Bane (29 page)

Sniffles stopped my story. Maren squeezed my hand. “Maren, it’s why I vowed to never be close to anyone. It’s why I denied myself from telling you that I wanted you to stay. For us to have a chance to figure things out. Then, the baby was like the miracle I needed to keep you in my life.”

Anticipation filled me as I waited for her response. All I wanted was to have a chance.

The bed shifted and I felt Maren scoot closer. “The baby is a miracle, Bane. It’s our miracle. I get it, I do. I’m scared about being a mom, giving you another chance, living through this threat that I see hanging over us as we wait for the next thing to happen. It’s a lot to process.”

A thought occurred to me on what I could do. I squeezed Maren’s hand. “Let’s get some sleep.”

“Okay.” I could tell that was not the response she expected. Showing her would be better than telling her.

Through the night, we never let each other’s hand go. It was the first time in a week I’d slept.

Morning was upon us as I finished putting the bagel and cream cheese on a plate with Maren’s orange juice. For now, she kept her breakfasts simple for the slight nausea she had. Thank goodness she hadn’t been too sick. Some smells bothered her more than others … especially meat.

I nudged open the door to see Maren’s brunette hair splayed across the pillow while she peacefully slept.
My angel.
She’d unknowingly snuggled closer to me through the night and whispered my name. Music to my ears as I cherished the way her body felt against mine.

She stirred. Normally she woke up around seven. It was seven twenty-three. I laid the tray on the nightstand. “Morning, angel. How does breakfast in bed sound?”

Wiping her eyes she smiled sleepily at me. “I haven’t had breakfast in bed since before my Dad died. This is a treat. Thank you.”

Every moment of every day I was going to try and show Maren how special she was. “You’re welcome.” Taking a deep breath, I prepared to say what I’d been thinking about when my phone rang. Only a few people had this number. Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw it was Hampton. “I need to take this.”

Maren took a sip of orange juice. “Of course.”

Standing, I answered. “Hampton?”

The familiar voice answered me, “Hey, Bane. Division stopped by. I would imagine they’ll be at your doorstep at any minute.”

I knew they’d come, but I thought out of courtesy they’d call me first. Those fuckers had gotten my location and then kept Hampton engaged in conversation until they were too close for anything to be done. My earpiece buzzed and security came across the line. “Sir, three black vehicles have turned down the dirt road. Are they cleared?”

I muted the phone with Hampton before answering, “Yes. Stand down. I’ll be out to greet them.”

Unmuting the phone, I said, “Hampton. They’re here. We’ll talk later.”

“Sounds good.”

My heart thundered in my chest. I wanted to grab Maren and run away. We’d make it out of here, but then I’d look guilty as hell. The last thing I needed was to have the wrath of the Black Division rain down on us. We’d be on the run for the rest of our lives. I wanted a different life for Maren and our child.

With someone like Sarge vanishing they’d be turning over every stone to find him. Plus, there was a chance they knew about the communication with him. It surprised me they hadn’t come before now which was a good sign hopefully.

Of course, I had a plan if we did need to escape. Being afraid of stressing Maren out with the spotting, we hadn’t discussed the possibility of Black Division visiting. Maren took a bite of bagel and stopped when she saw my face.

“What’s wrong, Bane?”

I sat on the edge of the bed. “Division is about to be here in maybe a minute. I doubt they know. They’re going to wonder why I have security and I’m going to tell them you’re pregnant. They’ll figure it out when we go to the next doctor’s appointment as I’ll be watched for a bit to see if there’s anything out of place. Just go with everything I say. We need to be dating, okay?”

She nodded. The stress on her face was what I’d been trying to avoid this entire time. Fuck. I should have warned her this was a possibility. “Angel, get dressed. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you guys. Okay?”

She nodded her head rapidly. “I’ll be right out.”

I kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll keep you both safe. Trust me.”

“I do.” I knew she trusted me with her safety, her heart was another thing.

Quickly, I left the bedroom and grabbed a cup of coffee. The more normal I appeared, the better. Making it out on the front porch, five black unmarked SUV’s pulled up. Only six men deployed out of the vehicles. There were probably twelve to fifteen. Another good sign. From the middle car, Alex came out wearing a dark business suit. He looked the same as when I was in Black Division with his white, slicked-back hair.

Alex had been Sarge’s superior.

“Bane. Mind if we talk inside?”

I took a sip of coffee. “Of course not. My girlfriend is in there. Besides these three men …” I gestured to the two guys on my left and one on my right. “I’m alone.” My guys were relaxed in their posture, but were watching my every move in case I signaled to them. They were good. Hopefully, with me identifying everyone up front, it helped sell that I had nothing to worry about.

