All Bets Are On (16 page)

He thought he was a god? A ruler of the Underworld? Satan? Lucifer? Hades? Who was he really? And could he really compel her to do whatever he wanted? Then what else could he do?

A familiar face filled one of the TV monitors hanging on the wall. It was Ms. Franciscan. She was being led out of a warehouse in handcuffs. Images flashed across the screen of children working in dark, crowded rooms. Another picture of mattresses thrown on a floor where children slept huddled together under a thin blanket. The facilities were dark and damp and filthy.

The headline scrolled across the bottom of the screen. Child Slavery Plant shut down. And Jaclyn knew that Derek was behind Ms. Franciscan’s downfall. That horrible woman was exposed and would hopefully go to jail for a very long time. No more diamonds or fancy balls for her. That woman deserved what was coming to her.

The baby moved and she stopped and smiled at the fluttery sensation within her stomach, her hands reaching to cradle it. Three days old and she could already feel it moving? Him moving? It was all true. She didn’t know how, but she knew that. She wondered where Derek was now. She saw Deirdre coming out of a door and stared at her for a long moment. Was she a god of the Underworld, too? She sure as hell acted like one. Not wanting to talk to her, Jaclyn quickly headed toward the front door.

A bus pulled up at a stop in front of the dealership to let out its passengers.

“Jaclyn, wait,” she heard Deirdre call.

Glancing behind her, Jaclyn quickly stepped off the sidewalk and out in front of the parked bus, rushing around it and into the street to hail a cab coming toward her.

The speeding car came from nowhere, its bright lights trapping her in their deadly glow. Tires screeched a cry of warning. Jaclyn froze. Deirdre screamed. She saw the crazed face behind the wheel in the glow from the dashboard lights, the determined cold eyes, long red nails clutching the steering wheel. Jaclyn felt the impact against her legs. The crushing blow and then her body was soaring through the air. The hardness of the asphalt dug into her skin and slammed like a huge hammer against the back of her head.

I need you and our baby to be safe.

Panic and pain surged through her, and then she felt nothing as darkness overtook her.

Nothing but the grasping claws of fear.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

His stomach twisting into knots, Derek watched Jaclyn walk away. He’d hoped by taking her to his estate and showing her
how beautiful it was, he’d be able to convince her how happy they could be there together. But she’d been too overwhelmed and he’d probably been too overbearing. Maybe he needed to give her a little distance, so she could work it out.

He answered Cerberus’s questions for their next job with half an ear, but didn’t care. He was no longer in charge, Deirdre was.

After listening for longer than he should have, someone screamed. Minos ran toward them, the color drained from his face. The moment their eyes met, Derek’s blood iced over and a fist of fear grabbed the pit of his stomach. He glanced at the monitors and saw people running for the door.

He ran out of the office and through the showroom.

People crowded around out front. Traffic had come to a standstill. An ambulance was pulling to a stop, its red and yellow lights flashing against the faces of concerned bystanders. Against Deirdre’s pale skin.

“What’s happening!” he yelled, as he bounded out the door.

“It’s Jaclyn.” Her voice was hoarse.

“What?” It hit him. The crowd, the ambulance. Without waiting to hear more, he pushed through the bystanders until he got to her side. The EMTs were lifting her onto a gurney. “What happened?” he asked.

“A car came from out of nowhere,” a man said.

“Is she going to be okay?” He turned to the EMT. “What about the baby?” he demanded.

The EMT didn’t answer. “I’m the father of her child. I’m going with you,” he barked and climbed up into the back of the ambulance. As they started toward Miami General, he took out his cell and called his mother. “Jaclyn’s been hurt. We need Dr. Miles.”

Jaclyn was lying on the gurney, her face pale, her hair matted with blood. The EMTs worked on her, doing everything they could to save her. He wanted to take her hand in his, to hold it. To beg her to hang on. He couldn’t lose her now that he’d found her. Now that he knew he wanted her. Not just as the mother of his child, but to be a part of his world. She wasn’t like anyone else he had ever been with before. She was the one he wanted to share his life with, to start a family with.
Her
.

Derek clasped her hand and held it, then did something he’d never done before. He prayed. Not to anyone in particular, but to everyone and everything.

Please, please let her be safe
.

He couldn’t bear to lose her. He couldn’t bear to lose his son.

They arrived at the hospital and he followed the gurney as they wheeled it into the ER. Dr. Miles was waiting for them as they took her into an examining room. Derek stepped back into the corner out of the way, determined that no one would make him leave. She was the mother of his child, and so much more.

“She’s hurt badly, Derek,” Dr. Miles said.

“And the baby?”

“His heart is still beating, and as long as that’s happening he should be able to regenerate any damage he might have sustained. Your son will survive if we remove him from his mother. Right now, he’s trying to heal her as well as himself but it’s too much of a strain for him. He’s just not big enough yet.”

“You do whatever you have to do to save the child,” Marlena Wescott said, as she stepped from behind the curtain and into the room.

