EIGHTEEN
CLAIRE FORCED HER WAY PAST the men streaming into the cabin, desperate to get away from the scene inside. Luke. He must be scared to death. She’d heard him yelling through the phone. God, she’d come so close to losing everything.
“Ma’am,” said one of the men she recognized as belonging to Jackson’s security team. “Are you okay?”
He took her by the arm, but before he could stop her, she saw Luke running toward her. His face was etched with pain, tortured, and then he saw her, and it was as if the sun came out from behind a cloud.
“I’m okay. Luke, I’m okay. We’re okay. Both of us. He didn’t hurt us.” She needed for him to know. She couldn’t stand for him to be worried for one minute longer.
He took the steps two at a time and then he was there, holding her, wrapping his body around her, sheltering her, and nothing mattered but them.
“Sweetheart, are you okay? You’re sure he didn’t hurt you?” He cupped her face with his hands, searching her eyes.
“He didn’t touch me. I’m so sorry. I almost ruined everything. I didn’t know you were here. When he made me leave my phone behind…” She fought the sob threatening to bubble up. She knew her tears would wreck him, and last thing she wanted to do was make things harder for him. “He was crazy. I didn’t think you could find me in time. I couldn’t let him make you listen.”
This time she couldn’t contain her crying. She’d been so sure she and her baby were going to die, and the best she could do was keep Samson from using them to torture Luke. She’d lunged for the door waiting to feel the bullet rip through her body. When the shot rang out, it had been Samson who fell, but it could have so easily been her. Her escape attempt could have cost her life and her baby’s, with Luke just moments from reaching them.
“It’s over, sweetheart. It’s over. I won’t let anything touch you ever again.” He pressed his lips to her hair, holding her tight to him. Her cheek rested against his chest, the tight round mound of their baby nestled between them. He kissed her head and stroked her back, while she listened to the steady beat of his heart.
“Sir, are you ready to go home?”
Claire looked up to see Jackson standing beside them, his normally serious expression even more severe than usual. When he saw her watching, he turned his attention from Luke to her.
“Do you need a hospital, miss?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. She couldn’t stand the idea of being out of Luke’s sight even for a moment.
“Have the doctor meet us at the penthouse,” said Luke. “Is he…?”
“Dead? Yes sir. You and Ms. English are the reason we were able to get a clear shot. It looked like he was distracted by whatever he heard on the phone. He might have realized you were close. You distracted him, but it wasn’t until Ms. English tried to run that Jason could take the shot. Samson was dead before he hit the floor.”
She was glad. She wanted him dead, had wished for it. But wanting it and the reality were very different things, and she couldn’t seem to stop the tremors shaking her body.
“Let’s get you home, sweetheart.”
AFTER A QUICK exam and check of her vitals, the doctor pronounced the baby unharmed by Claire’s ordeal. But he seemed to understand that she and Luke both needed something more. He handed her the stethoscope, and let first her, and then Luke listen to their baby’s heartbeat. Hearing the fast rhythm that couldn’t belong to her, beating so steady and strong, made something relax deep in her chest. She watched Luke’s face relax as he listened, too.
Luke showed the doctor to the door before coming back to sit on the sofa and pull her bare feet onto his lap.
“Do you want to take a bath, sweetheart?”
“I can’t,” she said, remembering.
“Why not? I thought you loved soaking in the tub.” His forehead creased and she saw worry cloud his expression. “I wouldn’t have to join you if that’s the problem. I can’t leave you alone, not tonight, but I could sit in the bathroom.”
She struggled to sit up, hating that he thought she was trying to avoid him.
“I can’t because I went to the salon today.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” he asked looking genuinely puzzled. “You can go back and get your hair done again in the morning, if you want. Hell I can have someone come here tonight, if you’d rather.”
“It’s not that.” Her face heated, and she realized she was blushing. She was marrying this man and having a baby with him. Why couldn’t she simply say she got a wax? “It was supposed to be a wedding present,” she said feeling silly. “I can’t bathe until tomorrow.”
“Show me,” he said, a wicked gleam in his eyes, and Claire remembered the other things she wasn’t supposed to do.
“It’s not just the bath,” she said and saw his expression shift when he realized what she was talking about.
“What time was your appointment?” he asked, glancing at his watch.