The fact was, I had everything to lose.

“Mind if we go in alone?” Alex still prodded me with questions to see my reaction.

And he meant,
mind if we go in without your men.
“Of course not.”

Alex looked a lot like Hampton with his white hair and tall lean build. Regardless of rank, everyone in the Black Division was fit—conditioned to take on a fight in a moment’s notice.

I hoped to hell that this worked. It had to work. Outwardly I stayed unaffected, but I was a nervous wreck on the inside. Only two of the other guys followed us in. It meant they trusted me or didn’t believe I was part of anything. My record was impeccable. Maren came out dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Her face took on a glow and I smiled at her.

“Alex, this is my girlfriend, Maren. Maren, this is Alex—a friend from the past.” Maren knew not to talk about the Black Division from previous discussions.

She glanced at the security guards who accompanied us in. Alex spoke. “For my protection, dear. They’re like secret service men.”

Maren stuck out her hand. “Oh wow. It’s nice to meet you, Alex.”

“Likewise. Do you mind if I speak a few minutes alone with Bane?” His voice was silky smooth, but I could tell he assessed her every move to see if she hid anything. So far, Maren hid her emotions well.

“No, not at all.” Walking to me, she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be in the bedroom.”

Maren left the room. Alex remained standing and so did I. Hopefully that meant this was going to be a short visit. If not, he’d done a hell of a job separating Maren and me.

I CLOSED THE bedroom door behind me and heaved a sigh of relief. My palms sweated. Leaning against the bedroom door, I tried to hear what they were saying. The voices were too low. Why was Division here? Were they on to us? The possibility always lingered in the back of my mind. The last thing I wanted was to be separated from Bane. If something did happen, I wasn’t sure if he could get to me.

There was no reason to have those types of thoughts. Bane found a way and nearly died. I shuddered at the thought of something happening to him. I spoke lowly, “We’ll, be okay little one. Your daddy is going to make sure.”

To busy myself I made the bed and then finished off my bagel. I wondered how long it would be until I got the baby bump as I looked at my still flat stomach. There was a life in there. It was still amazing to me as I tried to think of myself pregnant.

From what I read I would begin to feel the flutters of the baby around four and a half months. I couldn’t wait. Turning around a man stood in the window staring at me with his hands cupped around his face.

I screamed, “AHH! Bane!” and backed toward the wall. The man wearing the black solider uniform disappeared from the window as the door busted open.

“Maren, are you oaky?” Alex was close behind as Bane drew a gun searching the room. More soldiers came close behind Alex. He held up his hand.

I stared out the window. “There was a guy staring at me with his hands cupped to the window. I had my shirt raised looking at my stomach. It startled me. I’m okay.”

Bane glared at Alex who walked out of the room. His lips came to my ear. “Everything is fine. I won’t leave you again.”

I didn’t say a word as I hugged him and took in his manly woodsy scent. This was all too close to what we’d gone through not long ago. The fear and loss was still too close to home. I took deep calming breaths. The last thing I needed to do was alert Alex that more was going on than appeared. Footsteps came back into the room. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, just shook her up a little.”

Alex’s voice was directed to me. “I’m sorry, Maren. He’s back in the car. It will be dealt with.”

Pulling back, I gave Alex a quick smile and got my emotions under control. “I’m okay. The hormones have me a little more emotional and jumpy than normal.”

Alex gave me a smile. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

“Yes, we’re very excited.” Glancing up to Bane, he looked down at me with … could it be love? Little flutters filled me as the possibility seemed more likely from Bane’s actions. I hoped our paths were going in the same direction. I wanted to give Bane a chance—to be a family.

Alex nodded, pleased. He was different than Sarge had been. He shook Bane’s hand. “We’ll be in touch. I need to get going.”

“Thanks for stopping by.”

Leaving the room to follow Alex, I blew out an imperceptible breath as we made it to the door. Was it that easy? I remained in the living room as Bane stepped out the front door. I’d only been up for less than an hour, but felt exhausted from this morning’s activities. Overall, I was more tired than normal from the pregnancy. Cars cranked and Bane stepped inside, holding his finger to his lips. I nodded and laid on the couch.

If we weren’t able to talk about anything, I’d close my eyes for a few. A blanket covered me and lips pressed to the side of my cheek. “Angel, I’m going to work on my laptop for a bit. Rest.”

“I will.”

That was all it took for me to fall asleep.