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  My Hero’s Secret Baby

  MINK

  My Hero’s Secret Baby

  MINK © 2020

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book only. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from MINK.

  This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  My Hero’s Secret Baby

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Also by MINK

  About the Author

  My Hero’s Secret Baby

  MINK

  Lane

  It’s not in my nature to save people, especially when there’s no advantage in it for me. But that changes the moment I see her, my sweetness, being attacked. For once in my life, I step in. Saving her was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I soon realize fate drew me to the right place and the right time to meet Pepper. She’s too innocent for a man like me, but I can’t let her go. And I don’t. I dote on her and love her. Until she’s taken from me. Her life snuffed out by my enemies. Now, I live to make them pay, and I won’t stop until everyone who had a hand in Pepper’s death is bleeding at my feet.

  Pepper

  Lane saved me. This man with the intense eyes and powerful way about him. He’s my hero, and I can’t believe I’m falling in love. Everything’s perfect until I stray too far one night and find out exactly what sort of man won my heart. Cruelty and violence—he’s capable of both, though I know in my heart he’d never harm me. Even so, when I see the chance to escape, I take it. But I’m not alone when I leave him, and my heart is forever drawn back to him, to the man who loves me fully and without reservation. Though he may be a nightmare for those who cross him, he’ll always be my hero.

  1

  Pepper

  “Salty!” I call out my cat's name again. I’m on the verge of tears. He can be such a brat when he doesn’t get his way. I can’t believe he’s gone this far. “You have to eat the diet cat food. There’s no way around it,” I try to reason with him as I bend down to look under my car. No dice. He’s nowhere to be found.

  “Get your butt out here. You’re not making me late for my last day of school. I made all these cupcakes!” I shout as if Salty can understand what I'm saying.

  Mr. Clark from next door glares at me. He doesn’t like anyone who makes noise.

  “Sorry!” I shout before throwing my hand over my mouth when I realize I yelled again. He mumbles a few curse words before making his way back into his house. Lovely. I’ve lived here for nine months, and none of my neighbors like me. No one told me that they’d all be four times my age.

  I don’t have time for this, but I can’t leave without finding my cat. It’s going to be crazy hot out today, and the heat could hurt him. Plus when he gets overheated and fussy, his hair gets matted. Getting those tangles out is never fun.

  There’s just no way I can miss today. It’s the last time I’ll see the kids as kindergarteners. It’s important for me to say goodbye to them. I love teaching them, but this is always the hardest part. I tend to get attached to each of my classes, and then it’s time for them to move on. Time to grow and leave me behind in a sense.

  Salty finally comes crawling out from between two shrubs under my living room window.

  “You get in that house.” I point to the front door. I’d propped it open to take the cupcakes out to my car without dropping any. I had no idea Salty would try to make his escape.

  He usually hates going outside. Normally, he runs if he knows he’s going to the vet to get his nails clipped. The poor people there have to suit up like it’s War World Three in order to get them done. Even though he’s a stubborn little thing, I still adore him. Actually, he’s not so little, hence the diet food.

  He takes another step out all the way onto the sidewalk this time. He looks toward my car.

  “Oh, you want to go to the vet?” I put my hands on my hips like I do when my class is getting rowdy.

  He’s unfazed by my glare. He knows I am all mush on the inside. It’s why he’s overweight to begin with. It’s so hard to tell him no when he looks so hungry. He takes a few more steps toward my car before jumping into the open door.

  I’m shocked. It’s a fight to get him in the car most of the time. I swear he does the opposite of what I want him to just to mess with me.

  “Don’t you do that.” I run to the car when I see why he’s suddenly so eager to get inside. He’s after the cupcakes.

  All the air leaves my lungs as something hits me. I fall back and hit the ground, the air leaving me again. I look up at a man in a ski mask. He reaches down and yanks on my arm. Panic fills me. I tell myself to run, kick, or do something, but I’m stuck in a state of shock. I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out.

  “Let it go, bitch!” he shouts at me.

  It’s then I realize he’s not pulling on my arm at all. He’s trying to get my purse from me. He frees it before I can try and get it off myself. He pulls his hand back into a fist. Finally a scream comes from me as my hands fly over my face to try and block his punch. But nothing comes.

  No pain, no darkness, nothing. Maybe I passed out is my first thought, but I don’t think I did. Would I know if I passed out? I open my fingers to peek, but I don’t see anything. I sit up and try to get my bearings. That’s when I see exactly what happened. There’s a man in a suit holding the guy in the ski mask by the throat and shaking him like a rag doll. He pulls the mask from the creep’s face.

  The creep tries to fight to get away, but I can tell from here that it’s useless. The man holding him is easily twice his size. His back is broad and by the way he is holding the guy, he must be strong.

