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CHAPTER TWENTY

ALINA

I’ve never thought a sound could bring me so much relief and joy, but hearing my baby’s heartbeat echo around the room fills my entire soul with relief. A loud sob escapes me, and Star grips my hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“All sounds good.” The doctor smiles. “Now, let’s have a little look, just to make sure everything is as it should be.”

“Wait,” Star says as she lets go of my hand. I frown and look at her. “He should be here for this,” she states.

“No,” I argue.

She exhales a breath. “I know you are angry at him, and I am too for behaving like a complete twat, but it’s his kid, too. Plus, I know he will be outside pacing back and forth sick with worry. Just let him see that his kid is okay,” Star presses.

I swallow and nod. She gives me a small smile, and after a gentle squeeze of my hand, she turns and leaves the room. I look at the screen as the doctor presses some buttons before she adds some more cold jelly to my stomach as she moves the wand around. I’m so focused on the screen that I didn’t hear Hap come in. When his hand takes mine, I flinch. I turn and look at him and see that his eyes are full of worry and regret. It’s because of that I don’t yank my hand away as he sits down next to me.

His gaze flickers from me to the screen before he lifts my hand to his mouth and places a soft kiss at the back of it. His eyes sear through mine and I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Okay.” The doctor breaks the moment, drawing our attention back to the screen. She moves the wand over the screen, smiling as she points. “And there is your beautiful baby.” She pauses, looking at the both of us. “Are we wanting to know the sex?” she asks.

“Yes,” I breathe, not waiting for Hap’s response. He kisses the back of my hand again.

The doctor nods and continues. “You’re having a boy.” She smiles.

“A boy?” I whisper, a smile stretching across my face.

“That’s right. I’d say you are sixteen weeks and three days pregnant. I will just check your placenta and make sure everything is as it should be.” She smiles. Over sixteen weeks? Jesus, a lot has happened in that time. The doctor finishes and turns to me and smiles. “Okay, all seems fine. I’d say the pain you felt was probably Braxton Hicks. This could have been caused by dehydration. Have you been drinking enough water?” she asks.

I nod. “Yes,” I answer.

“Have you been under stress?” she asks. I nod, and guilt fills my stomach. Our argument, one that I caused. “That could be why, but as your pregnancy progresses, you will experience Braxton Hicks, especially towards the end. They are practice contractions and completely normal. However, if you ever find them too painful, or they become persistent, then come to the hospital, and we can check you over. In the meantime, try and avoid stress if possible, and remember to also rest when you can.” She smiles as she clicks a few things on her tablet. “I will just write up your notes, and we will schedule you in for a check-up appointment at twenty weeks. Keep taking your vitamins and be sure to relax when you can. I know modern life can be hard, but please try to avoid any unnecessary stress,” she advises before walking out of the room, leaving Hap and me in awkward silence.

I withdraw my hand from his and push myself up to a sitting position before I grab a handful of tissues from the carton and begin wiping the leftover gel from my stomach.

“Alina,” he says softly. “Baby,” he presses when I don’t answer. I just continue wiping my stomach. He grabs my wrist, stopping me, and as I look at him, his eyes are pleading with mine. “I’m sorry,” he says. I swallow, keeping my eyes on him. “I’m so fucking sorry,” he exhales.

“Did you do what you said?” I ask, my voice sounding so weak. Nothing like me at all.

He shakes his head. “No, baby. I would never. I was just so fucking angry. You just kept pushing and pushing. I snapped.” He gets up from the chair at the side of the bed and perches next to me. He traces his fingers along my hairline, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I’m not excusing why I did it. I should have thrown you over my shoulder and taken you to bed. I shouldn’t have brought her back just to piss you off.” He pauses, cupping my face in his hands. I can’t help but lean into his touch as the rough pad of his thumb strokes my cheek. “I fucked up tonight, and I can’t promise I won’t fuck up again, but I can promise that I want you. Not just because you are carrying my kid, not just because you give great fucking head, and are also a pretty good fucking lay,” he teases, a playful smile on his face. “I want you baby, and I will spend every fucking day proving that to you if that’s what it takes,” he says, his eyes searching my face.

I lift my hand, letting my fingers dance along his stubbled jaw. “You terrify me,” I confess, looking into rich blue eyes. “This is all so much, so fast. It’s intense, and if you have the power to hurt me now, you will have the power to end me the longer this goes on.” My thumb traces along his bottom lip, smiling when he places a soft kiss on the pad of my thumb.

“You are forgetting something,” he says, moving his mouth closer to mine, his breath tickling across my lips. “I’m not the only one with the power, baby. My heart and soul are in your hands,” he confesses, brushing his lips across mine. “And my dick if you want it.” He smiles. I gasp, but he swallows my protest by crashing his mouth down to mine, kissing me.

