Chapter 32

32

Cora

“ W hat?” Denaro whispers.

“I’m pregnant,” I tell him, inwardly praying it’s enough to get him to put the gun down. “I’m pregnant and I want my baby to live. Please, I won’t interfere with the sale. I’ll quit baking altogether, if that’s what it takes. I just want to live. My baby—”

“You’re lying,” he says.

“No, I swear. I’ll start showing soon. And… I don’t even know who the father is. It could be any one of them.”

“Any of them... oh my,” he scoffs, slightly amused by my predicament.

I take a step back, all the blood rushing to my head as I try to find a way out again. “Please,” I say once more. “I’m pregnant. Don’t hurt me.”

He hesitates.

Outside, a loud thud reverberates, followed by a harsh grunt.

POP!

I duck and fall to my knees as the door bursts wide open, wood splinters flying everywhere.

Denaro’s gun didn’t go off. He whirls around as three armed men clad in black storm the room. Red and blue lights flash outside. The commotion is sudden and completely unexpected. My brain fails to register everything at once.

I hold my breath.

“What the hell—” Denaro manages before getting tackled and slammed into the ground.

His gun slides across the floor.

White light floods the room as more uniformed officers come through, flashlights and guns pointing everywhere. I don’t move other than trembling and whimpering. My mind shuts down altogether.

The man straddling Denaro looks at me. I instantly recognize those piercing blue eyes.

“Don’t fucking move,” he tells Denaro, a black mask covering most of his face and muffling his voice. “You’re under arrest, you piece of shit.”

Outside, I see one of Denaro’s men on the porch in a puddle of blood, not moving. I’m chilled to the bone, connecting the sight with the loud popping sound that preceded the raid.

“Hands behind your head!” one of the sheriff’s deputies barks at the other goon, now on his knees and visibly annoyed by his predicament.

The sound of cuffs getting slapped around his wrists is eerily satisfying to my ears. Finally, I’m able to breathe again, slowly letting the air out and inhaling a fresh lungful as two of the first three men who entered the room cautiously approach me.

“Cora, are you okay?” one of them asks.

A familiar voice.

Bluish-green eyes.

Broad shoulders.

“Oh, my God,” I gasp and burst into tears as they help me get up and wrap their strong, muscular arms around me. “Oh, thank God, you found me.”

I shudder in their embrace as they huddle closer, hiding me from the world and the evil that almost swallowed me whole.

Sebastian takes his gloves off and cups my face, planting a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. “You’re going to be okay,” he whispers.

“We got you, baby,” Waylan says in my ear so no one else can hear him.

Riggs is still very much on top of Denaro, triumphant in his posture while he waits for Sheriff Foreman to come in and put the cuffs on him.

“How is it that none of you, including me, thought to ask for a pair of cuffs when I deputized you?” Foreman grumbles as he steps in, leaving the outside mayhem behind for his deputies to handle.

There’s an avalanche of voices overlapping one another. Deputies, the ME, the angry and agitated motel manager. None of it matters though. I’m safe.

“We were kind of in a rush, but this piece of shit is all yours,” Riggs says as he gets off Denaro’s back.

Foreman takes over and officially arrests him, reading him his Miranda rights while Riggs joins our trembling little group hug. All I can do is smile, cry, and forget my words as I let my men hold me, as I find comfort and safety in their arms.

“Cora,” Riggs says, eyeing me intently. “It’s over.”

“He was… he was going to kill me,” I manage.

“We figured he’d become aggravated once St. James and Hamilton were out of his reach,” Sebastian says. “It’s done now. For real, this time. They’re going to prison. All of them.”

“Eva? Is she okay?” I ask.

Waylan smiles gently. “I need to text her and let her know we got you.”

“Please do. Where is she?”

“We managed to get her to sit tight at the bakery and wait for our call,” Waylan replies.

“Cora!” Eva’s voice cuts across the parking lot outside the motel.

I can’t help but laugh lightly. “Right. Because my sister would actually do what you tell her.”

I gently pull myself out of the arms of my men just as Eva bursts past the sheriff and Denaro, ignoring them completely upon seeing me. “Hey, sis.”

“Cora, thank god you’re alright!” she exclaims and throws her arms around me. I welcome the relief that washes over me in warm, golden waves. The adrenaline is wearing off.

Eva and the guys wait outside by one of the ambulances while the paramedics check my vitals and make sure I’m okay. At the same time, I give Sheriff Foreman my statement of the events leading up to the moment Waylan, Riggs, and Sebastian came through the door. The guys bring me up to speed on every step they took to get to me in the nick of time once the sheriff walks away.

