Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

DIGG

"I can't believe you kept everything running on time while I was gone. Really expected things to be a mess. Thanks, brother." I speak quietly into the phone, hoping not to disrupt the women waiting their turn to be seen by their doctors. Francesca was called back for intake just when Konrad's call came through.

Worried it was club business, I hung back and answered without even noticing the call was on my regular phone and not my burner. Now, I'm stuck listening to Konrad detail all the shit he and Grey have been doing to keep Redemption Build in the black while I was gone.

"Family looks out for family. Even when part of said family is being a stubborn idiot and taking risks they shouldn't take," Konrad says calmly.

I'm not sure if there's a hidden meaning to his words or if I am reading too far into things. Either way, I can't deal with whatever he's alluding to right now. Not while Frankie's alone back there and I'm missing what could be important information I need to know, so I can take care of her and our baby. Because it is our baby. Fuck that cop, Mark Benson, and anyone else who thinks otherwise. Biology doesn't mean shit to me. Never has.

"Yeah, I hear you loud and clear. Look, I gotta go. Francesca's already back with the doctor." She told everyone to call her Frankie, but I love the way her name sounds and the cute blush that creeps all the way beneath her collar when I call her by her full name.

"Talk more later then," Konrad says before hanging up.

I turn to see a tall nurse watching me with a bit of suspicion. I'm not sure what her problem is, but one way or another, I'm getting back there to where Francesca is being seen.

"Are you Mr. James?" the nurse asks. I nod, waiting to see what happens next. Her knowing my name means Frankie mentioned me, so I give her the benefit of the doubt, despite the wary way she stares at me.

"Follow me, please. Ms. Holt is asking for you." She leads me through a maze of hallways with a mixture of open and closed doors.

Each door must lead to an exam room, and the sheer number of them makes me wonder how there can possibly be that many women knocked up at one time. This town ain't that big. Then again, what do I know about girly health things. For all I know, women go to the same doctor for babies that they go to for everything else.

Ever since Konrad separated from the military and started working for an agency we're not supposed to know anything about, we've all called Doc Charm when we need medical shit done. The guy followed Konrad and Shaw to town and set up shop in a private clinic down the road from this hospital. But he always manages to show up at the clubhouse whenever one of us gets banged up.

The nurse pushes a door open and steps to the side to gesture me into a room. My eyes fly from where Frankie's half-reclined on a bed with the back raised and her legs held high in the air by weird metal sticks coming out of the bottom end of the bed-chair-thing. A paper sheet drapes over her lower half and hides her privates from view. Still, there's a doctor in a white coat sitting on a wheeled stool with his face just inches away from the pussy I was listening to Francesca fingerfuck this morning.

Since the day I stepped out of the shadows and brought Frankie home with me, she's obeyed my instruction to jerk off, so I can hear her. I let her hide under the blanket on my bed to do it, but I don't permit her to hide her sounds from me. I'm not sure how much longer I can resist taking over and dragging those sounds from her myself. When the time is right, I will.

Right now, though, I'm more concerned about the man with his head between my woman's thighs. Doctor or not, I'm not thrilled by how close he is. I step all the way into the room and push the door shut with my boot. The thud of heavy wood shutting forcefully snares everyone's attention. The doctor takes one look at my hulking size and frowning face and scoots his fucking stool away from her body.

"You're not Mr. Benson," he stammers.

"Nope. I'm her man. That's my baby, and she's my woman. Got it?" I stare hard enough there's no way he can't miss the unspoken threat if he's even only a quarter as smart as his medical degree claims.

"Oh. Um, sure. Yes. The baby's father. I understand. I'll just…" He stalls, the blue gloves covering his hands trembling as he flaps them in useless gestures.

"Dr. Lughan, you were about to use the doppler to check the heartbeat?" The nurse steps in to the conversation to redirect everyone's attention. Maybe, I'm imagining it, but both the nurse and Frankie seem to look at me with relief. Whatever that looks mean, I'll figure out later.

Right now, Armageddon couldn't tear my attention away the thumping sound, racing so fast it seems impossible. The doctor has pushed up Frankie's pale blue hospital gown and is pressing a long wand against the side of her stomach. A whoosh-whoosh-whoosh sound that can only be the baby fills the room.

"Is that normal?" I question. "For it to be fast like that?"

I've never been around a pregnant woman. Never wanted to. The book I read said the baby's heartbeat would be faster than a regular person's, but this seems excessive.

"Is everything okay with my daughter?" I know there's a chance the baby isn't a girl. In theory. In reality, I know with a bone-deep certainty, the same certainty that tells me Francesca Holt is meant to be mine, the baby is a girl. My girls, the both of them.

"Everything is fine, sir. This is perfectly normal. We check the heartbeat at every appointment. If you'd been here last month, you would have seen the baby on ultrasound. Ms. Holt elected not to find out the gender of the baby. If she told you it's a girl, I'm afraid you may be disappointed if she's wrong."

Smug motherfucker. I really don't like this prick.

"Well aware of how that part works, doc. Boy or girl doesn't matter. I asked you is my daughter okay. It's a yes or no question."

He nods, and I take a seat in the chair next to the bed Francesca's on so he can finish the exam. Best believe I'm making mental note of every tiny thing he does, so I can ask Charm if this guy's legit.

It's possible I don't like him because he's more familiar with Francesca's pussy than I am. More likely, though, the weird vibes I'm getting from him mean something else. Something deeper. Whatever it is, I'll get to the bottom of it. Bet on that.