Page 32 of Staff Only

By the time we got to the doctor’s office, we were both feeling infinitely more relaxed. When the doctor came in to greet us, he seemed more nervous than we did.

“Hey, hi, uh… Mr. Stohl?” he said in greeting, checking the tablet in his hand.

“It’s Mr. Holland,” Roland said, beaming up at me, though technically we hadn’t filed for the name change yet.

The doctor got flustered and froze. “Shit, I’m in the wrong room again. I’m sorry…” He made to leave, but I called him back.

“No, no! He just means we got married yesterday, and his name is changing. It’s the right room,” I promised him, but he frowned as if he thought I might be lying in order to be seen faster.

After confirming Roland’s birthdate, he introduced himself as Dr. Zappek. He looked too young to be a doctor, all fresh and baby-faced. “Sorry for the confusion. I’m kind of new at this.” He chuckled awkwardly. “I took over the practice from Dr. Saber recently… He’s my grandfather,” he explained.

My eyebrows rose. “Uh, how many babies have you delivered so far?”

“Oh… loads, don’t worry. I’m very qualified.” He wouldn’t meet my eye when he said that.

Roland and I exchanged a look. I was seriously about to throw him over my shoulder and carry him straight out the door. But then the doctor said something that demanded we get answers. Like, now.

He clapped his hands together. “So, shall we take a look at the babies today?”

Roland’s hand clamped down on mine with bruising force. “Excuse me? Did you just say… babies? As in, more than one?”

“Oh… Did I not mention that already?” Dr. Zappek glanced down at the tablet again, likely confirming he still had the right patient and we hadn’t pulled a switcheroo when his back was turned. “Surprise!” He laughed weakly.

21

Roland

Over the past several months, my life had become unrecognizable. I’d broken every rule with my boss, quit my job, found out I was pregnant, demanded my job back, raised millions of dollars in a last-minute fundraiser, all because the mob had set their sights on the love of my life, then got married. And just when I didn’t think anything could get more insane… twins.

Dr. Zappek had explained that the elevated hormone levels in my blood work had strongly hinted that there was more than one baby, and an ultrasound had confirmed twins.

At least there’s a reason I’m already showing, I thought, rubbing my hand in a slow circle over my itty-bitty baby bump. I wondered if they were boys or girls, maybe one of each, and if they would have my warmer complexion or Emerson’s cooler shade to their eyes and hair.

When I looked sideways at my husband, I found him already looking back with familiar heat. He reached out and set his hand on top of mine on my stomach, dropping a kiss on my shoulder, and I swore I could feel it even through the layers of clothing.

I finally turned my attention back to where Sawyer was setting up a laptop on Emerson’s desk. “You could’ve used my computer,” Emerson said with a hint of impatience.

“I told you,” Sawyer grumbled, “your computer isn’t secure. This one has hardware and software to keep any hackers out.” He rolled his eyes, as if he were explaining something simple.

I put my hand up. “Actually… I don’t really understand either. Why the cloak-and-dagger stuff?”

Sawyer held a finger up to forestall while a video chat came to life on the screen to show two men, one with dark hair and a kind smile, the other with copper-colored hair and a pair of glasses, which he pressed up the bridge of his nose with one finger. I wasn’t certain, but I thought they looked a little familiar, and I wondered if maybe they’d been guests in the hotel before. “Behold,” Sawyer said with a wave of his hand like a game show host presenting a prize. “My unnamed source.”

“This is the guy you know?” Emerson asked, brows raised. “I thought you were making that up to cover up the fact that you don’t have any friends.” He smirked, and I loved to see that he was relaxed enough to make jokes. In fact, I didn’t think I’d ever seen him so calm. He was drawing patterns on my thigh with his finger, tickling me and making me forever aware of his presence.

The man on the left with the darker hair laughed. “I might be real in theory, but according to the internet, I do not exist. We may have attracted the wrong kind of attention a few years back, so I hope we can trust you both to keep this meeting under wraps. For today, you can call me Sander, and this is Drake.”

I leaned forward in my seat. “Um, hi. I’m Roland, and this is my husband, Emerson.” I was just looking for excuses to say husband now. “I appreciate all the help you’ve been giving us, but… I guess I’m wondering why you wanted to meet with us now?”

The two men exchanged a look, then Sawyer fidgeted awkwardly, which told me he knew what was going on and hadn’t warned us for whatever was about to happen. I instinctively laced my fingers with Emerson’s, searching for comfort to the foreboding feelings hanging over our heads.

Finally, the dark-haired Sander said, “Not to brag, but my husband here is a bit of a computer genius.” The redhead blushed and ducked his head down. “He’s the one who’s been keeping an eye on things at the hotel for you through your cameras.”

“Th-the cameras, you say? You can do that?” I asked, my voice pitched higher. My brain immediately scanned back through every dirty thing Emerson and I had done in the hotel. Were there cameras in his office? In the supply closet? I discreetly checked the corners of the room, but I didn’t see anything.

“Yeah, of course,” Drake took over. “As soon as Sawyer reached out and mentioned that something fishy was going on, we couldn’t just ignore it. Bruno Santana hurt too many innocent people, and we’ve been expecting someone to try to take his place. Seems like this mayor is just the next in a long line of corrupt officials.”

“Drake has done everything he could to find dirt on the mayor, but beyond those hard copies of the pictures of her meeting with Santana that Lee Black handed over, it looks like she’s had all trace of any mob connection erased from existence. Whoever she hired was damn good, too.”

---