I melt into his kiss, but we’re disturbed when the door opens and a light cough breaks the moment. He rests his forehead against mine, his eyes closed.

“Well, I’m glad you kids kissed and made up. The doctor has said you are free to go. Unless you two want to stay longer and fuck in a hospital bed,” Star says from the doorway.

I place my hands over Hap’s hands as he keeps hold of my face, tilting my head and place a kiss on his palm. He places a gentle kiss on my temple before moving and turning his attention to Star.

“Your timing is, as always, impeccable,” he quips.

Star bows. “Why, thank you, kind sir. Now can we fuck off back to the house? As I owe Ghost one of my Star specials.” She grins, tapping her wrist where a watch would be.

“What’s a Star special?” I ask as Hap helps me off the bed.

‘Don’t,” he says abruptly. “Don’t ever ask her that,” he warns. “Trust me, you won’t want to know.”

Star’s grin widens. “I will tell you over a coffee tomorrow.” She winks at me.

I snort back my laughter as Hap takes my hand and leads me out of the room.

“So, as I roll my tongue, I slide my two fingers up and along?—”

“For god’s sake Star, it’s not even nine am!” Hawk complains as he walks in the kitchen, cutting her off.

I snort out a laugh. It’s the morning after the utter disaster that was last night. I feel terrible for essentially ruining Spider’s bachelor party, and I couldn’t sleep for worrying, so I got up early, leaving Hap asleep in bed, and rearranged for them to have a night at a client’s casino. They could go when things were back to normal. Well, whatever normal was. I had written it in an envelope, and I had also organised it for Nova and the girls too, but I figured I’d slide that bit of information in after.

“Where did all this food come from?” Ghost asks as he walks in, wearing just a pair of jeans and carrying Enzo, who had obviously just woken up and was still a little sleepy, as he was cuddled into his dad’s muscled and tattooed chest.

I blink and look away. “Er, I ordered it. The pastries are a way of me saying sorry for last night,” I explain. I look up at an annoyed-looking Ghost, the room now suddenly tense. “What did I do wrong?” I ask, feeling panicked.

“Nothing,” Star assures me while glaring at Ghost. “It’s just, well, this place is off-grid for a reason. Any supplies brought in are by us and us only. It’s kind of to keep people from finding it,” Star explains.

I cover my mouth. “Shit, I am so sorry. I didn’t think. I just wanted to do something nice as a way of apologising for last night,” I say, feeling my cheeks heating with embarrassment.

Star places her hand on mine. “Don’t worry about it. It’s no more of a risk than someone following our trucks here,” Star points out while giving Ghost a warning glare.

“No harm done, darlin’,” Ghost states, although it sounds like he’s being held at gunpoint to say it.

“Now give me my baby. I want snuggles with him before he fully wakes up and becomes feral,” Star says, clapping her hands to Enzo. Ghost hands her Enzo, and Star immediately places a loving kiss on the top of his head before Ghost roughly grabs a fistful of Star’s hair, yanking her head back and claiming her mouth in a dominant and possessive way.

“Better,” Ghost murmurs across her lips.

I grab my sucky decaf coffee and take a sip, keeping my gaze anywhere but at them. The rest of the club slowly wake up, and as soon as I spot Spider, I grab the envelope and intercept him and Nova before they can go any further.

“Here.” I smile, handing it to him. “It’s an ‘I’m sorry for ruining your bachelor party’,” I add, fiddling with my hands anxiously as he opens the envelope. He reads it, his eyes going wide as he looks to me, then back to the envelope.

“Is this for real?” he asks.

I nod. “I had a client, and well, I won his divorce for him and saved him millions in alimony. He said if I ever needed anything, then all I had to do was call,” I explain.

Hap walks into the kitchen, wearing nothing but his low-hung grey sweats, stalking his way to me. Standing behind me, he wraps his arms around me before his hand firmly grabs my chin and lifts my mouth to his, placing a soft kiss on my lips.

“Morning,” he rasps, his voice still thick with sleep.

“Morning.” I smile up at him.

“Shit, I can’t accept this,” Spider states.

“What’s that?” Hap asks.

“You can,” I cut in. “It cost me nothing, but there is a slight catch,” I add. Spider looks at me, his eyebrow arching. “You guys get one of the presidential suits, and we get the other,” I say, smiling as I bite my bottom lip.

“Is someone going to say what the hell is going on?” Ghost sighs, frustrated.

I turn and step out of Hap’s arms. “I have arranged a trip for all of the club and the ol’ ladies to Las Vegas. All paid for. Presidential suits for both guys and girls. It’s my way of apologising for last night.”

“You didn’t ruin last night, Hap did,” Star says bluntly.

“I crossed the line trying to set him up,” I state truthfully. I had allowed my insecurities to take over any rational thought and acted on full-blown hormonal jealousy. Sure, Hap crossed the line in the way he behaved, but I need to push my fear aside and enjoy the now, and maybe just try and guard my heart just a teeny bit rather than try and make it impenetrable.

