The Boss's Love (15 page)

"I took it after dinner. It's high again but not as high as it was this morning," she admitted.

Courtney
had developed high blood pressure during her pregnancy. She needed to keep a strict watch on her salt intake, blood pressure, and stress levels. Currently she was on medical leave from the real estate office to keep herself level. Darren overly concerned himself with her health. They'd been warned by the doctor that the pregnancy might be in danger if her pressure grew worse or went into extremely high levels. She'd had a difficulty time maintaining safe levels and required frequent visits to the doctor's office and hospital ER. Darren put his foot down and started to closely monitor her activities.

"Have you taken a warm bath?" he asked. She'd become addicted to relaxing warm baths with oils and candles. He indulged her by shopping at the
high-end bath shops to find the best products.  

"Not yet." 

"I'll draw you one before I leave, okay. Just promise me you won't fall asleep in the tub," he joked.  

"
I promise."

"Do you want me to bring you home anything?" he asked. He also loved to indulge her food cravings.  

"Some
Swedish fish
." Her eyes lit up. 

Throwing his head back, he laughed and squeezed her tight. "
Swedish fish
it is, darling. Come, let's get you into the tub." 

***

Courtney

Two in the morning and Darren still hadn’t returned home. Courtney tried to call him throughout the night but the calls went straight to voicemail. Five hours he'd been gone. She paced, petrified something happened to him. Yes, he oftentimes left late at night but no more than a couple of hours.

Finally she slumped onto the bed. She could feel her blood pressure significantly rising. She felt hot. Flushed. She desperately tried to calm herself but knew the attempt was futile. There would be no settling her until Darren walked through the front door.

Her cell phone interrupted her wayward thoughts. Not bother
ing to look at the caller ID she answered, "Darren?"

"Courtney, it's John Marshall," he said.
Loud background noise drowned out his voice.

"John? What? What are you doing calling me?" Shocked was an understatement. Two in the morning and a man she hadn't heard from in months was calling her?

"Courtney, you should come down to Murphy's to see something for yourself," John said, his tone grim.

"What is it? Is it Darren? Is he okay?" She jump
ed out of bed and threw on a pair of shoes and sweater before he answered. 

"Just get down here. I'll meet you in the parking lot." 

The call disconnected.  

There could be only one reason why John Marshall, a man she didn’t know or trust, would call her late at night to meet her at her husband's bar.

Darren.  

***

Like a bat out of hell, Courtney pulled into the parking lot of Murphy's bar. A bar owned by her husband. The place was a nighttime party spot every night of the week. Some nights bands packed patrons in or a DJ was hired to entertain. But even if there was no sort of form of entertainment, the place hopped.

Courtney threw her car into park and scrambled out. Music pound
ing from inside the bar echoed through the solid walls and could be easily heard outside. John appeared beside her.  

"John, what the hell is going on?" she barked. 

He grasped her hand and led her across the lot towards the front doors of the bar. "I wanted you to see something. I've heard rumors since I moved into town, none good. You're such a kind, sweet woman that I can't stand the thought of what's happening when you're in bed at night." 

She stopped in her tracks, her face pale
d with a sudden feeling of dread that crashed over her. 

"John, please." Enormous tears filled her eyes and her voice shook in terror.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." 

He sounded so sincere that she
truly believed him.

After breezing through the front doors, they passed the second set of do
uble doors. The bouncers nodded their greetings to Mrs. Murphy.

They hurried down the short hall that opened to the large bar where the music shook
every surface. Filled with people, you wouldn't know the bar had officially closed ten minutes ago. John placed a hand on the small of her back. Scanning the room, she zeroed in on her husband. Arms wrapped around a tall brunette with legs that seemed to go on for miles, Darren swayed on the dance floor...with another woman. Intimately close to each other, Courtney watched the woman plant butterfly kisses down his jaw and work her way towards his mouth. He flinched but kissed her briefly on the cheek. She watched him reach up and entangle his fingers into the back of her hair. She watched him tug her head back and look her directly in the eyes. Indecision was plainly written all over him. He was torn. Kiss her or don’t kiss her? Courtney saw it all, recognized each facial expression.

Gasping in
utter horror, she stumbled backwards. John caught her before she fell.

"Courtney, what are you doing here?" Jack appeared in her line of sight.

She didn't hear him. Everything was tuned out, her eyes glued to Darren. She didn't notice the tears falling rapidly down her cheeks. She didn't notice her body contracting in on itself. 

As if the
nightmare was in slow motion, Darren looked up and straight at her. Their eyes locked. He blanched. Not able to stay one moment longer, she spun on her heels and bolted from the bar. Sobbing hysterically, she fumbled for her keys, needing a quick escape. Vaguely she heard people behind her.

"Courtney," Jack yelled. "Don't go anywhere, honey. It’s not what it looks like." 

Quick, even at six months pregnant, she made it to the car door but no farther. A large hand grabbed her from behind and whipped her around.  

Her husband
.

He grasped her
face into his hands and held on firmly. Determination and anger riddled his features. "Don't do this. Calm down. This is not what it looks like. I promise you." 

She pushed away from him with all her strength and slapped across the face.

"You!" At a loss for words, she couldn't express her anger. "You!" 

"Courtney, calm down." 

