Tears pricked her eyes, and she grabbed his hand again. “I love that you’re willing to risk everything for my safety, but I can’t let you do that.”

  “You’re not letting me do anything. I’m insisting. What kind of fucking bodyguard would I be if I let you stay in danger?”

  She sighed, wishing she could just climb out of bed, throw herself into his arms, and lose herself in his touch. But the IV attached to her other hand and the headache still plaguing her had other ideas. “The kind who listens to the woman he’s protecting. I can’t go. Even if I was okay with you taking all those risks for me—and I’m not—I have to stay for my father. He’s at one of the best cancer hospitals in the country, with one of the best doctors, getting the best treatments. The Pershings are paying for that. It’s millions. If I leave, they stop. And what happens to Daddy?”

  Matt frowned, and she saw the moment he realized her arguments trumped his. He ripped his hand from hers and hopped to his feet, looking like he sought a wall—or a Pershing—to beat the shit out of. Instead, he sighed in defeat. “Goddamn it, honey.”

  “I’m sorry. I know you hate it.” She bit her lip, frustrated that the day had left her emotions so close to the surface that she was about to cry. “I keep waiting for you to tell me that everything I’m dealing with is too much shit, and that you’re ready to dump me for someone more attractive with a lot less problems⁠—”

  The door to her room swung open. Madison gathered her hands in her lap, trying not to stare at Matt and beg him silently to understand. Instead, she watched the doctor enter the room, a no-nonsense guy around forty who shut the door behind him, then glanced between her and her chart.

  “Madison Pershing?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m Dr. Connard, head of ER here. I’ve got a few questions and some test results for you.” He swiveled his gaze to Matt. “I already know your husband is outside, addressing the press. The whole carnival is blocking the ambulance entrance and inhibiting our ability to save lives.”

  Madison felt her face heat. “I’m so sorry. If I could get Todd to move…”

  Matt pushed away from the corner of the room. “With all due respect, her heart stopped beating completely less than two hours ago. I don’t think that berating her about her husband is going to help that any.”

  Dr. Connard cleared his throat. “It’s not, and we’ve asked the police to address the situation. Since you’re not the husband, you must be the…”

  “Bodyguard.”

  “Ah.” He clapped his mouth shut. “I understand her physical safety is your concern, but I need to speak to your client about some sensitive medical information. We take our patients’ privacy very seriously here. If you could just wait outside…”

  Madison opened her mouth to tell him that Matt could stay. Something on his face stopped her. “Matt…”

  He shook his head, looking even more pissed off. “I’m opening the drapes so I can see inside, and that door better not be locked or I’ll be throwing a chair through the first damn window if there’s any sign of trouble.”

  The doctor nodded. “Duly noted. We’ll only be a few minutes.”

  Matt caught her eye like he half expected her to insist to Connard that he stay. Madison refused to meet his gaze, instead nodding. “I’ll be fine. Promise.”

  He merely raised a brow at her, but she’d already known he wouldn’t be happy about being separated from her after such a traumatic incident. His nerves were on edge, and she understood. But if something was medically wrong, she didn’t want to jolt him with that, either.

  On slow footsteps that ate up all the quiet in her room, he made his way to the door, jerked back the curtains, then stared at her one last time before he shut the door with a sigh. Her heart sank. He wasn’t angry, but it hurt her to upset him.

  The moment she was alone with the doctor, thick tension filled the silence, and he grimaced. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Pershing?”

  “Just Madison, please.”

  He acknowledged her with a nod. “Madison.”

  “I’m feeling better, just a lingering headache. And I’m really tired. Did I pass out from heat exhaustion…or something more?”

  The doctor took a long time answering. “It was a confluence of issues, and the heat had a lot to do with it.”

  “But there’s more.” Madison didn’t ask. She heard that truth in his voice.

  “You’ll forgive me, but I don’t have a full prescription list for you. Do you take Xanax, by chance? Or Ambien? Some form of antidepressant? Or anything similar to calm you?”