  Something is wrong with me. I should be focused on the robber, but all I can see is the man that had saved me from him.

  “Should I call the police?” The man holding him turns his head to look at me. The bluest eyes I’ve ever seen land on me. I almost lose all the air in my lungs all over again.

  “Are you okay?” he asks like he’s not holding a man by his throat.

  “I think so. Is my cat okay?” I look into my car but don’t see him. “Salty?” I call for him. I let out a small scream when he jumps into my lap. I hadn't seen him behind me. How could I? Sneaky little thing.

  But we have problems. First, I think the man who attacked me is about to die. That should have most of my attention. Second, the only thing I can think about is how handsome my hero is.

  Before I know it, Salty is jumping off my lap and trotting over to my hero. He rubs himself all over the guy.

  “Sir. He’s going to die.” My gaze jerks to another man that’s standing outside of a black car parked in the middle of the street. He, too, is in a fancy suit. The back passenger door is wide open.

  I shake out of my shock and jump to my feet. “Don’t kill him.” I rush over and grab my hero’s arm. He’ll go to jail
if he kills the creep.

  Slowly he lowers the thief to the ground and releases him. He tumbles to the ground, choking and crying.

  I gasp when my hero picks me up, moving me a few feet before putting me back down. “Sorry, but he pissed himself. I didn’t want you stepping in it and ruining your shoes.”

  “Thanks,” I say because what else do you say to that?

  2

  Lane

  She looks up at me with big brown eyes. Innocent ones. The kind a man like me never gets to see. Not when I’m surrounded by criminals and sadists all day and night. This little taste of warmth is one I hadn’t known I craved--not until I finally had it right in front of me.

  And, as is my nature, I want to take it for myself. To throw this sweet thing over my shoulder, toss her into my car, and have Angelo drive us wherever I say.

  “Pepper.” She smiles up at me.

  “Excuse me?” I cock my head to the side.

  “My name’s Pepper. What’s yours?”

  I’m a bad man, Pepper. One it’s best you don’t know. But those truths don’t come out of my mouth. Instead, this does: “Lane.”

  “Lane.” She nods. “Nice to meet you. And thank you so much. He just came out of nowhere. I thought this neighborhood was safe--” I look around at the tiny houses, some dilapidated and others grown over with weeds. “I mean, it’s full of elderly people and they’re--”

  “Weak.” I fill in. “That’s why that guy came here. He’s a predator. The weak are prey. He knows this neighborhood is filled with people who are too old or afraid to fight him.”

  “Nice.” She crosses her arms beneath her ample breasts, and I notice an apple pin on her white collar. “That’s what I was going to say. The people here are nice.”

  “I’m sure they are.” I’m certain not a single one of them is as nice as this slice of apple pie in front of me.

  “And you’re here.” She gives me a stout nod. “So there are strong people, too.”

  I had Angelo cut through this ratty neighborhood to get to the freeway. When I saw the asshole in the ski mask go after this curvy brunette, I jumped from the moving car and intervened. I shouldn’t have. I make a point of never getting involved in shit that doesn’t benefit me. But something about this girl got my attention, and I simply acted.

  Her phone beeps from the bag I’m holding, and she jumps. “Oh, no. I can’t be late on the last day. I made cupcakes and everything!” She spins toward her car. Stops. “Thank you again, Lane. You’re a good man.”

  Angelo snorts.

  I give him a deadly look and he stows his amusement.

  “Here.” I hand her the purse. “You’ll need this.”

  “Thank you.”

  And I’m going to let her go. I’m going to walk away from this innocent piece of apple pie and let her have a happy life without men like me. It’s what she deserves. I’m not going to take her with me, to show her who I really am. But then she steps towards me, rises on her tiptoes, and kisses me on the cheek.

  That one bit of contact is like a jolt to my nervous system. And something inside me that’s been dead before I even began living sparks to life.

  “Gotta go.” She turns and hurries to her front door, shoos her pudgy cat into her house, then returns to her car. “Last day of class, and my kids are waiting.”

  “Sir?” Angelo gestures toward our car.

  “Pepper.” I lick my lips, tasting her name there. “I’ll see you around.”

  “I hope so.” She smiles, and the barb is embedded deeply. I can feel her under my skin, and I want to taste every inch of hers.

  I force myself to turn away from her and walk with Angelo. Dropping into the backseat, I let him close my door and get into the front.

  “We’re going to be late for the meeting.” He sighs and begins to pull away.

  “We aren’t going.”

  “What?” His dark brows draw together as he looks at me in the rear view.

  Pepper, my sweet little slice of apple pie, backs out of her driveway and heads the other direction.

