Love Deserved (Rock N Roll Heiress Book 3)

by Kelli McCracken

  “It’s not unusual for women to have syncope during pregnancy in the first and second trimester, but I’d like you to swing by my office as soon as possible. I want to do a sonogram.”

  Placing my hands on the couch cushions, I pushed myself into a sitting position and lowered my feet to the floor. “Why do you want to do a sonogram? You said the baby’s heartbeat was perfect.”

  He sat beside me as he nodded his head. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t an issue. I’d like to see what’s happening inside there.” He pointed toward my belly. “It’s possible that your uterus is pressing on blood vessels. It would explain why you’ve fainted twice.”

  “Is that going to harm my baby?” I wrapped my arms around myself as if doing so would protect the child inside me.

  “No, it won’t be a problem, but I suggest you sleep on your side as much as possible. Do not lie on your back when you sleep. You can compress a major vein in your body called the vena cava. Doing so makes you sick, and it interferes with blood flow to the baby.”

  His explanation alarmed me. I didn’t want to do anything to harm my child. “Okay. I’ll be in tomorrow.”

  “Good. I’ll consult with your obstetrician before you arrive. He can tell me if there are any other tests he’d like me to do.”

  “Can I resume my normal activity?”

  “You should be fine. Just don’t push yourself.” Chris gave me a tight-lipped smile as he stood from the couch. “If you need me before then, just call.”

  “Thank you.”

  He turned to leave as I sighed a breath of relief. At least the baby was okay. The news decreased my anxiety. So did hearing the rapid heartbeat of my child.

  When Chris was halfway across the room, he stopped and turned toward me once more. “I have to tell you, Mia, I was shocked as hell when you confessed you were pregnant. I’m happy for you, but can I ask a question?”

  “Of course.”

  Chris glanced at the door then back to me. “Is Ayden the father?”

  His question had me tensing my shoulders. I wasn’t sure why he wanted to know, but I nodded. “Please don’t tell him.”

  I didn’t miss the way he frowned. “The man has a right to know, but don’t worry. I won’t tell him. It’s your business to tell, but I urge you to do it. The less stress you have, the better your pregnancy will be.”

  “I know. Thank you for your help.”

  Nodding once more, he turned toward the door and exited the room. Andi said goodbye to him as he left then hurried to my side. “What did Chris say?”

  Before I answered, I noticed Bentley was still hanging out by the door. He wasn’t looking inside the room, but I had a feeling he was listening. I had to be careful about what I said to Andi.

  “Everything is okay. My exam was normal. Chris wants me to stop by his office for another, uh, test, but he cleared me for the evening.”

  “Thank God. I’ve been so worried about you.”

  She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me. I hated worrying her. This mess with Ayden was affecting my other relationships. I had to figure out a way to stop the madness. Maybe it was time to leave for a while. I could go someplace where those closest to me wouldn’t worry about my safety.

  “Mia, you’ve been taking on too much. Don’t worry about the concert tonight. I have everything under control.” Confidence was evident in Andi’s voice and posture. She was in work mode. “I think it’s best for you to go to your suite and rest. Then you can follow up with Chris in the morning.”

  “I appreciate that, but I’m not going anywhere. I promised Stevie I would watch her performance and I’m not going back on my word.”

  “Stevie will understand.” She hesitated when I shook my head. “Mia, listen to me. Don’t push yourself. You’re in a fragile position right now.”

  Standing from the couch, I fisted my hands and placed them on my hips. “I’m not a delicate flower that will fall apart at the first sign of stress. Chris explained to me what he thinks is wrong. If it’s what he suspects, nothing bad is going to happen.”

  “Maybe so.” She left the couch and stood in front of me. “But if you want to avoid Ayden tonight, your best bet is to go to your suite. I have a feeling he’ll come looking for you.”

  “Why?”

  Andi glanced toward the door again as she answered, “Bentley said Ayden wanted to check on you. He convinced him to leave you alone, but I’m not sure how long that will last.”

