Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (41 page)

He looked down at her expectantly and she shook her head as she watched him, a pained
look on her beautiful face.

“That is the most you’ve ever said to me, Erik, and what kills me is that you haven’t
said the one thing that could make everything you’ve done wrong go away.”

“Huh?” he asked, confused. He was proud of his speech, thought it was a real winner.
Was he wrong?

“I love you, so much, and I am so glad that I have helped you and that you are finally
realizing that you can trust me, but Erik, I want your love. I want you to love me.
I don’t want all these other words. I want you to love me forever and to show me that
you will always love me.”

Erik looked down at her confused. Hadn’t he said that?

“You have always been a creature of action. You always acted before you spoke and
I adore that of you. But please, show me you love me, tell me you do, but if you don’t,
then I’m sorry, I can’t do this. No matter how much I’ve helped you change and how
it will probably kill me to walk away, I can’t be with you if you don’t love me.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I just can’t.”

“But Piper, I do—”

“Oh fuck,” she gasped, interrupting his proclamation of love. She bent over, holding
her middle as she took in a deep, shuddering breath.

“Piper?” he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head with tears rushing down her face, then looked up at him and said,
“My water just broke.”

“What? What are you talking about? I’ll get you another cup after we are done talking,”
he said, shaking his head. She interrupted him because she was out of water? Wait,
she didn’t have any water. Looking into her wide eyes, he said, “You aren’t talking
about your drink, are you?” She shook her head quickly, tears falling in heaps down
her rosy cheeks. He looked down at her stomach and then back into her eyes and asked,
“The baby is coming, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Oh fuck
.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” Piper
panted as Erik stood there staring at her.

His heart was beating at speeds unimaginable and he had no clue what to do. How was
this happening? She still had a month until it was time for the baby to come.

Yeah, this was not happening.

“Wait, are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yes, I feel water rushing down my legs.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just piss yourself?” he asked frantically, moving closer
to hold her hand.

She shook her head desperately as she doubled over, her nails digging into his wrist.
“Oh fuck no, we gotta go. Like now.”

“Oh my God.” Erik was freaking out.

“Unless you want me having our child in the middle of my best friend’s wedding, we
gotta fucking go!” she screamed, causing everyone to turn and look at them.

“What’s wrong?” Erik turned to see Shea coming up to them. “Everything okay?”

“No, the baby is coming,” Piper hissed out. “Erik.”

But he wasn’t moving.

When a hard slap came to Erik’s back, he jumped in surprise. “Titov, get it together,
man!” Shea yelled. “You need to take your wife to the hospital now.”

“Right,” Erik said, moving to her side to start for the front of the barn.

“Someone get Titov’s car!” Shea yelled, taking Erik’s keys and throwing them to someone.
Erik was too busy trying to get Piper to walk. She was digging her nails into his
arms, trying to keep from screaming. He could tell she was hurting and he had no clue
what to do.

“Baby, tell me what to do,” he asked as they slowly made their way through the mass
of people.

“I don’t know,” she hissed out.

“Piper, are you okay?”

They both turned to see Audrey rushing toward her. Piper nodded her head quickly as
she said, “Just fine, I went into labor, no big deal, go be merry and happy.” Piper
waved her off as she flashed a pained, scary grin at her. Erik wanted to laugh, but
he knew better.

“What? You’re having the baby?” Audrey screeched.

“Yeah, no big deal, I’ll call you later,” Piper said before she bent over, gripping
his arm as she gasped for air. “Oh fuck, I’m dying.”

“Shit! Don’t say that!” Erik yelled as Karson came running toward him.

“Your car is out front,” Karson said, handing Erik his keys. “Good luck, dude.”

Erik nodded. “Thanks, King. Baby, can we get to the car?”

Piper shook her head and when she glanced up at him, big wet tears fell from her sweet
eyes. Erik’s heart skipped a beat as he leaned forward, pressing his lips to her nose.
Picking her up, hoping he made it look easier than it actually was, he carried her
to his Yukon. Thankfully Karson had left the passenger door open and Erik was able
to place her carefully inside the big SUV.

“This isn’t your car,” she said as she took in some deep breaths.