Derek’s stomach tightened. He looked down at Jaclyn lying on the bed. He was the only one here who would fight for her. She had no one else. No one but him and their child. He stepped toward her and brushed her wild hair back from her face. He loved that hair. Loved how it never did what it was supposed to, how it never stayed in line.

Just like Jaclyn.

“Jaclyn cannot survive without the baby. He’s keeping her alive. I want them both.”

“Are you sure, Derek?” Dr. Miles asked. “You are risking the life of your son. Her injuries are too extensive. She’ll end up killing them both. We have to deliver him now.”

“If you take him now, will Jaclyn die?”

“Yes. Her body won’t be able to handle the stress of the surgery. Not in her current state.”

Heaviness fell over him, and he momentarily closed his eyes, trying to gather the strength he needed. “I won’t sacrifice Jaclyn for the baby.”

“Derek,” his mother said, forcefully.

He wheeled on her. “I’m sorry, Mother, but that’s the way it has to be.”

“I won’t let you risk my grandchild.”

A cold fury swept over Derek as he stared at her. “Thank you for being here to support me, but I’d appreciate it if you’d leave, now.”

“I won’t.”

He stepped forward, right up into her face. “Yes you will, or I’ll throw you out.”

Surprise filled her face. “Think of the child. Your child. Your son.”

“I am. And my child wouldn’t want to grow up without his mother. There is a chance they will both survive. And that’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

Her mouth hardened. “No there isn’t, Derek. They will both die. Don’t be a fool.”

One of the machines started beeping.

“What’s happening?” she demanded, pushing forward.

Dr. Miles took action. “Her blood pressure is dropping.”

Derek watched Jaclyn struggling to breathe and rushed to her side as a nurse put an oxygen mask over her face. “You must save her.” He didn’t think he’d be able to pull in a breath until Dr. Miles got her stabilized and the machines finally stopped their incessant beeping. Derek rubbed a hand down his face.

“The baby is in distress,” Dr. Miles informed them. “I’m sorry, but it doesn’t look good. For either of them.”

“You have to let her go and save the child,” his mother implored him, pulling on his arm.

Derek shook his head, and brushed her away. “No, I don’t. I have faith. They’ll both make it.”

“Faith?” She laughed. “In what?”

“In me.” A man pushed through the curtains then turned to his mother. “I believe he asked you to leave, Marlena.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Derek stared in stunned disbelief at the man who walked into the cubicle. He was tall and golden, and had blue eyes that were
almost iridescent. Eyes a lot like his.

“What are you doing here?” Marlena hissed. Derek saw fear in his mother’s expression. It was the first and only time he’d ever seen that look on her face. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was actually afraid.

“Who are you?” Derek demanded as the man walked over to Jaclyn’s bedside.

“I’m here to help her.” He turned to Derek. “Do you want my help?”

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

Did he trust him? Did he have a choice? Desperation made him feel weak and vulnerable, a feeling he didn’t care for. “Yes. Please. If you can save them, then do it.”

“Derek,” his mother warned. He ignored her. She didn’t care about Jaclyn or him. All she cared about was that baby.

The man put his hands on Jaclyn’s stomach and closed his eyes. Power emanated from his fingertips and radiated into Jaclyn. Derek crossed to her side and took her hand, holding on tight. Watching in admiration and gratitude as a healing light consumed her stomach. Her blood pressure started to rise and the baby’s heart beat faster as color lit Jaclyn’s cheeks.

“It’s working,” Dr. Miles said, a smile stretching across his face. “Whatever he’s doing, it’s working.”

After another minute, the man pulled back from Jaclyn.

“How did you do that?” Derek asked. “And why? Who are you?”

“You asked for my help, didn’t you?”

“Did I? I don’t even know who you are.”

The man’s captivating gaze met his and held, and for a second that feeling of vulnerability returned. This man was going to tell him something he suddenly wasn’t sure he wanted to hear. A part of him fought to close his eyes, to turn away, to turn to his mother. He held strong.

“I’m your father. Gabriel.”

Derek stepped back, the air whooshing from his chest as if he’d just been sucker-punched. “My father?” This time he did turn to his mother. “Are you telling me that my father, the one you said didn’t care about me, the one you refused to tell me about, is an angel?”

“We all have our youthful indiscretions,” Marlena said with a casual flip of her hand.

Gabriel’s look could only be described as tolerant. “I’m sorry you haven’t been able to know me,” he said, his eyes brimming with sincerity. “That I haven’t been able to get to know you. I can’t come to this realm often, but I have always kept an eye out for you and have kept an ear out for when you needed me.”

“Like tonight?” Derek asked.

“Like tonight. Despite your mother’s protestations, you have grown into a great man. I am very proud of you.”

Derek was surprised by how much this stranger’s words affected him. He tried to thank him, but couldn’t find his voice. It was lost somewhere in the lump in his throat. The man patted him on the back, and then just as quickly as he appeared, was gone.

Derek stood silent for a moment, not knowing what to think. What to do. How to process what had just happened. He’d met his father.

His father had saved Jaclyn and their baby. Tears burned behind his eyes.

“Isn’t that just perfect,” Marlena said bitterly. “The man waltzes in here like he’s God himself and saves the day.”

