The Hitman's Pregnant Bride: A Baby Romance (11 page)

P
hoebe wasn't paying
attention to the movie, but she noticed when Atana got to her feet.

"I feel a little bit cramped. I'm going to go hang out in the kitchen. You okay here by yourself?"

"Yeah." Phoebe appreciated Atana's company. "I'm fine."

"Be back in a bit."

Phoebe nodded and then watched her leave.

Phoebe pulled her phone out of her pocket. She needed to find the courage to call her mother. She hadn't done it yet, not wanting to tell her what exactly had happened to her father.

But what if something really bad happened? Her mother would never forgive her for keeping her in the dark, even if they were powerless. Her heart pounded as she tapped on her mother's contact info.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Phoebe's shoulders relaxed when the machine picked up. She was much more relieved than she should be. She hung up. She knew better than to leave a message for her mother; she listened to them once a year, if that.

There had been some nights when Phoebe grew up when her father didn't come home at night, and Sally Kaine would cry herself to sleep on those nights. They both knew that her father took all the precautions he could, but he faced off with dangerous criminals all the time. There could easily be a day when he didn't come home for good.

That day could be today. Phoebe wasn't looking forward to telling her mother that she had left her father to be beaten, tortured, and possibly killed. She didnt' imagine that the conversation would go particularly well.

Maybe Andreas would find him and save him. He said that he would. He also said not to lose faith in him.

Faith. Trust. Those were two things that were part of the foundation of any good marriage. He had broken hers when he'd hidden so much of himself away. She didn't even know what his job was, only that it involved guns and fake passports.

She was warm enough to fall asleep. Her pregnancy was making her sleep what felt like a hundred hours a week.

A
ndreas stepped
into the room to check on Phoebe. She was curled up in a little ball in the lounge chair that she'd been sitting in when he checked on her before. He clenched his inner muscles to walk quietly into the room. He traced the beautiful curve of her lips, her lush inky lashes touching her cheeks. The center of his chest ached while he watched her. She was his wife.

She had pushed him away as if he were some kind of stranger. She was loyal, he knew that, but he had deceived her for a long time. She never would have married him if she had known the truth. She would've run away like she did when she found his box of passports, money, and everything else that went along with his career.

He hadn't wanted her to find out that way. He had planned on telling her...maybe at some point in the distant future, when it was necessary, maybe after Mr. Kaine accepted him into the family.

It was one of the hazards of his job. He couldn't exactly meet her in that little coffee shop and tell her, "Hey, I'm a mercenary!" That's not how it worked. Everything was on a need-to-know basis, and Phoebe hadn't needed to know.

Until she did and she left because she'd found everything on her own. He was a fool for not covering his tracks better. It was convenient but stupid to keep his safe room in his own home. He should've rented a nondescript room or apartment somewhere else. He honestly didn't know what he would do if he lost Phoebe permanently. When she'd been kidnapped, he felt as if his heart were ripped from his chest and there'd been a big gaping hole left right in his center.

But when he had saved her, she'd fought him and hated him. And now she was staying here in Chung's, where she was safe.

Where would she go when the worst of the danger passed? She couldn't stay here forever. She could stay here for a long time, it was true. They had showers and everything. But eventually she'd want to leave.

Would she leave him for a second time? Harold Kaine was more than capable of keeping her safe from now on. Andreas knew that he didn't need to worry about that much.

He needed her. He'd never admitted it to himself, but she was the core of his being. She kept him on an even keel. Without her in his life, he knew that he was a stone-cold killer and not much more. He had planned for the short and medium term, but he hadn't had a long-term future before he met the beautiful woman who had changed his entire life.

It was funny that it wasn't his life that endangered hers; it had been her father's work that had inspired Phoebe's kidnapping. Nonetheless, Andreas knew that Harold Kaine was counting on him to keep his daughter safe, and Andreas would do the best he could to first get Mr. Kaine out of Odhran's hands and later keep Phoebe safe.

He pulled the blanket a little upwards to cover Phoebe a little better. She shifted in her sleep. Andreas had to turn away before he did something stupid and stole a kiss from his wife. He missed her.

Checking his watch, he walked out of the room. Chung might have more information now.

He walked into Chung's office.

"Anything?"

Chung just shook his head. Andreas gritted his teeth.

"Gonna go to the gym."

"I'll hit you if anything comes up."