  “Then I’ll stay backstage in the wing. I can watch the performance from there out of Ayden’s sight. I’m sure he’ll be in the bar in a little while if he isn’t already.”

  “You’re so stubborn, Mia.” Andi crossed her arms and observed me. “Fine. I can’t make you leave, and I will do what I can to make sure Ayden doesn’t find you but I can’t promise anything.”

  “Go enjoy some time with Bentley. I’ll be all right.”

  Just mentioning his name was enough for her to look his way. He must have heard me speaking because he was gawking inside the room. Seizing the moment, I moved past Andi and made my way out the door. Bentley acknowledged me, but his eyes went back to my best friend.

  Thinking I was in the clear, I pivoted in the direction of the left wing when someone grabbed my shoulder. My fear sprung to life as I imagined the worst. Had Ayden found me?

  “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

  The sound of D’s voice chased away my fear. I met his gaze as he walked around to face me. One brow shot up in anticipation of my answer.

  “I’m going to the left wing to watch the performance, and please keep that information to yourself.”

  Remorse burned in his eyes. “I hate that we’re at a point where you don’t trust me again. I’m sorry for betraying your trust, Mia.”

  My guilt set my face on fire. It was my fault that I was caught off guard. I should have answered the few texts Ayden sent while he was on tour. Maybe then he wouldn’t have felt the need to wear a disguise to get close to me. D got caught in the middle of our drama.

  “If you want to earn my trust, don’t divulge information about me to anyone, especially Ayden.”

  “I thought I was helping.”

  “I know, but I can handle this.”

  He raised his hands to his side as if to surrender. “Okay. I won’t interfere with your relationship again. Do you accept my apology?”

  Nodding at him, I listened to the sound of Stevie’s voice as she began a new song. It upset me to know I’d missed the first one, but my health and my child’s health outweighed every other obligation. That included any kind of obligation I had to tell Ayden I was pregnant.

  “Did Chris figure out why you fainted?”

  Shrugging, I scanned the backstage, praying Ayden’s face wouldn’t come into view. So far, it hadn’t. “He thinks he knows why, but he needs to do another test. I should know something tomorrow.”

  “Good, because personally, I’m getting tired of carrying you around every time you faint.”

  My face scrunched as confusion spun inside me. “You’re the one who carried me from the parking lot?” When he nodded, my cheeks stung with heat. Twice he’d been nearby when I fainted, and both times he carried me to the closest room for a doctor. He was caught up in this crazy life of mine. I didn’t want it to damage him like it had in the past. D deserved to be happy, but he’d never find that life with me. I didn’t think Ayden would either.

  “Do you want to join me in the wing for the concert?”

  D shook his head. “As much as I’d love to, I’m meeting up with a couple of friends that are in town. Thank you, though. I appreciate your forgiveness.” He grabbed my pinky finger with his and lifted our hands. “Friends for infinity?”

  I chuckled at the pact we made while I was staying with him in L.A. “Friends for infinity.”

  Giving my hand a quick peck, he released it before he waved to me. Then he jogged toward the staircase that led to the bar. I continued my journey towar
d the left wing.

  As soon as I reached my destination, I found the perfect spot where I could watch the show and remain out of view to anyone in the bar. Most of the people backstage wouldn’t see me in this spot either. I clung to one of the stage drapes near a stack of trunks where we kept extra bulbs for the lights.

  Stevie was hitting the chorus of her song. The notes she hit blew me away. Her voice was beautiful, and at moments, haunting. I admired her talent much like my mother had.

  When the guitar solo began, I heard footsteps on the other side of the props my team had set up for the show. Perhaps it was one of my security guys on their way to escort the girls in the ticket booth to my office. I didn’t give it much thought until cologne penetrated my nose. The scent was familiar, but I didn’t realize why until I turned around to see who was behind me.

  My heart dropped when I came face-to-face with Ayden.

