Maya Banks: No Place to Run

“Who is she?” Donovan demanded.

Before he could answer, Garrett’s eyes narrowed and he stared between Sophie and Sam.

“It’s the chick you were involved with in Mexico isn’t it?”

Sam ignored Garrett and raised the covers higher over Sophie so she’d be warmer, but he was careful to leave her arm uncovered. The blood still seeping from the wound disturbed him. Hell, the whole thing disturbed him.

“What the hell did she mean by needing to warn you?” Donovan asked. “This stinks to high heaven, Sam. You should call Sean and an ambulance. Let him handle things.”

Sam shook his head. “We’re not calling the police. Not until I know what the hell went on here.”

His gaze dropped to her belly. He pushed aside the covers more, and he couldn’t help but slide his palm over the swell. Her skin was cold to touch, but the hard little ball of her stomach fascinated him.

“Oh hell,” Garrett muttered. “Oh hell no.”

“What?” Donovan demanded.

Sam knew. He swallowed and looked up at his brothers. “It could be mine. I won’t know until I can talk to her, but we were together five months ago. She sure looks like she’s about five months along.”

“Holy shit,” Donovan blew out.

“I’m with Van. This stinks like a roadkill skunk,” Garrett said grimly.

Sam gestured toward Sophie. “I need to bandage her while she’s unconscious. I need you to help me with her arm. If the bullet’s still in there, we aren’t going to have a choice but to get her to the hospital.”

He glanced at the wound. Bullet or no bullet, it needed stitches. He didn’t know how the hell he could keep her out of the hospital or why the hell he should.

Donovan eased onto the bed on the other side of Sophie, his expression grim.

“It looks like someone beat the hell out of her, tried to choke her, and then shot her. Not necessarily in that order.”

Anger tightened Sam’s jaw. “Yeah, that’s what it looks like. It’s a wonder she got away.”

“If she got away,” Garrett said sourly.

Sam shot him an irritated look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I find it pretty damn strange that she shows up half-drowned and beat up, with a bullet wound, and talking some shit like she has to warn you. Where the hell has she been for five months if you were so hot and heavy with her? She had to know you could protect her.”

“So what are you saying?” Sam asked calmly. “You think she beat herself up, shot herself, then threw herself in the lake when she’s pregnant as an elaborate scheme to get to me?”

Garrett had the grace to look a little abashed.

“Look, I know you’re a suspicious bastard. I’m having my share of what-the-fuckitus at the moment myself, but until I hear what she has to say, I’m reserving judgment.”

“Good call,” Donovan murmured as he examined Sophie’s wound. “Looks like a through-and-through. No bone. Flesh wound. It’ll hurt like hell and will probably get infected after she spent so much time in the lake, but I don’t think it’s too serious. I’d be more worried about her pregnancy.”

Donovan’s statement hit Sam like a hammer. Yeah, he’d seen her belly. He’d even calmly and matter-of-factly told his brothers that the baby could be his. But not until now had he really let it sink in.

There was a baby. It might be his. He might be a father.

Holy shit.

Talk about coming from left field. This wasn’t something he’d contemplated in his wildest dreams. He’d left it to his brothers to settle down and have babies. He figured Ethan and Rachel would pop out a couple before he would ever consider settling down and providing grand-children for Mom and Dad.

He winced. Holy hell. Ma would shit a brick over this.

He was thirty-six. Well past the age most men thought about having families, wasn’t it? But he damn sure assumed that if and when he got around to doing it, it would be on his terms, preferably with a woman he’d married and after thoughtful consideration. Babies and his career didn’t exactly mix.

“You okay, man?” Donovan asked softly.

Was he okay? He felt like someone had yanked the rug out from under him. Like someone had suddenly changed all the rules and altered the entire course of his life.

Okay, so it sounded dramatic, but hell, it was! A baby changed everything. And then there was Sophie. Why had she disappeared? No, he hadn’t given her any promises. He hadn’t been in a position to offer her anything at all. Not even his true identity . . .

“Fuck,” he bit out.

Garrett glanced sharply at him.

“How the hell did she know where to find me? She knew me as Sam. Just Sam. Some guy coming through the bar where she worked. Not Sam Kelly . I could have been from anywhere for all she knew.”

“I’d say you probably indulged in some heavy pillow talk,” Garrett said dryly.

Sam shook his head. “Do you think I’m stupid? Besides, talking wasn’t exactly what we were doing when we were alone.”

Donovan snickered but then quickly sobered. “So what the hell do we do? It’s a little too coincidental that the chick you have a fling with, while undercover, just happens to show up looking like death warmed over muttering dire warnings about people trying to kill you—when in fact she wasn’t supposed to know anything about you. And certainly not where you lived.”

“That about covers it,” Sam said as he stared down at Sophie’s still form.

The sheet over her belly bumped. Just a little twitch that he almost missed. Perplexed, he leaned over and drew away the sheet. Her soaked shirt had ridden up, exposing the smooth expanse of her stomach.

He remembered touching her, running his hands over her lush body, though it had certainly changed since they’d last made love.

He put his hand to the side of her belly, only to feel the tiny little bump against his palm. In awe he stared. It was the baby.

“Guess the little critter is okay,” Garrett mumbled.

Sam couldn’t form a response. He was too befuddled. Was this his child he was feeling against his fingers?

“You should get her out of those wet clothes,” Donovan offered. “You and Garrett both need to get into dry clothes. I’ll go warm up some soup and find out if we have antibiotics in our stash of medications. She’ll need that and something stronger than ibuprofen for pain. Not to mention I’m not sure what she can take being pregnant.”

Sam stirred and shook himself from his trance. Then he scowled. No one but him was going to see her naked. He focused his frown on Garrett until Garrett finally got the message and walked toward the door, muttering under his breath the entire way.

“Get the soup and find what medications you can,” Sam said to Donovan. “After I get her out of these clothes and into something warm, I’ll assess her injuries. When she wakes up and can tell us what the hell is going on and why she doesn’t want us to take her to the hospital, we’ll figure out what to do next.”

Donovan nodded and headed out of the room after Garrett.

Sam turned his attention back to the woman lying in his bed. His woman. His child?

He shook his head in denial She wasn’t his.

He fingered a strand of wet hair, pulling it carefully away from her neck.

“Where have you been, Sophie?” he asked softly. “What secrets are you hiding and who the hell wants you dead?”

Sudden rage rolled through his body. Whoever wanted her dead had also tried to kill his child. His child.

So many questions buzzed around his head he was about to go crazy. If he didn’t take care of her, she wouldn’t survive to give him any answers. She still shivered, even in her unconscious state. He needed to get her out of her wet clothes and he needed to get her warm.