks after our twins were born. As soon as they was healthy enough to leave the hospital, we had a small, intimate wedding with family and close friends only. It was nice. He was worried his mother might not like me, but once she saw our little girls - her granddaughters - well, it was love at first sight. And my parents of course love him too.

  Life couldn’t be better.

  A few days after I gave birth., Whitney also gave birth to a little boy. He was healthy and born on time. Whitney’s parents forgave her and offered to help her. They took the little boy in while she went for treatment. Colin’s payments to her had ceased since her parents have taken over. We still didn’t know who the father was and we may never, but the little boy had grandparents who loved him to death, so we knew he’d will be just fine.

  Colin was abs
olutely in love with his daughters and was already trying to talk me into having another baby. I wasn’t so sure I was ready just yet, but I wouldn’t rule out giving him more children. He was too good a father. He’d already said that he’d thought about retiring early, buying an RV and driving around the country with our munchkins. The fact that he even mentioned that as a possibility for our future proved that he’d come a long way from the workaholic who couldn’t even take a vacation without someone nagging him to do so.

  In my article, the one that started it all, I wrote about how Colin had changed me. But it was obvious that I wasn’t the only one who came back to Paris as a new person; Colin had too.

  There's just a certain je ne sais quoi about the city. It really was the city of romance, I believed it with all of my heart. I wrote a follow-up article, just like Kayla had wanted, and added even more Colin. I gave the readers the ending they were craving. And wouldn’t you know? It was my highest read article to date.

  Apparently, readers are suckers for a happy ending. Hell, I can’t blame them. Now that I’d lived it myself, I can honestly say that I was too.

  Book Four - Big Bad SEAL

  The mountains are filled with frights...

  Including a deadly mob and skeletons from my past.

  Can the new SEAL protect me?...

  And the precious baby I'm carrying?

  He's ex-military. Protective. And rough.

  He also happens to be my patient.

  And all I can think about is being wrapped up in his big strong arms.

  Things get complicated....

  When my life is threatened.

  And I discover I'm knocked up.

  Will Jared be able to save me and my baby?

  And is he ready to embrace us as his new family?

  Jared

  I hated courtrooms. It was something about the stuffy air, the need to remain silent, the pomp and power of the judge and the attorneys. The whole scene pissed me off. But nothing made me angrier than seeing the back of Mario Gianni’s head as he stood between his two lawyers. Of course, they were the most crooked attorneys New York had to offer. Big shots who had arrived in Station Springs for the trial treating us all like we were wild mountain men with the IQs of a chimp.

  Except I guess I was a mountain man now. After I was discharged from hospital, I couldn't face being cooped up in the apartment. I needed to be free, needed time to think, to feel the freezing mountain air on my face each morning.

  When Jackson joked I should spend a few months up in Grandpa's cabin halfway to the summit of Renfrew Peak, I'd agreed in a heartbeat. It was exactly what I needed. An hour drive from the center of Station Springs, but far away enough to feel like the wilderness, it was the perfect place to clear my head.

  Jackson was sat beside me now, looking angrier than I was. He was staring into the back of Mario's head as though he was trying to set it on fire with his eyes. I'd been angry like that too. The guy wasn't welcome here. Him and his brother were nothing but a scourge on the town who'd destroyed the peace and serenity of Station Springs.

  But as I recovered, I had more time to think, and my anger toward him had become a controlled rage. I was eager to let the justice system do its job. After killing his own brother in front of multiple witnesses, it was expected he'd get a life sentence. Not to mention there was plenty of evidence to prove his involvement in a whole catalog of crimes reaching back decades.

  "He's going away," I whispered to Jackson.

  "Think he'll get life?"

  "I know he will."

  We both looked over at the judge who was shuffling papers. She was a strong, stoic looking woman who looked as though she had better things to do than stare into Mario's face and tell him where he was going to spend the rest of his life. With cropped, gray hair and slim glasses resting along the tip of her long nose, she resembled a librarian more than a judge.

  Behind us, a group of reporters was gathered, waiting to scoop up the news of Mario's sentencing like vultures. To our right, Sheriff Baxter sat stony faced with his lips pursed together waiting for the news.

  "How's Gabby?" I asked Jackson.

  He was fiddling with the cuff of his suit sleeve. The guy never wore a suit, not unless it was for weddings and funerals, but here he was looking like a real dapper motherfucker in a black Hugo Boss suit with the perfect cut.

  "Getting bigger," he said. "Exhausted and crabby. Keeps demanding I bring her mint chocolate chip ice cream."

