New Beginnings (6 page)

I walked over to him and stopped in front of him. He took one of his hands and rested it on my abdomen. At first, I thought he was going to push me away, but then he began to speak again.

“If you won’t listen to me for the sake of your own life, then will you please do it for the lives of our children? I can’t bear to lose another baby, Ella. Next time, Stephen could take more than just our baby away. I won’t survive it. I won’t survive losing you, too,” he said quietly. His voice broke when he spoke revealing the depth of his emotion. It broke my heart. I dropped down to my knees resting my hands on his knees.

“Ella,” he said quietly. He ran his fingers gently through my hair. “I understand there have only been a few times that we didn’t use any kind of protection, but you could be pregnant already. You need to be more careful. This isn’t just about you.”

I was quiet for several minutes as I allowed what Xavier said to absorb. “I’m sorry. You’re right. He’s already come at me in ways I never thought he would. I’m not the only one he poses a danger to. He could easily take you away from me.” I quickly looked up at him with tears in my eyes. “And I won’t survive that, Xavier. I can’t lose you either.”

“Come here, baby.” He urged me to get off the floor and straddle his lap. He crushed me to him as he banded his arms around me. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. We stayed like that until my stomach growled. “You haven’t eaten anything, have you?” he admonished. He pulled back to look at me.

“No. I wasn’t very hungry.” I said sheepishly.

“Come. I’m sure Bev has dinner ready.”

Following dinner, I was surprised when Xavier curled up next to me on the couch. He had been working so much lately that I just assumed he would head into his office as soon as the dinner plates were cleared. He turned to face me bringing his right leg up on the couch between us with his right arm draped on the back of the couch.

“Why do you look so surprised, sweetness? Can I not join you on the couch?”

“Of course you can. You’ve just been working so much lately. I just assumed …” I shrugged my shoulders at him.

“I have. I apologize for that, but I’m going to make it up to you.” He gave me a wicked grin.

“And how exactly are you going to do that? I’m high maintenance you know. It’s going to take a lot more than whisking me away and locking me up in some remote location so you can attempt to pacify me with hot sex.” I raised an eyebrow and smirked at him. I stifled a giggle, as his eyes got big.

“Oh, sweetness,” he murmured, shaking his head. He narrowed his eyes at me as his tongue darted out to lick his lips. He leaned toward me. “I think we both know that I could easily pacify you right now with hot sex. The only whisking I’ll need to do is taking you from this couch to that floor.”

I leaned toward him. “Oh, really? You sound so sure of yourself, Mr. Hart.”

We sat for several minutes staring at each other. Xavier’s musky scent always becomes more powerful when he’s aroused. The irresistible scent filled my nose as I was bathed in the heat radiating from his body. I kept waiting for him to make a move, and I assumed he was waiting for me to do the same.

Just when I thought I couldn’t wait another second, Xavier launched himself at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and upper back and twisted so we tumbled to the floor wrapped around each other. He rolled over so I was beneath him, and he settled himself between my legs. He pinned my arms over my head in one swift move. He locked my wrists in an iron grip using one of his hands while the other hand trailed down my side lightly. He bent down and nuzzled my neck making me giggle. He snapped his head up. His dilated pupils were rimmed with just a touch of cerulean blue.

“Did you just giggle?” he whispered incredulously.

“I wouldn’t dream of giggling at a time like this,” I said breathlessly.

His free hand found its way under my shirt. He ran it slowly up my ribs. His light touch caused me to giggle once again. I bit my lip this time in an attempt to stop the giggling. Xavier smirked at me before he gave me an expert roll of his hips, which wiped the smile right off my face.

“That’s one way to stop your giggling. I can think of at least a few more.” He lowered himself against me pushing me into the soft, area rug. I wrapped my legs around his hips spurring him on. He bent his head down and sealed his mouth over mine.

Suddenly, a shrill ring from a phone pierced the quiet. Xavier jumped up. “I have to get that.” He made his way into his home office.

“Xavier Hart,” he said authoritatively. He suddenly let out an impressive string of expletives causing me to sit up and take notice. He never speaks like that. Something must be really wrong. “When? … Did they get past the firewall? … Nothing was accessed? … You’re certain of it? … No, you were right for calling this number. I didn’t have my cell phone within reach … Thank you, Scott. We’ll talk more tomorrow. Have a good night.”

I got up off the floor and made my way into his office. Xavier was rubbing his face. I walked up behind him and started to massage his shoulders. “Is everything all right?” I asked.

“Everything is fine, sweetness. There’s nothing to worry about.”

I stilled my hands on his shoulders. “You want to try that again, Xavier? You are always telling me to watch my mouth, yet you just let out a string of expletives that made this Jersey Girl jealous.”

He took a deep breath. “Someone tried to access my personal banking information at the firm.”

“What?” I asked stunned. “Who would do that? What are they looking for?”

“Don’t worry, Ella. My head IT guy is an absolute genius. He has assured me that there is no way anyone from the outside will be able to break through the security he has in place.”

