I couldn’t let someone else tell Dad I was pregnant before I had a chance to talk to him. Especially if I wanted to keep Lyric around. And breathing.
Five minutes later, the doctor left, and the nurse was doing blood work on me. Things moved quickly after that. A tech pushed an ultrasound machine into the room just as the nurse was putting a bandage on my arm and telling me to get comfortable.
The doctor came back into the room with the on-call OB/GYN, thankfully a woman, but I suddenly felt like a specimen under a microscope. Clutching Lyric’s hand, I tensed as the tech pushed the wand into me to do a vaginal ultrasound, and I tried to relax when she asked me to.
Lyric lifted my hand to his lips. “It’s okay. I’m right here,” he murmured softly. “I got you.”
“Looks like everything is as it should be,” the tech commented a few minutes later.
“Not completely,” the obstetrician said and nudged the tech out of the way. She began adjusting the wand, being considerably more careful than the tech had been, and started pushing keys on the machine. “So,” she said, glancing first at me then Lyric before returning her gaze to the screen. “This is Baby. Heartbeat looks good. Everything is coming along very well. But here…” She adjusted the wand again, and I whimpered at the tenderness I was suddenly feeling. “This is Baby Two.”
I wasn’t even a little bit surprised she was telling us it was twins.
“Identical?” Lyric asked.
“It looks like we have two separate sacs, so no.” She was still messing around, and I was ready for her to tell us there were more than two. When she didn’t, I began to relax. Twins, I could deal with. More than that, I wasn’t so sure.
“I would like you to take things easy, Mila,” the doctor told me as she carefully pulled the wand from me. “Right now, your body is learning to adjust to being pregnant. That can affect a woman’s blood pressure, and it seems to be giving you more issues than most. I want you to avoid taking hot showers or baths. When you go from lying down to sitting, and sitting to standing, I want you to move slowly. Sit up, then slowly stand. With help, if you can. Falling is a big risk right now with your blood pressure so low.”
“I’ll make sure she takes it easy,” Lyric assured her, his fingers squeezing mine.
“Good. Also, try to keep stress at a minimum. Any time we have a multiple pregnancy, I treat them as high-risk, no matter the situation. I know avoiding stress is like trying to avoid breathing, but the more relaxed Mom is right now, the better.” She pulled off her gloves and tossed them in the trash. “I want to see you in my office in a week, Mila. We can do another ultrasound. I would like to do a monthly one on you throughout this pregnancy, and closer to delivery, we should do them weekly. Just to keep a close eye on everything these two kiddos are doing behind closed doors.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I just have one question.” The woman lifted a brow, waiting for me to voice it. “Is sex safe?”
Beside me, I felt Lyric tense, but I couldn’t look at him. I wanted him so damn bad, but first, I needed to know if it was safe to be with him. We both knew he wanted to ask the same question, but for some reason, he’d kept quiet so far.
The doctor’s lips tilted up. “As long as you aren’t experiencing any discomfort during intercourse, sex is fine. But if you start spotting, or happen to feel any pain or discomfort during, I would advise you to forgo vaginal sexual activity.”
Her gaze went from me to Lyric inquisitively. “Any other questions?”
When Lyric remained quiet, I shook my head. “No. Not at the moment.”
She smiled compassionately. “My staff will be in touch. See you next week.”
She and the ER doctor left, telling me a nurse would be in with discharge papers, and then I could go home. As the door shut behind them, Lyric released a relieved breath. “I’m glad you and the babies are okay.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling unsure of myself, which was an odd experience for me. I was usually the most confident person in a room, but right then, I wasn’t sure of anything. Pregnancy seemed to be turning me upside down. I felt off-kilter, as if nothing was ever going to be the same again, and I wasn’t sure if that was scary or exciting.
“Do you want to go ahead and get dressed? The nurse should be back soon, from what the doctor said.” He touched my arm and I closed my eyes, loving the feel of his skin on mine, but a wave of ice-cold terror washed over me.
