The Masters looked at each other, their chests out in pride, preening. They might be fathers, hot damn, thought O’Grady and chuckled again. Bianca looked from one to the other in exasperation and huffed,“YOU …! Didn’t you hear a word? I said I might be carrying your child…and I most certainly DON’T want it.”The brothers looked confused and contrite. Trying to hide their feelings of hurt, they led her to the bed and seated her between them, stroking her body gently. She noticed caustically that both of them were taking turns to stroke her flat abdomen with reverence.Slapping away their roving hands, Bianca pushed them off and stood up, tugging a sheet around her nakedness.“Get real guys,” she snapped.“I need to do a pregnancy test. “And as they stared at her in puzzlement, she rolled her eyes. Mafia dons they might be, but is some things, they were like clueless bunnies.“You get them at a pharmacist’s O’Grady,” she prompted, trying to hide her irritation. Her Master O’Grady rose
First, they ran into Jamie, who whirled her head around the moment the trio entered the large dining room and St Just thought her nose was twitching like a little bunny,“Which one of them is your husband?” she asked in a stage whisper and Bianca felt her face flame.Dom, who was buttering scones for Rudy and Jamie shot her a dark look and the little girl fell silent.“Mumma married Pappa after Ria and Piers were born,” he snapped shortly and his sister subsided, the look on her face clearly indicating that the wheels in her head were grinding away merrily. St Just thought grimly that Proserpina was going to face the inquisition.Karina waddled in and spotting Bianca, she headed to them at once, beaming as she swept Bianca into her arms.“Congratulations, I say, I think?” she asked, smiling sweetly and the brothers looked at each other gloomily. It was Tara, as always, who sorted out the mess. One look at Bianca’s stricken face and she said, gently,“C’mon guys, let the girl eat.” Th
When St Just regained consciousness, it was to find himself on a narrow hospital bed. Machines were whirring, and there was a loud beeping. He looked down and saw that he was attached to an IV unit. Experimentally, he ran his tongue over his teeth experimentally as he wondered in bewilderment, Where the f*ck was he?He must have made some sound, for a woman in a white uniform poked her head around the screen that separated him from the other occupants and said,“Oh, you’re back in the land of the living, are you?” She beamed at him and went on, entering to check him, take a look at the charts at his feet as she added absently,“There are some people who have been waiting to see you; they have been here for some time now.”With another smile, the large woman strode off and a minute later, the screens were moved again as Bianca rushed in, her eyes dark with worry, telltale tears smudges on her cheeks. She went to wrap her arms around him but a very dishevelled-looking, yet handsome O’Gr
Liam O’Grady was up on his feet at once, fists clenched.“The f*ck do you mean by that?” he snarled, bristling. He was looming over the doctor, his entire body language menacing in nature.Bianca begged him to sit down and he finally sank into the chair, still looking daggers at the doctor. Dr Ramon seemed unperturbed. He had obviously met a lot of distraught relatives. Sighing, he opened a small screen on the wall and showed them the scan results.Bianca’s hands squeezed O’Grady’s large one as she listened in silence, barely aware of the laboured breathing of the man beside her.When he was done explaining , she sat forward and said, “But what did you mean, doctor, by saying, Only If the patient wishes?”Dr Ramon met her eyes and said gently, almost rebuking her for not catching on,“Did Mr St Just tell you of his condition?”His eyes moved from one to the other of the white-faced couple seated before him.the question caught her unawares and she drew a sharp breath.“Why did he hi
The scene at the headquarters of the Delano mob was tense.Piers was listening carefully to the Capo, Philippe, who also to happened to be his brother, when Hila walked in. One look at her husband’s tense face and she strode across to him.She sat down on the side, behind Piers, hand on his shoulder, kneading his tight muscles.“What’s up?” she drawled in her throaty voice, her eyes fixed on Phillippe. The Capo sighed, he was a large man with black hair tied back in a ponytail, a hairstyle his baby daughter thoroughly approved of; she used to tug at his hair and giggle when he pretended to yelp in pain. Now he met Hila’s direct gaze and said,“There’s word on the street, Perez is stirring.”Hila did not flinch.She had also heard that Gabriela was looking to settle scores. The woman was enraged at the part played by her former lover, Lucien Delano and that of O’Grady and St Just, who had brought down her sex trafficking network Now Hila inclined her head, encouraging the Capo to go
Something about his actions made the man lying on the bed struggle to remember where he had seen the orderly before. True, the man was wearing a mask but his movements- they seemed familiar in some way, a negative way.St Just had been sedated the previous night and he knew that his movements were sluggish. But he was alert enough to know something was off, when the man looked over his shoulder in a desperate way, as though he expected someone to barge in any minute and stop him. St Just frowned as he thought of the other nurses who had come in with confidence and had fixed the bag on the IV stand with no hesitation. This man was fumbling and the patient heard him swear coarsely.Not an orderly, definitely not hospital staff.But St Just’s hands were not moving fast enough to keep up with his thoughts which were sending out alarm bells. The man tried to stab the IV bag unsuccessfully with his syringe. He did it three times, getting more and more flustered with each attempt.Now St
