My Ex-Boyfriend’s Brothers (Ex Marks the Spot)

57. Maggie

57

***Maggie***

I sat in a small hospital bed with an unflattering gown wrapped around me and three of the bossiest men ever staring back at me with equal degrees of worry and frustration. It was amazing what money could do. It’d taken Luke all of two minutes to get me a room at the hospital. No waiting in the emergency room when you were a billionaire, I guessed. That thought tripped me up. God. I’d been sort of proposed to by a billionaire. Weird.

A kind nurse had immediately given me an IV and fluids before leaving to find the doctor on call. Of course, that wasn’t good enough for the guys. No, they’d made a call to a doctor they knew personally and Luke had already flown him in.

I felt better. I wasn’t even sure what had happened earlier. I figured it was just too much excitement. No matter how much I protested staying in the hospital when I was fine, the guys didn’t budge. Surprisingly, Ryan was the one who got the crankiest about it. Laid back, sweet Ryan could be a real pain in the ass when he wanted to be.

“You can pout all you want. It changes nothing.” He pushed away from the wall and sat in the chair next to me. Dark circles under his eyes made him look just as exhausted as Luke and Jackson. He reached over and patted my thigh. “As soon as we know what’s going on, we can go home.”

“But not my home?” I hadn’t forgotten their comment about my apartment.

They were saved from answering by their doctor coming in. He examined me a little too thoroughly for my liking and drew blood while I cringed away from the sight. Jackson growled at the poor man when I winced and I thought the doctor was going to run for the hills.

“Almost done, Dr. Hall?” Luke’s voice was strained and I got the distinct impression that they were all operating on a razor thin bit of patience.

Flashing a quick smile at me, Dr. Hall nodded. “I’ll have some answers for you within the hour.”

They all three hovered around me as soon as he left. Jackson held my outstretched arm and gently stroked my wrist. Luke stroked my hair while Ryan held my other hand.

“About my apartment?”

Luke started to answer but Jackson cut him off. “It’s my fault. We went looking for you and I didn’t like the attitude of the men standing around outside. We got into a bit of a thing.”

I quickly scanned their faces and hands, looking for signs of a fight. “What happened? Those guys are awful. Standing by a Mustang that they’re not supposed to park there?”

“Have they bothered you before?” Luke’s hand froze at the top of my head. “Tell me.”

I was starting to rethink my decision to forgive them. I wasn’t sure I could handle their level of intensity all day, everyday. I was only one woman, after all. “They’re just jerks. It’s the normal catcalling crap. They’ve never touched me, not really.”

“Call Gregor and tell him he can go back and kick their asses.” Jackson’s voice was cold. “I should’ve handled it myself .”

“What? Don’t call Gregor about anything. What’s going on?” I pulled away from them and instantly regretted it when I saw the loss on their faces, as open to see as possible.

“They were armed, baby. They flashed their guns at us to try to scare us and offered to grab you for us for the right price. They’re lucky Gregor only shot their engine.” Luke rubbed his hands down his face and the sound of his hands on his beard made my neck tickle.

I missed them. I didn’t want to be sitting in a hospital, hearing about them having a gun pulled on them. I shuddered. “They wanted to hurt you guys?”

Ryan sighed. “They were just blustering, Maggie. We’re fine. You’re not going back to that apartment, though. You’re ours and if we didn’t keep you safe, what kind of men would we be? Like Luke said earlier, we’re going to buy a big place here. Somewhere safe and private with plenty of space to grow.”

My voice squeaked out. “Grow?”

Jackson cleared his throat. “Your mom will move in, of course. We can even move her in as soon as the house is ready and hire private care for her.”

“And we’ll need space for kids. This doesn’t have to be our forever home, but I fucking hate moving.” Luke trailed his finger down my nose, over my lips, and under my chin to gently press my mouth closed. “We’re coming on really strong but we’re all in. We’re not leaving without you again. No matter what.”

My heart was racing. Kids? They were already planning our future and there wasn’t an ounce of laughter in their voices. They were serious. They really did want forever. “Okay.”

“One of these days you’re going to have to say more than that.” Ryan gently squeezed my thigh. “Maybe even tell us how you feel about us.”

I softened instantly, forgetting the slight panic I felt at talking about kids already. It wasn’t that I didn’t want them, it was just that I was scared. I still wasn’t convinced they wouldn’t leave me again.

Doctor Hall walked in, rubbing hand sanitizer in, and came up to my bedside, interrupting whatever I’d been about to say. “Well, I found a few things. You’re dehydrated, malnourished, and low in iron and vitamin D. That’s not the biggest thing, though.”

The energy in the room shifted. Luke gripped the back of my neck. “What is it?”

“Your body would be suffering from how you’ve been treating it no matter what but you’re being hit twice as hard, Maggie. You’ve got one of the most expensive parasites in the world growing in you.” He immediately saw his mistake when tears welled up in my eyes. “Oh, no! No, no. I’m so sorry. You’re pregnant, Maggie. I just meant that you’re pregnant.”

Luke grabbed Doctor Hall’s shoulder and marched him out of the room, scolding him for scaring me the entire time. I was still staring at the spot the doctor had been with my mouth hanging open. Pregnant. I was pregnant?

“Oh, shit.” I laid back in the bed, wishing I could faint on command.