Andreas went to the gym to hit the punching bags. He had a clock ticking in the back of his mind for all of this. He was out of resources. He had tried everything that he had. He was fighting to keep his hope alive, but it was a losing battle. He wondered what the conversation with Phoebe would be like if Odhran killed Mr. Kaine. She would definitely leave him then. Andreas had always been at the top of his field with the Agency. He could always find a way, even if the hit was on someone who had seemingly impenetrable defenses. He took to his training like a duck to water when he'd first started, getting good marksmanship scores the first time that he tried shooting.

Why was he messing up now?

Emotions.

He'd never had a case before that directly involved the love of his life. He had never had his cover blown. He had never had all of his fake identities discovered before.

But he wasn't fake. He punched the bag, relishing the thud and the swing of the bag, which nearly hit the ceiling.

He had been a mercenary before he ever met her, but he regretted making that decision. There was no way that he could turn back from the life that he’d chosen; it was an irreversible choice because of the contractual clauses.

Shit.

He didn’t want Phoebe to hate him. She meant too much for him to just walk away now that she knew the truth. He had to make her understand why he’d done what he did. He never meant to make a fool of her; it was the exact opposite of his intentions. He wanted to put together a foundation for them to have a little family, the kind of family he’d never had as an orphan.

He had another job after this one, but after that…he could leave this life behind.

If she would just stay married to him.

A
ndreas took a very
quick shower and used some of the clothes that he stashed at Chung’s. He went upstairs to check on his wife again.

His heart squeezed painfully when he saw that she was bundled up in the blanket and crying softly, too quietly to attract any attention.

“Go away,” she sniffed. “I don’t want anybody to see me cry.”

His heart felt like she’d stabbed him with a knife. He wanted to protect her. He needed to assure her. He’d promised her that he would make sure that her father was safe, but he hadn’t been able to do it yet.

He knew that she wasn’t ready to dive straight back into their marriage as if nothing had happened. He couldn’t stop himself from walking over to her and kneeling next to her chair. he needed to be near her like a flower needed sunlight. His heart was thumping in his ears. Getting close to his wife was as risky as coming near a hungry tiger. Maybe more dangerous. There was just so much at stake. He knew that she probably felt betrayed.

When he came closer to her, he reached out for her hand. She snatched it away from him.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now. You said that you’d get him back. You promised. I guess that it’s as valid as our phony marriage…”

Andreas cut her off by kissing her deeply. She bit his tongue.

“Baby, I promise that I’m trying, okay?”

She cried harder. “I’m so afraid that my daddy…”

Andreas pulled her into his arms, tucking her face into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. She put her arms around him and cried her heart out. She was making his shoulder wet because she was soaking his shirt with her tears. He pulled her upwards, making her yelp. Then he sat in her lounge chair and held her in his lap, keeping her close.

“I know it’s been a shock.”

She wiped her eyes. “You think? As soon as I found that my husband wasn’t the man that I thought that he was, I got kidnapped. And then my dad took my place. And we don’t know when he’ll be back.”

Andreas stroked her hair, because he didn’t have anything to say. He was at a total loss for words.

“Baby, I don’t have much to give you. There’s not much more that I can do to fix this.”

Phoebe planted her mouth on his. After a moment of initial shock — Phoebe was still crying — Andreas responded. His arms tightened around her. She was kissing him back feverishly. Her body was rocking on top of his. He matched her intensity, bucking her upwards. He knew that their problems weren’t fixed, but they could escape for just a little while.

Andreas stood up with his wife in his arms, with their mouths still connected. There were small bedrooms at Chung’s, and he was going to beeline for one. He didn’t want Chung’s sister to walk on them. He moved mostly by muscle memory, since he couldn’t see much anything beyond the tears caught in Phoebe’s long lashes.

He felt with his hand for a doorknob, and then they were inside of the room. It was totally dark inside. He lowered Phoebe gently onto the mattress. He took off his shirt and everything else before he crawled into the bed with her.

“You up for this baby?”

“Yeah.”

Phoebe reached for him and held him close to her. He feel the beat of her heart.

His hands went down to the bottom of her shirt before he peeled it off of her. His hands made quick work of her pants, even in the dark.

“Baby, did he…touch you?”

“No.” Phoebe whispered. “Nothing like that.”

Andreas felt anger boil in his veins that he even had to ask his pregnant wife a question like that.

“And…the baby?”

