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threw the contents overboard.  Give me the baby, he said.
Nearly blind with tears, Eva handed the bundle over.  I ll see you soon
little guy, I promise.
 And I promise you we will get you out of here, Ethan said as he placed
the baby in the duffel and zipped it shut.
He silently slipped out of the room and didn t return.
****
The devastating news that Ethan delivered threw the saloon into a stunned
silence. The medical team had just arrived, and Karl had been about to
direct them to the stateroom when Ethan came back in, his shirt rolled up
to the elbows, blood staining the pristine white cloth ominously.
Even though Trick knew the baby wasn t his, Karl s reaction was painful
to see. It was almost as if Karl believed the lie that Eva was his wife and
they d just suffered a huge loss. The guy looked lost, but once Ethan told
him that Eva needed urgent medical attention, he snapped back into action,
showing his medical team into the stateroom. He stayed inside to comfort
her and Ethan suggested they leave.
 Shouldn t we stay and make sure she s going to be okay? Sergei will have
our balls if we don t know at least make sure, Trick whispered urgently.
Sergei was going to be destroyed by this. Not only had they failed to rescue
the woman he loved, but their baby was gone forever, and he hadn t been
there with her.
 No. We need to get the hell out of here, Ethan hissed between gritted
teeth before ushering them to the speedboat.
 Jason, get us the fuck out of here as fast as you can, Ethan said in a
low voice as they climbed aboard.  No questions, he said as untied them
from the yacht.
Jason pulled away without a word while Trick went to sit down, confused
as hell.
 Don t sit there you ass! Ethan hissed as he started to lower himself on
the nearest bench.
Jason sped them away from the Angel s Folly. As soon as they were far
enough Ethan ran to the bench Trick had been about to sit on and he
removed the false top. He pulled out the medical bag and started frantically
pulling down the partially zipped closure. Reaching inside, he drew out a
towel wrapped bundle. A bundle that started crying as soon as he lifted it
into the night air.
Chapter 32
Sergei was pacing the deck of the Sha with a large scotch in hand. He
wasn t really drinking it, but holding it gave him something to focus on.
Something had gone wrong. The divers from plan B had checked in to say
that their window had closed without a signal from their men on board the
Folly. It had been hours with no word from Trick or the others, despite the
fact the speedboat had a satellite phone. He wanted to call them, but he
couldn t risk it. If his timing was off, he could endanger everything he loved.
Calen was sitting on a lounge chair on the deck nearby, keeping a silent
vigil with him. His best friend knew better than to try and talk to him right
now. Calen just stayed close, trying to hide the fact he was surreptitiously
checking his watch every other minute. He was actually doing a lot better
than Liam, who was somewhere below deck steadily getting drunk.
Sergei was worried about Trick and Jason, too, but Eva was his priority.
He knew it was sexist to worry about her more than the other two, but he
could see her so clearly in his mind s eye, so small and vulnerable in her
pregnancy.
He had no idea what she had gone through during her captivity what she
had had to do to keep herself and their baby safe while in the hands of an
unstable criminal. Sergei could only pray that she would let him help her
work past it, because no matter what had happened, it didn t change how he
felt about her and their future.
God, please let her be okay. And if she s not, leave me a place to start
from to make her well again.
If he was honest with himself, he wasn t sure there would be such a place
for him. During sleep, his worst fears took over. In that nightmare
landscape, he lost Eva over and over again.
It was the same every time, a mysteriously not pregnant Eva was rescued
only to tell him that she loved Karl before she walked away from him
forever.
He knew that wasn t going to happen, but the dream stayed with him
nevertheless. Somehow torturing himself with the idea that Eva would leave
him by choice kept him from thinking about all the things that could
happen to her that were outside of her power and his.
Only one thing was certain. If he got Eva back, he was never going to let
her out of his sight again. In fact, there were going to be times in the future
when she would want to strangle him for the way he was going to obsess
over her safety. But as long as he got the opportunity to surround her with
love as well as protection, maybe she would overlook the aggravation he was
sure to cause her.
Calen suddenly stood.  Did you hear that?
Sergei rushed to the rail. In the distance, he could just make out the
speedboat. Behind him was the sound of footsteps, but he couldn t tear his
gaze from the fast approaching boat. He clutched the rail reflexively as the
people in the back of the boat came into view.
Eva wasn t with them. It was only the three men. Trick was clutching a
duffel bag and Ethan...Ethan was covered in blood.
 Oh God, he whispered brokenly.
Eva was dead. She was dead, and his life was over. Grayson had killed her.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, but it couldn t break through the sudden
numbness that had enveloped him. A crowd had gathered behind him, but no
one said a word as Ethan tied up the boat and Jason killed the engine.
Trick climbed aboard first. He had let go of the bag but was still clutching
a bundle of towels. Oh, god. Maybe he d been stabbed too and was holding
the rags to his wound.
Trick stopped in front of him. His mouth opened and shut a few times as
he held the towels in front of him. But Sergei couldn t take his eyes off
Ethan s bloody shirt.
 Is she... He couldn t finish.
Trick shook his head.  I...I don t think so. Oh god Sergei she went into
labor early.
The sky above spun around his head with dizzying speed.
 I delivered the baby, Ethan said suddenly.  I had to. That s how I got
this way, he said gesturing to his shirt.  The medical team Grayson
assembled was too far out. We had to leave her in their care...she was
bleeding and needed their attention.
Sergei just stood there frozen. What were they saying? It didn t make
sense.
Ethan leaned closer to him.  Eva begged me to take the baby out of
there, he said.  She didn t want Grayson to have two hostages. She said if
he got his hands on the baby, then she d have to do whatever he said...
 The baby? Sergei asked blankly.
Wasn t the baby gone? How could there be that much blood all over Ethan
if the baby made it?
Trick pushed the bundle of towels into his arms. He held on automatically
as Jason pushed him inside the saloon onto a couch.
 I don t understand, he said hoarsely.
Then the towels in his arm moved. Frowning, he drew back the cloth. A
pair of sleepy blue eyes blinked up at him.
 Oh, he breathed.
****
Alex showed him how to feed and change his son for the first time. He even
had to show Sergei how to bathe a newborn, because Ethan hadn t had time
to clean the little boy up before he had gotten him off the Angel s Folly.
Without Eva. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]