The Proposal (Book 3 of The Arrangement series)

Amberleigh Dubois felt as though her brain was shutting down. It was so overloaded she couldn’t process one more fucking thing. The last few days had been nothing but an overwhelming clusterfuck, ever since she and her boyfriend Leonardo Clemonte had gotten the call that changed their lives forever. Leo’s best friend-and the father of Amber’s unborn child- billionaire Grayson Godwin had been abducted and held for a hefty ransom. Since then, Leo and Amber had been sucked up into a violent whirlwind of emotions, battered and beaten, but determined to weather this fucking storm and bring the man they both loved home safe and sound. Further complicating matters of that whole fucked up situation, was when they learned the billionaire’s kidnapping was not so straightforward. It took an awful, gut-wrenching twist, when an old friend of Amber’s confessed Grayson’s kidnapping was an inside job, an elaborate murder for hire plot, meant to take the billionaire’s life and make hi

The SUV pulled up to the curb in front of a small grocery store. From the outside, there was nothing special about the boxy, brick building called the Quick Shop. It was an ugly shade of brown, the plate glass windows in need of cleaning, and the cracks in the sidewalk and concrete steps in desperate need of patching. But just like with The Rabbit Hole bar, looks could be fucking deceiving. For the real action at this place happened beneath it.Or so Amber and Grayson soon learned as Giovanni and the driver quickly unloaded a lifeless Leo from the SUV and rushed him towards the front doors of the grocery store.“Help Giovanna get inside. Nano and I will take care of your friend. Meet us in the basement. One of Doc’s children will show you the way if needed,” instructed Giovanni.Grayson nodded, “I’m putting my trust in you to help him. I’ll pay whatever I need to cover the costs of his treatments. Just tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it.”“For now just take care of my daughter.”

Doc removed his fingers from Leo’s carotid and began to push upon his chest up and down as Amberleigh and Grayson watched in a horrified silence. The alarm continued to scream, the noise penetrating Amber’s skull, and making her head feel like it was about to fucking explode. Cori ran to the edge of the stairs and screamed up to her brother at the top of her lungs.“Donny! We need another pair of hands down here now!”She pushed the cart over to the stretcher and ripped open a package of electrodes attached to the machine. She slapped them on Leo’s chest expertly and quickly before she turned on the machine. Amber could do nothing but watch the scene in a stupor. Her mind not wanting to process. It hurt too much.“Has his…his.. heart…?”stuttered Grayson. “Lost his pulse. His heart has gone into V-fib. It’s not a rhythm compatible with life,” explained Cori.“What does that mean?”Amber was still tightly gripping Grayson’s hand. But she couldn’t form coherent thoughts or words as the

By the time the surgery was finished, Leo’s wound packed and left open to stave off infection, Amberleigh wasn’t the only one concerned that Grayson was going to pass out at any moment. She was getting tired of the physical strain on her to keep him from falling as he swayed. The Doc noticed the billionaire’s precarious position as he removed his bloody gloves and washed his hands.“Mr. Godwin, please take a seat. You don’t look well. Cori get his vitals and I’ll help him to a chair.”“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”“You aren’t fine Grayson. Anyone can see that,” argued Amber.But he was clearly not fine the stubborn ass. And the doctor wasn’t convinced. Especially when Grayson fell forward and caught himself against the stretcher and Amber yelped. Doc moved faster than his thin physique let on as he grabbed onto his newest patient before he hit the floor. Cori quickly grabbed a chair and placed it behind him as Doc eased him down into the seat.“How do you feel?” asked Doc.“Dizzy.

Amberleigh emerged from the shower trying to leave her deep and troubled thoughts behind. But not even the warm water had been enough to wash away that dirty feeling upon her body. The way Grayson’s skin pressed up against her had made her body burn and excited. But in time her body and heart would want the billionaire less and less. And she would never put herself in such a compromising position with him again in the meantime.But the scene she witnessed when Amber entered the exam room was enough to give her just the distraction she needed. Cori was attempting to start an IV in Grayson’s arm and Amber got to learn another fun fact about the billionaire. He was a big ass baby when it came to needles.The shot into his arm earlier had come quickly when he was distracted by Leo’s trying to die on them, But now his best friend was hooked to a machine breathing for him, the bleeding stopped, and all his vital signs looking pretty. Grayson paled even more at the sight of the needle as Cor