Eva sits beside me, lovingly rubbing my back and making sure I’m wrapped snug in the emergency blanket, worried I might catch a cold. Together we watch as Foreman’s deputies shove Denaro and his surviving goon in the back of two separate cars, while the ME examines the other goon’s body before having it removed from the scene.

It unfolds slowly, giving me the precious minutes I need to wrap my head around everything until it makes perfect sense. The secrets Orson and George had been hiding. The rumors that turned out to be much uglier truths. The hypocrisy. The dirty deals. All of it, at mine and Eva’s expense. I’d be furious if I weren’t so tired.

“We still need to take you to the hospital and have a full set of tests performed,” one of the paramedics concludes. “Including an ultrasound. I want to make sure you and the little guy or gal are safe and sound.”

“Thank you,” I tell him with a weak smile.

He gives the guys and my sister a quick glance. “One of you can ride in the back with Miss Levine. The rest of you can follow us to the hospital if you want.”

“Of course,” Eva blurts out. “I’m in the back with my sister.”

Sebastian laughs lightly and plants a kiss on my temple. “I’ll see you at the hospital.”

“Okay,” I whisper, then smile at Waylan and Riggs. “I’ll see you all there.”

“You bet,” Riggs replies.

Once I’m in the back of the ambulance with Eva and one of the paramedics, I breathe a sigh of relief watching the crime scene shrink in the distance as we’re driven away.

“God, it was absolutely insane,” I whisper. “I’m so glad they got to me in time. I really thought I was going to die, Eva.”

My sister brushes my hair off of my forehead. “I’m so glad they got to you too. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I love you,” I tell her.

“I love you too, honey. So maybe don’t scare me like that ever again.”

The paramedic checks my saline drip and blood pressure again. “You’re going to be okay, I’m sure of it. Your vitals are steady, your blood pressure is remarkably good given the ordeal you just endured. The tests should confirm all that. But you’re going to have to kick back and rest for a few days.”

“He’s right, you know. You’ll have to take it easy for a few days, at least. I insist.”

“Eva,” I say squeezing her hand. “It’s okay. I’ll rest. I won’t move a muscle. I’ll just sleep and eat my way into the new year. It’s not like we have much else going on. With Orson in jail, I can’t imagine they’ll be sending anybody to repossess the building right away.”

My heart is aching again as I remember we lost everything.

Eva gives me a wry smile. “Are you kidding? We’re opening back up on the second of January. New menu, new look. I took the liberty of going through your office notes. I know you had some fresh new pastries and cakes to introduce.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sebastian’s lawyers came through,” she says. “Orson will never be able to void the sale.”

“He had photos of us—”

“Not anymore,” she laughs. “Don’t ask me what happened behind closed doors downtown in the sheriff’s office, Cora. All I know is that the photos are gone. They no longer exist. Some sort of deal with the DA. For leniency during sentencing.”

I’m speechless.

A whole new kind of relief unravels. True freedom. The purest form of joy as my life seems to have bounced back to its original colors. The nightmare is truly over.

“I can’t believe it,” I manage, my voice trembling with emotion.

“Frankly, I won’t believe it until I see our names on the property deed,” Eva replies. “But Sebastian assured me we’re going to get that on January first. No delays, no excuses.” She smiles brightly. “It’s over, Cora, it’s really over. They thought they could bully us and shame us out of there, and they almost did, but we won. In the end, we won. We’re going to be okay.”

“We are going to be okay, huh?”

“You bet your pregnant ass.”

The way she laughs and takes me in her arms reminds me of Mom and Dad. I would’ve loved to see them, now. To tell them we did it. To show them the property deed. But they know. Wherever they are in the great, vast cosmos of existence and everything beyond, I think they can see us.

An hour later, I’m in a private room at the hospital with my sister by my side. We’re staring at the ultrasound picture in my hand. The on-call doctor left it for us to mull over. The silence is overwhelming, especially since we both know Sebastian, Waylan, and Riggs are patiently waiting downstairs, eager to learn that the baby and I are, in fact, fine.

“Twins,” I say it out loud.

“You’re packing a double kind of trouble,” Eva says with a sigh. “I’m anxious to see how the guys will react to the news. Oh, by the way, I’m sorry for letting it slip.”

“Please,” I say. “There’s nothing to apologize for. If anything, I’m the one who owes you a mountain-sized apology. A lifetime of making it up to you for the secrets I kept.”

Eva shakes her head. “Shush. No. It’s over. We’re not going to fuss about that anymore. It happened, and I understand why it happened. I was angry and helpless after what Orson did to us with his stupid morality clause, but you know what? I stand by what I said. Love is love.”

