Deceived 6 - Ultimate Deception by Eve Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

putting my hands on her shoulders. I didn’t want to be rude, but no way was this kind of thing ever going to happen. I firmly pushed her back.
    “Nina, no.”
    Her face flushed and, for a moment, I thought I saw anger in her eyes, but then she blinked and I figured that it must have been a trick of the light. She put her hands over her face.
    “Oh, shit, Patrick I’m so sorry.”
    I stood, wobbled, then righted myself. “Look, I think Chloe and I have overstayed our welcome. I’ll make some calls tonight and we’ll go to a hotel first thing in the morning.”
    Nina jumped to her feet as well. She seemed steadier than me. “No, no. I’m sorry, really. I had too much wine and I’ve just been watching you with her and seeing how nice you are and...” She crossed her arms. “Dammit!”
    “It’s all right,” I reassured her as I backed away. I didn’t want a repeat performance or for her to get the wrong idea. “It’ll be better if we go.”
    “No.” She shook her head. “Chloe’s not supposed to be up and around, and she’ll want to know why you’re leaving.” She gave me a pleading look. “This would upset her so badly.”
    Nina was right. I had to admit it. If I told Chloe we were going to a hotel, she’d want to know why. She’d end up angry at one or both of us, no matter how much alcohol was involved, and while she had every right to be angry, it wouldn’t be good for the baby. I set my jaw and said, “We’ll stay.” I left before she could say anything else. This was going to make the next couple days awkward as hell.
    When I got back to our room, Chloe was still asleep, but that was for the best. I planned on telling her after the baby was born, but I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret if she saw my face right now. I stretched out next to her, but my head was too busy for me to sleep. I’d been telling the truth when I’d told her before that she and Victoria were my home, but at the moment, I couldn’t help but wish that we were in our penthouse, curled up in bed, talking about the last minute things we needed to do before our little girl arrived.
    Chloe shifted in her sleep and I moved to accommodate her. My stomach flipped and a sharp pain went through my head.
    Fuck .
    I scrambled out of bed as quickly as I dared and ran for the bathroom. I shoved the door closed and barely made it to the toilet before my dinner made a second appearance. I knelt there, sweat pouring down my face, my head pounding, and wondered when I’d stopped being able to hold my liquor. In the past, I could easily have two glasses of wine at lunch and still be okay to drive home, but tonight, I felt like I’d been out all night doing shots.
    It hadn’t been that strong, I knew that. Nina had been drinking as much as I had. I frowned. When I thought about it, I’d actually only seen her sipping on half a glass. Another wave of nausea hit and I hunched forward, waiting for it to pass. As I wiped my face with a shaking hand, the thought hit me. Maybe there’d been something else in my drink.
    I didn’t really want to consider it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Nina had put something into the wine. If she had, the question became, why? And, even more importantly, was my family in danger?
     
     

Chapter 6
    Chloe
    The first thing I realized when I woke up was that the ache that had been sitting at the base of my skull since the accident was gone. The spikes of pain had gotten less frequent and less intense, but there was a dull throbbing that had been there almost non-stop. When I opened my eyes this time, however, there was no pain. I still felt a bit shaky, like the kind that happens when you’ve been in pain and it goes away and the relief is almost too much.
    I tentatively moved my head, waiting for the pain to return, but it didn’t. I wasn’t foolish enough to think this meant I’d be off bed-rest now, but I was at least feeling much better about going in to labor at the end of the week. It