Bedding The Billionaire (Bedding the Bachelors Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

was leaving the university. Had come to her classroom just hours ago to say good-bye. Unfortunately for him, he’d gotten caught in this maelstrom that was currently her life, but soon she’d have to pull herself together and deal with the reality of what was happening on her own.
    Soon, she’d have to let Jamie walk away.
    A nurse directed them to the ICU on the tenth floor. The elevator opened into the waiting room and the sight of all the people she’d avoided for fifteen years twisted her stomach into a tight knot. Her mother and father looked very much as they should after the passing of fifteen years, their hair grayer, their bodies more fragile, their faces painted with lines she didn’t remember. They sat on a sofa next to one of her aunts, who didn’t look like she’d aged at all. Mason’s parents were seated in a corner with his mother’s face buried in his father’s chest.
    There were men in suits standing around the perimeter of the room, and by their posture Lucy suspected they were her father’s bodyguards; even before Lucy had left home at sixteen, her father, a congressman, had already received several threats on his life. He’d been fanatical about ensuring his family was safe and terribly furious each time Lucy had ditched her guards in order to have some time to herself.
    Her father neither rose nor called her over. He just stared at her and she knew what he was wishing. That it was her lying in the ICU bed rather than Gail.
    Her mother followed her father’s gaze and the second she saw Lucy, her face contorted. She stood, then rushed to Lucy, pulling her into her arms as she sobbed. For several precious seconds, Lucy closed her eyes, cherishing the feel of her mother’s embrace. But before she could begin sobbing, too, her mother pulled away.
    In all these years, her mother had never reached out to Lucy. Not once. She’d never betray her husband in such a way.
    “Gail?” Lucy asked.
    When her mother’s expression crumpled and she dissolved into tears again, Lucy knew.
    Her big sister, her first best friend, her first confidante was dead.
    “Milly…” her mother murmured.
    “Milly is home with the nanny,” her father said.
    “Milly?” Lucy asked.
    Her mother looked up. “Gail and Mason’s baby. She’s six months old.”
    Oh God. Gail had had a daughter and no one had told her? She shouldn’t be surprised. And she wasn’t blameless. While it was true neither her parents nor Gail had tried to contact her to make amends, Lucy had tried only once—when she’d left her cell phone number on Gail’s answering machine. For fifteen years, she’d let hurt feelings and pride dictate her actions and now…
    She sobbed, a broken sound that sounded more broken because of the way she tried to hold it back. Somehow, Lucy’s mother was returned to the embrace of her husband. Then Jamie had his arm around her.
    She looked up at him. “I need to see her,” she said. “I need to—I need to say goodbye.”
    His expression solemn, he nodded. “Okay, Luce. We’ll see her together.”
    She closed her eyes in relief. As independent as she was, his presence strengthened her.
    “Thank you, Jamie,” she said.
    It wasn’t the last time she’d say those words to him that night. She said it after they saw Gail’s lifeless form and Lucy said her final goodbye. She said it after Jamie spoke with her mother and father, then guided her through the process of getting her back home. When the car got to Lucy’s apartment building, she turned to him to say thank you yet again, as well as goodbye, but he simply guided her out of the car, picked her up in his arms, and carried her inside. Surprised and feeling too weak to resist, she leaned her head against his chest.
    By the time Jamie tucked her into bed, she was practically asleep.
    “I’m going to sleep on the couch,” he said.
    But before he could walk away, she somehow managed to ask, “Can you stay here? Just for a while longer?”
    He