Jagger (Broken Doll 2)

Frank cringed when I voiced his grievous error in judgment. “I-I was in the opposite direction, Boss. And the clerk said s-she had already left the station. The Citgo isn’t more than five minutes away, so she should be here any second.”

If looks could kill, my driver would be a pile of ashes on the hideous, moldy, olive green carpet.

“Boss. A car is pulling into the drive.” Sammy broke the tension rising between my fist and Frank’s face.

“And the driver?”

Sammy stared at his screen. “Female, red hair.” He glanced at me over the monitor. “Looks like it’s her, Boss.”

I shouldered my way around Frank, not giving two shits that he stumbled from the force of my arm knocking against him. I hit the front door at a full sprint. Outside, a small red compact sat in the driveway, the engine off. The person behind the wheel made no move to get out of the car. I ran down the walk, circled to the driver’s side, and yanked at the handle. It didn’t open.

“Miri, baby. Unlock the door!” I thumped on the window, scared that something was wrong with her.

Haunted eyes turned toward me. The vacant, faraway look I saw scared the shit out of me. It was as if Miri didn’t actually see me, or somehow saw through me. Chills pricked my scalp.

I banged on the window again, panic rising, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Miri! Miri! C’mon, doll.” Nothing. Now I was truly frightened. “Open the goddamn door!”

Miri flinched, blinking rapidly as she came back to reality, finally responding to my pleas. This time, when she met my gaze, recognition shone in those big green eyes. “J-Jag?” The misery in her voice nearly broke my heart.

“Doll, please… open the door.” I was desperately pleading with my girl, begging her to listen. It wasn’t safe to be in full view of the street. Having Miri in the potential line of fire had me full on freaking the fuck out. The protective instinct ingrained in me demanded I get her out of harm’s way. Now.

Miri nodded and clicked the auto-locks. Thank fuck. I had the door open and her seat belt off before she could move a single inch. Half a second later, I scooped her up and held her close. My sweet doll was back in my arms where she belonged. I ran for the house and didn’t stop until we were upstairs in my room, shielded behind locked doors.

With Miri curled up on my lap, I sat on the bed. She made a pitiful sound and burrowed her face further into my chest. I was torn. Part of me was beyond ecstatic to have Miri in my arms, safe, warm, and smelling so goddamn good I wanted to throw her down and bury my cock deep inside her, not stopping until tomorrow morning. But the other part of me was terrified. Since fear wasn’t something I rarely dealt with, the out of control feelings made me irrational and angry.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” I held back nothing, my tone harsh and clipped.

Miri shrank into herself, twining her small fingers into the cotton fabric of my shirt, holding on for dear life. Soft whimpers and small tremors wracked her tiny body. Even though I was still beyond pissed, every one of my instincts was screaming at the top of their lungs that it wasn’t safe for Miri to be here. I felt like an asshole for shouting, and listening to my doll crying because of me? Fuck, the crying slayed me.

“I’m sorry for yelling, doll.” I tightened my hold and ran a hand up and down her back. Pressing a kiss to her head, I inhaled deeply and all the torn pieces inside me realigned. Suddenly, I could see clearly and all was right in the world. Miri was exactly where she belonged. With me. I would protect her with my life.

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean to worry everyone,” she whispered between quiet sobs.

“How did you…? Jesus.” I ran a hand down my face, scratching at the short stubble. “Why are you here, doll?”

Miri tried to hide her face somewhere under my arm, but I was having none of that. I slid my hands to her shoulders and gently pushed until I could see those shimmering emerald eyes.

“Christ, Miri.” I ran my thumbs over the dark circles marring her pale skin. “You haven’t been sleeping.” Her eyes were bloodshot and glassy, rimmed with red from crying. My doll wasn’t taking care of herself. And clearly my staff wasn’t taking care of her either if this was what she looked like. Before I could succumb to the building anger, Miri spoke.

“No, I haven’t.” She shook her head and dropped her gaze.

“Are you sick?” Frank said Miri took off from an emergency room, which meant she couldn’t have been in very bad shape when she left, but damn, she looked like hell. My hands drifted until my fingers slid across protruding collarbones. “You’ve lost weight.”

“I-I haven’t been able to eat much,” she mumbled, still not looking me in the eyes.

“Because you’re worried about my safety?” God, I hoped she didn’t stop taking care of herself because of me.

“Yes,” she said. “No. I mean… sort of. Both, I guess.” Miri chewed on her bottom lip. She was trembling from head to toe. Something else was going on here. Something I couldn’t put my finger on.

My brow furrowed and another stab of fear sliced my chest. What was wrong? “Tell me, doll. I know you have something to say. You look… I don’t know, almost lost.” If her fidgeting and general unhealthy appearance weren’t enough of a sign that something was weighing heavily on her, then the fact she couldn’t meet my eyes sealed the deal.

Miri closed her eyes and pulled in a deep breath, blurting it out on the exhale. “I’m pregnant.”

You know how people say time freezes when they experience a significant shift in their life? A near-death experience, the adrenaline rush from jumping out of a plane, scoring the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl? That’s what happened at that moment. Time literally froze. Dust motes halted midair, my chest no longer moved up and down, my heart stopped beating. I think I even forgot to blink.

“Jag?”

Miri’s voice snapped me back to the present and the world started moving again, only now it was fast, panicked, plummeting in a free fall without a parachute.