  “No. I’m actually not a huge fan of drugs like that. They hit me too hard and make me super fuzzy. In fact, I try to avoid taking anything I don’t have to.”

  “So I’m guessing you also don’t take any opioids for pain, like Oxycodone?”

  She shook her head. “Other than the Hydrocodone an oral surgeon prescribed to me years ago, after my wisdom teeth were removed, never. Heck, I never even took one of those pills.”

  He jotted some notes in her chart. “Do you have an IUD? Take the pill? On any other form of hormonal birth control?”

  Was he suggesting that her hormones were also out of whack? “No. Nothing. Tell me what’s going on.”

  After a quick scan of her blood results again, he regarded her. “The heat exhaustion, coupled with dehydration, made you ripe for a fainting episode.”

  “I didn’t just faint; my heart stopped beating.”

  “It did, granted for less than thirty seconds, as I understand it. The heat may have caused you severe dehydration and sent you into hypovolemic shock. But in addition to your overexposure to the sun and its resulting difficulties, you had two classifications of drugs in your system. The first most people know as benzodiazepines or benzos. In addition to the drug types I previously mentioned, the other well-known use for this drug classification is⁠—”

  “The date-rape drug.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I haven’t been on any dates. I haven’t been to a bar with an open drink…” The water Matt had brought her just before she’d taken the stage had been in a sealed bottle. So had the crackers and the candy bar.

  He shrugged. “You also had some form of opioids in your system. Those drugs together slowed your heart even more. I’m shocked you didn’t have a seizure. You’re lucky that your…ahem, bodyguard”—he smirked—“knew CPR. It probably saved your life.”

  And she was grateful to Matt all over again. “Are you saying I fainted because, not only was I super dehydrated, but I was drugged?”

  Vaguely, Madison recalled feeling a sharp prick in her shoulder—right where Todd’s hand wrapped around her—shortly before she fell to the floor. Had he injected her with something? What an absolute fucking bastard. She’d known that for years. When it came to morals, he’d always set the bar low, but this time…he’d brought a shovel. Worse, Matt had a very good idea exactly what he’d done.

  She looked up and found the man she loved staring at her through the window unblinkingly. He wasn’t the sort to stand by idly. How long before he stopped caring about the danger the Pershings posed to him and took matters into his own hand? Madison’s guess? Not long.

  “That’s my working theory, yes. But there’s another contributing factor I’m not sure you’re aware of. A reason your system may have been even more delicate, leaving you vulnerable in this situation.”

  “What?”

  “Do you realize, Madison, that you’re pregnant?”

  Everything stopped. Her world. Her heart. Her breaths. Her hope for the future.

  Pregnant. Oh, god…

  “A-are you sure?”

  “Positive. I don’t know how far along you might be without a more thorough obstetrical exam. I daresay you’ll be able to answer that question better than me. The good news is that, since you had medical intervention and started a normal heart rhythm so quickly, nothing that happened today should have harmed your baby.”

  Madison blinked, thinking back through the last few months. This child couldn’t possibly be Todd’s. They hadn’t had sex in well over a year. But she had Matt…so much sex. All of it had been protected. Granted, condoms weren’t foolproof, but they’d never had one break. And they’d never thrown caution to the wind and foregone one…

  Except the morning after Nash’s attack when Matt had run her down at the Blue Bayou Motel. He’d come back for her. He’d claimed her.

  He’d planted a baby in her belly.

  She stared at Matt through the window again. He was focused on the doctor, and his expression had morphed from intense to downright threatening.

  Under her blanket, she cupped her stomach protectively. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  Connard grimaced. “You’re putting me in an awkward position.”

  “There are HIPAA laws. I have a right to privacy.”