  "You know you love every minute of it."

  "I do," he grinned, still looking at his sleeve. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

  He was still grinning to himself when the judge finally opened her mouth to speak.

  "Mario Gianni," she said, leaning down toward him and his lawyers.

  They both stood on either side of him like a pair of slimy bodyguards, both of them with slicked back hair and dripping in gaudy gold jewelry.

  "I'll keep this short," she began. "Your family has terrorized this town for long enough, and I'm sure the jury and everyone else in this room is eager to say goodbye to you."

  She raised her gavel, looked him dead in the eye and said.

  "You are sentenced to life imprisonment and...."

  I didn't hear a single other thing she said. I didn't need to. Jackson threw his arms around me and I breathed an epic sigh of relief that made all the muscles in my body relax simultaneously.

  Life.

  He was going away forever.

  His father was dead.

  Benny, murdered. He was the last of the scum bags. Finally, Station Springs was free of that family.

  Everything was a blur as I floated out the court room. The last few months had culminated in this very moment, and it couldn't have gone better.

  "Life," Jackson kept saying as we walked down the steps.

  Cameras were being thrust in our faces as we descended, but I paid them no interest, and pushed my way past the reporters and their questions.

  "You were shot during the rescue mission to the house, what do you have to say?

  "Your sister was kidnapped by Mario's brother. Is she here today?"

  "You were there when Benny was shot. Can you tell us about that fateful moment?"

  "No comment!" I yelled and barged my way toward Jackson's truck.

  It wasn't until we slammed the doors closed that I felt as though I could breathe.

  "Fucking reporters," I groaned as I pulled on my seat belt.

  "They're just doing their job. Besides, I don't blame them for wanting to know where Carly is.”

  “It's none of their fucking business.”

  Ever since that night in the bunker, our sister had changed. She was no longer the chatty party animal that we all knew. She was subdued, careful about where she went, and always looking over her shoulder. She'd pretty much stopped going out altogether, choosing to spend her evenings sipping wine from the comfort of her home. And when I'd visited her last weekend, she told me she couldn't bear to listen to Roxi Lane anymore. That was when I knew shti was serious.

  "She couldn't bear to be here," I said. "Think it was too much for her to see Mario."

  "I'm worried about her,” Jackson replied as he pulled away from the courthouse. I tried to call her last night, but she wouldn't pick up."

  "She wouldn't pick up for me either."

  "Think I'll drive down and pay her a visit," he said.

  "She won't appreciate that," I told him. "You know how she hates her big brothers checking up on her."

  "Yeah, but she can't just hide away like this. Like you are."

  "I'm not hiding away, I'm recovering," I told him. "There's nothing wrong with some solitude."

  "Yeah, well I'm still gonna pay her a visit. "

  "I know she'll just need time and the last thing she wants is us two nagging at her."

  "I'm still going," he said stubbornly.

  We drove on, meandering our way through the town. Everything felt different today. The ai
r felt lighter, everyone we saw walking down the street had a spring in their step. It even felt warmer. Although Halloween was just a few weeks away, and the weather had turned from summer to fall bringing chilled winds and little flurries of snow, the sun had come out today for the first time in weeks.

  I could see Jackson's eyes narrow more and more as we ascended Renfrew Peak.

  "Can't believe you're living up here," he said. "Our granddad died in that cabin. It's literally in the middle of fucking nowhere."

  “Uh, you were the one that suggested it dude,” I reminded him.

  “Yeah for like a week or something. You’ve been up there for a while now.”

  "I love it."

  "What is there to love? No central heating, no running water, no nothing. The place is like something out another century."

  "That's why I love it."

  "You're nuts."

  The truck struggled and groaned as we drove up over the last of the rocky road. Eventually, the edge of the cabin came into view, its roof poking out from under a veil of snow.

  "I don't wanna leave you here on your own," said Jackson. "It feels wrong. Are you sure you don't wanna come stay with us? We've still got a spare room."

  "Yes!" I insisted. "I'm happy here."

  He grimaced and looked over to the shack. It looked ready to collapse.

  "Hmmm."

  "Stop grumbling," I told him. "I'll be fine. Now come on in for a drink."

  "Now we're talking."

  We climbed out and landed in the heavy snow, the two of us wading our way over to the cabin. The door was already open, after all there was no need for locks unless you were worried a bear might get hungry.

  The moment we staggered inside, and I could smell the wood and embers of the fireplace mingling with the pristine mountain air, I felt as though I was in heaven.

  "Ah!" I sighed, pulling up a seat to the fireplace. "This is the life."