Page 1 of Fatal Love
Chapter One
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“UGGGHH…”PAIN RIPPEDthrough Beatrice’s belly as Cal drove them through downtown DC in the middle of a warm summer night. Gripping the armrest and doing her damnedest not to groan, she wondered if she were giving birth to a human baby or a two-hundred-pound giraffe.
“We’ll be there in no time,” her husband, Cal, tried to reassure her. His brow was furrowed, his face tight with a combination of fear and determination, all highlighted by the glow from the dashboard.
So much for reassurance.
Her lips pressed together to keep in the primal scream pushing against them. Her back spasmed, robbing her of breath. As she mentally counted off the seconds, she bobbed her head in an effort to acknowledge his statement and try to relieve his concern.
Breathe, she told herself.Remember what Maria taught you.
Maria, her midwife, and Trace, her bodyguard, followed behind as Cal sped through the night toward their home.
Her water had broken on the plane while on their way back from Chicago; another mission for Rock Star Security—that had become a Shadow Force International operation—wrapped up and put to bed. The baby was overdue, but Beatrice had been in good health with no signs of impending labor when she’d flown to Chicago to help out one of her favorite employees and a CIA operative who’d been in deep trouble.
They were all okay, and now it was time to get her baby out into the world.
“I can’t believe that voodoo shit Maria did to you worked,” Cal said. The baby would probably still not be on its way if Maria hadn’t used some type of reflexology on Beatrice’s feet and gotten things going.
The worst of the contraction passed and Beatrice drew a shallow breath, then another, deeper one. “It’s not…voodoo,” she huffed. “It’s proven medicine.”
Cal grunted. “Should’ve had her wait until you were home to give you that prescription.”
Probably. “I didn’t really believe it would work.”
“So you admit it isn’t based on science.”
Not any science her genius mind had studied, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t legit. “Acupressure techniques have been a part of traditional Eastern medicine for centuries.”
He made a light scoffing noise and switched lanes. “I’d feel better if you’d let me take you to GWU.”
George Washington University hospital was only minutes away. Their home on the outskirts of Silver Spring, Maryland, was closer to thirty.
“I’m having this baby at home,” Beatrice insisted. “I hate hospitals.”
Cal knew that, but she felt the need to say it anyway. All the men in her life—and there were a lot because of the Rock Stars and SFI operatives—knew she was always right about her decisions, and yet none of them trusted her judgment with this.
“It’s just not like you, B,” her husband, a former SEAL said. “You’re so…”
Analytical. Calculating. Logical. She waited for him to say one of the obvious choices. Her brain ran on facts and proven strategies, not emotions and the “whoo whoo” stuff Cal had designated the alternative medicine Maria used.
“Empirical?” Beatrice filled in the blank for him. “Yes, I’m usually left-brained. However, I assure you, there is compelling evidence suggesting home births are better for the babyandthe mother. There is nothing illogical nor theoretical about what I’m doing.”
Cal shook his head. “I think you’ve been spending too much time with Hunter.”
Trace Hunter was a super soldier, part of a scientific testing program to generate unstoppable fighters. He was the only one who’d survived the program and now worked for SFI.
But for all of his superior skills, the thing that everyone fixated on was his love of yoga, meditation, and natural living. “You assigned him to me.”
Traffic was light in the very early morning hours, for which she was thankful. As they broke free of the main DC area heading north, she could see more stars.
A beautiful night to give birth.
Jaxon Sloan had warned her that it could be hours, days even, since this was her first baby. One of the former SEALs who worked for SFI, he was also going to be their first official staff doctor as soon as he finished his training. She’d teased him about delivering her baby, but part of her had been serious. Beatrice didn’t trust many people with her own life; entrusting someone with her child’s life required serious work on her part.
