By then, Celia had made it to the curb and was hailing a cab. Determined to not let her get away without some victory chalked in my square, I approached our doorman. “You see that woman? She’s not to be let back in here. Permanently banned.”

The doorman nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll hang her picture in the back room.” I’d print something off the Internet. Maybe it wasn’t a good move to let her know that she’d gotten to me, but honestly, I didn’t care about her game. I simply wanted my life back. Kicking her out of my club was a good first step.

***

It was just past three when I crawled into bed. Though it still felt too big and lonely, I was pretty sure I was exhausted enough to sleep. It was worth a try anyway.

Even with my determination, I was still tossing and turning when four a.m. rolled around. My insomnia turned out to be a blessing. Otherwise, I may have missed his call.

“Alayna. I need you.” The ache in Hudson’s voice was new to me.

I sat up with a bolt. “What is it?”

“Mira. At the hospital.” He couldn’t even speak in full sentences. “The baby…”

I was throwing on my yoga pants and a t-shirt before he finished. “I’ll be right there.”

“Jordan’s already on his way to get you.”

Chapter Fourteen

Hudson was waiting for me outside the emergency room when Jordan dropped me off at the hospital. He’d obviously dressed in a hurry as well. He was wearing jeans and a wrinkled polo I didn’t recognize.

Though he didn’t smile, his eyes seemed to light up at the sight of me. “She’s not in the ER anymore, but this is the only entrance open at this time of the morning.” He was already heading toward the elevator.

I trotted to catch up. “Have you seen her? What’s going on exactly?”

“All I know is that she’s having contractions. Adam called as they were checking in and he texted me when they were moved to the OB ward.” He pushed the up button on the call panel. “I didn’t want to see her without you.”

I reached out and grabbed his hand. He took it without hesitation.

He let go though, when the elevator arrived, gesturing for me to go in first. He followed and hit the floor button, then stuffed both hands in his pockets. He glanced at me sideways, and I felt his ache to touch me. It echoed my own yearning. Still, he didn’t reach for me again.

The elevator began moving. “Alayna, about Norma…”

I shook my head. “You don’t have to do this now.” Didn’t he know that I didn’t care at the moment? In the past few weeks, I’d grown to love Mira too. If anything happened to her or her baby…

But Hudson went on. “I need you to know—this business deal.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s very important and I’ve had to be sneaky about the whole thing. Tonight was about that. Norma was able to arrange what looked like a chance meeting with the sellers at a charity gala. When Reynold called and said that you sent him away and that Celia was at the club...” He trailed off and I knew he was imagining the worst. “I didn’t even think to arrange a ride home for Norma. I simply grabbed her and we left.”

A pang of guilt burrowed through my gut. “Is the deal ruined?”

“No. And it wouldn’t matter if it was.” He turned to me and brushed his thumb across my cheek. “You’re safe, precious. That’s all I care about.”

I closed my eyes, savoring his caress.

Then the door opened, and his hand fell to his side.

We followed the signs pointing to OB, eventually reaching a set of doors that required us to buzz to get in. “Will they let us in at this time of night?” I asked while we waited for a response.

“It’s my impression that babies are born twenty-four hours a day,” he said. “And we’re on her list.”

Mira was only six months along, though. Hopefully her baby wasn’t coming any time soon.

“May I help you?” a voice said through the intercom.

“We’re here to see Mirabelle Sitkin. Hudson Pierce and Alayna Withers.”

Instead of an answer, the door simply opened automatically.

I smiled lightly. “I guess we’ve been approved.”

Mira’s room was easy to spot because Adam, Jack, Sophia and Chandler were standing in the hall outside. Hudson went straight to Sophia. He put his arm around her and bent to kiss her cheek. “Mother.”

“Thanks for being here, Hudson.” Sophia’s hand was shaking as she hugged her son, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was emotional about Mira or simply in need of a drink. Either way, she was with it enough to throw a glare in my direction. “You brought her?” Her tone accentuated her disgust.

“Yes, and you’ll not say another word about it.” At least Hudson was still defending me to Sophia. That had to mean something.

Jack gave me a warm smile, reaching out to squeeze my hand. “It’s good to see you, Laynie.”

Neither Sophia’s insult nor Jack’s welcome registered very high on my interest level. I only cared about Mira—my friend.

I peeked around Jack past the open door and found Mira lying in the bed surrounded by two nurses. They looked calm enough. Hopefully that was a sign that things weren’t dreadful.

Hudson wasn’t the type to simply hope. “What’s her status?” he asked Adam.

“She’s fine. Now.” Adam’s expression looked tired and concerned, but his words were only slightly strained. “When we came in she was having contractions every three minutes. But they got her hooked up on an IV, got lots of fluids in her, and everything settled down. She hasn’t had any contractions now for almost forty minutes. Her blood pressure is still a little high, though, so they want to keep her here a bit. Fortunately, they don’t think it’s pre-eclampsia, but they’ll watch her at her visits.”

“We can go back in as soon as the nurses are done,” Jack said.

Chandler nudged Hudson with his elbow. “Mira said Mom and Dad were making her too tense. She sent us here for a timeout.”

The twinkle in Adam’s eye said he had found as much amusement in the statement as Chandler had. “She is a bit feisty at the moment.”

The nurses came out then. One stopped to talk to us, or Adam, rather. “She’s doing better, Dr. Sitkin. I’m sure she’ll be out of here in the next couple of hours. When you go back in, try to keep things light and relaxed.”