She was hurt. Someone had shot her. Someone had tried to kill her.
She was pregnant.
“No,” she said fiercely.
“No what?”
“No ambulance. Promise me.”
She grabbed his arm with surprising strength. Her eyes were wild, and he doubted she had a clue where she was, who she was or the danger both she and her child were in.
“You need a hospital,” he soothed. Hell, he needed a hospital. Or a stiff drink. What the hell was she doing here? Where the hell had she been for the last five months?
Pregnant. Sweet Jesus, was the baby his? His tongue felt thick and swollen in his mouth. He couldn’t form the words, and he doubted she’d understand them anyway.
His hand automatically went to her arm, where the wound had started to bleed again. Her blood was warm against her cold skin, and he pressed as hard as he dared, not wanting to hurt her more.
She raised her head, and her eyes, glazed with pain, sparked with determination.
“No hospital. No police. Promise me. Promise me.”
The desperation in her voice got to him. An uneasy sensation crawled down his spine. His gut told him this was a clusterfuck beyond all clusterfucks.
He glanced up at Garrett, who was staring at him and Sophie with a deep scowl of concentration. No doubt he wanted to know what the hell was going on. That made two of them.
“Don’t call the ambulance,” Sam said and turned to look up at Donovan, his hand still clamped over the bullet wound. “Get inside, find bandages, a med kit, anything you can dig up.”
“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” Garrett exploded. “She’s been hurt. She’s been shot. And she’s pregnant.”
Sam swallowed and looked down at Sophie’s eyes that were now closed.
“Garrett, please do as I asked. I know this woman.”
“Who the hell is she?”
He stared both his brothers down. “She’s mine.”
CHAPTER 5
COLD. She was freezing. And she was having hallucinations. Sam. She’d seen Sam. But he wasn’t here. She didn’t know where he was. Only that there was a man who looked an awful lot like him standing over her with an expression of horror on his face. Sam wouldn’t be that horrified to see her, would he? He didn’t know the truth. Yet. No, it definitely wasn’t Sam.
Then a warm blanket surrounded her, and strong arms lifted her up. She settled against a hard chest, those arms still tight around her.
Sophie opened her eyes and glanced up to see a hard jawline. Strong. Firm. With just a hint of stubble, as though he’d been too lazy to shave that morning. It was damn sexy.
Her gaze wandered upward, and then his head moved and his eyes met hers. Blue. Pale blue, like ice. Just like Sam’s eyes. Was she still dreaming? If she was, she wanted to just go along with it. It was a nice dream.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You’re back.”
Back? Where the hell had she been? Her brow crinkled in confusion. “Have I been here before?” she asked. For that matter how had she gotten here? Everything was so fuzzy. She felt funny. Not herself at all. She was having a hard time remembering the smallest of details. It frustrated her because there was something important she had to do.
He shook his head. “No.”
“But you said I was back, as if I’d been here before.”
He gave her a worried look and picked up his pace. “I meant that you were back. Conscious. You regained consciousness briefly when I pulled you out of the water, but then you passed out again.”
“Oh.”
His concern deepened and he glanced over, and it was then that Sophie saw another man striding beside them. Big. Mean-looking. He was scowling at her.
Sophie shrunk against the man carrying her and gave an involuntary shiver.
“It’s all right,” he murmured soothingly as he hoisted her higher in his arms. “No one’s going to hurt you, I promise.”
“Who is that?” she whispered.
Again he glanced sideways. “That’s Garrett. He’s my brother.”
“He’s big and mean-looking,” she muttered.
He shook against her as he laughed. “He’s harmless.”
A snort sounded, and Sophie guessed that Garrett didn’t appreciate his brother’s assessment.
Then Garrett leaned over to stare at her. “The question is, who are you?”
She shrank back and would have crawled over her protector’s shoulder and hidden behind him if she could have.
“Back off, Garrett, you’re scaring her.”
Garrett scowled again and gave her a look that suggested he wasn’t finished. Anger surged over Sophie. Damn it, she’d had enough of overbearing, a**hole males.
“Easy,” the man carrying her soothed, as though he sensed her tension.
He mounted steps and then carried her past another man—just what the hell kind of mess had she landed herself in now? At least they weren’t carrying guns, and so far they hadn’t tried to kill her. That was a plus, wasn’t it? Maybe they could tell her how to find Sam.
“Where am I?” she asked faintly as he settled her onto a bed. Not waiting on a response, she curled into a ball and reached for the covers and a pillow simultaneously. God, she was tired. She hurt from head to toe.
“Oh, no you don’t,” a male voice reproached. “You can’t go to sleep yet.”
She shoved at him with a hand and snuggled deeper into the pillow. It felt good. Her muscles started to relax into the warm covers, and then they started screaming in protest.
Her mouth and eyes flew open as pain overwhelmed her. Her arm. Fire. The numb had worn off. And then she remembered. Going overboard. Getting shot. Escaping.
Her hand climbed up her arm, feeling for the wound. It couldn’t be too bad, could it?
“Easy,” the Sam look-alike murmured. “I’d say some of the shock has worn off and now you’re starting to feel it.”
She shook violently, her fingers still gripping the area of the gunshot. A gentle hand grasped her fingers and pried them away from her wound.
“H-hurts.”
“I know. You should be in the hospital.”
Her head flew up. “No.”
“Here’s the bandages,” Garrett said as he strode into the room. “Van’s bringing some water and washcloths so you can clean the wound.”
Sophie clutched the covers to her chest and stared cautiously at Garrett.
Garrett didn’t look any more impressed with her than she did him. He regarded her with what she could only describe as deep suspicion.
A moment later, the third man crowded in behind Garrett. He at least didn’t look like he’d like for her to be anywhere but here, but caution radiated from him nonetheless.
“This is my brother Donovan,” fake Sam said as he jerked a thumb over his shoulders.
“How many brothers do you have?”
He grinned. “Five. Only two are here, though.”
“There’s three more?” she asked, trying to keep the horror from her voice.
The room spun crazily around her, and she was so cold that her teeth were going to break from chattering. There was something important she had to do, but she couldn’t remember anything beyond keeping her baby safe.
She clutched her belly when she realized she still hadn’t felt her baby move. Tears scalded her cheeks, and she sniffed loudly, but she couldn’t manage to get air through her nose.
Through the haze and confusion she remembered the one thing she had to do above all else.
“Sam,” she croaked out. “I have to get to Sam. They’ll kill him.”
She sank lower in the bed as the room dimmed around her.
“I’m here, Sophie.”
“Sam?” No, it was that guy who looked like him. She shook her head. “No, Sam K-kelly. Have to get to, Sam. Important. They’ll kill me too. My baby.”
Her teeth clanked together until her jaw ached.
Why couldn’t she pull herself together? Why did she feel so disjointed and murky? The room spun crazily around her, like she was stuck on some Ferris wheel from hell. Her stomach knotted and boiled. The god-awful pain was making her nauseous, and the last thing she wanted to do was puke.
Nothing made sense. She’d heard herself babble on, but she couldn’t even remember about what.
Sam. That came back to her. It was her one constant.
She tried to say his name again, but found her lips stiff and uncooperative. Her lashes drifted over her eyes, and she tried to rub at them so she could see.
Darkness crowded in until the room was so dim she couldn’t even make out the men. It hurt to fight the growing dark. And so she gave up.
Sam watched as she drifted into unconsciousness again. He glanced up at Garrett and Donovan to see them both staring holes through him.
“What the ever loving hell?” Garrett finally said.
Sam dragged a hand through his hair and cupped the back of his neck. “Christ, I don’t know.”
“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.