“I traded in the other one for this one,” he said quickly before shutting the door
and rushing to the driver’s side.

“Erik!”

Erik paused to see Elli, Fallon, and Audrey running toward him.

“Call me when you get to the hospital. We are leaving in a bit,” Elli said with a
worried look on her face.

“We’ll be there after the wedding,” Fallon said in a rush as she waved to Piper.

“Tell Piper we love her!” Audrey yelled with tears rushing down her cheeks. “We’ll
be there as soon as we can.”

“Okay,” Erik said, opening his door, but as he got in, Elli called out, “Erik! You
make sure you take care of her!”

Erik smiled, then muttered, more to himself, “I intend to for the rest of my life.”

He slammed the door, started the engine, and drove off. Piper was taking in deep breaths
as she squirmed in the seat, holding her middle. “Oh, it hurts.”

“I’m hurrying,” he said as he sped down the dirt road to the main highway.

“Why did you trade in your car? You love your car,” she said through breaths.

He looked over at her and smiled. “This is true, but it was small. This one is big
enough for Dimitri, me, and hopefully you.”

“Erik, this one is big enough for the whole Assassins team.”

It wasn’t the comment he wanted but he still found it funny. His laughter filled the
car until she started screaming; it scared him so bad that he almost drove the truck
off the road. Taking her hand in his, he rubbed his thumb along her palm as she took
in deep breaths.

“Baby, try that breathing thing from Lamaze,” he suggested.

Piper leaned her head back against the seat, taking in quick breaths as she squeezed
his hand. “I haven’t been to the class since you left.”

He looked over at her and could see the fear on her face. She was freaking out and
he knew he had to do something to calm her.

Bringing her hand to his lips, he said, “Well, I’m here now; we got this. No big deal.”

She looked over at him, her eyes dripping with tears as she slowly nodded her head.
Looking back at the road, Erik pushed on the gas, rushing to the hospital.
Scared
wasn’t the word that could even describe how Erik was feeling. He was terrified.

When they were almost to the hospital Piper exclaimed, “Oh my God, I don’t have my
bag!”

“We’ll worry about the bag afterward,” Erik said quickly, pulling into the parking
lot.

“I didn’t call my sister. Reese needs to be here, and my mom and Harper, too,” she
said through agonizing gasps. He was close to running over a group of old ladies when
he finally stopped the car close to the emergency entrance.

“Sweetheart, let’s get you inside, then we’ll do everything else later,” he said as
he waited for the group of ladies to pass by. “For fuck sakes! Move it!” he screamed,
making Piper jump. “Shit, I’m sorry, you know what, fuck it,” he said putting the
car in reverse and parking it in an available space. Jumping out, he rushed to help
Piper.

“Wait,” she said, gasping for air. “I think I might be able to walk.”

“No, come here,” he said, taking her in his arms. She was wet but he didn’t care;
all he cared about was getting her inside. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she
leaned her head on his shoulder as her body trembled. Kicking the door shut, he rushed
across the parking lot to the emergency entrance.

“Almost there, baby,” he said, as he stepped up his pace to a full run. Her nails
were
digging into his neck and he felt like she was close to drawing blood. He silently
thanked Shea for all the drills he had made Erik run because without the endurance
it built, he was convinced he wouldn’t be able to carry her like this.

Busting through the doors, he announced, “My wife is having a baby.”

Two nurses turned and then everything was a blur. Erik watched as they took Piper
from him, put her in a wheelchair, and wheeled her down the hall. He tried to keep
up, but he felt like he couldn’t breathe and at one point as they fired question after
question at her, he had to lean against the wall to catch his breath.

Today wasn’t supposed to be baby day; today was supposed to be get-Mommy-to-be-with-Daddy-forever
day.

The nurses were fast as they got Piper into a pink gown, then into the bed before
hooking her up to some machines and sticking her with needles. As he leaned against
the wall in her room, trying to stay out of everyone’s way, Erik realized that this
was the moment when he could prove that he loved her more than anything in this world.
No matter how hard it was, he had to be her rock. He had to be the encourager, the
one who would help her get through this. He could tell that she was hurting and that
she didn’t do well with pain, so he would be there, just as she had been there for
him.

