Spotilicious (Jaguartow)

“I can, and I will. You are hereby banished forever from the DaVaca clan. You can no longer reside here or within a five-hundred-mile radius of Las Vegas. From now on, you will no longer receive any allowance and all access to the clan’s funds will be severed. You will cease all contact with every member of the clan, and if I find out that you have gone against this order, you will be summarily tracked down and put to death.”

Margot paled.

This was the strongest offense that he could charge her with outside of actual murder. If he had lost his grip on logic, he would have struck her dead where she stood. Lucky for her, she was fortunate that that had not happened.

Her lips began to quiver as he saw her finally start to bend ever so slightly under his will. “You can’t. Where would I go? This is my home.”

“This was your home. You should have known better before you did what you did. Your things have already been packed and are being shipped to a storage unit in Los Angeles. I have a feeling you will fit in well there. Consider yourself lucky, Margot. For your parents’ sake, this is the only leniency I am willing to show you. When you walk out those doors, you will be escorted to the airport. You can fly anywhere that you want to go. But you can never come back.”

He saw her jerk as she tried to subvert his will. He continued to clamp down the pressure on her senses until her body completely folded into a submissive pose in front of him. That was when he called out to Reid and Juan outside the door. “Ms. DaVaca is ready to leave for the airport now.”

The men, who had known Margot as long as Marc had, looked unaffected at these words. They grabbed her arms, and he could tell that she wanted to struggle, but she couldn’t. He had found a weakness in that steel spine of hers and had broken it. She would never be quite the same again; he almost wished that she would try to go against his wishes. He felt nothing but hatred for her now.

She could manipulate her way into some other alpha’s bed, and no doubt she would. He was certain that at the end of the day, Margot DaVaca would be just fine. She was the type who always seemed to find a way to come out on top. But here, in the DaVaca clan’s walls, that would never happen. Not on his watch.

Once she was gone from his sight, he felt the bindings of tension around his chest finally beginning to loosen. He picked up the phone and dialed Alex’s number. “How are things going?”

“She’s sleeping. The doctor said that he will sign the release forms in the morning.”

“Good. It’s time for my mate to come home.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Kelly was anxious to get out of bed, but Alex was still insisting that she stay on bed rest for another couple of weeks. She could hardly argue when Marc was backing him up. She was incredibly grateful that both she and the baby had survived the poisoning attempt. She still found it hard to believe that someone had hated her so much—without even knowing her—that she had been willing to cause her and her baby harm.

The door to the bedroom opened, and the first thing she saw was a huge bouquet of roses. Marc’s face popped up over the top of them with a wide grin on his face.

She couldn’t help but smile back. He had been coming home with a different bouquet of flowers every day since she’d come home from the hospital. She kept telling him that soon their house was going to turn into some kind of flower shop, but he insisted on spoiling her rotten.

“How are you feeling, beautiful?” he asked.

She pointed at the list sitting next to her on the bed. “I’m hoping that Alex will let me get out of bed soon. I have so many things that I want to do for the baby before he comes,” she said as she rested her hands on her stomach. She still couldn’t believe that she was going to have a son in just a few short months. Her stomach had already grown to twice its normal size, but she was getting used to her new shape, and she loved feeling him kick. It was the best feeling in the world.

Marc set the vase on the table next to her. He sat down on the bed and took her hands into his. She still smiled every time she saw the gesture because his hands were so much bigger than hers. She could just imagine what it would look like when he held their baby’s hands.

“As soon as Alex says it’s okay, it will be okay with me, too. But he says you need to rest. The baby needs you to take it easy and make sure you’re fully recovered before you start moving around again.”

Marc gently set his hand on her stomach, and she saw the smile of wonderment as he felt the baby kick against his hand. She settled her hand over his. “He’s been waiting for Daddy to get home,” she said.

She would never get tired of seeing the excitement that crossed Marc’s face when he thought about the fact that he was going to be a dad. It was so obvious how proud he was.

“Well, he should know by now that I will do everything I can to protect him and his mother from anything bad ever happening again,” he said.

She sighed. “I know that you think what happened with Margot was your fault, Marc, but it wasn’t. And I believe that you will protect us. We’re safe here as long as we’re together.”

“Speaking of forever, there’s something that is long overdue for me to give you,” he said. He pulled a small box from the middle of the roses and handed it to her. She took it and felt her heart start to beat even faster. She slowly opened it and gasped. It was the largest solitaire diamond ring she’d ever seen.

“Kelly Hillock, you have made me the happiest man on this planet. I can’t imagine what my life was like before I met you. It will truly be complete when I can say that not only are you my mate, but you are my wife for life.”

Kelly looked up at him and smiled softly. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you,” she said softly. She went willingly as Marc gathered her up into his arms. His kiss was soft but possessive, and she loved every minute of it. Finally, she felt like everything had settled into place. Things were going to be all right because, like she said, they were together.

They had their whole future in front of them.

EPILOGUE

Kelly squeezed his hand with everything she had. Marc was pretty sure if he was a human man, she would’ve broken every bone in it. She was trying so hard not to cry out, but he knew it was a struggle for her. This was very different than when he had brought her to the hospital in pain before. This time, it was all for a very good reason.

She was giving birth to their son.