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S he could see a shadow moving out of the corner of her eye. was careful not to turn her head to see who was in the house with them, not wanting to give the person’s location away in case they were there to rescue her. And she sure hoped that someone was there to rescue her because she had argued herself cross-eyed with Melissa and that was getting her nowhere. The woman was determined to punish for something she believed she had done. For now, she was going to have to try to keep Melissa’s attention so that her rescue party could move in and take her by surprise—and the best way to do that was to keep her talking.

“Where is Eric now?” asked.

Melissa huffed out her breath, “Isn’t that a question that I should be asking you?” she countered.

“I have no idea where Eric is,” insisted. “I’ve already told you that I haven’t seen him since he broke up with me and I left for California.”

“Right, and why exactly did you end up coming back to town?” Melissa asked. Her gun was still at her side, and she knew that whoever was in the hallway would be able to easily disarm her. Melissa was too distracted to be on the defensive now.

rolled her eyes, trying to get a look at who was there, and when she spotted Razor, she knew that Spade couldn’t be far behind. Panic welled up in her, as she worried about Spade being hurt. What if she was wrong and Melissa wasn’t as distracted as she believed?

“Listen, can’t you put the gun down and we can calmly talk about this? I’ll tell you everything, but that gun is making me nervous,” lied. She’d tell Melissa whatever she needed to hear to get her to put the gun down.

“Aww, does my little gun scare you?” she asked, waiving it around again.

“Yes,” stuttered. “It makes me very nervous. I’m afraid that you’re going to hurt yourself or me. Just put it down, Melissa. Think about your baby. You wouldn’t want to actually shoot yourself and hurt your baby, right?” Melissa might be crazy, but she seemed to care about her unborn child. It was the main reason why she wanted out of the picture—so she could get Eric to come back home to her. The problem was that Eric wasn’t with her, and if Melissa found that out, she wouldn’t be as rational anymore—not even about her unborn child.

“I’d never hurt my baby,” Melissa whispered. could tell that she was thinking everything over and when she put the gun on the dusty coffee table, she could feel herself let out a breath that she didn’t know she had been holding.

“Thank you for doing that,” breathed.

“It’s your turn to tell me what is going on between you and Eric,” Melissa challenged.

“Okay, her’s the truth,” said as Razor and Spade made their way around the wall, into the family room where she was being held. Everything around her seemed to speed up and slow down, all at once. Melissa went for her gun, but Razor had her on the floor before she could grab it.

Spade walked across the room and looked her over. “You all right?” he asked.

She smiled up at him, “I will be as soon as you get me untied from this fucking chair.”

He chuckled and pulled a knife from his belt buckle. “That’s my girl,” he whispered, kissing her cheek.

“That’s not fair,” Melissa spat, “you promised to tell me about you and Eric.”

stood from the chair and rubbed her wrists. She had pins and needles from her limbs regaining their circulation, but there was no way that she’d stay seated for this next part.

“I’ve already told you the truth, Melissa,” she said, standing over the woman. Razor had handcuffed her and left her on the floor. “I haven’t seen Eric since he broke up with me.”

“Then, where is he going every night?” she asked.

“I’m betting that the old saying holds true—once a cheater, always a cheater,” said. “If I had to guess, good old Eric has found himself another girlfriend and is going to see her when he leaves you. Ironically, that was what he did while he was with me. He was sneaking off to see you and cheating on me. I guess karma really is a bitch.”

Spade took her hand into his and started for the door. “Wait,” Melissa shouted, “you promised that you wouldn’t press charges. You said that no one would have to know about this. What about my baby?”

“I’m guessing that you and your baby will be well taken care of in prison. Maybe Eric and his new girlfriend will raise your kid.” Yeah, that seemed to bother Melissa, but didn’t give a shit. She wasn’t feeling very forgiving at the moment.

“As for the promise that I made you, I lied,” she simply said.

“You bitch,” Melissa shouted, struggling to stand from the ground. Razor quickly got her under control and told Spade to get out of the house. He said that she could give her statement later, but for now, he wanted her to get checked out at the hospital. Spade agreed and grabbed ’s hand again.

“Let’s go, honey,” he ordered. She didn’t argue with him. The faster she could get out of that hellhole, the better she’d feel.

The ER was packed, and she had asked Spade a few times if they could just leave. Of course, he told her no, and she knew that there would be no protesting. Her headache had subsided, and she wasn’t feeling as sick anymore, just tired, but telling Spade that wouldn’t help her case. He seemed determined to keep her there until she could be seen by a doctor.