  “Under most circumstances, yes. But your grandfather-in-law… Well, I’m afraid I owe him⁠—”

  “Of course you do.” She pasted on the best smile she could muster. “But I’d like to keep this a secret a bit longer because I want to surprise my husband for his birthday. It’s next month.”

  It was a lie, and they both knew it.

  The doctor hesitated, then nodded. “That will be quite a surprise, I’m sure. For now, I’ll suggest some prenatal vitamins. You should also see an obstetrician and have a thorough battery of tests run, just to be safe. Of course, after your husband’s birthday, I’ll reach out to the senator and wish him all the best on the upcoming birth of a new generation.”

  A warning. “Thank you.”

  She’d just bought herself three weeks. Madison wished it was more, but at least this gave her time to figure out what she’d do when Todd learned the news of her pregnancy.

  And what would she tell Matt? When another glance proved he looked ready to kill the doctor just for upsetting her? When he was already determined to make her abandon her husband, his family, and their divorce for her safety so they could roll the dice with their future and live in sin until the Pershings got bored with her…or killed her?

  There was no way she could tell him about the baby until she found some way to escape.

  Despite everything, Madison shockingly slept like the dead, as if her mind and body simply couldn’t process any more without rest. She woke dreading the day. Sunday. Family dinner. No doubt, the event would be epic levels of torture. She could already hear the haranguing Agatha would heap on her.

  Unfortunately, that was the least of the complications in her life.

  She was going to have a baby…and she couldn’t tell Matt. When she could eventually spill that he would be a father, would he forgive her? Would he even want the child they had unexpectedly conceived in a haze of passion?

  Another problem for another day. First, she needed to defuse the ticking time bomb of the doctor spilling her secret to Winston Pershing, protect Matt and the baby, and get Todd under control so she and her loved ones would make it through the next three months alive.

  How? Madison didn’t know, and she couldn’t let the fear overwhelm her. One hurdle at a time.

  She needed leverage—something rock solid. What did she have at her disposal? What could she get her hands on? What would give her enough power to start making demands so she could turn the situation her way?

  Madison pulled on clothes, wondering how long before her pants got tight. Before she outgrew her bra. Before she started to show. Maybe the feeling was psychosomatic, but her queasiness seemed worse this morning. She wasn’t on the verge of throwing up…but she definitely wasn’t interested in food. And her breasts felt very tender. How was she going to hide that when she and Matt were alone in the Dungeon of Discipline? And what could she do sexually without hurting their baby?

  God, she couldn’t process this many problems without coffee…which she probably shouldn’t have anymore since she was pregnant. Madison closed her eyes with a sigh. This day was going to be beyond long and trying.

  In the kitchen, Ethan stood, waiting for her, coffee in hand. He held out the mug to her. “Your highness.”

  She rolled her eyes and set the hot java aside. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m in the mood for juice.”

  “You’re not going to drink the coffee I so thoughtfully made for you?” He sent her an expression of mock hurt as she opened the refrigerator door. “I never thought you were the sort who’d feel a pea under your mattress, but I’m reconsidering.”

  “Ha ha. Since Sunday is like pre-Monday for me, I could use less of your ‘pithiness’ and more of your silence.”

  He laughed as she poured herself a tall glass of orange juice and tucked the container away. “That’s what I like about you, you never fail to give back as good as you get. How are you feeling?”

  And what she liked about Ethan was his loyalty, always delivered up with a side dish of humor and a dash of caring. The fact he was hot, too… Someday, he’d fall hard, and Madison hoped she was around to see it. “Still feeling bruised and sore and a little bit run over by a bus, but I’ll live.”

  “I wasn’t sure the senator and his wife would yesterday. When they had to cancel the post-rally celebration because it would look bad if they were taking donations rather than racing to the hospital to be by your bedside, they were ready to bust an artery.”

  No surprise there. “And yet, I never once saw them.”

  “Imagine that,” Ethan drawled. “So what’s on your agenda today? I mean, you’ve shown me every classic book that’s been adapted into a film. And I still disagree after the battle of the Brontë sisters. Advantage Emily. Wuthering Heights was way better than Jane Eyre.”

