Bodyguard's Baby Surprise. Lisa Childs
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asked to work for him—because she’d missed him so much when he’d been deployed.
“It’s fine,” Annalise said. But the crack in her voice made it sound as if she was anything but fine. “I’ll see him when he comes back.”
“Will you stay in River City and wait for him?” Nikki asked.
“I—I could check into a hotel,” Annalise said. “I haven’t yet.”
Logan wondered why. Had she worried about her reception from Gage? Or had something—or someone else—made her afraid of staying?
“I don’t know how long he’ll be gone,” Logan reminded her.
“Maybe I could stay at Gage’s place,” Annalise murmured.
“He’s been staying with Agent Rus,” Nikki said.
Would his sister ever accept that Nick was their brother? Logan hadn’t been happy, either, to learn their father had betrayed their mother. But he hadn’t blamed Nick.
Annalise’s face paled even more, and she quickly said, “I can’t stay there.”
From what Logan had been told, Gage had grown up next door to Nick in Chicago—making them as close as brothers. Obviously Annalise hadn’t felt any more like a sister to Nick than Nikki did.
“You can stay with me,” Nikki offered. She must have recognized what Logan had—Annalise was scared. Or maybe she just liked that Annalise wasn’t a fan of Nick’s, either.
But the blonde shook her head. “I couldn’t impose.”
“No imposition at all,” Nikki assured her. “Did a cab drop you here?” She glanced around as if looking for bags.
Annalise shook her head again. “I drove my car. It’s not that far a drive from Chicago.”
“So you’re parked out front?” Nikki asked. “I am, too. You can follow me back to my place and we’ll get you settled in.”
“And I’ll see about sending a replacement for Gage so he can come back early,” Logan offered. If Annalise was as scared as he suspected she was, she needed family. She needed her brother.
Nikki held open the door for her, and Annalise walked out with his sister. They were gone for only a moment when he heard the scream and the squeal of tires.
As usual, his instincts had been right—Annalise was in danger. And that danger had followed her to River City. He drew his weapon, just as his brothers had, and the three of them rushed out to the street. But they hadn’t reacted quickly enough—because gunshots rang out.
They were too late.
Nick’s heart hammered against his ribs as fear and panic overwhelmed him. He flashed his shield and hurried past hospital security—into the ER waiting room. Logan and Cooper rushed up to him.
“Where is she?” he asked. “And how badly is she hurt?” She had to be hurt or they wouldn’t have brought her here. His panic intensified and pressed on his lungs, stealing his breath.
Logan shook his head. Was it so bad that he couldn’t answer him?
“We don’t know yet,” Logan said. “A doctor is checking her out.”
“What happened?” he asked. What was she even doing in River City? Gage hadn’t called her, and it sounded as if his email to her had been brief. Had she come to visit Nick?
Six months had passed since that night. Six months with no contact, which had been unusual for her. Before, she had always called or texted or emailed him to see how he was doing. But not this time.
Not after what he’d done...
No. She hadn’t come to visit him.
Logan shrugged. “We didn’t see it. She and Nikki had stepped outside...” He pushed his hand through his black hair. “But I knew she was in danger.”
“How?” Nick asked.
“She looked scared,” Logan said.
What the hell did Annalise have to fear? Then Nick remembered that house—his mother’s house—and how badly it had been ransacked, like his place kept getting ransacked. He shook his head. It couldn’t be related. His mother’s house had sat vacant for months. That was why someone had broken into it.
“Thanks for calling me,” Nick said.
“I was going to call Gage,” Logan admitted. “But Cooper told me to call you instead.”
Nick spared Cooper a glance of gratitude. Even though Gage hadn’t spoken of it yet, Cooper, as a Marine himself, must have sensed what Gage had been through and understood that he hadn’t been ready to see his sister. And how would he handle her being hurt? Even Nick couldn’t handle it.
“I’m glad I’m the one you called,” Nick said.
“Annalise won’t be,” Nikki said as she walked into the waiting room through a door marked No Admittance. She had come from inside the hospital, maybe inside the ER.
“Where is she?” he anxiously asked. He had to see her—had to make certain she was all right.
“She doesn’t want to see you,” his half sister said. Even though she couldn’t stand him, she probably wasn’t lying.
Because of what had happened—and his silence for the past six months—he could understand if she never wanted to see him again.
But she was Annalise, always so warm and affectionate. Surely she would forgive him...even if he would never be able to forgive himself.
* * *
Annalise’s head pounded as images flashed through her mind. It had all happened so quickly. She had walked outside with Nikki, only to find two men breaking into her car.
Not again...
Frustrated and angry, she had reacted without thinking. She’d run across the street to stop them. The moment she’d crossed the road, she had realized her mistake. She had gotten too close. One of them had reached out, wrapped a huge hand around her arm and jerked her toward the open back door of her car.
She’d screamed then. And shots had rung out—fired from close range and also from across the street. She had struggled harder, fighting for herself and her baby. She had to get away. If she left with them...
The car started away from the curb, but she was half in and half out, her feet touching the road. She reached up and clawed at the face of the man holding her. He howled and released her, and she tumbled to the asphalt.
She pressed trembling hands over the mound of her belly. What had she done? She had been so stupid to run toward the car—so careless. What if her baby had been harmed?
Her belly shifted beneath her palms as her baby moved. At her last regular OB appointment, she’d had an ultrasound, but the doctor hadn’t been able to determine the sex. Annalise didn’t care what she was having—just that the baby was healthy. He or she had to be okay.
Annalise had been scared when she’d found out she was pregnant—scared that she wouldn’t be able to handle raising a child alone. But she had never been as scared as she was now—not even when that man had grabbed her. Her heart pounded frantically, making the machine next to her bed beep faster. The curtain partitioning her bed off from the rest of the ER rustled. The doctor must have returned with the ultrasound results.
“Is my baby okay?” she asked.
“Baby?” a deep voice, gruff with emotion, repeated the word.
Her heart rate sped faster as she glanced up into Nick’s handsome face. While he looked like every one of the