Holiday Baby Scandal

Mac’s eyes darted to her. “You can’t take on all of this by yourself.”

Guilt hit her hard. “I set up the system, I did background checks on every employee. By default, the blame comes back to me.”

“We don’t work that way,” Ryker told her, his gaze hard. “We’re a team. Remember?”

The burn in her throat, the prickling sensation in her eyes came out of nowhere. Now was not the time to cry. But damn him for reminding her of that fact.

“He’s right,” Mac agreed, oblivious. “We’re all in this together, and we’ll get out of it together. We just have to pool our efforts like we always do.”

Laney pulled in a shaky breath and nodded. “You’re right. I still feel responsible, but I will get to the bottom of this. I just need more time with the computers to eliminate our main office as the source of the snitch.”

“Not tonight,” Ryker told her. “Tonight we’re all taking a few hours off and not worrying about work. We have enough Feds in our pocket to hold them off for a bit.”

Between the Feds and worrying about the baby and when to drop that bombshell, and trying to analyze Ryker’s sudden change of heart about sleeping with her, Laney had a headache. No surprise there.

She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment. The guys continued to talk, and she willed the oncoming migraine to cease. Maybe it would help

if she ate something. The caterer they’d hired was the best in the area. Laney’s mouth watered at the thought of the filet mignon on the menu, and the chocolate fountain and fresh fruit sounded amazing, too.

“Laney?”

Ryker’s worried tone had her opening her eyes, offering a smile. But the smile was moot when she started to sway.

Instantly Ryker took one of her arms and Mac had the other.

“You all right?” Mac asked.

Laney nodded. “Just getting a headache. No big deal.”

She glanced between her brother’s worried expression and Ryker’s questioning gaze. She knew where Ryker’s mind was, but she couldn’t reveal too much here.

“I’m fine, I swear. I just need to eat, that’s all.”

Ryker’s grip on her elbow tightened. “Then let’s go downstairs and get you something.”

Nodding, Laney pulled from both strong holds. “I can take care of myself. I’ll just go into the kitchen and grab some crackers to hold me over.”

“No, you’ll eat more because when guests arrive, you’ll be talking, and you’ll forget to get a plate for yourself.”

Laney stared at Ryker and he glared right back. While the whole protective thing was cute and sexy, she couldn’t stay around him during this party. Their guests—her family—would be on to them in a second. Laney saw how Zara and Jenna stared at their men, and Laney knew for a fact she had that same love-swept gleam in her eye.

“I’ll grab some fruit or something, too,” she assured him. “I’m fine.”

Without waiting for another argument, she turned from the guys and headed out of the room. Once in the hallway, Laney leaned against the wall, held a hand to her stomach and took a moment to relax. She needed to stay focused on finding who was betraying her family, but she couldn’t neglect her body. This baby was everything to her. She’d wanted a family of her own since she could remember, and she’d been given this gift. It might not be how she had pictured things would fall in line, but did life ever really work that way?

Laney pushed off the wall and headed downstairs. She needed to get a hold of herself and put on her game face. This night had to be about the company and her family. And discovering the traitor in their midst.

Twelve

Ryker moved about the room, never straying too far from Laney. That damn dress was going to be the death of him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to leave it on later when they were alone or if he wanted to peel it off of her. Those curves, the breasts that threatened to spill out and the fact she was carrying his baby were a lethal combination.

“You think our betrayer is here?”

Ryker gripped his glass of bourbon and nodded to Braden. “Yeah, I do. I think the bastard wants to keep close, thinking if they didn’t show up, we’d see it as a red flag. They’ll act like the doting, perfect employee.”

“Damn it.” Braden took a sip of whatever he was drinking, Scotch by the smell of it, Ryker thought, and let out a sigh. “I knew they’d be here. When I find out who I opened up my home to, my family to, they will be sorry they ever crossed us.”

Ryker scanned the room. Laughter, chatter, hugs, everything seemed like a regular O’Shea’s Christmas party. Women wore glamorous gowns and the men wore their finest suits. The tradition had been started decades ago. Before the O’Shea clan had taken him in, he never would’ve dreamed this was where he’d end up. A boy from a broken home with a deadbeat, druggie father had turned into a billionaire by simply being loyal and valuing what family was all about.