St Just had been put on a ventilator as soon as the doctors arrived. When he emerged form the surgery, he was deeply sedated. The doctor surveyed O’Grady and Bianca grimly as he said, ‘We can’t conduct the tests today, I’m afraid.”He sighed and spoke, almost to himself,“It’s out of the question.”O’Grady rubbed the back of his head, pacing wrathfully. Bianca stood, small and silent, staring at the doctor, an unspoken plea in her large, liquid brown eyes.“Let’s wait, eh?” and he clapped Bianca on her shoulder in a fatherly way before striding away.O’Grady came close, muttering things about ‘unfeeling bas*ard doctors’ and ‘blo*dy fool hospitals.’She said nothing, just sank into a seat, leaning back, her small hand over her slightly swollen belly. Bianca imagined she could feel the hardness of her stomach and almost jumped out of her skin as a larger hand descended, clamping down over hers, warm and reassuring.The familiar musk of O’Grady surrounded her as he leaned into her and sa
The burly Irishman and the woman he loved slept in each other’s arms, and Bianca lay, snuggled and safe as she thought of St Just. He had looked so thin, emaciated even, as he lay in the ICU. Although the two of them had wanted to stay at the hospital all night, the doctors had dissuaded them.“Mrs O’Grady,” said the matron, indicating Bianca and failing to see the blush on Bianca’s face at the words,” She’s pregnant and needs her rest, Sir.”O’Grady had smiled wolfishly, looking dark and dangerous as he nodded, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the blushing girl beside him.“Ah, lass, you’re right,” he drawled.Later, as they were riding home, he held her to his body and murmured,” We need to make an honest woman of you, Bianca Cruz before the babe comes out.”She shuddered at his choice of words but he prevented any retort by kissing her soundly and she subsided.Now they were snuggled in bed, thinking of St Just.She sighed and O’Grady grunted questioningly.Bianca rubbed his stub
Jamie was delirious with relief when her brothers arrived in a matter of seconds to take her back home. Captain Davis wanted to question her, he declared, but one look from Claude silenced him. “Our sister needs a doctor, mate,” drawled Louis, who was beside his brother, his hiccupping sister in his arms. “You can come home and ask her all the questions you want,” added Claude, hefting her tenderly into his arms. Jamie curled into her brother’s safe embrace and shut her eyes. “Pappa…” she whispered as she was carried away. The Captain stood, hands clenched, watching them go. He could not very well question her now, of course, for she had been so very agitated. But…he sighed. The scent of Jamie’s body- a strawberry fragrance? he wondered- clung to his body, and he turned to meet the knowing look on his Lieutenant’s face. “Right, let’s get down to asking those men some questions,” he said crisply and his team were soon fanning out, trying to find out more about the mysterious man who ha
Captain Davis watched in stupefaction as the man who had been dragging Jamie Delano, suddenly swayed and went down in a heap, blood all over the place. Jamie screamed in terror as the man fell on top of her and she wailed as she struggled to push his dead weight off her body. The Captain did not waste a minute. He was beside her, pushing the dead weight of the fallen man off Jamie, and he lifted her into his arms, soothing her, his face in her fragrant hair, as he spoke hoarsely,“Hush, baby, I’ve got this, I’ve got you…” Jamie clung to him, sobbing hysterically, barely aware that she was being cradled by the man of her dreams.In the corridor, Hila Zidi shook her head in exasperation, The girl was already like a moon calf, swooning over the dashing policeman; now she would imagine it was a divine sign and go after the fellow hammer and tongs. Well, that was a problem for another day, she told herself decisively.Looking around swiftly, she jerked her wig off and hurried down the c
The back garden was deserted, and the man who was dragging her along had planned his escape down to the last T.He had however, not taken into account the fact that Jamie had only had one drink all evening. The cautious teen had refused to get inebriated, for she did not want to disappoint her father. So the job of taking her to the waiting car without difficulty was proving to be a huge challenge. The man swore and tried to pick her up, but she wrestled with him, using all her self-defence training to her advantage. But the trained assassin was too much for her. With one hard blow, he felled her to the ground and began to drag her unwilling body.Jamie was struggling for all she was worth. Something was off and she was not about to go without a fight.“You…” she screamed but her voice came out soft, whining. She tried to hang back but the man smacked her across her head, hard. Jamie literally saw stars as she cried out. Once, long ago, when she was a child, an attempt had been made
