The Tycoon's Secret Affair (The Anetakis Tycoons #3)(32)

Jewel couldn’t help but laugh when Theron all but paled. She put her hand over her belly and groaned, but even amidst the pain, it felt so good to laugh. She felt lighter than she had in a long time.

“Are you all right?” Piers asked quietly.

She waved him off. “I’m fine. Truly.” Then she turned to Bella. “Why do I get the feeling this is an ongoing battle between you and Theron?”

Bella grinned. “If Theron had his way, I’d have already popped out a veritable brood of children, but I’m too young, and we have so much to do together before I think of having babies. I’ll eventually give in and fill his nursery, but until then I live to torment him.”

Jewel studied Theron’s face as Bella spoke. His eyes shone with love for his wife, and she knew that he didn’t exert any real pressure. It was obviously a long-standing joke between them.

“Besides, Marley has taken it upon herself to provide enough Anetakis children for both of us,” Bella added with a smirk.

Piers eyebrows shot up. “Marley?”

Marley blushed while Chrysander smiled smugly and wrapped his arm around her waist. It was a possessive gesture not lost on Jewel.

“You’re pregnant again?” Piers demanded.

“In seven months she’ll give me the daughter I want,” Chrysander said arrogantly.

“And if it’s another son?” Marley challenged.

Chrysander looked down at her, passion blazing in his eyes. “Then we’ll simply try again until we get it right.”

Marley and Bella both laughed, and Jewel joined them, holding her belly all the while.

What a marvelous family. A family that she was now a part of. It was simply too much to take in.

“We should probably go now,” Chrysander said as he studied Jewel. “You look as though you’re in pain, and we don’t want to tire you out. We simply wanted to come by to check in on you and to let you know that if there is anything you need, anything at all, just let us know. You’re family now.”

She stared back at him, tears in her eyes. “Please, don’t go. You’re not bothering me a bit. I’ve so enjoyed having you all.”

“Tell me,” Bella said, leaning forward to capture Jewel’s attention. “Are they letting you have real food yet? I’m simply dying for some pizza. Theron thinks it’s barbaric, and so I’m shamelessly using you as an excuse to get some really greasy, cheesy pizza.”

“You call that real food?” Theron asked in mock horror.

“Oh I’d love pizza,” Jewel said with real longing. “Double pepperoni and extra cheese. Oh, and light sauce if no one objects.”

“Tell you what,” Bella said. “We’ll order one our way and let the rest fend for themselves. What you suggested sounds positively divine.”

Jewel looked hopefully at Piers who sighed in resignation.

“What man can possibly say no to a woman when she looks at him that way?”

Both Theron and Chrysander laughed.

Chrysander clapped Piers on the back. “Now you’re learning, little brother. Now you’re learning.”

Fourteen

“I have a surprise in mind,” Piers said as he wheeled her out of the hospital’s front entrance. “It will take a while to execute, so what I want you to do is relax and try to rest as much as possible.”

A flutter of excitement bubbled in her stomach. She felt like a kid at Christmas. For someone who’d never gotten accustomed to any sort of surprise, she was fast finding she liked them very much. Or at least the anticipation of having one.

Piers’s security detail stood outside the limousine awaiting their arrival. One opened the back door, and Piers scooped Jewel up from the wheelchair and carefully placed her in the seat, taking extra care not to jostle her. Then he walked around to the other side while all but one of his security team slipped into a car parked behind the limousine. The last man got into the front with the driver.

“Where are we going?” she asked curiously when they went the opposite direction of the house she and Piers had been staying in.

“The airport.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Where are we going?”

Familiar excitement lit her veins. She loved to travel for the excitement of going to a new place, meeting new people and experiencing different cultures. Only this time she wasn’t going alone, and that thrilled her more than she would have thought possible.

He smiled and reached over to take her hand. “If I told you, it would spoil the surprise.”

“But my clothes, my things. I haven’t packed.”

“All taken care of,” he said smoothly. “This is why I hire a staff.”

“Did you pack my chef?” she asked mournfully. “He made the most delicious food.”

Piers chuckled. “I assure you, you won’t go hungry.”

A while later they pulled up next to a small jet parked on a private airstrip. Piers waited while his security got out and boarded the plane. Then he walked around to her side and picked her up.

“I’ll take her if you like, Mr. Anetakis,” Yves offered. He was the only one who Jewel knew by name. The rest were a mystery to her, but then Yves seemed more of a personal bodyguard for Piers while the rest operated on the perimeter.

Piers shook his head. “Thank you Yves, but I’ll take Mrs. Anetakis to the plane.”