Chapter 2
Ethan lifted me like I weighed nothing.
His tactical vest was hard against my cheek, but his arms were gentle, so gentle I almost cried.
“Easy, Liv,” he murmured. “Easy.”
Ryan was already barking orders into his comms.
“Med team to the helipad. Now. Pregnant female, third trimester, blunt abdominal trauma.”
Alexander grabbed Daniel by the collar of his suit, shoving him against the wall.
Sophia screamed, trying to run.
Two of our men stepped in front of her, their weapons raised.
She froze, her face white.
Ethan carried me out of the house, past the broken front door, past Daniel’s security team huddled on the lawn with their hands up.
The helicopter was waiting on the back lawn, its rotors whipping the grass into a frenzy.
They loaded me inside, strapping me to a stretcher.
Ethan sat beside me, holding my hand the whole time.
His knuckles were white.
I stared at the ceiling of the helicopter, the pain in my belly throbbing in time with the rotors.
I thought about the baby.
Please, I prayed. Please let him be okay.
I’d already lost so much.
My career.
My family.
Three years of my life.
I couldn’t lose him too.
The hospital was waiting when we landed.
A team of doctors and nurses swarmed me, wheeling me into the ER.
They cut off my dress, poked my arms with IVs, pressed cold gel to my stomach for the ultrasound.
Ethan refused to leave.
Ryan stood in the hallway, making call after call.
Alexander was back at the estate, overseeing the search of Daniel’s office, the seizure of all his devices.
“Please,” I whispered to the ultrasound tech. “Tell me he’s okay.”
She didn’t answer right away.
She moved the wand over my belly, her brow furrowed.
My heart hammered so hard I could hear it in my ears.
Then she smiled.
“Strong heartbeat,” she said. “One hundred and forty-eight beats per minute. Baby’s moving around like he’s mad someone disturbed his nap.”
I burst into tears.
Ethan squeezed my hand so tight I thought my fingers would break.
He was crying too.
The doctor came in a minute later, going over the rest of the results.
Bruising on my abdomen.
Minor placental abruption, but stable for now.
I’d be on bed rest for the next two months, minimum.
No stress.
No lifting.
Just me and the baby, safe.
They moved me to a private room on the top floor.
The whole wing was ours, Ryan said.
No one got in without his approval.
That night, Ethan sat in the chair beside my bed, never sleeping.
Ryan came in at three a.m., his face grim.
“We got it all,” he said. “Every email. Every text. Every offshore transfer. Daniel’s been stealing from his investors for two years. He was going to divorce Liv next month, take the baby, leave her with nothing.”
I stared at the ceiling.
I’d known Daniel was cold.
I hadn’t known he was evil.
“Sophia?” I said.
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“She’s singing like a canary,” he said. “Says Daniel told her to ‘handle the problem.’ Claims she didn’t mean to hurt the baby. We have the texts that say otherwise.”
Alexander called a minute later.
Daniel was in custody, charged with aggravated assault of a pregnant woman.
His lawyers were already trying to get him out on bail.
“Not happening,” Ryan said, his voice cold. “I called the DA. We gave him enough evidence to put Daniel away for twenty years before the sun comes up.”
Ethan brushed the hair off my forehead.
“You sleep now, Liv,” he said. “We’ve got you. No one’s ever going to hurt you again.”
May you like
I closed my eyes.
For the first time in three years, I believed it.