“Has something like this ever happened before?” I asked.

He paused for a moment. I’m sure he knew where I was going with this. “I’m in the public eye, Ella. Things like this aren’t unusual,” he replied.

“You haven’t answered my question.” I stepped to his side and took his chin in my hand forcing him to look at me. “Has this ever happened before?” I asked more slowly, punctuating each word.

“No,” he said quietly.

“Were they after anything else or were they only after information pertaining to you?”

“My information, but that doesn’t mean anything, Ella. It’s my company. Of course they are going to target my information.”

“Of course,” I said, giving him a weak smile. My sixth sense was screaming at me. Something told me that this had to do with me, and that Stephen could very well be behind it.

For the remainder of the week, I was never left alone. Marissa shadowed me until she could hand me off to Xavier. I felt like a toddler being shuffled from one babysitter to another. It was crazy, but I knew it put Xavier at ease so I dealt with it for his sake. I knew he had a lot on his plate. The last thing I wanted to be was an added worry.

Friday was a light workday for Devlin and me. We managed to be done before lunch.

“Do you have any plans for lunch?” Devlin asked. Marissa had just started the SUV. I was leaning in the backseat packing up my camera equipment.

“No. I’d love to do something, but I have to go dress shopping. Xavier’s company Christmas party is tomorrow night. I haven’t had the chance to get anything to wear yet.”

“Would you mind if I tagged along? I can give you an honest male opinion.” He smiled widely at me.

“Really? You want to go dress shopping … in a mall … with me?” I raised my eyebrows at him.

He chuckled. “Yes. Unlike most men, I enjoy shopping. Weird, I know. Besides, Donna is busy with class all afternoon. She’s trying to get as much work done as possible before they break for the holidays.”

“Okay. Sure. Why not? You want to follow us? I’ll probably head right over to Neiman Marcus.”

“Lead the way,” he said, heading towards his car.

“Devlin, you can not be serious! That is a ten thousand dollar Oscar de la Renta gown. It’s a Christmas party. Not the Oscars.” I rolled my eyes at his outrageous choice.

“But you have to admit, it is gorgeous. You would look terrific in this, too,” he said. He gave me a wide smile as he held up the dress.

I shook my head at him. “I was hoping to find something in red,” I said, continuing to comb through the rack in front of me.

“Ella, you’re the owner’s fiancé. Don’t you want to look the part?”

I sighed heavily at Devlin without answering him. Then I found the dress. “This is it!” I shouted. It was a sheath dress with allover lace, scalloped trim and hem, a flattering sweetheart neckline with cap sleeves, and it was in a vibrant red color called Vixen. Perfect. “I’m going to try this on.”

“Be sure to show me,” Devlin shouted after me.

Marissa insisted on coming into the dressing room with me. She stood guard outside my door, which I thought was unnecessary until I noticed the dress had a back zip. The dress hugged every curve. The beautiful scalloped hem rested just at the tops of my knees. I made my way out of the dressing room to show Devlin. He had his back to me as he combed through a rack with evening gowns.

“Well? What do you think?” I asked.

He spun around and froze. “Wow!” he said. He walked up to me and took my hand and spun me around. “You look gorgeous. Xavier is truly a lucky man.”

I put my head down and blushed furiously at his compliment. Devlin still had my hand in his when a woman spoke from behind him. I didn’t see who had approached us until she peered around his shoulder. Carline. Wonderful.

“Oh my. What do we have here?” she asked contemptuously.

Devlin spun around and tucked me behind him. I was surprised by his protective gesture. Before I could even speak, Marissa came out of nowhere. “Is there something I can help you with, Ms. Dawson?” she asked.

“Really, Ella? I think you can call off your guard dog,” Carline sneered.

Marissa tensed and drew herself up into an intimidating posture. I stepped around Devlin and put my hand on Marissa’s forearm. She shot her arm out and stopped me from getting any closer to Carline.

“You are not to have any direct contact with Ms. Martin. Mr. Hart made that very clear to you, Ms. Dawson. If there is nothing I can help you with, then I suggest you be on your way,” Marissa said authoritatively.

“Very well,” Carline said, waving her hand in the air dismissively. “I’ll see
you
at the party tomorrow night,” she said disdainfully at me. She turned and stalked off.

“Who the hell was that?” Devlin asked.

“The devil herself,” I mumbled, glancing down at my watch. It was just 1:15. “You got time to grab a quick something to eat?” I asked Devlin.

“Sure. You gonna tell me what the devil herself was doing in Neiman Marcus shooting you a look to kill?”

“Sure. Let me get out of this dress.” I murmured.

Devlin and I were able to get into Mariposa, which is a contemporary restaurant located in Neiman Marcus. We opted to sit at the bar in lieu of a table since we only planned on sharing an appetizer or two.

As we walked through the crowded restaurant, I admired how brightly lit it was. It was beautifully decorated with all the walls, flooring, and tables in a pale gray, but the pea green accents had to go.