The Baby Contract

He gave a secretive smile, stepping closer. “I saw what you can do, all right.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“It was pretty fantastic.”

She wrapped her hand around his wrist. “I meant on the job.”

“Let’s not talk about the job.”

She took a step back. “I proved my point.”

His voice firmed up. “That it wasn’t about me? I did know Ronnie Hart.”

“What? No. I’m not saying you were wrong. I’m saying I handled myself. I did the job. I saved Drake.”

Troy’s voice went flat. “You’re saying you want to be rewarded?”

“To be acknowledged. I want what I’ve always wanted, Troy.”

His hand dropped to his side. “A hundred guys could have done what you did.”

It took her a minute to believe he’d said it.

“You’re better than that, Mila. You’re more than those hundred guys put together.”

She stared hard at his implacable expression. “Oh, no, you don’t. Don’t you dare tell me I’m too good for you to hire.”

“You are too good for me to hire. I want you in my life, not as some employee, as a woman, as the woman—”

“No,” Mila cried out.

He couldn’t do this. He wouldn’t do this.

“Hear me out,” he said.

Dread trickled through her. “What about last night?”

“Last night had nothing to do with any job.”

“But—”

His expression turned sour. “You said you’d never sleep your way into a job.”

She wasn’t talking about the sex. She was talking about rescuing Drake and Kassidy. “I showed you what I can do. I proved to you I was just as good as any man.”

“Did I ever, even once say I wanted you to prove something? Did I ever offer to hire you? Did I ever give you any false hope?”

“I thought...” She’d thought he’d come around. She’d thought after yesterday he’d be forced to see she could do it.

Drake kicked and vocalized in the background, tossing cereal rounds to the floor.

“I want you in my life, Mila,” said Troy.

“But not in your company.”

“I want you forever, not just until the first bullet—” He abruptly stopped, balling his hands into fists.

“You have no faith in me.”

“I’m a realist. I can’t pretend I’m not.”

She set down her cup and backed for the door. “And I can’t pretend I’m a failure.”

“I never said—”

“I’m not a failure, Troy.” A sharp pain gripped her chest, tightening in the hollow space around her heart.

She’d deluded herself. She thought because she loved him, he loved her back. And if he loved her, he had to respect her.

She was wrong. He’d never respect her. Nothing had changed. He would never change.

It was over. She might be a Stern, but she’d failed anyway. She’d absolutely failed.

* * *

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Troy demanded, glaring at Vegas’s back where he sat in the control room.

“Tell you what?” Vegas asked without turning.

“That she was here. That she came back.”

Troy’s world had functionally ended two weeks ago when Mila walked out. He went through his days by rote, missing her every single second.

“She’s been back a bunch of times,” said Vegas.

“What?” Troy stared at the monitor that was trained on the obstacle course where Mila was dragging herself through the mud.

Vegas turned in his swivel chair. “To practice. She never gave up on herself. She’s hell-bent on finishing it.”

Resentment rose in Troy, anger at Vegas for keeping him in the dark. “Who else knows?”

“Everyone.”

Troy saw red. He didn’t dare speak. He wanted to fire the entire company.

“They’ve helped her,” said Vegas. “Charlie, Edison, me. We’ve all shared our best techniques.”

“Nobody goes near her,” Troy shouted. “Nobody.”

“Boss?” Charlie asked from behind him.

“Better get out of here,” warned Vegas.

“Why?” asked Charlie.

Then Troy faced him, and Charlie’s eyes went wide.

“What were you doing with Mila?” Troy demanded.

Charlie held his palms up in surrender, backing into the hall. “Nothing. Nothing, boss. I just gave her a few pointers on the obstacle course.”

“They like her,” said Vegas.

“I like her, too,” Troy shouted. “That’s why I want to keep her alive.”

“She’s not going to die,” Vegas stated with impatience.

“Not on my watch,” said Troy.

“She’s no more likely to die than you,” said Charlie.

Troy all but growled at him.

But Charlie took a bold step forward. “You’re wrong in this.”

“That’s not your call.”

Had Charlie lost his mind?

“Can Vegas take you?” Charlie asked. “Hand to hand, can he not take you every single time?”

Troy wasn’t walking into that trap. It wasn’t the same thing.

“Does that make you useless?” asked Charlie.

“Watch your—”

“Take me?” Charlie spoke right over Troy. “I’m not that big. But I can shoot a gnat from five hundred yards. And Edison? Even I can take Edison. But give him some common cleaning products and a remote car starter and he’ll level a city block.”

“It’s not the same thing,” Troy ground out.

“It’s exactly the same thing,” said Charlie. He pointed to the video monitor. “We like her. We need her. Diversity makes us stronger, and we want her on the team. We voted.”

“You voted?” Troy couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“It was unanimous.”

“Since when does voting have anything to do with decisions at Pinion?”

“I certainly have a vote,” Vegas said quietly.

Troy and Charlie turned to look at him.

“But you’re wrong if you think it’s the same thing,” Vegas said to Charlie.

Troy was supremely thankful for Vegas’s sanity.

“It’s different with Mila,” Vegas continued. “It’s different because Troy’s not in love with you, or with me, or with Edison.”

“I’m not—” Troy stopped himself. Did he really want to deny it out loud?

“Here’s the thing,” Vegas said to Troy. “You can love all of her, or you can love none of her. You don’t get to pick and choose.”

Troy didn’t accept that he was trying to pick and choose. He was only trying to keep her safe. Any man would do that for the woman he loved.

Vegas canted his head to the monitor. “Look at the clock. She’s going to do it this time. She’s going to make it through the obstacle course.”

“There’s no way.” But Troy took in her position on the course and the time left.

Charlie whistled under his breath.

Excitement took over Troy’s stomach.

“You blow it with that woman,” said Vegas, “I really am going to knock you senseless.”

“Better me getting hurt than her.” Troy was distracted by the monitor.

Vegas came to his feet.

Troy glared at him, half expecting to get into a fight.

But Vegas took a step toward the door. “Somebody’s got to be down there to meet her.”

“That’ll be me.” Troy wasn’t letting anyone else near her.

“Then you’d better offer her a job,” said Vegas.

Everything inside Troy rebelled.

He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Then again, how could he not?

“Your choice,” said Vegas. “But if you don’t, I will. There’s no way Pinion is passing on a candidate with her scores.”

“I’ll go,” Troy repeated.

“And?” Vegas prompted.

“And I’ll hire her,” Troy ground out.

He turned on his heel, brushing past Charlie to stomp into the hall.

How could she do it? She was about to defy the odds, to defy logic, maybe even defy the laws of physics. She was one in a million, one in a billion. She wanted what she wanted, and he was powerless to say no. He was madly, passionately, hopelessly in love with her.

Then his footsteps grew lighter as he trotted down the stairs.

He was offering her a job. And then he was offering her a ring. And then he was begging her to spend the rest of her life with him and with Drake.

He burst through the back exit, sprinting toward the finish line of the obstacle course. She was a quarter mile away, running her heart out as the seconds ticked down on the clock.

She was going to make it.

She had to make it.

Suddenly, her ankle gave way beneath her. She fell to the dirt, and his heart lodged in his throat. He had to forcibly stop himself from rushing to her aid.