“Oh?”

“Granted, it would’ve been easier if you’d just stuck to one guy, not three. But hey, if it works for you, if it makes you happy, if they make you happy…”

“They do, Eva. They’re good to me. They’re patient and loving, generous and—”

“Ridiculously hot, I know.” She rolls her eyes. “A lot of single ladies in this town are going to hate your guts for Sebastian alone.”

I let a heavy sigh roll from my chest. “I’m having twins. And the rumors about the guys and me are still out there. They’re going to be swirling for a while. PR campaign or not, we’ll have a hard time fighting them off.”

“We’re going to be fine, Cora. Rumors die. And your fellas are experts in manipulating public opinion. Orson and George shot their own credibility down, anyway, with all the skeletons in their closets. It’s going to be a walk in the park to discredit them and anybody who even thinks of picking up where they left off,” Eva says. “The building is ours. All we have to do is keep grinding until we come out of the storm.”

“Twins,” I say it again, still reeling from the shock.

Eva laughs. “Yeah, you’re screwed.”

“I thought one kid would be a challenge. But two? How am I going to manage?”

“You’ve got three strapping gentlemen eager to make an honest woman out of you. I think you’ll be just fine.”

“You think?”

“I hope.”

“Very reassuring.”

A knock on the door has me sitting up. I put the ultrasound print away and give Eva a pleading look. “Don’t tell them yet, please. They’ve dealt with enough over the past few days. Let us get home, get some rest. I’ll tell them when I’m ready.”

“Don’t worry, sis, I got your back,” Eva replies, then walks over to the door and swings it wide open. “Come on in. I’m guessing you accosted the doctor on your way up because you couldn’t languish in the waiting room for another minute.”

“Precisely that,” Sebastian replies with a broad smile.

“We couldn’t wait another second ,” Waylan says.

Riggs gives me a worried look. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better now, thank you.” I motion for them to come closer.

“And the baby?” Sebastian asks.

Eva presses her lips into a tight line, briefly glancing my way before she excuses herself. “I’m going to go get myself a cup of coffee from the fancy machine down the hall. The perks of a private hospital, I guess.”

“Yeah, it’s not bad,” Riggs replies as she walks out, leaving me alone with my men. “The baby?”

“We’re just fine,” I reply with a warm smile. “What about Denaro and his gang of schmucks?”

“In custody and unlikely to get out anytime soon,” Sebastian says. His brow furrows slightly as he’s the first to approach my bed, taking my hand in his with a warm softness. He gently kisses my knuckles. “Cora, you should’ve told us sooner about the baby.”

“Hey, we said we wouldn’t do this,” Waylan cuts in. He takes my other hand in his and plants kisses of his own. “What Sebastian is trying to say is, we wish you’d told us sooner about the baby.”

“How could I?” I sigh deeply. “I wanted to. But with all the uncertainty, with everything that’s been going on… and you had your big campaign to worry about. I just didn’t want to be another concern for you. I was waiting until after New Year’s Eve, to be honest.”

Riggs can’t help but smile, then scooches closer to my left side and lovingly kisses my temple.

“It’s alright,” Sebastian says. “You’re still not alone in any of this.”

Waylan frowns. “What do you want to do about it?”

“About what?” I ask, somewhat confused.

“The baby. Us.”

“If I have to ask the three of you, what would you say?”

Sebastian shakes his head. “I want to know what you want.”

“I want you, Sebastian. And I want you, Waylan. And Riggs, don’t think for a second I don’t want you to be a part of my life. In sickness and in health, through good times and bad… you know how it goes. I want all of that with the three of you.”

“Good,” Sebastian replies, then leans in and showers me with loving kisses. “Because the three of us are irreversibly in love with you. And we want a future together. A family of our own.”

“And so many babies,” Waylan sighs, then laughs lightly as he and Riggs join Sebastian in a mingling of lips and arms, of kisses and hugs.

“I’m the one who has to carry them, so let’s see how I fare the first time around, okay? Besides, we already have Dario.” I smile, my eyes filling with tears. “I love you. All of you.”

“We’re going to work something out, I promise,” Riggs says, gently nibbling on my ear. “We’ll keep Sebastian at the front. We’ll deny all the rumors. Orson’s credibility is shot to shit, anyway. We’ll make it right, and we’ll make it work, baby. You, me, the boys, the baby, the bakery, the agency, Dario, everything. We’ll make it work.”

“I can’t wait to reopen the bakery,” is my last spoken thought before the weight of a much-needed sleep takes over my eyelids.