ROMANCE: BAD BOY ROMANCE: Basketball Daddy (BWWM Alpha Male Billionaire Pregnancy Romance) (African American Unexpected Pregnant Contemporary Romance) (107 page)

Her head felt like it had been packed with sandbags. Naya's eyes slowly blinked open. Sounds blurred all around her, but the sky was clear and blue above her. She was being moved. She was lying on something that was being pushed. She strained, trying to remember where she had been. She remembered a gray room. And Ivanna…

Ivanna! Naya jerked, opening her mouth. She groaned out her daughter's name, and a face leaned over her. It was not Gabriel. She recognized the face, but all she could think was that it wasn't
her
vampire.

"She's safe," the face said. "She's right here. Asleep."

Naya's head lolled to one side as she searched for Ivanna. Her vision swayed, but it soon settled. Ivanna was close to her, laying on a stretcher parallel to her. Her eyes were closed, but blankets were tucked in around her chin and her thumb was in her mouth. Naya smiled. She was okay.

"The king was shot."

The relief at seeing her daughter vanished. Her clouded head cleared long enough for her to push herself up onto her elbows. There was another stretcher nearby. Gabriel lay on it, his body utterly unmoving, eyes wide and glassy. His skin had an unnatural pallor, chalky almost. Naya screamed, lurching towards her vampire.

Something caught her around her waist and hands pressed her back onto the stretcher.

"He can still hear you," a voice said in her ear. "The silver has paralyzed him but there's still time to save him. And he can hear you. Don't scream, don't scream."

Naya held her breath, her heart pounding. She tried to escape the hands that kept her in place, but they were too strong.

"We need blood!" a vampire shouted from somewhere. "Get blood out here now!"

Naya and Ivanna's stretchers were both brought to a halt so that Gabriel's could pass. Naya slapped a hand over her mouth as he was brought by. He was dead. Whatever she had been told, he was dead.

"Let me kiss him," she blurted. Maybe if she could get to him, her love would call him back. Maybe she could save him! She struggled. "Let me kiss him!"

"There's no time. He needs the bullet removed and to be fed blood."

"Give him my blood."

"We have medical stores for this sort of event."

Naya stopped struggling as she watched Gabriel's stretcher be carried up the stairs. Her blood rushed in her ears, drowning out the nervous chatter around her.

"I love you!" she shouted. "Gabriel, I love you!"

***

She was examined by both a human and vampire doctor and given a clean bill of health. Take Back the Planet hadn't harmed her or Ivanna in any way.

But then, they hadn't been the target. Gabriel had been.

Ivanna seemed no worse for wear. She was a little quieter than normal, but Angel had put her in a bathroom when she realized they were about to be attacked, and the little girl hadn't witnessed any of the violence that had happened in the zoo. Naya didn't want to press too much about her time in captivity, but Ivanna told her that she was kept in an ugly room and she had watched cartoons the whole time she had been kidnapped.

It was a small relief, but even that tiny blessing was something that Naya could cling to.

It was a full two weeks after the incident before she was allowed to see Gabriel. By that time Angel was fully mobile and, though she winced once in a while, she bore no outward scars of the attack.

"Stay here and be good for Angel," Naya told Ivanna, just outside Gabriel's bedroom.

"But I wanna see, too," Ivanna protested.

Angel pulled her into her lap. "Mommy wants to talk to Gabriel alone for a little while first. You'll get to see him soon."

The baby was kicking, and Naya laid a hand on her belly as she entered Gabriel's bedroom. He sat up on the bed, his skin having regained its normal healthy, dusky glow, dark eyes bright and clear. A dozen or so empty blood bags were scattered on the floor to one side, and a cooler sat next to his bed, presumably full of fresh ones.

A smile broke over his face at the sight of her and he held out his arms. Naya gratefully ran to him, wrapping herself in his strong embrace. She breathed in his deep, manly scent as his hand stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. Your daughter was in danger. You did what you needed to do." Gabriel put his hand on her shoulders and gently backed her away. "They told me you were fine, but I am glad to finally be able to see it with my own eyes. Naya… Naya, I love you so much."

Naya pressed a hand gently to his chest. Beneath the silk pajama top, she felt bandages. "Does it still hurt?"

"Yes. Quite a bit. But it missed my heart, and they were able to get the silver out in time. I'm going to be fine. I just need a lot of blood." He made a face as he gestured to the bags. "They're making me drink this medicated stuff. Tastes awful."