“Told you you’d go early.”

Erik looked at the doorway to see the Abercrombie & Fitch model who was posing as
a doctor. Erik still wasn’t convinced that guy was a doctor, or gay, for that matter.
He had everyone fooled, but Erik was onto him. One wrong move and that dude’s perfect
grin would be destroyed. When he turned and flashed Erik that perfect smile, Erik
came off the wall and was by Piper’s side in seconds.

“Pain meds, stat,” Piper said, fighting for oxygen.

“First let me check you,” the doctor said, bending Piper’s legs. “Are the contractions
close?”

“Yes, a minute and a half apart,” a nurse said from the side, holding a long sheet
of paper. “Wow, have you been having contractions all day?” he asked before sticking
his hand up into Piper.

Piper let out a hiss of breath as she nodded her head. “Yeah, but I thought they were
Braxton Hicks.”

“Apparently not, because, darling, you are in active labor.”

“Well obviously! My water broke!” Piper yelled. Her knuckles were turning white from
where she was squeezing her thighs. Worried she might bruise herself, Erik took her
hand in his, letting her squeeze him instead.

Dr. I’m Too Sexy laughed and Erik saw one of the nurses swoon as he said, “Oh hush.”

He pushed his hand inside her a little farther, biting his lip as he appeared to be
thinking.

“So I have good news and bad; which do you want first?”

“Oh my God, Bryan, I don’t give two shits, just get him out!”

Dr. I’m Too Sexy laughed again, shaking his head. “That’s the bad news, Piper: You
are at eight centimeters and seventy-five percent effaced, and so there is no time
for an epidural. I have a feeling we are going to have a bouncing baby boy sooner
rather than later.”

“What?!” Piper screamed as her head fell back. Tears rushed down the side of her face
as she took in strangled breaths.

Erik watched as the doctor took off his glove and then came to Piper’s side to smile
down at her. “You’ll be fine,” the doctor said.

“It hurts.”

“Well, yeah, but just think of the prize at the end. Sit tight; it’s almost baby time,”
he said, patting her knee.

“But it’s early; will he be okay?” she cried.

He gave her a reassuring smile. “He was measuring a week ahead, Piper. I have a good
feeling he will be fine, but just in case I’ll have the NICU girls in here, too. Don’t
worry, everything is going to be fine.” He turned to say something to a nurse.

Erik moved his hand along Piper’s face, catching her tears as his other hand rubbed
her belly. “I’m here, remember. I’ll be here for you to claw at,” he said softly,
as the tears poured down her face.

“I’m so scared,” she whispered, as she took in shuddering breaths.

“I know, I am, too, but we can do this together,” he whispered back, kissing her nose.
“Piper, you are so strong, so beautiful, and the most amazing woman in the world,
sweetheart. I am so lucky you came into my life and brought this amazing gift to me.”
He moved his gentle hand up to hold her beautiful chin. “We got this baby and I—”

“Piper!”

For fuck sakes!

Erik turned to see Rowan running toward the bed with Harper and Reese flanking her.
When Alla came in behind them, with Cooper and Blake, Erik knew that his moment to
tell Piper he loved her was gone. Letting out a frustrated breath, he backed away
as Rowan leaned over and kissed Piper on her sweaty head. “My goodness, are you okay?”

“No, I can’t have an epidural; the baby is coming too quickly,” Piper cried as she
whipped her hands along her cheeks. Her makeup was smeared to hell but she didn’t
care. Alla came up beside him, wrapping her arms around his middle.

“How are you?” she asked quietly.

He gave her a pained looked as he said, “Scared.”

“It’s to be expected,” Cooper said, wrapping an arm around Erik’s shoulders. “Everything
will be fine, though.”

“You two looked pretty close when we entered,” Alla whispered as they all watched
Piper’s family fuss over her.

Looking back down at his mom, he said, “I was about to tell her I love her but we
keep getting interrupted and I’m starting to think I’m not supposed to tell her.”

Alla smiled as she shook her head. “You just wait, the perfect moment will come.”

“Ah, Erik, Erik, ah, oh my God.”