No Place to Run by Maya Banks Read Free Book Online Page A

dreams. He’d left it to his brothers to settle down and have babies. He figured Ethan and Rachel would pop out a couple before he would ever consider settling down and providing grand-children for Mom and Dad.
    He winced. Holy hell. Ma would shit a brick over this.
    He was thirty-six. Well past the age most men thought about having families, wasn’t it? But he damn sure assumed that if and when he got around to doing it, it would be on his terms, preferably with a woman he’d married and after thoughtful consideration. Babies and his career didn’t exactly mix.
    “You okay, man?” Donovan asked softly.
    Was he okay? He felt like someone had yanked the rug out from under him. Like someone had suddenly changed all the rules and altered the entire course of his life.
    Okay, so it sounded dramatic, but hell, it was! A baby changed everything. And then there was Sophie. Why had she disappeared? No, he hadn’t given her any promises. He hadn’t been in a position to offer her anything at all. Not even his true identity . . .
    “Fuck,” he bit out.
    Garrett glanced sharply at him.
    “How the hell did she know where to find me? She knew me as Sam. Just Sam. Some guy coming through the bar where she worked. Not Sam Kelly . I could have been from anywhere for all she knew.”
    “I’d say you probably indulged in some heavy pillow talk,” Garrett said dryly.
    Sam shook his head. “Do you think I’m stupid? Besides, talking wasn’t exactly what we were doing when we were alone.”
    Donovan snickered but then quickly sobered. “So what the hell do we do? It’s a little too coincidental that the chick you have a fling with, while undercover, just happens to show up looking like death warmed over muttering dire warnings about people trying to kill you—when in fact she wasn’t supposed to know anything about you. And certainly not where you lived.”
    “That about covers it,” Sam said as he stared down at Sophie’s still form.
    The sheet over her belly bumped. Just a little twitch that he almost missed. Perplexed, he leaned over and drew away the sheet. Her soaked shirt had ridden up, exposing the smooth expanse of her stomach.
    He remembered touching her, running his hands over her lush body, though it had certainly changed since they’d last made love.
    He put his hand to the side of her belly, only to feel the tiny little bump against his palm. In awe he stared. It was the baby.
    “Guess the little critter is okay,” Garrett mumbled.
    Sam couldn’t form a response. He was too befuddled. Was this his child he was feeling against his fingers?
    “You should get her out of those wet clothes,” Donovan offered. “You and Garrett both need to get into dry clothes. I’ll go warm up some soup and find out if we have antibiotics in our stash of medications. She’ll need that and something stronger than ibuprofen for pain. Not to mention I’m not sure what she can take being pregnant.”
    Sam stirred and shook himself from his trance. Then he scowled. No one but him was going to see her naked. He focused his frown on Garrett until Garrett finally got the message and walked toward the door, muttering under his breath the entire way.
    “Get the soup and find what medications you can,” Sam said to Donovan. “After I get her out of these clothes and into something warm, I’ll assess her injuries. When she wakes up and can tell us what the hell is going on and why she doesn’t want us to take her to the hospital, we’ll figure out what to do next.”
    Donovan nodded and headed out of the room after Garrett.
    Sam turned his attention back to the woman lying in his bed. His woman. His child?
    He shook his head in denial She wasn’t his.
    He fingered a strand of wet hair, pulling it carefully away from her neck.
    “Where have you been, Sophie?” he asked softly. “What secrets are you hiding and who the hell wants you dead?”
    Sudden rage rolled through his body. Whoever wanted her dead had also tried to kill