Two hours later, they called her back to a room and the doctor ordered some blood tests and told her to sit tight, as though she had no other option. “This is ridiculous,” she insisted. “I’m fine now. I have no symptoms of being roofied. It might not even show up in my bloodwork.” She knew that the last part was probably not true. The doctor said that drugs like that could stay in her system for a few days. She just hoped that she wouldn’t have to stay overnight like last time because all she wanted to do was go home and crawl into bed. The question was—would she be sleeping in her own bed or Spade’s?

They had practically been living together since the first time that Melissa roofied her and honestly, she secretly hoped that Spade would ask her to move in with him permanently. His house was bigger than her tiny apartment and she loved the neighborhood. But he had given her no hints as to what their future held—or even if he wanted a future with her.

“I understand how frustrating this is for you, but I need to make sure that you’re okay before I take you home.” She nodded, not wanting to look him in the eye for fear that she’d see her answers staring back at her. If he didn’t want her anymore, she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to handle that.

He brushed her cheek with his hand and the gesture was so sweet, she almost wanted to cry. “Look at me, honey,” he whispered.

“I can’t,” she breathed, trying to hold back the tears. “I’m afraid of what I’ll see.”

“Well, I’m not that bad looking, right?” he teased. She tried to laugh, but she just couldn’t.

“I’m afraid that you won’t want me anymore. I’m not in danger and with this nightmare over, you’ll want to get on with your life, right?” she questioned. She didn’t really want him to answer her question, but she needed to know the truth.

“You’re right. I do want to move on with my life,” he agreed. The tears began to freely fall down her face and she let them. There would be no hiding the pain she was feeling, hearing that Spade was going to go on without her.

He thumbed the tears from her cheek, and she chanced a look at him. “I want to go on with my life, with you. That is if you want me.”

“Really, you want to have a life with me?” she asked.

“Of course I do, honey,” he admitted. “I’m in love with you.”

“You are?” she questioned. Hearing him say that he loved her was more than she could have asked for, but a part of her worried that she was hearing things or even making things up in her head. Being roofied last time had her feeling completely out of it for days.

“I am,” he said, “I love you, . Hell, I’ve been in love with you since the day that I sat in your chair, and you told me that you wouldn’t go out with me because I was your client.”

“Well, rules are rules,” she teased.

“Yep, and I’m glad you have that rule because I never want you to ever go out with one of your clients. In fact, I don’t want you to go out with anyone else, ever. Marry me, ,” he said. The doctor walked back into the room as she was about to give Spade her answer and the look of concern on the guy’s face worried her.

“What’s wrong?” asked.

“Did you know that you’re pregnant?” the doctor asked. He held out the blood test results to prove that he was telling her the truth.

“Pregnant,” she repeated the word as though it was a new one for her. took the paper from the doctor and looked it over, handing it to Spade. He looked about as confused as she felt.

“Pregnant,” he said, looking at the paper.

“I had no idea,” she insisted. She took the paper back from Spade and looked it over again. “I swear, I didn’t know about this, and I didn’t plan it. You have to believe me,” she said to Spade.

“How far along is she?” Spade asked the doctor. She wanted to tell him to look at her, as he just told her, but she gave him time to digest the news.

“You’re probably in the early stages, but we’ll need to do an ultrasound to be sure. We’re worried that the drugs might have affected the baby, so we’d like to take a look,” the ultrasound. “Would you be willing to let us do an ultrasound?” nodded her consent, and he promised to be back in soon.

The room was so quiet that she worried that a baby was too much for Spade. He had just asked her to marry him, but she wouldn’t hold him to it if he had changed his mind with the news.

“You have to believe that I didn’t know about the baby,” she insisted. “I would have told you right away if I did. And I’d understand if you want to take back your proposal. This is a lot of new information, and I wouldn’t ever fault you for doing that, Spade.”

“Is that your way of telling me that you don’t want to marry me?” he breathed.

“What—no,” she almost shouted. “I just wanted to give you an out. You just found out that you’re going to be a father and this all must be overwhelming for you.”

“And you,” he countered. “You have to be just as overwhelmed as I am, but that doesn’t change how I feel about you, honey.” He pulled her across the bed and onto his lap and she gladly let him. Spade wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead as she laid back against his shoulder.

“I’m just wondering how you feel about me,” he whispered into his ear. The doctor walked back into the room, carting an ultrasound machine and Spade growled. “Can you give us just a minute, doc?” he asked.