“I think the baby is okay. I can’t tell anything is wrong anyway. But I don’t know if I would know…it’s my first pregnancy.”

Andreas lowered his head and pressed his ear to her stomach.

“I don’t know how to tell if anything’s wrong either. Do you think that we should see a doctor?”

“Is it safe?”

“Maybe not.” Andreas sighed. “If things were normal, we’d see one right away.”

“But they aren’t normal.”

Andreas put replaced his ear with his hand on her soft stomach. “I wish that things were different.”

"
I
wish
that you'd just told me beforehand."

"Would you have married me if you knew who I was?"

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"A man who loves you. Your husband. I promise that I never...I never meant to hurt you. I just had this job and one more until I was done. I was going to quit, I swear, especially with a baby on the way. I was going to do some catering for real."

"You are pure magic in the kitchen."

"Just the kitchen, huh?" His hand went between her legs to touch her.

"Maybe other places, too," she admitted. He could hear the smile in her voice.

"Maybe?" Andreas lowered himself so that he could access the space between her thighs. He gave one long lick from top to bottom, savoring her sweet cream.

"Definitely," she whimpered, her hips bucking under him. He used his thumbs to pull her apart just a little further so he could get a little deeper. He would make her remember their connection, their marriage. She wouldn't leave him.

He used his hands to stimulate her clit while his tongue pushed inside of her soft opening.

"Oh," she said, her hips jerking.

He kept rubbing her clit until she was panting hard on the bed. She arched her back. He felt her muscles clench once, twice, three times, too many times to count. He pulled away from her as she shook with the aftershocks of her orgasm. He rolled to the side and then lay on his back and pulled his small wife on top of him, her thighs on either side of him.

"Ride me, Phoebe." He needed to know that she wanted him, too.

She steadied herself with two hands on his shoulders. Her mouth dipped down to meet his.

"With pleasure."

One hand went between them to guide his erection into her softness. They both moaned as he entered her.

"That's right, baby," he whispered. He didn't want Chung and the others to hear them having sex.

She slowly tortured him by lowering herself down centimeter by centimeter. He thought that he would go crazy before she took all of him.

Finally, she was fully seated on him. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted back. Her mouth was hanging open.

"So full," she whispered.

His hands went to her curvy hips and held her in place as he bucked upwards.

"Ah!" she said.

"We have to be quiet, baby. I don't want anybody to come in here."

"I'll try." Andreas knew that Phoebe was normally pretty loud. He'd deal with it.

He sat up. Her arms went around his neck, then her hands were entangled in his har and she was kissing him like her life depended on it. He rocked her gently on top of him, keeping up a steady rhythm until Phoebe was gasping against his mouth, fighing for breath. He broke the kiss and bit her neck.

She cried out as she went over. He muffled her screams by kissing her again, holding her small body close to his as he found ecstasy.

Then the two of them slowly drifted back to earth.

"It's never...it's never been like that."

"We've always....but no, it's never been like that."

"I love you, Andreas."

"I love you, too, baby." He stroked her hair. "We'll find a way through all of this. I swear." He just hoped that he'd be able to keep that promise.

"I'm sleepy."

"Okay, honey." He withdrew from her body but instantly felt cold. He needed to clean her up, but she curled into the fetal position. Her breathing changed as she nearly instantly fell asleep. He pulled the covers up around her. She was naked, but he'd just make sure that he was the only one to go into this bedroom.

He wasn't tired after they made love. He felt like a man with a new lease on life. She wouldn't leave him, or at least he thought that there was a high probability that she'd stay with him. He'd made a promise. Two. And now he had to find a way to deliver on them.

He could feel in his heart that Harold was still alive, which meant that he could still rescue him. He just needed to find out where he was being held.

Phoebe sighed quietly before going quiet again. He placed a kiss on her soft cheek. There was a time when he didn't have to ask for her faith in him. He knew that she'd trusted him totally.

And what had he done with that trust? He'd abused it by not telling her what he was. Who he was.

He turned on the light so that he could get dressed, even though he was still sticky. He needed to hit the shower and then bring something back to clean up his wife.

Andreas ducked into the showers, took a 30-second shower, and then found some paper towels which he moistened so that he could get most of it off of Phoebe. He went back into the bedroom and cleaned her up as much as he could. She'd have to do the rest when she woke up. He flicked off the lights in the bedroom. She should get some rest while she could. They didn't know what tomorrow would bring.

As he left the bedroom, Chung ran into him.