Star stands and snatches the piece of paper from Spider. “Holy shit, Vegas baby!” she cheers.

“Easy darlin’, we’ve got a few issues with that,” Ghost states. Star frowns up at him. “Don’t look at me like that. For one, Eugene is still out there, and not all of us can fly,” he points out with a raised brow.

“Shit,” Star sighs.

“If I can just say, that offer stands for when we can all go, not for right now. And as for the flying part, he’s loaning us his private jet. It will fly and land on a private airfield, so none of the normal security checks will be in place,” I add.

“A freaking private jet?! Shut the fuck up!” Star screeches, making Enzo clap excitedly.

“You must have practically saved this guy’s life for him to offer you all this, baby,” Hap states, eyeing me sceptically.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, but I saved him nearly ten million. This costs him no more than two or three hundred thousand,” I say with a shrug.

“Is he hot?” Star asks. Ghost lets out a growl, making Star laugh. “Calm down Casper, I love you. I don’t need no sugar daddy with private jets and a hotel and casinos,” Star sighs, dramatically teasing Ghost more.

“Actually, he did ask me out once, but I turned him down. I never date clients.” A chuckle escaped me, but it’s cut off when I feel Hap’s hand on the back of my neck.

“You are still in contact with a guy that wanted to fuck you?” he asks, his voice thick with jealousy.

“He’s happily married, calm down.” I laugh.

Hap possessively kisses my mouth, silencing my laughter. I grip his shirt in my fist as he deepens the kiss.

“Alright, alright, let the woman come up for air!” Maggie taunts. Hap breaks the kiss, a smile playing on his lips. I smile back at him. God, he is stunning. He moves to get a coffee, and Nova wastes no time in pulling me into a hug, followed by Spider. Then everyone’s excitement builds as plans are made.

I feel a warmth in my chest listening to them all talking and laughing. “Okay ladies, living room now. We still have the bachelor party tomorrow night to plan for,” Star orders, handing Enzo to Ghost.

“What are you talking about? We’ve got Vegas now,” Beast states, confused.

“Yes, but all of you men will be there. You had last night. We are still owed a night, and we intend to take it,” Star adds as she shuffles all of us into the living room. Once we are sat down, she presses her fingers to her lips to shush us, her eyes constantly flickering to the entranceway.

“Check your messages,” she hisses as she frantically types. We all pull out our cells, each one dinging or vibrating with an incoming message from Star.

Notification: Invited to a group chat called The Real Vagenda

Star: Bachelorette party is now Alina’s Revenge Night. It’s time to pay back her ex-husband. Are you cool with this, Nova?

Nova: Hell to the yes! It’s the least we can do after she’s giving us Vegas.

Alina: I’m not sure this is a good idea?

Maggie: It’s the best idea!

Josie: I’m in! Can we all dress up again? Like we did for Belle?

Belle: OMG yes! Let’s!

Rhea: I have a feeling this is going to be an eventful night. ;)

Elsie: Should I be scared?

Dixie: Yes. Be safe and carry a gun.

Star: Nooo. Her ex isn’t a nutjob; he’s just a prick. We simply go to the club, have our night, drug the security that Ghost has hired, then we steal the blacked-out van and scare the shit out of the slimeball and your skank of a sister, too. If you want to, that is @Alina. Your choice.

Alina: She will be there, I know it. I don’t want to hurt her, but maybe if she could pee her pants, just so she can feel the slight bit of the humiliation I did?

Dixie: I’m in.

Star: Great! Now let’s make the fake Bachelorette party a theme so they won’t guess anything is wrong.

Maggie: Have we still got those cheerleader costumes from Halloween that we never wore? Remember you accidentally brought a huge haul of them, misreading the amount?

Star: Shit, yes! Okay, slutty cheerleaders it is. Now, don’t act suspicious or they will stop us.

Elise: Deal, I’m excited.

Belle: Can’t wait!

Josie: Do we get pom-poms?

Star: Ffs, yes Josie, there are pom-poms.

Josie: Score! I’m in.

Maggie: It goes without saying I’m in. I’m looking forward to releasing some of this feminine rage.

Rhea: Count me in.

Nova: I think this is better than a bachelor party, so of course I’m in.

Alina: Thank you guys. 3

Star: @Dixie, you 100% in?

Dixie: I’m in. I will drive, but I’m not lying to Rage.

Star: Dixie! Please.

Josie: Why don’t we bring Rage?

Star: Because he would actually torture Alina’s ex.

Josie: Damn. Good point.

Dixie: Fine, but on one condition.

Star: Name it.

Dixie: You leave your brass knuckle dusters behind.

Star: Fine. Deal.

Star clears her throat. “Right, let’s look in the attic for the outfits.” She smirks.