“Um, sure, but don’t take too long. I’m the only one here that can work the ultrasound machine today.”

“Let him just do it. I need to know if the baby is okay. We can talk after,” she insisted. didn’t want to waste the doctor’s time, and she didn’t want to take a chance that he’d be too busy to do it later. Spade nodded and stood from the bed, helping back onto the gurney.

The doctor got her situated and squirted some warm gel onto her tummy. “Sorry, that might be a little cold.”

“Not at all,” she insisted.

“Okay, let’s take a look here,” he said. He ran the wand over the bottom portion of her tummy and made a humming sound in the back of his throat.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” the doctor insisted. “I’m just trying to find the baby’s heartbeat. You might not be far enough along to hear it though.” She grabbed Spade’s hand and squeezed it, worried that something was wrong, and the doctor didn’t want to tell her for fear of worrying her.

He ran the wand over her belly for a few more minutes, and when a swooshing sound filled the room, he cheered triumphantly. “There’s the heartbeat, and it’s strong. I was just looking in the wrong place for the baby. I haven’t done an ultrasound in some time.”

“It’s okay,” she said, tears once again running down her face. “Can you see how far along I am?” she asked. She looked up to find Spade wiping tears from his eyes and she knew that she had to tell him how she felt about him. It didn’t matter what was going on around them—she had to give him the words.

“I love you,” she said to him. He looked down at her and for a split second, it felt as though the entire world stood still. She had never seen so much love in one person’s eyes, and it was all for her. How she had missed the way that Spade looked at her before was a mystery, but she could see it now as though a light had turned on and everything was bright and clear.

“Say that again,” he ordered.

“I love you,” she breathed. He bent to gently brush his lips over hers, and the doctor cleared his throat, bringing them both back to the present.

“You look to be about eight to nine weeks along,” he said. “So, you’re still in the early stages, but everything looks good so far.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“I think that we should keep you overnight, just to make sure that the drugs are completely out of your system before we send you home. Plus, if I admit you, an Obstetrician with be able to check you over, and that will give you more peace of mind.” wanted to insist that she didn’t need more peace of mind than she already had, but Spade insisted that she do as the doctor ordered. He even promised to stay with her as he had done the first time that she was roofied.

As soon as the doctor left the room again, Spade sat back down on the bed and pulled her back onto his lap. “Are you going to make me sleep on the chair this time?” he asked.

She giggled, “I still feel bad that I made you do that the first time. But, since I plan on marrying you, I guess we can share the bed this time. I wouldn’t want my future husband and father of my baby to have a sore back.”

“Gee, thanks for that,” he said, kissing her cheek. “So, I guess that there is only one more question to ask,” he said.

“Oh, what’s that?” she asked. “I’ve told you that I love you, and I’ve agreed to marry you—oh, and have a baby with you. What more could there be?” she asked.

“Will you move into my place?” he asked. “I know how much you love your apartment, and I’d sell my house if staying there will make you happy, but my place is bigger.” He covered his hand over her still flat tummy, and she thought it was the sweetest gesture ever. “We’ll need the room soon.” He was right—they were going to need the room for their expanding family.

“I thought that you’d never ask me to move in with you,” she teased. It was the truth though and she’d gladly give up her apartment to live with him. “Your house is perfect,” she admitted.

“Good, we’ll move your stuff over this weekend. I don’t want to waste any time to start our future together,” he said. She pulled him down for a kiss and the doctor walked back into the room, clearing his throat again to get their attention.

Spade growled in frustration, “You’re killing me, doc.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to say that your room will be ready shortly, and someone will be in to take you both up. Congratulations,” he said, quickly leaving the room.

felt like the luckiest woman on the planet. She had given herself permission to fall in love again, and this time, it was for keeps because there was no way that she’d ever let Spade go. He’d never hurt her, and she knew that he’d do everything to make her happy—he already had. He had broken her bad luck streak with men, and for that, she was grateful.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” he asked.

“For everything,” she said, “for taking care of me, for making me give you a chance, for loving me—”

Spade covered her mouth with his hand before she could go on. “You never have to thank me for loving you, honey,” he insisted. “Because I’ll never stop.” believed him too. Spade had never broken a promise to her, and she knew he never would. He was her future now and that was one thing she knew for certain.

The End

I hope you loved Spade and ’s story! Now, buckle up and get ready for another Road Reaper! Razor (Road Reapers MC Book 4) is coming in 2025 from K.L. Ramsey!