Naya held her wrist out to him, but Gabriel shook his head. He kissed her wrist, then moved it to his lap and smiled gently.

"I'm still not strong enough for that yet, love. There's a reason I didn't want you to see me before now. The thirst… it can get overwhelming. I dare not drink from you again until I'm fully healed.

"Of course," Naya whispered.

Gabriel cupped her face in his hands. "What happened? When I arrived at the building, you were already unconscious. Did they say anything to you?"

Naya shivered. The question of why Take Back the Planet hadn't killed her outright had haunted her for the past two weeks, but she still had no answers.

"They took me to see Ivanna. I remember going into a room, seeing her laying on the floor and then feeling like I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to be killed and I was so… angry that I hadn't been able to save Ivanna. The next thing I remembered was waking up here again. And seeing you on that stretcher."

Gabriel's hands tightened slightly. "Take Back the Planet was probably hoping to use my child as a way to control the vampires somehow, and that's why they didn't... But let's not dwell on them right now. Alberto is hunting the organization and soon they will no longer be a threat. You're okay, Ivanna is okay and that's all that matters."

"You're okay. Or, you will be." Naya pressed her lips to his. "That matters, too."

Gabriel smiled. "Yes, that does matter. I can smell Ivanna out there. Does she want to come in and see me?"

Naya nodded and hurried back out to the living room to retrieve her daughter. Angel stayed on the sofa. Ivanna wrapped her arms around Naya's neck and then, when she was put on the bed beside Gabriel, the little girl twisted her hands into the blankets.

"Hi, princess," Gabriel said, smiling. "How are you doing?"

"I'm not a princess."

Naya's brows rose at Ivanna's angry tone. "What do you mean?"

Ivanna glared up at her mother. "Gabriel's not my daddy. That means I'm not a princess."

"Oh, honey." Naya reached for her daughter, but Gabriel was quicker, pulling her into a hug.

"Ivanna, there are different types of daddies. I might not have put you in your mommy's tummy like this baby." Gabriel touched Naya's stomach. "But that doesn't mean that I can't be your daddy. I love you, princess."

Ivanna sniffled, her big, dark eyes full of tears. "Do you love me as much as the new baby?"

"Yes," Gabriel said firmly. "I do. And I'll always love you. I promise."

"Okay," Ivanna smiled, laying down beside Gabriel. Her tiny head rested against his shoulder, and she looked over her shoulder at Naya. "Come snuggle, Mommy."

Naya laughed softly and joined them. Gabriel's fingers combed through her hair, and more love than Naya thought was possible welled in her heart. The baby began kicking and she took both Gabriel and Ivanna's hands and pressed them to her stomach, helping them to feel it as well. Ivanna laughed, squirming between them.

"Look! I think the baby loves us, too, Daddy."

Gabriel's eyes widened slightly. A smile blossomed on her face and he nodded. "Yes. Yes, I think the new baby loves us. Just like I love you and Mommy." His eyes met Naya's. "Forever."

***

THE END

Bonus Book 22: The Hockey Player's Secret Baby

By:
Ava Walsh

Description

He can never know! My secret will destroy him...

Chelsey and Hannah practically grew up together. They were best friends, sure, but there was one secret Chelsey kept to herself: her feelings for Hannah’s older brother, Aron Keels...

Chelsey believed that she could keep her feelings for Aron in check, save her friendship and move on with her life. That, is until college ended, and Aron was all set to leave town. He had been scouted and picked up by an NHL team in Los Angeles.

On his last night in town, at the end of a drunken party, Chelsey and Aron fell into bed together. And then he left...

Three years later, Chelsey is still in the same town, working at the same hair salon where she worked while at college. She has cut off all ties with her family and her friends, including Hannah. She lives a life of seclusion in a cramped apartment, trying to make ends meet.

When Hannah walks into the salon, she is surprised to find Chelsey still works there… Then she delivers Chelsey some news—her celebrity brother is going to be in town as well, attending their parents’ thirtieth anniversary party.

How will Chelsey continue to keep her life a secret, now that everything she is protecting seems to be unravelling?

Chelsey was tired of smiling, especially since she also had to concentrate. People entrusted their hair into her hands, literally, and it was her job to give them a fabulous new look which they might tip her extra for. She was holding the large oval mirror behind her current customer’s head and also trying to keep the usual fake smile plastered on her face.

“That is gorgeous! Exactly the way I wanted,” the woman with the unmanageable cowlick on her forehead turned in her seat to say. Chelsey continued smiling, nodding as she plugged in the blow dryer. The woman sat back again and, from the corner of her eye, Chelsey noticed her digging around in her purse. Great success! She was going to get the tip.

