Page 37

“Where the hell is she?” Zayn demanded, turning to glare at his guards.

They stood behind him, several of them spread out around the house.

He’d flown here to Chicago to find Azlyn and find out of the tiny babe in the scarf last night was his child.

Assuming she’d gone home after visiting the crash site, Zayn had ordered his guards to drive him here to her address. But she wasn’t answering the door.

“Break it down,” he ordered. “Or just…,” he wiggled his fingers towards the doorknob. “Does someone know how to pick a lock?”

Immediately, one of his bodyguards moved forward, already pulling a lock-picking kit out of one of the numerous pockets on his cargo pants.

They were in full tactical gear at the moment.

Usually, Zayn’s guards were more circumspect, but no less armed.

But at the moment, until the paternity of the baby he saw on the video last night was established, Zayn wanted everyone to be ready for anything.

Danger wouldn’t just come from his enemies or those of his father, the current ruler of Lativa.

There was apparently a very real danger to Azlyn.

What would Zayn do if Azlyn wouldn’t come with him?

He knew that he couldn’t leave her alone.

Not with the new knowledge his security team had gathered about the “accident” last night.

The hit and run hadn’t been an accident, they’d determined.

Azlyn’s boss had been executed. They didn’t know who had hired the assassin though. That was still a mystery.

Zayn stepped back from the doorway, impatient while one of his guards did some sort of wiggling with a couple of wire-like tools. Seconds later, the lock was opened. But the door didn’t budge.

“What’s wrong?” Zayn demanded.

Two guards shoved again, gently this time. But the door wouldn’t move.

“Stop!” a voice inside the small house called out. “Just stop!”

The guards were instantly more alert. One even pulled out a weapon.

“No!” Zayn ordered. “Holster your weapon.” He knew that voice. Azlyn was inside and…before he could process anything else, the sound of an infant’s wail came to their ears.

“Don’t you dare come through that door!” Azlyn called out. “I have a gun and I’ll shoot anyone who comes into my house!”

Zayn looked at his bodyguards, all of them were on high alert.

“Azlyn!” Zayn yelled. “Put the gun away. I’m coming in. I’m here to protect you.”

There was a moment of silence, then a flicker of a curtain beside the door.

He saw her eyes poke out through the filmy material.

Then the door flung open and Azlyn was there, in his arms. But Zayn couldn’t pull her in close enough because of the screaming, now terrified baby still nestled against her stomach and chest. She was still wearing that greyish-blue scarf, using it like a hammock tied around her body.

“Azlyn!” he groaned, his hands framing her face. “We have to go, love. You are in danger. I need to get you to safety.”

Azlyn stared up at him, tears in her beautiful blue eyes. Not even the dark circles and tension in her expression couldn’t dim the beauty of her face. She was still his Azlyn, although she looked…exhausted now.

“I can’t…I just…!”

“Now, Azlyn. We have to go now!” He urged her to leave even as his hands moved from her face to her upper arms. “The hit and run last night was deliberate. My security team has found information that someone was hired to kill your boss.”

“Not my boss,” Azlyn replied, but she looked confused. “But…what do you know?”

“We’ll discuss this when you’re safe, okay?”

Azlyn looked around, finally noticing the armed guards in full tactical gear. Thankfully, they didn’t scare her, but she still pulled back, patting at the baby in the fabric sling. “I need to get stuff for Griffin.”

The mention of a male name was too much for Zayn now. He gripped her arms, nearly pulling her up to his eye level. “I don’t give a damn about your boyfriend, Azlyn. He can go to hell. I’m only here to protect you!”

Azlyn’s soft fingers touched his cheek, easing his anger. Slightly. He was still livid, furious that she’d not come with him last year when he’d wanted her to stay with him.

“Griffin isn’t my boyfriend, Zayn,” she whispered.

Then her touch was gone. Even her blue eyes were gone from his view as Azlyn looked down.

Zayn forced his eyes to follow hers. That’s when he saw the wiggling baby nestled amidst the odd looking scarf around her body.

Finally, the crying infant sounds also registered.

Zayn had been so determined to get Azlyn to safety that he hadn’t even realized that she was still holding the baby against her body.

“Griffin is our son.”