Jamie felt a little lightheaded as she was firmly guided to another room, down a long corridor. She giggled hysterically as she noticed something odd..She had spotted some women, young women at that, with pacifiers worn around their necks on plastic strings. She stumbled, staring as she wondered why they wore them.“Like babies,” she thought and giggled.The man who was escorting her impatiently looked down at her from a great distance and his voice was loud as he said, in exasperation.“What’s so funny?”Jamie giggled again but shook her head. She felt disoriented but also, vaguely, cheerful. Se kept staring at the man who seemed to be glowing, like an angel.“You’ve got an aura!!!’ she cried in wonder.The man rolled his eyes but continued to tug her along the corridor, his movements getting more agitated as he did so.He ahd a deadline to keep; the car would be waiting outside and he had to spirit this wretched girl away at the earliest. Or Jana Rudenko would eat him for breakfast
Jamie stepped out of the car, having been driven to the door by her father’s men. She beamed at them, for she had known them since she was a toddler. Bidding them goodbye, she said softly,“Thanks,” and then, she was entering the modest house. Music and laughter echoed in the corridor as she hesitated, for she did not know many of the guests, who mostly belonged to the crowd that Sadie currently moved in.Older youths, with long hair and tattoos, girls in the shortest of clothes, their bodies on display as they swung their hips exaggeratedly and walked.For a minute, Jamie considered the option of turning and heading back home. A deep sense of uncertainty swept over her. A sixth sense, like her Mumma called it, begging her to turn and leave before it was too late.When she had been in the protected confines of her old school, she had been cosseted, protected from reality. But Lucien Delano had abruptly announced his decision to shift his children, Rudolph and Jamie, to a school closer
Jamie danced down the stairs and then, hastily sobered as she walked down the passage to her Pappa’s study.She wanted to meet her father, promise him that she would be back soon and then leave. Because she loved, nay worshipped her Pappa; he had always been the star in her life, the only man she had looked up to, the one who never let her down.Her very own Knight in Shining Armour.And now, as she walked, she beamed at her Pappa’s valet, old Gustav, who smiled benevolently at her as he held the door open for her to enter.“Ummm…is he alone, Uncle G?” she asked in a small, diffident voice for she did not want to anger the Boss by going in when his associates were around. The room was inevitably full of cigar smoke and the smell of alcohol when he had guests over and the law that was never to be broken, was that none of the Mafia Don’s women were to be anywhere around at such times. Mumma always obeyed Pappa and so did Jamie and her sisters. Lucien Delano had flown into an unholy r
When Bianca came awake the next morning, it was to the tantalising aroma of freshly brewed coffee.“Wake up, sleepyhead,” chuckled O’Grady and she blinked. He was shirtless, leaning over her, a tender look on his handsome face.She dimpled.“Quick, to the bathroom, lass,” he chuckled, tugging off the bedclothes and she pouted. His eyes narrowed. Even with the baby bump, Bianca Cruz could make him hard in a minute. In a husky voice, he growled,“Quick, lassie…or…” she giggled and grabbed her nightshirt from the floor as she trundled to the washroom.A few minutes late, she was having a hearty meal of bacon and eggs, scrambled just the way she liked it. Pancakes were stacked on the side and the sight had her waddling across to hurry and eat one. But St Just, who was busy making them, turned and grinned as O’Grady easily grabbed Bianca, restraining her.“I’M HUNGREEEE!” she wailed crossly, glaring at St Just who was obviously enjoying the scene.“So am I, pet,” grunted O’Grady, rubbing
Her Masters were literally over the moon.They held her in their arms, kissing and generally making a fuss over her. Roxanne Piccolo, who had been hovering in the background, softly spoke up,“I’m leaving now, Bianca.”Pushing herself out of the arms of her men, Bianca rose and went to hug Roxanne.“You went to a lot of trouble for me, bae,” she said softly but Roxanne only dimpled shyly.After she had left, with a couple of O’Grady’s men to escort her safely home, Bianca turned to her Masters, leaning against the door, her eyes dancing. She held out her arms to them, appealing and suddenly shy.The brothers exchanged looks. O’Grady came forward and lifted her up in his arms, an arm under her knees, the other supporting her as she wound her plump arms around his neck.“Lead the way, Saint,” declared O’Grady with a devilish grin, pretending to huff and puff as he took the stairs.He deposited her tenderly on the bed and she raised herself on an elbow, as she commanded,“I want you ge
Jamie sat at the table, looking at her father nervously. They were at dinner and Lucien Delano was conversing in a low voice with James Schwartz, seated on his left.Proserpina hovered around, bringing out the dishes, till her husband gripped her wrist and growled,“Sit the f*ck down, Woman. Why do I have a house full of f*cking help ?”Sending him a pointed look for using such language, Proserpina subsided, dimpling at Schwartz, who looked at her, his heart n his eyes.“No mystery about why Uncle James never got married,” thought Jamie drily.She cleared her throat and her brothers, Dom and Rudy, who had also turned up for dinner, looked at across at her in surprise.“Papp…” she began, ashamed to hear the squeak in her voice. But after the evening when he had slapped her, she felt a great deal of fear when she faced her for her intimidating patent. Pappa had such a daunting personality, that people automatically quaked when they saw him, and women swooned. Jamie knew of his legendar