by Maya Banks
Logan went soft about the same time Rhys felt himself unfold. They both reached for her. Logan’s hand slid up her arm as Rhys’ tucked around her neck.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Logan said. “I was so damn worried when you were in the hospital. I still am. I want this baby, Catherine. As much as I want you.”
She turned her head to Rhys, and he slid his hand around to cup her cheek.
“I’d love a girl,” he said with a smile. “Who looks just like her mother. Logan and I can spoil her rotten. Of course I’m happy, love. But I’m happier that you’re okay and that you’re home with us where you belong.”
She looked away, and Rhys had to hold back his sigh. He exchanged worried glances with Logan. The two of them had expected a battle, an argument, and then they’d planned to throw down the challenge. They’d show her, prove to her, that they were through putting her last.
Only she hadn’t responded how they’d thought. Now they were faced with not only proving themselves to her, but they were also faced with tearing down the protective barrier she’d created around herself.
Chapter Sixteen
Catherine walked into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of juice. As she moved into the living room, she was surprised to see both Logan and Rhys. They had laptops open on the coffee table. Cell phones were out. Logan was talking to someone on one of them. There was even a fax machine on the floor with an extension cord leading to the wall plug.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Rhys said as he looked up and saw her.
She glanced self-consciously down at her rumpled knee-length T-shirt and bare legs and grimaced. She didn’t feel beautiful, even if she was feeling a lot better since she’d left the hospital several weeks ago.
“What’s Logan doing?” she asked as a way to put the focus off her bedraggled appearance. He was talking on the phone, but he looked at ease, not at all tense like he did in ninety percent of the phone calls he made.
“He’s talking with our new director of operations.”
Her brows furrowed. “Your what?”
He grinned. “Thought that might trip you up.”
She walked over and sat down in the chair across from the couch. Though she slept between both men each night, she still wasn’t comfortable overtly seeking out their attention or affection. She wanted nothing more than to snuggle into Rhys’ arms on the couch, but she didn’t like what the action implied.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Who’s your new director of operations, and what the hell is that anyway?”
“Paige is,” Rhys replied.
Catherine raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Paige? Not that she doesn’t deserve the promotion. I hope you gave her a hefty raise as well.”
“Oh, we did,” Rhys muttered. “It was the only way she’d take the job.”
She grinned and realized it felt good to let go and smile. It felt strange, and then it hit her that she hadn’t smiled—really smiled—since Jamaica.
Poor Rhys was looking at her like a desperate man. It couldn’t have been easy living like this for the last several weeks. Always on tiptoe.
Neither he nor Logan had pressed her. Hadn’t made demands or tried to persuade her to stay. In fact, they hadn’t done a lot of talking at all beyond idle everyday chitchat, asking how she was doing, if she needed anything, that sort of thing.
But what they had done was show her that she was all-important. Yes, they worked, but astonishingly, they were home by five every day, six at the latest. There had been one overnight business trip that only Logan had gone on, and he’d returned early the next day.
They ate dinner every night together, usually ordered in, but the guys also took turns cooking. Evenings in the kitchen had turned out to be the highlight of her day as they talked about everything and nothing.
At night, they crawled in beside her, always close to her, touching and snuggling. It was so much like the early days in their relationship that it made her physically ache.
How much longer would they keep it up? They were relentless in their quest to make her stay. She certainly couldn’t dispute that, but was it real? If she gave in, would things go back to the way they’d been before?
Logan bent over her chair, startling her from her thoughts. She hadn’t realized he’d gotten off the phone. He leaned in close and kissed her gently on the lips. She sucked in her breath in surprise.
“Good morning,” he murmured.
Then he very lightly put a hand on her belly, splaying his fingers over her shirt.
“How is the little one today?”
A sudden wash of emotion hit her hard in the chest. This was how it was supposed to be. She stared down at his hand and imagined a larger swell. She was only just now starting to pooch the slightest bit, but in a few months, she’d round out quite nicely.
She had fantasies about lying between him and Rhys, their hands on her belly feeling the baby move. Gentle kisses and late night conversations with their son or daughter.
“Why do you look so sad, baby?” Logan whispered.
She shook her head, refusing to voice aloud her innermost wants and dreams. As long as she kept them closely guarded, they remained hers. The moment she let them go, they entered the realm of harsh reality.