  Chapter 7

  ~Mia~

  My body trembled as I stared into the eyes of the man who’d broken my heart on more than one occasion. As much as I loved Ayden, I couldn’t keep doing this to myself. It wasn’t healthy, and I didn’t need the stress it was causing me.

  “What do you want?”

  “A chance to explain what really happened. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

  “So you can read my mind now. How convenient.”

  He winced at my response. I wasn’t sure he would say anything. He stood in silence, studying every inch of me. “I understand why you’re angry. I once misjudged something I saw too.”

  His words stung. I knew he was referring to the time he thought I was cheating on him when he found Wesley’s friend leaving my room. He wanted me to give him a chance to explain. Still, this wasn’t the first time he’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  “Mia, I swear to you, I was not doing anything with your sister. If you had walked up just a minute sooner, you would have heard me tell her to leave.”

  “What did she do, convince you that she’d make it worth your while?”

  “No!” He gritted his teeth and paused. After drawing in a deep breath, he released it and focused on me once more. “Izzy forced her way inside my suite. I told her to get out, but she kept taunting me about my relationship with you. Then she attacked me.”

  “She attacked you?” When he grimaced at my comment, I regretted the tone of my voice. It sounded skeptical when, I in reality, I believed him. Izzy was losing her mind more each day.

  “I told her to leave, even tried to push her away, but she undid my jeans and went down on her knees. I pushed her away again, but that’s when you showed up. I swear, Mia, I don’t want your sister. I want to be with you.”

  “You keep saying those words, but every time something goes wrong, my sister is there to come between us. She’s done it since the day she arrived. I can’t do this anymore.”

  “Don’t say that.” He reached for me but pulled back when I stepped away. “Izzy wants to come between us. Don’t let her win.”

  Anger filled me. I didn’t want my sister to win, but I couldn’t keep going through the stress of her interfering with my relationships. When she found out I was pregnant, she would be angry. When she learned it was Ayden’s child, she would be livid. I didn’t trust her sanity.

  “It’s over, Ayden.”

  I tried stepping around him, but he cut off my path and grabbed my arms. “I’m tired of you walking away from me every time something gets tough. Damn it, Mia, stop running. Talk to me. Let’s work through this.”

  “You’re confused, Ayden. You say you don’t want my sister, but twice someone has found her in your room. She swears you fathered her baby. After what I just saw—”

  “It’s not like that!” His grip tightened around my arms. “You know what your sister is capable of. Why are we still having trust issues over this? You swore you believed me when I said I didn’t sleep with her.”

  “I’m tired of worrying over whether or not she can take you from me. She wants everything good in my life. I can’t take it anymore.” Tears blurred my vision. He had no clue how much it hurt to say these things. I had no choice.

  “Mia—”

  “Just leave me alone.” I broke free of his grasp and made a few steps past him before he grabbed me again. This time, he spun me around and drew me to his chest.

  “I know you love me, damn it! You love me as much as I love you. I won’t give up on us. Nothing you say or do can convince me this over. Something powerful connects us, Mia.”

  If only he knew how right he was. Something was connecting us. Our child . . .

  Desperation consumed me. I wanted so much for everything to be out in the open. If he forgave me for keeping this from him, maybe could get away from Music Haven, as well as Izzy, for a little while. Then we could focus on us.

  “Get the hell away from her.” Andi’s voice broke through the thoughts racing through my mind. She rushed over to us and attempted to pry Ayden’s hands away from my arms. It didn’t work. He held me tighter.

  I cried out from the pain.

  “Stop it!” Andi grumbled.

  “Not until she stops talking all this crazy shit.”

  With brows furrowed, Andi did her best to wedge between us. Bentley came up behind her. I heard him begging Ayden to let me go and calm down, but nothing they said got through to him.

  “Ayden, don’t make me call security. Stop this nonsense.” Andi huffed as she backed away long enough to catch her breath. Then she pushed Ayden’s shoulder. “You’re hurting her. Let her go.”

