Going Down Fast (Billionaire Bad Boys 2)

None of which helped him figure out what was bothering her now.

Or what to do about it.

Finally, bright and early in the morning, Gold called him with the news that Bernardi had been taken into custody by island police at the Cayman Island’s bank while trying to access Keith’s bank accounts. Lucas assumed they would extradite him to the U.S. He didn’t know the details and he didn’t care. Gold promised that with the information they’d amassed, the man was going away for a good long time.

That same day, Maxie begged him to let the bodyguards go, and with Gold’s assurances, there didn’t seem to be a reason to keep them on.

* * *

Maxie scheduled a doctor’s appointment with her old obstetrician, needing to confirm her pregnancy before she accepted it in her mind and could bring herself to discuss it with Lucas. She was exhausted, not sleeping, worried about being pregnant, concerned she couldn’t carry to term and the doctors wouldn’t know it until it was too late.

She feared accepting the idea of this baby, getting emotionally attached, something she thus far refused to let herself do, and having her heart and guts ripped out again. And thanks to her worries, depression was beginning to settle over her like an unwelcome, long-lost friend.

Fate was on Maxie’s side. The day of

her ob-gyn appointment, she found out Bernardi was out of her life for good, and she could finally put Keith behind her. And she could go to this appointment without worry that a bodyguard would report back to Lucas about where she was. She wanted to tell him on her terms, in her own time.

She headed to the doctor’s office, a medical building with multiple doctors on every floor, and exited on three. She checked in, and after a little while waiting, she was brought into the exam room, where she undressed and put on a robe. She sat twisting her hands, trying to remain calm, when the doctor finally walked in.

“Maxie, I’m so happy to see you again.” Dr. Mendez had been her regular obstetrician with her first pregnancy.

She hadn’t been on call the night she’d lost the baby. Dr. Mendez was a pretty, dark-haired woman in her late thirties, and Maxie had always been drawn to her warmth and caring.

“How have you been?” the doctor asked.

“Umm … things have been a little crazy lately,” Maxie said, thinking that was an understatement.

Dr. Mendez laughed. “Well, let’s see what’s going on. Now remember what I told you when you came to my office after … last time. There was nothing you could have done to prevent the miscarriage, and you aren’t in a high-risk category should you get pregnant again. Of course, we can discuss extra testing…”

The doctor went on, but Maxie’s ears were ringing, and she had trouble focusing. Just one reason she shouldn’t have come alone.

“So let’s move on to the exam. Your urine test already confirmed that you’re pregnant, but let’s do an exam and put your mind at ease.”

Maxie’s palms were sweaty as, a few awkward minutes later, she found herself in an all-too-familiar position, on the doctor’s examining table with a sonogram screen to her side.

Alone.

Keith had never made the time to go with her to her appointments, and she’d chosen not to have Lucas here today. Something she’d regretted the minute she stepped into the room and the walls seemed to close in on her.

The doctor chatted as she worked, and soon Maxie saw the flickering on the screen and the tiny image of her baby staring back at her. Her stomach flipped, and at that moment, she realized she’d been lying to herself. She didn’t have to worry about getting attached to this baby. She already was.

The child was a product of love, and she’d been wrong to let her fears overcome her emotions. She blinked back tears.

“Are you okay?” Dr. Mendez asked, handing Maxie a tissue.

She wiped at her eyes. “Yes. Does everything look okay?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Perfect. Because it’s so early, you’ll have to come back in a few weeks to hear the heartbeat. Eight weeks. You’re about at four.” The doctor grasped her hand. “I know how stressful this pregnancy is going to feel. Please come back any time. Call me if you need anything. Next time, make a list of questions and bring someone to help you remember the answers.”

Maxie sniffed, the tears running down her face unchecked. All she wanted now was to get home and tell Lucas he was going to be a father.

She dressed and took the elevator back downstairs, in even more of a daze than she’d been in before. She would have preferred to head straight over to Lucas’ office, but she had to work, so she’d have to settle for telling him at home tonight.

No, she realized. Work had to wait. Now that she’d wrapped her head around the notion, she had to share the news and tell Lucas they were having a baby. He deserved to be there from the beginning, and this was as close to that as she could give him.

Her fears weren’t gone, and she’d need every bit of his support to get through the next eight months. Not that she couldn’t handle whatever life threw at her alone, but she chose not to. And that was the difference between her relationship with Keith and the one she shared with Lucas.

She’d been coming around, beginning to understand it before the pregnancy news had blindsided her and put her in a state of frozen fear. But while lying on the exam table, looking at that tiny blip on the screen, clarity had descended over her.