“No,” Gian barked, turning toward the man with the wicked-looking gun. “You don’t ever come in here. She’s unclothed, and I will blind you if you so much as see a single inch of my woman naked.”
The guard hastily exited, shutting the door soundly behind him as he went.
I rolled my eyes to the doctor behind Gian’s back, and Dr. Khan quickly had to hide a grin. Until Gian turned to face him with a menacing look on his face. “And you will address her as Mrs. Fontana. Are we clear?”
“That’s not my name,” I snipped at him. “And it never will be.”
“I will not argue with you on this subject, precious,” he gritted out. “Your name will be changed as soon as I make a few phone calls.”
Tears filled my eyes so quickly, I was unable to blink them back. “So, what? You’re going to marry me without an actual wedding? No pretty white dress? My dad won’t walk me down the aisle? You steal me away from my family, knowing I didn’t want to come here, and now you’re going to deny me a wedding too?”
“Monroe,” he groaned, falling to his knees beside the bed. “Don’t cry. I’ll make it all happen. I promise. Just let me make you mine first. Once everything is sorted out, we can have a wedding. As big or as small as you want, precious. I promise.”
Scrubbing one hand over my face, I pointed a shaky finger at him. “Fuck your promises. I’m not marrying you.” Another cramp hit me, and I was so startled, I cried out and rolled into a ball, holding myself together.
Clenching my eyes closed, I silently prayed that the baby was going to be okay.
“Mr. Fontana, may I request you step out?” Dr. Khan’s voice was full of a strength I hadn’t heard from him before. “My patient is obviously distressed, and I need to do a thorough exam to make sure she and the baby are in no danger.”
Through my tears, I saw Gian get unsteadily to his feet. He gazed down at me with torment-filled eyes for a long moment before leaning over to brush a kiss across my brow. Straightening, he walked to the door and stepped out into the hall.
Dr. Khan pulled on a pair of gloves and began his exam, and I continued to pray that my baby was okay.
Chapter 16
Gian
With my fingers tangled in my hair, I paced back and forth in front of our bedroom door. The guard was long gone, probably too scared I would make good on the threat to blind him. But I couldn’t move more than a few feet from the door before my heart started to pound so hard I couldn’t fucking breathe.
All I knew was that Monroe was in pain and crying behind those closed doors. There was nothing I could do to stop her discomfort or reassure her that everything was going to be okay. The doctor thought it was better to have me on this side of the door, and to keep her from feeling more stress, I’d stepped out.
That had been countless minutes ago, however, and with each passing second, it became harder and harder to keep my distance.
Right when I didn’t think I could take it another moment, the door opened. “You may come in, Mr. Fontana,” he said with a grim twist of his lips.
Unable to stop my feet from moving, I quickly reentered the bedroom and moved straight for the bed. Monroe sat in the middle of the bed, propped up by a mountain of pillows behind her. Eyes closed, she had her tangled, still-wet hair spread out around her, and the covers were pulled up to her waist. I noticed she’d put on a nightgown, and I had to grit my teeth at the thought of the doctor seeing her naked.
When I reached her, I grasped one of her hands and brought it to my lips, causing her eyes to snap open. “How are you feeling now, precious?” I asked in a voice still choked with emotion.
“Still cramping,” she said with a sigh. “But Dr. Khan has reassured me everything is fine.”
“The heartbeats are strong,” Khan said from the other side of the bed as he began packing up his medical bag. “And she is no longer spotting. It is my opinion that her uterus is expanding to make room and causing all of her discomfort. I do recommend utilizing the office of the local doctor and getting another ultrasound in the next few days. It seems the tech back in Oregon missed something.”
I glared at the man. “What did they miss?” I snarled, ready to tear the staff back at that damned hospital apart.
“The second baby,” Monroe murmured softly. “The ultrasound only showed one baby and one heartbeat on the scan. Maybe she wasn’t looking hard enough. Or perhaps one baby was hiding behind the other undetected, but Dr. Khan found two different heartbeats.”
“Twins?” I wheezed out, falling to my knees beside the bed when my legs would no longer support me. “Two miracles?”
The other man gave me a nod, a slight smile tilting his lips. “Congratulations, Mr. Fontana.” But his mouth quickly turned into a grim line once more. “Twins will put Mrs. Fontana’s pregnancy at higher risk. That will have to be taken into account when we find a replacement to take over her care.”
“No,” I said, already shaking my head before he’d even finished speaking. No way was I going to let the most important people in my life be tended to by anything but the absolute best. This man would stay with Monroe the entire pregnancy—one way or another. “You will stay until she delivers our babies.”
“But—”
“Four million dollars, Doctor,” I interrupted before he could argue, and his eyes widened. “On top of the two million we already agreed on. Will that cover their care?”
The doctor’s throat bobbed a few times, but then he nodded. “That is more than sufficient, sir.” He glanced at Monroe. “I will be back in to see you first thing in the morning, Mrs. Fontana. For now, get as much rest as you can. You appear to have had a very eventful few days, and you yourself confessed to not getting enough sleep in recent weeks. I think a light meal and an early night will do you some good.”