Recipe for Temptation - Gina Gordon Page 0,68
her yet.
He walked through the back door of Carmel, hoping to find Finn. Instead, he found Veronica, sitting behind Finn’s desk.
“Hey, Cole. What brings you by?” She winced and unconsciously rubbed her ample baby belly.
“I…uh…was looking for Finn.”
She stopped what she was doing and set the papers down in front of her. “He’s in Niagara.”
Shit. Cole had been there when Finn booked his hotel room. He should have just told the truth.
“He’s tasting new—” Her soft half-sigh, half-moan carried from the desk. “Oh!” Suddenly, Veronica stood and grabbed her belly, doubling over in pain.
“V?” Terror instantly gripped him, and everything else was forgotten. She didn’t look so good. All of the color had drained from her face. She sounded even worse. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know.” She used the desk as a crutch and walked toward him. When she came around the desk corner, he gasped. She had blood all over her pants.
No, no, this was not happening. He broke into a sweat.
“V, stay calm but… You’re bleeding.”
“Wha—What?”
She tried to look down, but her stomach was in the way, so she touched the juncture of her thighs and cried out when she pulled her hand away covered in blood. “Cole! Oh my God!”
He raced over and pulled her into a hug, then cradled her against his side as he headed for the door. “Come on, we’re going to the hospital.”
“Finn?” She looked up at him, her face wrenched in pain and a tear trickling down her cheek.
“I’ll call him on the way. Let’s just get you there.”
On the way out, he grabbed some tablecloths from the storage room and spread them over the passenger seat of his car. When she was settled, he buckled her in, then sprinted around to the driver’s seat. Hopping in, he pulled out his phone and hit speed dial.
Finn answered on the third ring. “Hel—”
“Brother, you better get your ass back here, this instant.” The engine roared to life.
“What’s wrong?” Finn demanded.
“I’m taking V to the hospital. There’s blood—”
“What?”
Cole’s heart thundered. He swallowed hard and took a corner on two wheels. “She’s in pain, and dude, I— I’m taking her to the hospital as fast as I can.”
Silence.
Veronica gripped his arm. “Finn!” she cried out, gasping at another pain.
“I’m leaving right now,” his brother yelled. “Just…tell her to hold it until I get there.”
“Hold what? Not like she can h—”
Veronica screamed, clutching the bottom of her belly with one hand and Cole’s arm with the other.
“Gotta go, Brother.” He tossed the phone on the console and drove like a demon.
They were taken into the emergency room immediately. He’d been pushed out of the way by nurses and banished to the corner of the makeshift room walled by a blue curtain. Every sight and sound was magnified—the insistent beep of the machines, the sound of the automatic doors behind them, the squeeze of gel out of a bottle. In his corner, he took the time to call Neil and Jack, informing them of the situation. He sent a text to Finn, giving him an update.
So far, it had been a nightmare. But he’d stayed with Veronica the whole time, taking Finn’s place until he arrived. V was in so much pain she looked like a ghost of her normal self. Her hair was soaked with sweat. Her face red and splotchy. And every once in a while, a tear would stream down her cheek, despite Cole’s murmurs of reassurance that everything would be all right.
Was he a total asshat for silently thanking God for giving him a penis?
When they told her she had a placental abruption and was going to need a C-section, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes, terror scattering across her face. “I’m scared.”
He wished he could take her pain away. He wished he could change the circumstances.
Where the fuck was Finn?
Cole was freaking out more and more by the minute. He actually felt faint.
He took her hand. “It’ll be fine, V. Should I maybe go get Sterling or—”
She clamped down on his hand. “Don’t go. Please, Cole.”
He sucked in a calming breath.
Man up, Murphy.
He heard Penn’s voice in his head. It was exactly something she’d say to him when she was calling him out.
“Of course I won’t.” He patted Veronica’s hand, and she relaxed her grip a little. “And Finn will be here soon.” He pulled a chair closer to the bed and clasped her hand in his.
And they waited.
Finally, Finn raced through the door. “Where is she?