Chapter 1
Killian
The wind whipped through my hair as I punched the accelerator into the curve. I never got over the rush of the G-force when I opened the throttle and let it rip. And the Bentley knew how to handle the curves better than I did. It was almost instinctive like the machine was alive beneath my touch. Nothing quite matched the exhilaration of the speed. I should have been a NASCAR driver.
The car zipped around the curve and sailed past the sign indicating my exit was a few miles up the road. I weaved in and out of the traffic headed south on the Coastal Highway where traffic was lighter than normal. The speedometer read sixty and I flew past everyone on the road, including the cop I didn't see until it was too late.
The blueberries and cherries flashed at me angrily before he even pulled out of his hiding spot so I punched it again, pushing the car to seventy hoping to lose the guy. When I got to a red light, I slowed briefly to make sure it was clear but didn't stop. I didn't need another speeding ticket. Dad would kill me or cut me off and I would prefer the former. But the cop was just as gutsy as me. He caught up to me and flashed his lights. There was no point in continuing to run. He had my plates.
I pulled over in a drug store parking lot and shut the engine off. The cop pulled up behind me and left his lights flashing for everyone around to know I'd been pulled over. It wasn't necessary. The instant he ran the plates he knew who I was and who my father was. One more point on my license and I'd lose it for at least six months. Dad had been riding my ass enough about it. At twenty-eight I didn't need another reminder to grow up. This would just be the nudge that pushed me over in his opinion.
I rolled down my window and pulled out my wallet with my drivers license. I knew the routine and I was pissed I'd gotten busted. I was trying to be more careful but the temptation to feel that rush of adrenaline just got me every time. So many times, in fact, that Dad had padded the wallets of at least half a dozen of Ocean City's finest in an attempt to keep me out of lock up for the excessive speeding fines. This time they'd add reckless operation for sure.
"Mr. Welch, I'm surprised to see you out here again..." This cop, the one with the stupid handlebar mustache and eyes so blue they looked gray at times, had been one to nail me more than once. It was like he knew the routes I took and waited to catch me.
"Hey there, Officer Doolittle." I had no clue what his real name was and didn't even look up at his badge pinned to his chest to find out. These guys were a joke. Dad would pay them off and I'd be fine.
"Seventy-three in a forty zone is excessive." He tapped his ticket pad on the edge of the door. "You know your father told me to crucify you the next time you were caught speeding..." He leaned down and rested his arms on the door and looked into the car. As if I was stupid enough to be drinking while I was driving like that.
"You know, Daddy's sort of wrapped around my pinky, so--"
"You're not getting out of it this time. Unless you had a damn good reason for driving that fast, which you don't. I'm not about to go easy on you." He took off his aviator glasses and narrowed his eyes at me.
"I'm sorry officer, my woman's in labor." I smirked at him and ignored the curiosity in his eyes. It would have been a great excuse if I had a woman.
"Lying to a police officer is a criminal offense, Killian."
"You can't prove it's a lie." I shrugged a shoulder and he tapped his pad against his palm. My throat started to constrict as he stared at me, like he was trying to catch me and make me pay for something worse than speeding. A ticket would mean a fine and loss of license, but lying to a cop would go on my record if they prosecuted.
"What hospital is she at?" he asked and I realized he thought I was serious. Which meant unless I came clean and told him it was a joke--which would piss him off--I was in trouble.
"Atlantic General," I squeaked out and then I squirmed. I was doubling down. I wasn't going to let this jerk put that on me. It was a joke, and he was trying to throw his weight around.
"Well, by all means. I can't let you miss the birth of your child. I'll escort you there myself." And he stood and turned and walked back to his car.
"Shit," I hissed, running a hand through my hair as I watched him in the rearview mirror climb back into his car and pull out. He rolled up next to me with his window down and shouted for me to follow him and I almost pissed my pants. This was bad.
The entire drive across Fifty toward Atlantic General I was sweating bullets. This man was really going to escort me right to the hospital to prove that I'd lied to him, after which point he would put me in cuffs and haul me off to jail where Dad would leave me sit, because he already gave me his word he'd never bail me out. I'd have to stay there until they let me go, and I had no clue how that worked.
I found a spot and parked. When I climbed out of my car it was with shaking hands. The officer, whose last name was Matthews--I finally read his badge--nodded at the entrance and said nothing. I'd never been in this hospital, let alone been to the maternity ward. I didn't know how things worked here either. I didn't know a single woman who was pregnant, let alone one who was in labor right now.
But the facade had to be kept up. I was determined to not let this man sink his teeth into me. So I marched up to the information desk and asked for directions to the maternity ward. The older man who sat behind the desk pointed the way, and the cop trailed behind me by a few yards. I turned and headed up the hallway and by a stroke of sheer stupid luck, I ran smack into a bed being wheeled down the hall.
The nurse pushing the bed was flabbergasted and apologized profusely but my eyes were on the gorgeous brunette who lay in bed with her eyes shut. A second bed--more like a rolling bassinet--pushed by another nurse, stopped alongside hers.
"Oh god, sir, I'm so sorry." The nurse scurried around the bed and rushed to my side as I hopped on one foot. My toe had been smashed by the wheels but I was fine.
It gave me a chance to look down at the woman's bracelet. Bailey Matthews... And I could only assume that the little tike in the bassinet was baby Matthews. My gut instincts kicked in and I grabbed her cold hand, but she didn't stir.
"My god, you had the baby already..." My feigned surprise shocked the nurses and they gave each other confused looks before confronting me.
"Sir, you know Ms. Matthews?" Nurse one appeared annoyed, while nurse two ushered the baby's bed away from me as if I were some creep. I was, but she didn't have to act like that.
Meanwhile, the cop stood down the hall watching with a skeptical expression.
"Yeah, I know Bailey. I'm the baby's father. I came as soon as I could." I glanced at the cop who now also looked annoyed and the nurse shook her head.
