She stopped struggling to reach Jackal. It was useless …

His voice called her name again. That was when she remembered something Shade had taught her.

She listened to her heart, making herself take one breath at a time, forcing her heart to beat faster with each breath she took, not letting the lifeline float away. Little by little, she felt her faint heartbeat become stronger and stronger.

At first, she couldn’t see anything. Then she saw her husband’s face staring down at her.

“Don’t you dare leave me again.” His voice was so hoarse she could barely understand him.

She tried to talk but couldn’t.

“You can’t talk. There’s a tube in your throat. Stay, babe, stay with me.”

Penni gripped his hand, trying to tell him without words that she wasn’t going anywhere, but then she fell away again.

Each day, she grew more coherent until the third day when she became alert to what was going on in the room.

Shade and Jackal were standing by the window, talking. She tried to tell them she was awake, but her throat was too sore.

“It was the doctor who saved her life. If she hadn’t recognized the symptoms of amniotic fluid embolism, Penni would have died. She said sixty-eighty percent of women who have that happen don’t live.” Jackal pressed his hand against his eyes. “If you hadn’t talked me into making Penni give up on using a midwife, she wouldn’t have made it.”

Jackal rubbed his face with both hands. “God, since the first time I met Penni, it’s like I’ve been chasing a rainbow before it disappears, trying to catch her with a butterfly net, because I was afraid she wouldn’t stay.”

“Do you know why I kept giving you hell when I found you didn’t call me about Hennessy?” Shade said, not waiting for his answer before continuing. “Whenever Penni was in town, she fussed about something you had done to piss her off: that you were doing the strippers, even how you look in your favorite dark navy shirt.

“You didn’t have to catch her with a net. I just wanted to make sure you deserved her. You took my shit and held your own. I couldn’t ask for any better for her, and I know Penni felt the same. The doctor may have saved her life, but you’re why she wanted to stay.”

Jackal gave a half-hearted chuckle. “Penni told me once she wanted to stay and smell the roses. She had already planned to stop touring with the band and stay home with the baby.”

“I know Penni. What can go wrong, usually does.” Shade turned toward the bed. “She’s awake.”

They moved to tower over her bed.

“I heard that.” She winced as the words came out.

Jackal raised her head, giving her a drink of water. “Better?”

Penni nodded, not ready to chance the pain returning by talking again.

Shade moved closer to the head of the bed, leaning down to brush a kiss across her forehead. His expression softened.

“You did good, butterfly.” Raising up, Shade put his mask firmly back into place before striding across the room to the door. “I’ll leave you alone for a minute. Then Mom and your dad want to see you.”

Her hand brushed her abdomen when she tried to sit up straight.

“The baby?” Memories struck her, and she tried to sit up, but Jackal placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Stay still. I’ll raise you up.” Jackal raised her bed slowly.

Penni’s eyes bulged at the pain in her chest and abdomen.

Shade gave her a shuttered look before leaving the room. “I’ll give you a few minutes before I let them come in.”

Was there a reason her brother had left so quickly? Penni wanted to scream at him to go get her baby, but as she opened her mouth, she saw Jackal go around her bed, bending over. Then he turned back to her again with a blanket against his chest.

Jackal held the baby to her, and Penni tenderly stared down at the tiny being who was sound asleep.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered.

“She’s beautiful,” Jackal corrected.

“A girl … The sonogram said it was a boy.”

“Babe, when have you ever done what you’re supposed to?” Jackal chuckled.

“Are you sure she’s ours?” Penni ignored the pain in her throat and the rest of her body. She couldn’t believe the beautiful child was hers.

When she ran a caressing finger down her soft check, the baby lifted her curious eyes up to her. They were cerulean blue like hers. Then her little rosebud mouth curled into a twisted smile like Jackal’s.

“I’m sure.”

Shadow

Assassins Club, #1

Alexa Dawn

Available Now!

1

“All right, let’s begin, everyone. Collins, I want you to go over what progress is being made on our new tablets as well as the information about our two new locations in Dallas.”

Scarlet immediately lost focus as Collins began to speak. His voice was a boring drone, but he was one of her father’s favorites; therefore, she put up with his infernal tone. Anything to keep her father happy.

Her father, Simon Daniels, was never in a very good mood these days, and she tried to keep any undue stress away from him. Fielding calls, planning itineraries, luncheons, and meetings were just a few of the ways she kept him calm. However, he still preferred to be front and center when it came to the way things were progressing in his company, Jupiter Technologies, even though he had no problems letting his multiple accountants handle the vast wealth he had accumulated over the years.

Though he was one of the wealthiest men in the world, Simon ran his company with an iron fist. He pampered his only daughter, but he had never just bestowed his generosity on her without expecting her to work hard for it in return. Once she had been old enough, Scarlet had interned at the company, watching enviously from the sidelines as the other girls her age had started going out on dates or to school dances. As soon as she had walked through the heavy glass doors at Jupiter Tech, she had no longer been the spoiled princess everyone thought she was at home. Simon had given them strict instructions: She was not the boss’s daughter, but just another employee like anyone else.

This did not stop as she had grown older. The days had turned into nights as she’d labored for the company—sitting in on board meetings, taking notes, and running errands. The few normal party invitations she had received had come from the daughters of other board members. Any other invitations had only been because she was Simon’s daughter. It had been a difficult area to navigate, but over the years, she had learned what to accept, what to politely decline, and of course, what to just outright ignore.

Because of this, she had almost no friends, and the few she had were only trying to further their own fathers’ careers. She had been on the receiving end of too many vicious and backstabbing comments to believe anyone had ever really liked her and genuinely been her friend.

Her father used to tell her it was for the best that those other girls were just jealous of her status and work ethic; that they knew they would never deserve everything that would be given to them like she would. She knew he was lying.