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“Only if that’s a good thing,” he said warily.
I threw my arms around his neck and started sobbing. “Yes, it’s a good thing. It’s the best thing ever.”
Chapter 28
Hannah
One Month Later
I yawned and stretched luxuriously across our new king-size bed. Then I remembered what day it was, and I sat up and smiled. “Lauren’s bridal shower’s today, yay!”
Wes chuckled and rolled over, snuggling with me beneath the blanket. “Do you think Lauren’s saying yay? Or do you think she’s already at the lab, trying to put a few hours in before you subject her to the torture of a silly ritual she has no interest in?”
“Stop it.” I smiled.
He went underneath the blanket, sliding down to put his mouth against my belly. “What do you think, huh, little future linebacker? Do you think Auntie Lauren’s pissed at Mommy for making her do this?”
I giggled, playing with Wes’s hair until he got up to take a shower. We hadn’t told anybody, but the sixteen tests I’d taken since skipping my period had confirmed that I’d never had the stomach bug. Wes was beside himself with excitement, insisting it was a boy and that he was destined for an illustrious career in the NFL. On the other hand, he thought it might be a girl who would be president of the United States and would have no interest in boys whatsoever until she was thirty.
I’d made no such predictions, still marveling at the life growing inside me, thrilled and terrified and feeling completely blessed. I was too paranoid to share the news yet, even with Lauren. I wanted to wait until we were twelve weeks pregnant, when Dr. Fisher told me the highest risk of miscarriage was past.
Wes thought I was being superstitious, but I still couldn’t believe all my good luck. My eyes filled with tears as I lay in the bed, hearing him humming happily to himself in the shower. My cup was running over with happiness.
Not only were we pregnant, we’d moved into our beautiful new house. I was hosting the bridal shower for Lauren later today, and I couldn’t wait. Our friends from Paragon were coming, along with Fiona, Bethany, and Gabe’s mother. The wedding was next month, and I was beside myself that my sister was finally marrying the love of her life.
Biyu and her son had arrived safely at SFO, and had settled rather seamlessly into Silicon Valley life. She started work at Paragon next week, in the computer programming department.
My plans for Li Na had worked better than I ever expected. The Wall Street Journal story had gone viral. Li Na’s production of the sensor and the gene therapy were halted immediately. The FBI had come through, for once, and pulled off a mass arrest of all Li Na’s American contacts, the thugs who’d committed crimes for her. In exchange for lighter sentences, they’d all agreed to provide detailed information about Zhao to the agency, who was actively building a case against her.
Named in both the article and in warrants sought by the FBI, the Chinese government could no longer ignore Li Na’s crimes. It finally turned its back on her, stripping Jiàn In
novations of all its licenses and shutting it down. Li Na was to be extradited to the United States, where she would be prosecuted on multiple charges, including trade secret theft, wire fraud, and murder.
Murder. We’d given the name of Jim Pace’s killer to the FBI. They were still looking for him, but they had multiple leads. Fiona was thrilled that, finally, steps were being taken to bring her husband’s killer to justice.
Justice. It had been too much to hope for, but maybe, just maybe, Li Na Zhao would get hers. I didn’t know what her status was, if she was being detained in China or if they’d begun the extradition process. The FBI had taken over completely, and they wanted us out of it—which was fine by me. For once, I could breathe again, and I was so ready to get back to normal.
I rubbed my stomach and grinned. The new normal.
I heard a noise downstairs and called out, “Lauren? Did you come over early to help set up?”
I giggled as I pictured my sister, the center of attention, opening the several packages of sexy lingerie that I’d gotten her from La Perla. She was going to have a fit, and I couldn’t wait!
I sat up as I heard another noise. “Lauren?”
But it wasn’t Lauren who opened my door. It was Carey, aka Mr. Gray Hoodie, my very expensive snitch.
I clutched the comforter against me. “Carey?”
He smiled when he saw me. It made me feel sick. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing in my bedroom, but no words came out.
“In here,” he called to the person behind him.
I saw a flash of dark hair and opened my mouth to scream, but Carey took out his gun and pointed it at me. “Not a word. Where’s the big guy—in there?” We could hear Wes in the shower, still humming.
“Don’t.” My voice came out a hoarse whisper.
“Shut up.” Carey smiled again, heading toward the bathroom as Li Na Zhao stalked into my bedroom.