“You have to go,” I whispered, fighting tears. “My dad is going to kill you.”
“Not this again,” he grumbled. “Listen to me, babe. I am not scared of your dad or his friends. The only thing that scares me is something happening to you and our babies.”
“The three of us will be fine,” I half sobbed. “My dad is dangerous, Lyric. I’m his little girl, and you got me pregnant without marrying me first. He will lose his mind and start shooting—or worse, slit your throat. You have to go. I’ll talk to Mom, find a safe house in another country or something. I can’t let him kill you.”
“Stop it, Mila,” he said with a laugh. “I can handle myself with your dad. Just let me talk to him. We’ll get this sorted out. Don’t worry. Okay, baby?”
“You’re not taking this seriously!” I yelled at him as I jumped to my feet.
But of course, I’d gotten up too fast. The world started to go dark around the edges of my vision, and I felt light-headed all of a sudden. A curse left Lyric as he wrapped one arm around my back, holding me against his hard body while his other hand tucked my head against his chest. “The doctor told you to be careful, woman,” he scolded. “Stop making my heart stop. You’re the one who’s going to kill me, not your dad.”
I clung to him, my vision returning, and the world stopped spinning so fast. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you. My dad—”
“Can suck it,” he growled before kissing the top of my head. “I have my family to take care of. I’m not leaving you. I refuse to run away, and you need to stop pushing me on this.”
I loved his confidence. It made me want him even more. But he was only fooling himself if he thought he could handle my dad and my uncles. They would kill him first and ask questions later.
“Come on,” Lyric urged. “Let me help you get dressed, and then we can go home.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I tried to argue even as he pulled the gown off me, leaving me standing there in only my bra.
He inhaled sharply, his hypnotic eyes swirling with hunger and something else I hadn’t seen there yet. He clenched his fingers into fists and took a step back. “You better put your clothes on, babe. If I touch you right now, I’m going to bend you over and fuck you. It’s been too damn long since I’ve felt your pretty pussy wrapped around my cock.”
I pressed my thighs together, almost wishing he would do just that and put us both out of our misery. Quickly, I pulled on my panties and jeans then my shirt. Once I was covered, he let out a long exhale.
“I don’t think we should go to my house,” I repeated. “Let’s figure this out, and then we can talk to my parents.”
His brow furrowed. “I didn’t want to go to your house. I said we were going home. Our home.”
“What home?” I groaned in frustration. “We don’t live together, Lyric.”
“We do now. I bought a house close to the high school. I didn’t come here to play around, Mila. This is where you live, so this is where I’m putting down roots. Good thing the house has several extra bedrooms. We can turn one into a nursery, and then when the kids get older, they can decide if they want separate rooms or to share one. Luca and I shared one for years because we hated being away from each other.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and started taking one off. When he was done, he handed it over to me. “This is to the back door. I don’t have the extra to the front door with me, but I’ll get it for you once we are home. You’ll also need the shop’s keys.”
“Why would I need the shop’s keys?” I muttered, taking the house key from him in a daze.
“I want us to work together. You can take care of the front. Didn’t you say you do that for your dad?” I nodded and he grinned. “So, you have plenty of experience.”
“I can’t just—” What, I wondered as I broke off. I couldn’t just leave my dad to deal with his shop on his own? He didn’t need me. Monroe could help him just as easily as I could. And now that Maverick was working there with his own clients, River was always stopping by and helping out too. It wasn’t like I would be leaving them in a bind or anything.
“Yes, you can,” he said and bent to kiss the corner of my mouth. “We’re a team now, my Mila. Me and you. Nothing and no one else matters.”
Chapter 15
Lyric
“I thought you said we were going to your house,” Mila complained as I drove home.
“Our house,” I corrected her, keeping my eyes on the road. I’d already learned plenty of kids played outside after school in the neighborhood, and some of them obviously needed better parental supervision the way they were always running into the street.