  “Butt out of this, Andi.”

  “You don’t understand,” she screeched.

  I didn’t miss the concern in her eyes when she gave me a sideways glance. There was something else too. Regret. I had no idea what it all meant until she turned to Ayden again and blurted devastating words.

  “You’re hurting more than Mia. You’re hurting your baby.”

  ~Ayden~

  My hand opened as I released Mia from my grasp. Every sight and sound around me disappeared but her. I scanned over her body, taking in every inch. When I came to her stomach, heat flashed through me as Andi’s words replayed in my mind.

  “Baby?” I met Mia’s eyes. “What baby?

  She couldn’t hold my gaze. Instead, she peered at Andi. Her face contorted from a wide-eyed expression to a narrow scowl. I observed their steely gaze, but all I could do is think about what this meant.

  “Why, Andi? I trusted you.”

  “I’m sorry, Mia, but it’s time he knows.” Andi focused on me, but she didn’t say anything else.

  As much as I wanted to speak, I couldn’t get any words to form. Truth be known, I wasn’t sure how I felt. A storm brewed inside my heart, one that wreaked havoc on my rationality. Every piece of information that just landed in my lap was unbelievable. I felt as though I were part of an alternate universe.

  “Mia?” It took me a moment to say her name. I wasn’t sure I’d managed to get it out this time, especially when she didn’t look at me. “Is it true? Are you . . .?”

  The lump in my throat refused to disappear despite how many times I swallowed. Each second Mia refused to acknowledge me made that lump bigger. My palms grew sweaty and beads of sweat formed at the nape of my neck.

  After what felt like an eternity, she glanced at me and nodded. Reality crashed around me. My heart thumped at a rapid pace. A mixture of anger and confusion spun inside me as the missing piece lay before me. It completed the puzzle I’d been trying to solve for weeks.

  “You lied to me. I asked you this morning if you were pregnant.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?” I laughed half-heartedly and massaged my temples. “I can’t believe this. How long have you known?”

  “Since the night I passed out at the hospital.”

  Her answer had me wincing. That night had been horrible, including the way I treated her. I’d said things I didn’t mean, and ever since then, I’d b
een trying desperately to make up for my stupidity.

  So much made sense now, like the reason she kept getting sick. She’d been suffering from morning sickness. Still, the fact that she was pregnant didn’t explain everything, and that tiny detail increased my fear. “Is this why you’ve been passing out?”

  Glancing toward the floor, she shrugged her shoulders and hugged her chest. “It plays into it. Some of it has to do with my stress levels.”

  Guilt ate its way through my soul. I was a big reason she was stressed. All this bullshit with Izzy, along with my previous mistakes, had been too much for her to handle. Even so, it didn’t give her the right to hide this information from me. That hurt me more than anything.

  “When did you plan to tell me the news?”

  Her throat wobbled as she cleared it. “I don’t know.”

  It was like a punch to the gut. The truth had a way of doing that, and I was finding out firsthand how much it hurt. Mia had never lied to me. Knowing she had this time cut deep.

  “You sent me on tour without telling me the truth. Did you even plan to tell me?”

  Her mouth moved, though no words formed. Perhaps she was thinking up a lie to tell me. Maybe it was just finding the right words to say. I wasn’t sure there were any, so I understood why she was struggling to answer me.

  “Mia?”

  “I had planned to tell you when you came back from tour, then you decided to surprise me by coming back early. I was angry with you for the whole ruse you and D organized.”

  “That’s not a reason to keep the truth from me.”

  She glared at me this time. “It’s not my only reason.”

  This time, I crossed my arms and shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “Then enlighten me.”

  Mia glanced toward Andi and Bentley. Both were standing a few feet away observing us in silence. I assumed they were making sure things between Mia and me didn’t escalate. No one said anything.

  When Mia faced me once more, she shook her head. “I’m not doing this with you. Not here. Not now.”