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“Aye. Dr. Paschall was very pleased.”
“You gave them your sperm?”
“Aye. It felt like every woman in the place was looking at me when I turned in my cup.”
She laughs. “I’m sure they were looking at you and thinking how much they would’ve enjoyed helping you produce what was in the cup.”
Bleu’s nurse comes into the small recovery area. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Breckenridge?”
“Fine. Tired. A little crampy.”
“All normal things.” She removes the blood pressure cuff from Bleu’s arm. “I have your discharge teaching instructions.”
Bleu’s eyes are closed again so the nurse looks to me. “Dr. Paschall wants to see her back on Friday morning for the embryo transfer.”
Wow. This is happening. “We’ll be here.”
* * *
It’s Thursday, my last day of work for the week. I’ll be in London with Bleu tomorrow for our embryo transfer. I can’t believe it. Dr. Paschall is going to insert two fertilized eggs into Bleu’s womb tomorrow. She could officially become pregnant in less than a day.
I’m finished and shutting down my computer when Abram bursts into my office. No knock. “That motherfuckin’ Order just raided our transport truck—the one carrying our supply for the Irish.”
Oh hell. “How much did they get?”
“Everything! All the firearms. All the ammunition. And they killed our three men making the transport.”
Un-fucking-believable. “How could they have known?”
“I don’t know but it seems there’s a songbird within our midst. Until I find out who’s singing, I trust no one.”
I run my hands through my hair. “This is a fine mess.”
“Aye. We have to get those guns back or we risk our new relationship with The Guild, our new Irish comrades.”
It’s not an alliance we can afford to lose. “Aye. I prefer to call them friend than foe.”
“We have two days to recover the firearms. I’ve organized a meeting for all the brotherhood to join at nine tonight.”
I can’t be there. Bleu and I are leaving for London. We have the procedure tomorrow. “I can’t make the meeting. I have a flight leaving at eight.”
“You don’t have a choice. You’re a Breckenridge. You will be there.”
Why’d this have to happen now, of all times? “Let me see what I can work out.”
“The only thing you’ll work out is being at our meeting tonight. Nonnegotiable.”
Abram walks out the door without further discussion.
Shite! What am I going to do? We can’t postpone the transfer. Its success depends entirely on perfect timing. Tomorrow is it.
My secretary has already gone for the day so I call out to Linsey. “I need you to change my flight. See what’s available to London early in the morning.”
Ten. That’s the best I can get. That only gives me an hour to get from Heathrow to the clinic. That’ll be a tough one but I’ll have to make it work.
“Book it.”
Now I have to tell Bleu I won’t be leaving with her tonight. I doubt that’ll go over well.
I use the ride home to prepare what I’ll say to her but I’m still clueless when I walk into our flat. “Bonny?”
“Back here.” Her voice carries from our bedroom. I should’ve known that’s where she’d be, doing last-minute packing.
I come into our bedroom. She looks up from the suitcase and grins. “I ask you again, sir. Would you like a suit? Suit? Or a suit?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Her grin fades. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t leave with you tonight.”
She sits on the bed, my platinum suit falling into a heap on her lap. “Why not?”
“We’ve been raided. The Order has stolen a huge shipment of firearms intended for our allies with the Irish. It’s a new alliance so it’s unstable and reliant upon this transfer. We aren’t in a position to blow it because we have to go through The Guild to get to The Irish Federation. They’re our ultimate objective.”
She’s shaking her head. “I can’t do this by myself, Sin.”
“You won’t be alone. I’m on a flight to London in the morning.”
“But what if you don’t make it? Any number of reasons out of your control could prevent you from being there.”
I can’t send her alone. “I’ll ask my mum to go with you as a backup, just in case something happens.”
“That means we have to tell her what we’re doing.”
“I’m okay with that if you are.”
She’s fighting the tears. I see it in the way she’s blinking and looking up to the ceiling. “But I want you to be with me. It’s not right for me to get pregnant without you.”
I can’t not laugh. “Well, I prefer you didn’t get pregnant without me, either.”
“It’s not funny, Sin. You’re my husband. It’s your job to be with me every step of the way. And you haven’t been.”
She’s right. It isn’t comical at all. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made a joke about something so important. But I’m going to be there with you. I swear I’ll make it happen.”
Sterling and I drop Bleu and my mum at the airport. Saying goodbye is brutal. She’s completely wrecked. I can’t stand seeing my lass like this.
I’ve allowed The Fellowship to come ahead of Bleu—and our potential children. My choice is hurting my wife. I said I would never do that, yet I am. I’m such a bastard. I don’t think I’ve ever hated myself so much. But I have every intention of making my absence up to her.
I arrive at Duncan’s forty minutes before the meeting. I decide to take advantage of the free time to have a drink and private conversation with Leith. We have things to discuss.
Lorna is working tonight so she’s our server. I don’t have to tell her what I want or when to bring another. She’s good at what she does.
“You took a particularly strong interest in being the one to go after the man who tried to take Lorna.”
“They came into my place and shot it up when I wouldn’t let him take my best barmaids. You’d have an deep interest too,” Leith says.
“You sure there isn’t something more to your insistence on going after him yourself?”
He gives me a confused look. “What are you getting at, Sin?”
I’m going to throw my wife’s hunch out there and see what kind of reaction I get. “Bleu thinks you have feelings for Lorna.”
He laughs. “That’s ridiculous. I used to enjoy fucking Lorna, just like you did.”
Jamie fucked Lorna too but he never mentions him. It’s always my indiscretion with her that he points out.
“I told Bleu you weren’t interested in L
orna.”
“Good. I don’t need your wife putting ideas in Lorna’s head when they have no basis.”
I’m not sure I believe him. “Lorna’s been on her own since her parents were killed. She needs a husband’s protection. I think the incident the other night was proof.”
“I protected her.”
“You did a fine job, but it’s time she was home with a husband instead of here serving drinks half the night.”
“Being married wouldn’t have prevented what The Order did.”
“No, but Lorna’s a good friend. I want to look out for her.”
“I look out for her.”
I think Bleu is right. All the signs are there. My suggestion for Lorna to take a husband is pissing him off.
“Bleu wants the best for her friend. She has asked me to help arrange an advantageous marriage on Lorna’s behalf since her parents are no longer living.”
“Lorna’s an adult. Do you really think she needs you to choose a husband for her?”
“Of course, she’ll have the final say about who he is but I don’t think she’ll object to assistance in securing a good match.”
“You’ve been up Bleu’s arse for months. How would you know anything about Lorna or what would make her happy?”
“We spoke at Bleu’s initiation. She was very forthcoming about her discontent,” I say.
“She’s probably disappointed you no longer fuck her in the back room.”
He’s being pure arse now. “That was a long time ago.”
“That’s news to me. I thought you shagged her anytime you felt like it.”
“Not in years.” I see he’s surprised to be wrong.
“What about Jamie?”
“He stopped long before I did.” Jamie never had much interest in Lorna.
Leith doesn’t reply.
“She’s a nice lass. She deserves to be happy.”
“And you think finding her a husband will achieve that?”
“I don’t know, but Bleu seems to think so. I’m a little inclined to think she could be right. They became good friends while working together so she has inside knowledge.”
I think he’s tossing the idea around. Time to throw the hook out for a reaction. “Bleu thought you’d make a good candidate. I had hoped to work on that with you tonight but I can see we were wrong.”