"Fuck you, Darren!" she screamed. "You tell me that if I ever cheat on you, you'll have me‒" she bit her tongue, "and here you are fucking around at the bar while your
wife
, the woman you supposedly love more than anything else in this world, is home alone and pregnant carrying your child!" Hysteria set in. "The child you just had to have!"

Darren's staff joined him, surrounding the couple to create a human barrier. 

"Courtney," his voice soothing, trying to remain the calm one, "I promise you I would never cheat on you. You walked in on something you—"

"You're goddamn right I did. I just happen to catch you before you kissed her
. I saw you, Darren! I saw her lips on you. I saw you holding her, your arms wrapped around her," she screamed, her face bright red. She felt her blood and body run hot but ignored the sensation. "That's supposed to belong to me. Me! Only me. That's what you said. That's what those vows were that you spoke. If you didn't mean them then you should have never asked." She finally took a breath. "I want out!"

Wheeling around she reached for the car door handle.

Darren grabbed her from behind again but this time yanked her into his body. He growled into her ear so only she could hear his dark words, "There's one way out, Courtney." 

In one fluid motion, she spun and pushed away from him. "What the hell are you saying? Are you threatening me?" 

He took a menacing step towards her and placed a possessive hand on her stomach. "You belong to me, along with this baby. There is no one else that will ever have you. You will never leave me. I won't allow it." 

Quick as lightning, she slapped him again. Taken of guard he didn't block it or prepare for the hit. She continued
her tirade, "You have no right. You're fucking around on me and you tell me I can't leave. What if the rolls were reversed? What if I was out until two in the morning, and you found me in another man's arms with him kissing me? What would happen?" 

His silence was enough of an answer.  

Suddenly her world titled. Stumbling backwards, she fell against the car. The sounds of the bar, traffic, and people grew muffled. Her vision flashed blurry.  

"Courtney
," Darren reached out for her, "your blood pressure."

"Don't touch me!" Hysteria sett
led in. She grabbed her head, turned and fumbled for the door handle, but her hands refused to work properly.  

"Courtney, you can't get in that car," he warned. 

Jack, who'd snuck up behind the car, stepped closer. 

"I hate you
," she screamed, throwing the knife straight into Darren's heart. "I want out. You don't love me. You used me for this." She motioned to her stomach.

She took a hard step towards her husband then her world went black.

Darren

"Court!" Darren bellowed. He managed to catch her before her head bounced off the gravel. "Call an ambulance," he barked to his men. "Courtney, baby, please, please, please, don't do this," he pleaded, pulling her limp body tight against his, rocking her back and forth. He brushed her hair off her pale face to see her clearly. He couldn't lose her. Not over the undercover female agent he intended on killing. He hadn't paid attention to the time. He should have known Courtney would worry and might search for him, especially given her new knowledge of his world. No doubt she'd been worked up the entire night, her blood pressure so high because he didn't call to reassure her he was all right. Fuck.  

Darren held his wife, quietly coaxing her to stay with him the entire time he impatiently waited for help to arrive.
After eight of the longest minutes of his life, the ambulance and medics arrived and rapidly placed Courtney onto a gurney to work on her. Her blood pressure registered the highest to date. Darren overheard a paramedic say something about heart attack range. He panicked.
Save her.
 

Meanwhile Darren's men continued to maintain the human b
arrier to keep witnesses to the horrendous show to a minimum. While scanning the area for Jack or Carl, Darren caught the eye of the female agent. John Marshall conveniently stood nearby. That fucking asshole brought his wife into the bar and set him up. One slight nod towards Jack and then the couple, a nod no one else noticed, Jack understood what Darren wanted. 

Once the medics had Courtney ready, they loaded her into the back of the ambulance and rushed her to the hospital. They refused to allow Darren to ride along, needing to continue to work on
their patient. Rushing to his car, Carl jumped into the driver’s seat to get his boss the hospital.    

"This was a fucking set up," Darren
spat. "That woman. I knew it. I fucking knew it, but the guy...he...shit! He brought my wife to walk in on something that wasn't there." He threw a hard fist into the dashboard. "I'm going to kill both of them!" 

It
all started three months ago when he'd been approached at his bar by a brazen female. Red flags went up around him but he'd let her play out whatever game she was up to. Everyday he met her at the bar under the pretense of starting a relationship. Her attraction towards him was obvious. Her trying to bed him was blatant. She was the touchy feely type, constantly running her hands through his hair, caressing his biceps and chest, touching his face. She loved to lean in and whisper into his ear to get even closer. And her eyes gave away her hunger for him, zeroing in on his mouth, indisputably wanting a piece of him.

Tonight was supposed to be the night they trapped her. He spent the entire
evening setting her up, but it had taken longer than it should have. He'd fed her drinks nonstop. By the time she suggested a dance she could barely stand. Briefly he'd thought he'd blown their operation, especially when he had to hold her vertical while they danced. When she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, she confessed that it was a shame she was to turn him in to the FBI. Then she suggested she could become his mistress if he would have her. She offered to turn her back on her job and give him information. Perfect. When he pulled back from her guaranteed assault on his lips, he saw red. The ballsy woman suggested she would make a better wife than Courtney.
Blasphemy
. 

He'd been a
bout to lean down and whisper into her ear that she was a dead women when he felt something go through him. The clear explanation was he felt Courtney's devastation. That was how in tune they were with each other. He literally felt her heart break. When he looked up into her wide, devastated eyes, everything inside of him went numb.