  “Follow her.”

  He taps the brakes. “What?”

  “You heard me.” I meet his gaze.

  He swallows hard, then follows my command.

  After all, Angelo knows who I am, what I’ve done, and what I have no problems still doing.

  I know he’s loyal. But what I need to know is who Pepper is, why I’m drawn to her, and what she tastes like.

  He follows her car through the cracked streets of this part of town. I haven’t been here in years, not since I was first coming up. But it still feels the same. Poverty and blight cover the corners and abandoned shops. Even so, there is a bright spot here. The one just ahead of us in an old beater. She goes the speed limit for a few miles, then turns into a school parking lot.

  I pull it up on my phone and scroll through the faculty. I catch her image right off.

  A kindergarten teacher. I laugh, the sound belly-deep.

  “Sir?” Angelo peers out at the elementary school while I watch her.

  She hurries from her car, then bends over to reach back in. Her round ass is on full display, and I lick my lips. Her skirt is longer, but it’s tight right where it needs to be. Damn. She’s got a perfect peach back there. When she stands again, she has a container full of cupcakes. I can see all the sugar sparkles from here.

  I scrub a hand down my face as she hustles toward the school, almost falls at the curb, recovers, then sways her fine ass all the way through the front doors right as the bell rings.

  Following her into the faded brick building isn’t an option. But damn if I don’t want to. I need more of her. All of her. And now that I’ve got her in my sights, I can’t let her go.

  Sitting back in the car, I wave a dismissive hand at Angelo. “Let’s go.”

  “The meeting?” he asks.

  “Yes. If the others aren’t waiting for me when we get there, I’ll have to make a few examples out of them. You ready for that?” I ask.

  “Always.” Angelo rolls away from the school and navigates toward the freeway. We’re going to a glitzier part of town where the people are far dirtier than any of the vagrants under the overpasses down this way.

  “And track down the idiot in the ski mask. Have him brought to the house.”

  “Take him to the greenhouse?” he asks.

  “Yes.” I crack my knuckles. The man who dared touch my Pepper will be punished, and I’m notoriously good at dishing it out. It’s part of doing business in my world.

  But my mind’s not on business. It’s on my sweet little slice of apple pie. She’s sugar through and through. Teaching little ones all day long, baking them cupcakes, giving them all the love she has.

  Now she’ll have someone else to share herself with, and I want every last crumb.

  3

  Pepper

  I sit at my desk with no motivation to go anywhere. It is summer. I should be happy and excited like everyone else, but I’m far from it. I have no plans. Nothing to look forward to. It’ll just be me and Salty like it always is. The only thing we’ll be doing is trying to not die from all the heat. The summers here can be brutal.

  “You ready to get the hell out of here?” I look up to see Caroline standing in the door. She is the only friend I’ve managed to make this year. I had no idea teachers were so cliquey, but they are. She runs her hand down her pregnant belly and looks ready to pop at any second.

  “I guess.” I push back from my chair. All my things are packed neatly in my box.

  “I killed the rest of those cupcakes. Girl, you can bake. I’ll need more asap.”

  I pick up my purse, sliding it onto my shoulder before putting the box against my hip to make it easier to carry. I already took the others out to my trunk at lunch.

  “I’ll make you some more and bring them over.”

  “This is why I love you.” She pushes off the door frame. “I’m so ready to not be on my feet all day.”

&nbsp
; “May I?” I ask when I reach her.

  She nods and guides my hand to her stomach. I close my eyes for a moment when I feel her little girl kick. I always wondered what it would feel like to have your baby kick from the inside. It’s a feeling I’ll never know.

  “I’m going to miss you next year.” I drop my hand from her stomach.

  Caroline decided to take a year off from teaching. She wanted to be home with her baby, and I can’t blame her for that.

  “You better be coming by to visit. I know how to handle rowdy fifth graders but babies are a whole new ballgame for me.”

  “I will. I promise.” I want to see her and her new baby, even if I have that same wistful feeling that I always do when I think about babies.

  “I’ll hold you to it.” She gives me a hug.

  “Mommying will come naturally to you,” I reassure her. I know when I worked in a daycare while I was in college it felt natural to take care of the babies.

  “Hubs is meeting me in my classroom to carry some stuff for me. Text me later.” She gives me a wave goodbye before heading back to her classroom. I shut my door behind me for the last time this year and head out of the building. My mind drifts back to the man who saved me today. I can’t stop thinking about him.

  I didn't realize how jarring the incident had been until I’d gotten to school. I finally had a chance to catch my breath and process exactly what happened. A man attacked me in my own front yard. If my mysterious hero hadn’t come along, who knows what might’ve happened? I could’ve ended up in the hospital or worse.