He stroked her cheek, light and loving. Then he kissed her eyelids before backing away.
“Are you not going into the office today?” she croaked.
He smiled. “Nope. Rhys and I are working from home. Paige is more than capable of running the office along with her new staff. I think she’s loving her new digs.”
“Staff?” she echoed in disbelief.
Logan and Rhys didn’t have a staff. They had Paige who they piled way too much work on. They had a secretary who worked on an as-needed basis, and they had one or two temps who filled in during busy times, but a staff? Logan was too much of a control freak to relinquish the running of their business to staff members.
“She’s on quite a power trip,” Rhys said in amusement. “It’s why Logan and I are hiding at home today. She’s holding orientation and letting her new worker bees know exactly what she expects from them.”
Catherine laughed. Rhys froze and stared at her with a fierce expression.
“That is the most beautiful sound,” he murmured.
Her chest caught, and her heart fluttered uncomfortably.
“So what’s with the decision to hire a staff?” she asked casually, afraid to read too much into their action.
“It was way past time,” Logan said. “Rhys and I have been too set on doing everything ourselves. It wasn’t fair to you, and it wasn’t fair to Paige, who we also took advantage of. We’ve made it up to her. We’re still making it up to you and will be for a long while.”
He spoke with such seriousness and determination. Against her will, excitement rose, unfurled like a budding flower.
“Are you ready to talk about us?” Rhys asked quietly.
She froze. No, they hadn’t pushed her. In fact they’d been nothing but patient. But the issue had still taken up residence. The gigantic elephant in the room, always watching.
“I need to call and confirm my appointment with the obstetrician for tomorrow,” she said as she hastily rose from her seat. “I’m getting an ultrasound.”
“We know,” Rhys said, his gaze directed on her. “We’ve made arrangements to go. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She held her breath, trying not to hope, yet grabbing on to his promise with sick excitement. On some level she felt like a complete idiot for placing that kind of faith squarely back in their hands when they’d let her down time after time.
Despite the effort they’d put into spending more time with her, she still couldn’t keep the doubt from creeping in. All it would take was one little problem. Some deal going south. An issue with the new staff, and they’d quickly drop her to go fix it.
“We’ll be there,” Logan said calmly. “You’ll be riding with us.”
*
**
The next morning, Rhys got up and dressed for work, but to Catherine’s shock, Logan stayed in bed, his arm draped possessively over her body.
She was debating whether or not to wake Logan when Rhys returned to the bed and bent over and kissed her.
“I have to run in for a few minutes and sign a few documents for Paige, but I’ll be back in time for your appointment.”
“Rhys, what about Logan?” she whispered.
Rhys smiled. “What about him?”
“Would you two please be quiet,” Logan said in irritation. “It’s damn hard to sleep with you carrying on a conversation in my ear.”
Rhys chuckled, kissed Catherine one more time and headed for the door.
She turned as best she could under Logan’s arm so she could face him. “Are you sick?” she asked. “Are you feeling okay?”
He pried one eye open and stared balefully at her. “I’m fine.”
“Logan, you’ve never slept this late in your life. You never miss work.”
“I do today.” He leaned into her and kissed her. His hand glided up her body until his palm cradled the side of her neck. “And I plan to do a lot more of it. Is that going to be a problem for you, Mrs. Wellesley?”
Her mouth widened in shock, and he took swift advantage. His tongue licked deliciously over her lips and slid inside, warm and slightly rough.
“We’ve got a couple hours before your appointment. Why don’t we sleep a little longer, take a shower together and then I’ll make you breakfast,” he murmured as he stole little kisses.
She burrowed into his arms, forgetting her reserve and that she was valiantly trying to guard herself from further hurt. She laid her cheek against his bare chest and closed her eyes, just enjoying the perfection of one simple moment.
Chapter Seventeen
Her stomach in knots, Catherine sat between Logan and Rhys in the waiting room. They sensed her anxiety, because they touched her frequently—gentle, reassuring caresses meant to alleviate her concerns.
There hadn’t been anything to suggest there was a problem with her pregnancy. Her recovery from her surgery had been uncomplicated and swift. But she could still taste the fear, heavy on her tongue, still remember that one terrible moment waking up and knowing without a doubt she’d lost her child.
Her stomach gave a violent twist when her name was announced. Clutching at Logan’s and Rhys’ hands, she made her way toward the door on unsteady feet.
