Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
“I have my own clinic, Li. I have a surgery and everything. I’ve done C-sections in the clinic.” She backtracked as she saw Li’s eyes flare. “Not that I had a C-section. Somehow my vagina was able to spit him out. I didn’t even need an episiotomy. Turns out I’m super stretchy down there.”
Li frowned, looking over at his wife. “Do I want to know what she’s talking about?”
“Absolutely not.” Avery led her to a comfy chair in front of the fireplace. “Sit and rest for a bit. We’ve got a guest room and I’ll pull Aidan’s travel crib out of the closet.”
Stephanie shook her head, grateful to have diverted Liam from his cause. She could give him another one to worry about. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Like I said, I’m in trouble and I’m worried about staying in one place for too long. I heard that sometimes McKay-Taggart will stash a client in a safe house. I thought I could stay in a motel tonight if you could get me a meeting in the morning. I know the group has to decide whether or not to take a case. Uhm, they’ll also have to decide if they work on a payment plan because I’m going to need one.”
Liam held her baby in his big arms and the sight pierced her with longing. Nate had never been held by a man. Her nurses were all women and Alfi Dauterre, her recently hired security expert, had zero interest in babies. The Aussie soldier of fortune sometimes showed up at her clinic, offering her help in exchange for a room, a meal, and free medical care. He needed a lot of antibiotics. Liam picking up her baby was the first time he’d been held in manly arms, and Nathan seemed utterly fascinated with him.
“We’ll take the case and there won’t be any talk of payment,” Liam replied. “And you’ll stay right here.”
He didn’t understand. “I can’t thank you enough, but I know you have protocols.”
“Not for family, we don’t.” Li’s big hand patted Nathan’s back, easing him down until he settled his head against Li’s shoulder. “Trust me. We’ll meet tomorrow but the only question is going to be what we do to help you. There won’t be a question of whether we take the job or not. You do understand that Big Tag owes you? He’ll do anything you need. Do you need him to kill Brody Carter? Because he’ll do that, too. See, there’s a question we will have to decide. I say it should be me who murders the big bastard, but Tag might want to play, too.”
She couldn’t help but laugh a little. “You can’t kill Brody.”
“Are you trying to tell me this boy ain’t his?”
So old-fashioned. “I’m trying to tell you that boy is mine. I chose to have him.”
“You didn’t conceive him on your own and you know it.”
“I think what Stephanie is trying to say is that Brody didn’t want a child,” Avery explained quietly. “She made the decision to have him. What’s his name again?”
“Nathan.” She looked up at Avery. “Nathan Avery Gibson.”
Avery’s eyes were shining as she looked down at her. “That is a lovely name. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.” She frowned suddenly. “Of course if you thought enough of me to give your son my name, you probably should have called and mentioned that you were pregnant. Steph, I called you not two months ago to tell you that I was pregnant again. You didn’t think to mention you’d had one of your own?”
“I wasn’t sure how to tell you,” she offered lamely. The truth was she’d frozen when she’d gotten the call from Avery. It had been three days after Nate’s birth and all she’d been able to think about was the fact that Avery was having baby number two and Nate would be an only child of a single mother who could barely afford the necessities.
“I think what Stephanie’s saying is she was ashamed. Which is the bloody stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Liam’s voice raised and that had Nate’s head coming up. She worried he might start crying, but he simply looked at Liam and then turned his head her way as though he totally agreed with the lecture his uncle was delivering. “What exactly did you think would happen, Stephanie? Did you plan on never seeing us again?”
Damn, that was one judgmental Irishman. “No. Not at all. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
“I was planning on checking in on you in a month or two. I’ve got corporate clients who take me into West Africa and I was going to show up on your doorstep. Would I have even been welcome?”
She’d stepped in it. “Of course. I would have been thrilled to see you. And I was going to call. I promise. It didn’t go through my head once that I wouldn’t see you again. I was going to call and tell you about Nate after I figured out how to make sure you didn’t kill his father.”