Derek looked at her in disbelief. “An angel? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“What? That you have angel blood in you? Why in Lucifer’s name would I do that?”

“Is that why you keep harping on how I’m too good? Not evil enough, not ‘creative’ enough when doling out my punishments? That’s the real reason, isn’t it mother? My angel blood.”

Her lips thinned. “I won’t have you talking to me like this.”

“I tell you what, Mother, you take your eight circles of Hell and let Deirdre run them. I’m done. I don’t want the job anymore. In fact, I don’t want anything to do with any of you. Now get out of this room.”

“Derek!”

“I mean it. I don’t want you anywhere near my family.”

“Your
family
?”

“Yes. If she’ll have me, I’m going to marry Jaclyn. She will be my wife, and together we will raise our child. Without any meddling from you.”

“You can’t do this to us.”

“I can and I will. Now leave.” With a flick of his wrist he sent his mother walking backward right out of the room.

…

The f
irst thing Jaclyn was aware of, as she came awake, was the pain arcing through her head. The second was the brightness of the hospital lights stinging her eyes. She quickly shut them again. She hurt everywhere. And then she heard Derek calling her name. Felt him grab her hand. She turned her head toward him and cracked open her eyes.

He was looking at her with such happiness. Such love, her heart broke.

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you open those beautiful eyes.”

“Derek? What’s happened?” She looked around at the curtain surrounding her bed, the IV tubes inserted in her arm, and the machines with their various lines squiggling and beeping.

“You were hit by a car. You’re in the hospital.”

“A car?” And then she remembered the headlights coming from nowhere. Fear grasped hold of her, and she tried to lift herself up. “The baby?”

“He’s hanging in there. You’re both fighters.”

She sagged back into the pillows. “That car. It came out of nowhere. I…I didn’t see it—”

“It wasn’t your fault.” His voice sounded strained. She was surprised to see his face contorted with pain and fear.

“Derek, I’m sorry. But I think it was your friend. The one from the party.”

“Sabine?” His face lost some of its color as his eyes glittered with anger.

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

He stood and turned from her, his back stiffening, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. Then he turned back to her, and collapsed into the chair by her side. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I almost lost you. Both of you. I don’t know what I would have done… I will make sure she never comes near you again, even if she spends the next hundred years circling the nine levels of Hell. I can’t lose you, Jaclyn.” Tears clouded his eyes. “I know I haven’t told you how much you mean to me. I suppose I wasn’t sure myself, but I’ve fallen in love with you. Please don’t ever scare me like that again.”

Her heart swelled with happiness and relief. To hear him say the words brought down the walls of fear she’d surrounded herself with, and the crumbling within her was overwhelming. “You love me?” she repeated.

He laughed. “Yes. I love you! And I will scream it from the tallest building if you need me to.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Will you marry me, Jaclyn?”

“Marry you? But we barely know each other,” she protested, though her insides were bursting with happiness.

“We know everything we need to know. I don’t know much about your past, but I know how I feel about you, and how you make me feel. I want to have a family with you, but more than that, I want you to be my family.”

Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Not to her. She wasn’t meant to have a family. To have her happily-ever-after, because every time she thought she would, it disappeared. “I don’t know,” she whispered, her throat closing with pain.

He looked crestfallen. “I understand if you don’t think I will be a good father. It’s not like I had one for a role model. All I can do is promise to try. To do my best to be a better person. I’ve quit my job. No more paybacks. No more punishing people.”

“What? You quit your job?” she asked.

“Yes. No more letting my mother push me around. Lie to me. Tell me I’m not good enough.”

“You
are
good enough. And you were great at your job.”

Surprise filled his eyes. “How can you say that?”

“Look at what you did for me. Sometimes we all get off track and need a little help getting back on. You are that help. You right wrongs that no one else does anything about. You are a good man. A caring man, Prince of the Underworld or not. Job or not, you care about children. You try to make things better in the world. You even warned me about Trish before it was too late to save the foundation and before it was too late to save her. I do hope you’ll reconsider.”

“Does that mean you are willing to marry the Prince of Hell? Because I’d give it up in a heartbeat if it meant I could have you.”

She smiled and grabbed his hand. “The way I see it, you are an angel doing heaven’s dirty work.”

He looked incredulous.

“Derek, you are my angel. I wish you could see it. See you the way I see you.”

His face crumpled, and he took her cheeks in his hands and kissed her.

“I love you, Jaclyn.”

“I love you, too, Derek.

He pulled back, and smiled that smile of his that could charm the panties off a grandmother, and her heart shattered into a million pieces of glittering happiness.

“Does this mean you will marry me?” he asked again.

“Maybe.”

“What do you mean? Maybe.”

“We’ll see.”

He grinned. “Are you challenging me again?”

“Perhaps. Are you going to ask for your job back?”

“Ask, no. Demand? Maybe.”

She grinned. “You know, you keep this up and I’ll bet you get your wings back.”

“I’ll bet you a thousand dollars I won’t.”

“I’ll bet you a shiny gold wedding ring you will.”