“Luke, what’s going on?”
He takes a deep breath. “Ben Menetti hasn’t been to work all week. And this morning when I got to the office there was a message on the machine. All it said was, ‘Time is almost up’.”
What the hell do they mean, time is almost up? My body starts to shake uncontrollably as I take a seat at the table. Luke is kneeling by my side in an instant and taking my hands.
“Baby, you’re shaking. What’s wrong?”
I lift my face to look at the man I love, the man who takes my breath away every time he touches me.
“I saw Ben today at the pharmacy.”
Luke stands abruptly, his above six-foot frame towering over me.
“Shayne, what the hell were you thinking? I asked you not to leave the house by yourself. Baby, this man is dangerous and he knows that getting to you or Lucy is the one sure thing to destroy my family.”
Trying not to let the tears come, I push them back as hard as I can.
“Luke, listen to me. Ben did not notice me, I made sure of that. As soon as I saw him, I paid for my things and got out of the store as fast as I could. My point is, he is not missing. I saw him.”
Luke downs the rest of his beer and then pulls another one out of the fridge. He drinks half of it before he sets it back down and turns around to face me.
“I have no idea what that fucker is playing at. Antonio has a few people watching him but somehow they lost him, so please promise me that when you go out again, you will have someone with you? We will find him, and when we do we’ll be waiting for that motherfucking piece of shit to slip up and then we are going to take his ass down. But baby, I need to know you and Lucy are safe.”
I now realize that when I tell him about the baby he is going to be even more protective of me, but I won’t keep anything from him again, not this time. I want us to share every part of this pregnancy together. Stopping in front of him, I take his hands in mine and bring them up to my mouth and place a soft kiss on each one. I look directly into his eyes and all I see is fear from my big strong man, and I pray that what I am about to tell him is going to make him happy.
Sucking in a breath and letting it out slowly, I bring our hands back down and place them on my stomach.
“There is a reason I went to the store today,” I say softly.
He starts to say something but I shush him by placing my lips gently over the top of his. I can’t seem to get the words to come out of my mouth so I let go of his hands and bring mine up to wrap around his neck and press my body into his, which causes him to deepen the kiss. Luke brings his hands around to cup my ass and pull me closer to him. After a few minutes of devouring each other’s mouths, I pull away.
“There is something in my back pocket for you.”
Giving me a curious look, he reaches into my pocket and pulls out the pregnancy stick. He looks at it and then looks at me and then back to the stick and then back to me.
“Luke. Say something, please.”
Luke is just standing there staring at me. Feeling my heart rate start to pick up, I start to back away from him.
“You’re pregnant?” he finally says.
“Yes.”
That is all I can manage to get out, as I am not sure how he is feeling.
“I just don’t know what to say, baby. I thought you were on the pill. Holy shit, Shayne! We’re having a baby. Are you sure?”
I feel the biggest smile start to spread across my face.
“I am positive. And, I am on the pill.”
I shrug my shoulders because I really don’t have an answer. We both know that not everything is one hundred percent guaranteed…we have Lucy as proof, because I was on the pill when we conceived her, too.
“It happened the first night we made love. I know it did,” I say.
Running a hand down my cheek until he reaches my chin, he cups it in his big, strong hand.
“That was one of the best nights of my life, Shayne Andrews. I didn’t think I could be any happier than the day I first laid eyes on our beautiful daughter, but you, my love, have proven me wrong.”
A silent tear starts to roll down my face as I listen to his beautiful words, but I full out start bawling as Luke releases me and drops to his knees. He lifts up my shirt and places kisses around my still flat stomach. He starts talking to the baby.
“Daddy is so excited to watch you grow in Mommy’s belly and then to take your first breath in this world.”
Luke gazes up into my eyes as the tears keep falling.
“Baby, you have made me so happy. This time I will be by your side for the entire pregnancy, right where I belong. Being here with you right now in this moment…I have never loved you more than I do right now.”