  Madison rolled her eyes. “Only because you thought Merle Oberon’s Cathy was hotter than Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Jane. Gotta be honest…if we’re going on pure eye candy, Laurence Olivier is head and shoulders more attractive than William Hurt. But we’re not basing this on looks.”

  “We’re not?” Ethan blinked as if she’d stunned him.

  She cuffed him on the shoulder. “No. Jane Eyre is a better story.”

  “You’re full of shit, so I should get to pick today’s movies. Ever seen the Fast and Furious series?”

  Madison couldn’t think of anything she wanted to watch less and was glad she had another agenda. “Actually, no movies on the sofa today. Where’s Todd?”

  “Haven’t seen him this morning.”

  So probably still in bed. “Do you know if he went out last night?”

  “No clue.”

  She had to take a chance that he’d sleep half the day, as usual. “I need to run to the drugstore for a few minutes. You can stay here. I’ll be fine. It’s just around the corner.”

  Madison grabbed her hobo bag and keys and tried to dash out the front door before Ethan could catch her.

  No such luck.

  “You’re fucking crazy if you think I’m letting you take one step outside this unit without me. You know you’re not supposed to leave anyway, because your husband will get his panties in a twist, but I’m guessing you don’t care, so I’ll go with you.”

  Where he’d see her buy prenatal vitamins and immediately guess her secret. “It’s not necessary. I just need tampons.”

  “Have some delivered.”

  “I need some right now.”

  Ethan hesitated, then grabbed her wrist, dragging her down the hall to his bedroom. At the entrance, she dug in her heels, but he was way too strong. He all but tossed her on his big, unmade bed, keeping her in place with a warning glare as he searched through his scattered clothes and found his sneakers. After he donned them, he checked the firearm she hadn’t noticed at his side. “Let’s go.”

  Outside the unit, Madison could finally take a deep breath. Once they’d cleared the lobby and the sunshine warmed her face, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her zen was temporary, but she needed it so badly.

  “Where is the drugstore from here? After yesterday, I don’t think you should walk in the heat.”

  True, and until she could get rid of Ethan, the prenatal vitamins would have to wait. “You’re right. Just get me away from here.”

  “This isn’t about tampons, is it?”

  “No.”

  “How far away do you want to be? Listen, if you’re thinking Louisiana, I’ll have you there before nightfall. I’m fucking shocked Matt didn’t insist.”

  “He did.” And she didn’t dare say more since they were too close to the building’s surveillance.

  “So you refused to go?” Ethan raked a hand through his hair. “I fucking swear, if you were my woman, I would put you over my knee.”

  Madison believed him. “Focus. I think…I have an idea.” She needed dirt on Todd today, and the place where she’d inadvertently mined a treasure trove of it during her one surprise visit was probably her best hope. “We need a car. I’ll explain on the way.” She sent a meaningful glance to the camera above the building’s grand entrance.

  “You got it.” But instead of calling for an Uber or flagging down a passing taxi, Ethan whipped out his phone and hit someone from his contact list. “Hey, Uncle Rush.” He paused. “Yeah, I’m good. You and Aunt Vanessa?” Another pause. “Pregnant again? Wow. Congrats!” He smiled like he was genuinely happy for the pair. “You know, maybe you should figure out what’s causing that, because it seems to keep happening.” Whatever his uncle said made him laugh. “Will do. Hey, could you help me out, Mr. Former-Spy? And yeah, I know…don’t say that shit over the phone. Look, I’m in the DC area, and I need an untraceable ride.”

  Two minutes later, Ethan was texting their location. In less than ten, an ugly orange compact pulled up at the curb. A guy with a beard and a ball cap pulled low waved them in. She frowned at Ethan as they climbed into the minuscule back seat. She practically had to sit on his lap to shut the door.