“I have to leave in like fifteen minutes, Monica,” Chelsey said, tapping the floor manager’s shoulder after her customer had left.

“But your shift doesn’t end for another half an hour, Chelsey.” Monica whipped around, passing a quick look to the clock on the wall.

“I know, but the sitter texted me to say that she can’t stay for much longer. I’m sorry. I promise I’ll make up for it soon,” Chelsey said, pouting her lips in the hopes that she might be able to charm Monica just as successfully as she did her clients.

“I’ve already signed on one more customer for you. So you’ll have to do that one. Apparently it’s just a trim,” Monica said, shaking her head indulgently.

“It’s never
just
a trim. Thanks anyway, Monica,” Chelsey said, walking away from her with an accomplished smile on her face.

She stood waiting behind the high chair, staring at herself in the mirror. Her natural poker-straight hair was cut to a manageable length right at her shoulders, her face looked pale and overworked, she hadn’t had time to touch up her pink-tinted lipstick since the morning and her clothes were covered in hair and chemical products.

Her next customer brushed past her and sat down with a thump on the chair in front of her, snapping her out of her self-pitying thoughts.

“How are we today?” she automatically chirped. It was a strange, robotic voice that turned on without any initiation in front of customers. She turned to pick up the robe to tie around the customer’s neck and, when she looked up into the mirror, her hands froze and she nearly dropped the pair of scissors and comb from her hands.

The girl was staring at her in the mirror as well, a slow grin forming on her face.

“Chelsey?” she shrieked, and whipped around in her chair to look up at her directly.

“Hannah.” Chelsey couldn’t smile any longer. Her pretend face had long disappeared.

“How crazy is this?” Hannah jumped out of the chair and flung her arms around Chelsey’s neck, nearly strangling her.

“It
is
crazy. What are you doing here? Are you back in town?” Chelsey managed to ask, even though she could feel her heart racing in her throat and her palms growing sweaty. She hadn’t seen Hannah in three years. She didn’t want to see Hannah. She wished she could forget that they had ever been best friends.

“Well, not
back
back. Just for a week, actually,” Hannah said, finally pulling away from her, giving her some space to breathe.

“How come?” Chelsey asked, realizing that she still had the scissors in her hands, dangerously pointing towards herself in fact. She placed them on the counter in front of the mirror.

“It’s my parents’ thirtieth anniversary. They’re throwing a big party. Aron is flying in as well. Fingers crossed.” Hannah giggled and Chelsey tried to smile. “I had no idea you were still in town,” she added.

“I had to come back,” Chelsey said, probably too quickly, and then stole a look at the clock.

“Why? I thought you were liking New York,” Hannah probed.

“My mother…she got ill and I had to come back and take care of her,” Chelsey said, and ran her hands through her hair. She could feel herself blushing, and her nerves were giving way to full-blown panic. Hannah clucked her tongue in sympathy.

“Is that why you stopped replying to my emails and texts? I’m so sorry, Chelsey. I had no idea.” Hannah looked genuinely upset and sympathetic, and Chelsey immediately felt guilty for lying.

“She’s alright now, though. So, all is well.” Chelsey tried to shrug it off with a nervous laugh.

“So you’re working here now?” Hannah asked, and Chelsey took in a deep breath and smiled her widest fake smile.

“Only temporarily,” she said, and started to take a few paces back.

“Well, that’s exciting, then. It’s been years since you gave me a haircut. Remember when you used to practice on my hair, and sometimes even on Aron’s?” Hannah giggled again, but Chelsey was slowly backing away from her now.

“I do remember. But…it’s just that I have to go now. Something’s come up,” Chelsey said, interrupting Hannah’s laugh. She had backed far away enough from Hannah to be able to reach the coat rack on the wall, where she turned to pick up her jacket and bag.

“Are you serious? You can’t be serious. I just got here, Chelsey. What’s wrong?” She could hear Hannah’s voice behind her as she ran towards the door, pushed it open and hurried out without turning to inform Monica that she was leaving. She wanted to get as far away from Hannah as possible, as far away from the mention of Aron’s name as possible. The guy who had ruined the possibility of continuing a friendship with Hannah. The guy who she thought she was in love with. The guy she could never get over.

Chelsey arrived at her car, jerked the door open and sat down with a thump. She breathed out deeply and tried to steady her heartbeat. She had a daughter to go back home to.