Make Me Sin (38 page)

Brody’s face pales. He swallows. “Hit-and-run?”

“At least the bastard had the decency to stop and pull Grace from the car. If he hadn’t, she would have . . . the fire . . .” I shake my head. “Anyway, she made it out and her parents didn’t. So my point is—”

And then I’m doubled over with the worst pain I’ve ever felt. It hits me out of nowhere, radiating out from my stomach in violent waves. This is different from the mild discomfort I’ve been having over the past month, the twinges and pinches in my abdomen. This is
aggressively
painful.

“Honey!” says Kat frantically, grabbing my shoulders. “Are you all right?”

A.J. is beside me before I can even catch my breath, his worried face inches from mine. “Angel?”

“Contraction,” I gasp. “Oh, God, it
hurts
—”

Warm fluid saturates my underwear and begins to slide down my legs. Holy Jesus, my water just broke.

I’m going into labor.

I shout, “The baby’s coming!” and everyone leaps into action.

Kat jumps up and runs to the patio door, screaming for Grace. Barney yells, “I’ll get the car!” and runs toward the garage. Kenji, clapping and squealing, leaps from the sofa in the living room, while Ethan and Chris abandon their video game and run into the kitchen, whooping. Nico grabs the small duffel bag with my toiletries and clothes that I’ve been carrying everywhere with me for the last two weeks, and A.J. lifts me into his arms.

“Honey put me down, you can’t carry me!”

“Hell if I can’t,” A.J. growls. “I’m not letting my woman walk to the car when she’s about to have my baby. Nico, lead the way.”

So Nico, moving as quickly and carefully as possible while leading a blind man and a pregnant woman, guides us through the house and into the garage. A.J. only releases me to help me climb into the backseat of Nico’s Range Rover, which Barney has ready and waiting, then takes me in his arms again. Kat and Grace pile in with us, while Kenji, Ethan, and Chris jump into Ethan’s Hummer.

Then we’re off, flying down the narrow, winding road toward the hospital.

“We’re gonna have a Valentine’s baby, angel,” A.J. whispers into my ear.

I can’t help it; I start to cry. I never knew I could be this happy.

It isn’t until I’m in a wheelchair being pushed through the hospital doors that I realize we’ve left Brody back at the house, motionless and silent at the kitchen table, his face as white as bone.

A
cknowledgments

T
his book wrecked me.

I wrote it in nine weeks, jumping up in the middle of the night,
running out of dinner parties, and hanging up the phone mid-sentence
to write obsessively about A.J. and Chloe whenever inspiration hit.
I
cried a lot. I’d wander into the living room, sobbing, a wad of soggy tissues in my hand, and my husband would look at me, laugh, and hold out his arms.

Thank you, Jay, for sharing your life with a woman who cries over her imaginary friends, for having the good humor to deal with it, and the good sense not to ask too many questions. Without you, I’m lost. (No, wait—I do what I want!)

Thank you to my editor, Maria Gomez, and my team at Montlake Romance for being so incredibly supportive, easy to work with, and fun.

Big thanks to Melody Guy, my developmental editor, who pointed out so many ways to make this book better I can’t count them all. Your advice and input is invaluable, as it has been on all my books since the beginning. I so appreciate you.

Thanks to my Street Team, Geissinger’s Gang, and my readers, whose enthusiasm and support make it all worthwhile.

I don’t know where it comes from, but the urge to create has always been with me. Whoever or whatever is responsible for that, I thank you/it as well, because it’s been an incredibly positive force in my life. Universe, you rock.

A
bout the
   
A
uthor

J
.T. Geissinger is an award-winning author of paranormal and contemporary romance featuring dark and twisted plots, kick-ass heroines, and alpha heroes whose hearts are even bigger than their muscles. Her debut fantasy romance,
Shadow’s Edge
, was a #1 international Amazon bestseller and won the Prism Award for Best First Book. Her follow-up novel,
Edge of Oblivion
, was a RITA
©
Award finalist for Paranormal Romance from the Romance Writers of America, and she won a Golden Quill award for the final book in the Night Prowler series,
Into Darkness
. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.

She lives in California with her husband, on whom all her heroes are based.

Get notifications on new releases by signing up on her website at
www.jtgeissinger.com
.