She went through the preliminaries mechanically. Peed in a cup, let the nurse take vitals and answered questions in a monotone. Logan and Rhys both looked at her in concern, but her single-minded focus was on seeing her baby.
She half-feared that when they did the ultrasound, they’d find something horrible. A shudder worked over her shoulders.
Several agonizing minutes—what seemed like hours—later, the doctor came in, pushing a portable ultrasound. He smiled and greeted her then nodded at Logan and Rhys.
“Are you ready to see your baby, Mrs. Wellesley?” the doctor asked.
She nodded, unable to speak for fear she’d throw up.
Logan helped her lie back, and the doctor tucked a sheet in the waistband of her pants and pulled downward to expose the slight swell of her belly. Then he arranged her shirt just below her breasts.
Rhys stood at the head of the exam table, and she reached upward, finding his hand. Logan watched from her feet, both his hands curled around her ankles as his fingers worked in nervous patterns.
They were as worried as she was.
The doctor worked in silence. He squirted warm gel on her belly then took the probe and worked it in a tight circle, spreading the goo.
Everything else faded away but the screen and the black blurs working in and out of focus. She wasn’t conscious of holding her breath until she grew lightheaded. She blew it out in a long stream then sucked in deeply.
“There we are,” the doctor said as he pointed at the monitor.
Catherine stared in wonder at the screen. She could make out a head and a body. She could see arms and legs. The baby was moving.
She listened in a daze as the doctor pointed out features. He showed her the heart rate, eyes, nose, the mouth.
It was a miracle.
“Do you want to know what you’re having?” the doctor asked.
She opened her mouth, and it hung there. Did she want to know? God, it didn’t matter. Her baby was okay.
“Cat, do you want to know if it’s a boy or girl?” Rhys whispered close to her ear.
“Y-yes, please.” Excitement buzzed through her veins. It was real. She hadn’t lost her baby.
The doctor hummed as he probed around. He murmured once or twice, presumably to the baby, and then he smiled.
“Congratulations, Mama. You’re having a beautiful baby girl.”
It was too much. Completely and utterly overwhelmed, Catherine burst into tears. Big, gulping sobs wracked her body. The doctor looked at her in concern, but she couldn’t stop. It was as if a floodgate had burst wide open.
She heard the men talk around her, but didn’t process what was being said. And then she was alone with Rhys and Logan. Logan pulled her up and crushed her in his arms. Behind her, Rhys sat on the edge of the exam table and rubbed her back soothingly as he murmured in her ear.
Relief, achingly sweet, flowed through her veins. Warm, powerful, the healer of all things. Hope.
All the things she’d turned off in the past few weeks came storming back. Sharp, painful yet welcome. She wanted to feel again.
But still the tears came. Cleansing, like rain.
Logan and Rhys said nothing through it all. They just held her as her body shook with her sobs.
When they slowed enough that she could speak, she formed the one prevailing thought that echoed through her mind.
“Home,” she said, her throat raw. “I want to go home.”
Logan picked her up and held her protectively in his arms. “We’ll take you, baby. Just lie there. We’ll get you home.”
The trip home was a blur. She kept her face buried in Logan’s chest, drawing comfort and strength from his firm embrace.
When they walked into the apartment, he settled her on the couch. Rhys positioned pillows around her back and tugged a blanket over her lap. They were treating her as though she was fragile, but for the first time in a long while, she finally felt strong.
Rhys sat on the edge of the couch, concern burning brightly in his eyes. Logan sat at her feet, his hand stroking her leg.
“Are you all right?” Rhys asked anxiously.
“I was so afraid,” she said, and tears flooded her eyes again. She wiped them away in irritation. Her eyes were already swollen, hot and scratchy. Her nose felt like it was twice its normal size, and her head ached.
“I mean, I know the doctor said the baby was okay, but I didn’t believe him. I was so worried that we’d get there today and do the sonogram, and they’d find out that the baby was…”
She couldn’t even complete the horrible thought.
“Oh honey,” Rhys said as he pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve been so stupid about everything,” she said against his chest.
He pulled away from her in shock. Logan shook his head, a deep frown engraved on his face.
“Baby, if anyone’s been stupid, it’s me and Rhys. God, when I think of what could have happened to you because we weren’t where we were supposed to be—”
He broke off, shaking his head, but she could see the residual fear in his eyes.