Novel-novel oleh Piper Davenport

PaytonEighteen months later… I CAME AWAKE with a groan and Alex reached for my arm. Pain sliced through me and I whimpered.“Payton?” he whispered.“I think… ah… ooof.”Alex knifed off the bed and flooded the room with light.“Too bright,” I moaned.He shut off the light again and turned on the bathroom one. “I’ll get the bag. Should I call 9-1-1? I should get Lily. Should I get Lily, ’cause waking her might take time?”I forced back a giggle. “Call Mom, honey. I’m okay. You don’t need to call 9-1-1.”He nodded and grabbed his cell phone. “Hey, Melissa? Yeah, she woke up in pain. Yeah. Ah…” He focused on me again. “How far apart are the contractions?”“About six minutes,” I said, and took a deep breath.“Six minutes,” Alex said. “Yes. Okay. Right. Thanks.” He hung up and grabbed his jeans he’d dropped on the floor before we went to bed. “What do you need?”“Well, if you can help me out of bed, honey, that would be a good start.”“Fuck, sorry.” He rushed to my side and lifted me gent

PaytonAshley shook her head. “Never thought I’d see a day where club and law business mixed. It’s gonna be interesting.”“Why are you so calm?” I asked.“Because we’re still alive, my dad’s a badass, and so is your old man. Until they hurt us, we have a chance to plan.”“Until?” I challenged.“Well, let’s be honest here, Payton, they’re not good guys, so anything can happen.”“Great,” I whispered.“Will the bad guys huwt us, Mama?” Lily whispered.I sent a look of warning toward Ashley, who didn’t react. “We’ve got you, honey, and Daddy will come.”She nodded and crawled into my lap again.Ashley made it to her feet and walked the space. “If we could find something sharp… something to cut our ties with, maybe we could fight our way out.”“Or maybe we could not risk our lives and wait.”She rolled her eyes as she continued to walk the space.“Mama, I have to go potty,” Lily whispered.“Okay, honey.” I swallowed down the bile at the sight of the bucket. “You’ll need to use the bucket,

PaytonTHE WEDNESDAY OF my second week back at work, I packed up my desk and headed out of school, my mind on Alex. We’d gotten the paperwork signed for our loan application and been approved, found a preschool for Lily, at least temporarily, and everything appeared to be going our way. I couldn’t wait to start our new journey together. And on top of the house stuff, the wedding plans would start this weekend. Life was still perfect.Alex and I were heading to the builder’s office tonight to pick options and appliances, then it was off to the carpet place tomorrow to pick tile, carpet and such. As I walked out the front doors, I was met by a new agent, Kyle Cobb, and he smiled in greeting.“Hey, Kyle.”“Payton. How was your day?”“Not bad. Yours?”“Good,” he said. “We have a few leads, so that’s a positive.”“Awesome,” I said. “Does that mean you guys are close to shutting this thing down?”Kyle didn’t get a chance to answer because he was suddenly on the ground, blood pooling from so

PaytonAlex released me from my ties and I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest.“Honey, did I hurt you?” he whispered, pulling me close.“No. It was amazing,” I whispered, hiccupping as I spoke. “Oh, my god, it was amazing.”He chuckled and held me tighter. “I love you, Payton.”I dropped my head back so I could meet his eyes. “I can tell.”Alex thumbed my tears away and kissed me gently. “I can’t wait to make babies with you.”I giggled. “Oh, yeah, babies. We haven’t had that conversation yet.”He removed one clamp, sucking gently on my nipple, then did the same to the other. “How do they feel?”“Like that’s going to be something regular.”Alex laughed and climbed from the bed. “We’ll branch out to other toys later.”“I want something spectacular for our honeymoon.”“Done.” He put the clamps back in the box and secured them on the shelf again.“How many kids do you want?” I asked.“As many as you want to give me,” he said, and stretched out on the bed again.I r

PaytonTHE SATURDAY BEFORE school started up again, Alex was wound up tighter than a spring. He’d agreed to attend Dallas and Macey’s annual New Year’s party the week before, but I think it was partly because pretty much every man, and a few women, were armed and able to defend me should anything happen. Lily was with my parents, still being guarded by two agents, so he “allowed” the outing.The threat had not been “eliminated,” so he hadn’t slept the night before, concerned about being split between me and Lily. We’d looked at a couple of houses that week, but nothing really fit, so Gordon had suggested building. Our plan was to look at a couple of model homes in the area on Sunday.After dinner, we spent time with Lily and then put her to bed. This gave us some precious time alone and we took drinks into the game room and sat down to talk.“Can you take time off?” Alex asked.“No, honey. I just had two weeks. Not to mention the time I took when Kris was in the hospital.” I stroked h

Payton“I know these guys, Mack,” I said, keeping the irritation from my voice as much as possible. “It’s all good.”I’d barely managed to say hi to the men before Alex pulled his truck into the driveway. He looked worried as he stepped out of the truck and walked toward me, but when he caught my eye, he looked pissed. I forced myself not to roll my eyes as I closed the distance and met him halfway.“You’re supposed to be inside,” he hissed.“I was until about ten minutes ago. Lily’s dying to see her uncles, but I told her I wanted to check things out first.”“Where’s your gun?”“In my holster at my back,” I said.“Is it loaded?”I scoffed. “Are you serious?”“Yeah.”“Ohmigod, Hawk, this isn’t my first rodeo. Of course it’s loaded.”He slipped his hand to my neck and thumbed my pulse. “You’re okay.”I wrapped an arm around his waist. “Yes, honey, we’re both okay.”His body finally relaxed and he leaned down to kiss me quickly. I smiled up at him. “That’s the most appropriate way to gr