Page 70 of Embattled Ever After

Alex leaned into him again, laughing softly. “Oh, Duncan, I think you just voiced the fear of every single parent in the world. I bet if you asked Shannon that question, she’d have the same concerns.”

Her words made sense. Responsibility was a heavy weight, and he already had a lot of it on his shoulders.

“I would like to try again as well,” she told him softly. Her voice had gone soft again, and he realized she had to be tired.

Gently nudging her up, he stood beside her. “Let’s go to bed.”

There was a flash of something in her eyes, before she smiled softly. “Would you mind just holding me tonight? I don’t think I have the energy to make love. I’ll be more excited about us getting back together tomorrow, I promise.”

Laughing, he guided her to the bedroom. “That sounds completely all right.”

And it did. Yes, if she offered him her body he would oblige her, but there was some underlying current of sadness to her that made him want to comfort her. So, when they reached his bedroom they each took a turn in the bathroom, then headed to bed. He left his boxers on, and she left her T-shirt and panties on. And when she settled against him with a sigh, he felt just as content. It had been weeks since he’d seen her, but this closeness was what he had missed. She was the only person in the world he could do this with. She was the only one hewantedto do this with.

They slept hard. They were so tired from the traumatic day before. When they woke late, they knew they needed to get moving. Shannon was going to be released from the hospital, and they needed all available personnel on duty just in case the accident hadn’t been an accident.

They rode to the hospital together, quietly holding hands. Duncan knew they needed to be focusing on other things, but it was very difficult to drag his eyes away from Alex. In the early winter light, her skin looked like alabaster, and her eyes shone like flawless emeralds. She’d drawn her hair back into an elegant French braid, then tucked it under her toboggan. Stunning. Just absolutely stunning.

The emotions she stirred in him were very different than anything he’d ever felt before, but he relished them. If he was going to commit to this relationship, he was going to do it whole-heartedly.

“So, you took a break from work?”

“Yes. Just a leave of absence. I’m too good at my job for them to let me go for very long, but I have a lot of accumulated time owed to me. I told them I was taking it one way or the other. Honestly, I’ve been searching for a change for a while, I think. Talking to the guys at Harmony House inspired me to start thinking about a new specialty. I don’t know yet.” She waved her hands in frustration. “I’m hungry, you know? But it may not just be the job. I had a taste of something special with you and it made me want more.”

In spite of himself, Duncan grinned. “I guess I’m kind of sorry I disrupted your life then.”

Alex laughed. “I can tell you are.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Aiden didn’t know whatit was, but the sense that something wasoffgrated along his senses. There was a weight to the air that told him his target was near. Glancing around the parking lot, he tried to identify where the man was, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The morning was as chilly as he’d expected, but he didn’t want to start the truck. It would send up a plume of exhaust, visible from a long way away. If anyone was watching, it would identify him immediately.

Actually, he needed to slide in and see what was going on with Palmer’s woman. As long as she’d made it through the night without problems, she should be released this morning as soon as the doctor had seen her.

Slipping from the truck, he pulled his coat tight around him and headed for the door. Glancing up, he looked for the big guy who had been on the roof, but didn’t see him. That was one scary motherfucker. His demeanor spoke to heavy training, and it didn’t take binoculars to see the heavy-duty weapon at his side.

Striding out, Aiden walked into the hospital like he had a purpose for being there. That was all most people looked for. Confidence. He took the stairs up to the third floor and timed a casual pass through the nurse’s station. They were serving breakfast right now and waking patients, so there was no one manning the station right then. He glanced at the desk, looking for files or iPads he could get into, the something on the back wall drew his attention. He snickered. They couldn’t have made it any easier for him, her name was right there in front of him in blue marker. Murphy—Release per D.O., or doctor’s orders. Cool.

Aiden wondered if he dared peek down the hallway. He wouldn’t really see her and he ran the chance of being caught in the act, but he just wanted to make sure she was okay. It was obvious by the way Palmer doted on her that they were very much in love. Aiden smiled to himself… that was very cool.

Turning, he made his feet take him away from the room. He would find a place to stake out the area and hopefully, if LeBoutin appeared, he would be able to derail his plans without getting himself killed in the process.

***

John wanted toget going ASAP. They’d been sitting in this damn hospital room waiting around like sitting ducks and he wanted to get home where he could watch his cameras and control his surroundings.

The on-call OB had come in this morning and agreed that Shannon could go home, so she was in the bathroom getting dressed now. They’d filled out all the release paperwork and taken all the warnings about being careful of the babies. He’d bitten his tongue several times, on the verge of shouting at them to shut the fuck up and move on. That wouldn’t help anyone and Shannon would just give him that chiding look of hers, so he hadn’t gone there.

Chad and Zeke were outside, watching the route. When John and Shannon arrived at the front door of the hospital to leave, Chad would have John’s truck waiting for them. Zeke would bring up the rear. They all wore their radio earpieces and could talk to each other at a whisper.

Duncan and Alex had arrived a few minutes ago and waited against the far wall. They would lead them out, then fall back when they got to the ground floor. John felt good about having Alex around. If anything did happen to Shannon, she would be right there ready to help. And judging by the new closeness between Duncan and Alex, it looked like she might be staying around for a while. Duncan watched Alex like he knew he, himself, watched Shannon and that was a really good sign.

Shannon stepped out of the bathroom, looking fresh and beautiful in a long, dark blue sweater that draped down over her curvy hips, which were clad in leggings a darker shade of blue.

“These are so comfortable,” she sighed, tossing the hospital gown across the mattress with a grimace. “I hate those nasty things.”

“They make them to be functional, not pretty,” Alex told her.

It didn’t matter what she wore. Shannon was beautiful to him. The pregnancy wasn’t really visible yet, but for a moment he imagined her belly protruding with his two children, and it choked him up. She would be beautiful big or small, happy or angry. And the children would be adorable.

---