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Welcome back to another chapter! I hope that all of you that celebrate it had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly did, and my 18 month old was in heaven as he walked around the table stealing bites from every single person that would let him (which was everyone, because he's adorable and he knows it). I ate way too much, just as it should be, and I also got some good Black Friday shopping done. How did you all enjoy your holidays?

I wanted to (as always) say a quick thank you to all of you that have read, reviewed, followed, favorited, and private messaged. And especially to those of you that have left a review on every single chapter. That's just amazing and I appreciate it so very much. I love connecting with everyone, and I appreciate every single show of support. So… thank you so very much.

As you can probably tell, I'm posting twice a week just like I said that I was going to try to. (A week to me if Monday-Sunday, because that's how my work schedule works. Just in case any of you out there are Sunday-Saturday people.) That's still my goal, but I'm not going to promise anything because… well… you know why. But let me know if you like this posting schedule or if you would prefer for it to be a little slower so that you have more time to keep up. Leave your preference in the reviews or feel free to private message me. I love talking to my readers!

Happy Reading!

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Chapter Fifteen: The Unexpected Guest

Allie

Dr. Dubois had gotten me in for an extra early appointment that same morning, and I sat in the waiting room with more anxiety than I'd ever experienced in my entire life. I sat in one of the comfortable wingback chairs, tapping my palms against the arms in a crazy rhythm. My right leg was bouncing up and down at a pace that I would have thought impossible, and my stomach had tied itself into knots.

Next to me, one of Medici's men kept stealing annoyed glances from behind a generic men's magazine. Likely, they got lots of husbands in that waiting room that needed something to combat boredom while their wives were being checked. I would have felt kind of bad for him… if I didn't hate him so much because of who he worked for.

I needed Steve with me – had even begged Medici to let me call him once I'd told him what had happened – but it wasn't going to happen. I hadn't gone back to sleep after I'd found the blood, but I didn't feel exhausted in the least. I had called the hospital's on call line and had spoken to an OB nurse, who had told me to keep an eye on the bleeding overnight and she would try to get me an appointment with my doctor for the next morning. I'd done nothing but worry since that conversation.

Suddenly, my nurse rounded the corner and I didn't even give her a chance to call my name. I vaulted up from my seat and walked her way, leaving the guard to read his magazine while he waited for me.

The nurse smiled kindly at me as she gestured for me to step onto the scale. "I heard about what happened. Are you doing okay?"

"Relatively," I lied. I was not doing okay at all. What kind of pregnant woman did okay with bleeding during her second trimester? I had Googled 'bleeding during the second trimester', and none of the things that I'd read had been very encouraging.

Please let my baby be okay.

She took me into the usual exam room and told me to sit on the table. "Dr. Dubois will likely do a vaginal exam, but I'm just going to ask you some questions."

So, she proceeded to ask me about ten questions. I had the answers immediately, as my search on Google had revealed what might happen at such an appointment. She took my heart rate, O2 stats, blood pressure, and checked the baby's heartbeat. Once she had all of the information that she needed, she stood and pulled a gown out of one of the drawers. As she handed it to me, she smiled kindly. "Put this on and he'll be in here as soon as he can, okay?"

I took the gown with shaky hands and began to change as soon as she had left the room.

Then, I just sat on the padded table and waited impatiently.

Four minutes and fifteen seconds later, Dr. Dubois entered the room and gave me a reassuring smile as he sanitized his hands. "How are you holding up, Allie?"

"Not so great." There was no sense in lying to him. "I woke up at three this morning and there was some blood."

"Okay." He didn't appear to be alarmed, but I was certain that he'd perfected his calm mask over his years of practice. "How much blood was there?"

I held my hands up in a circle comparable in size to the one I'd found in my panties earlier that morning. "A stain this big in my underwear. And then I put on a regular pad and it hasn't bled much since then."

"Okay." He took his stethoscope off and placed it on the nearby counter. "And are you bleeding right now?"

"No."

"That's good. All right, I'm going to have you lie back on the table, scoot your bottom all the way to the edge, and put your feet in the stirrups. Do you need any help?"

I shook my head as I began to move into position. Though I was a few weeks into my second trimester, I didn't look pregnant at all. I was a little fuller in my abdomen, but you couldn't even tell with my clothes on. When I'd said that to my father, he'd told me that my mother had been the same way and it was likely just good genetics.

Dr. Dubois stepped up to my side and gave me an encouraging smile as he pulled on some latex gloves. "I'm just going to do a quick exam and see if we can tell what's going on, okay?"

After a deep breath, I nodded. "Okay."

The exam was quick, though incredibly uncomfortable. After he'd straightened back up, he pulled off the gloves and threw them into the trash as I sat up. "Nothing wrong there that I can tell. Your cervix is still closed, which is what I was hoping for. I'm going to run out and grab an ultrasound machine, and I'll be right back, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

"You can go ahead and change back into your normal clothes while I'm gone," he said, and then he left.

I took the opportunity to clean myself up a bit and then ditch the gown. My own clothes felt so much more comfortable, and I felt more at ease when I sat down on the table again. He had seemed encouraged that everything was okay, but I supposed that the ultrasound would be the major decider.

He was back a couple of minutes later, wheeling the small machine in behind him. He asked me to lie back once more and then he covered the wand with the special gel and placed it on my abdomen. After a few seconds, he turned the screen to face me and I saw my baby moving its arms.

The sight was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

My baby was okay.

After a few minutes of looking and listening to the rapid heartbeat that was normal for fetuses, he smiled and handed me a towel so that I could clean my stomach off. "Everything looks fine. I don't see any sign of bleeding, the baby is moving and its heartrate looks good, and the placenta is right where it should be."

I sat up, relieved but confused. "Then why did I wake up bleeding?"

He finished cleaning the wand and set it back in its holder before taking a seat on the small stool across from me. "The only explanation that I can come up with is that your blood pressure was high. That can do some crazy things to some pregnant women."

"Why would my blood pressure be high?" I'd always been in top physical condition, and I obviously hadn't gained much weight during my pregnancy.

"Are you under any kind of overwhelming stress?"

I thought of the heist and Medici and Trent in captivity.

My face must have been all the answer that he needed, because he nodded. "Stress – especially a lot of stress – isn't good for a pregnancy. Try to keep it down."

I wish that I could. "Got it."

He typed something into his computer – likely just the exam findings and his instructions. "Try to take it easy, at least for today. Stay in bed, get some sleep, and just try to relax as much as possible. And in the future, try to slow down a little bit. Believe me, you'll have plenty to keep you occupied for the next eighteen years. For now, try to rest."

Planning and executing a museum heist wasn't exactly resting, but I just nodded. "I'll try to keep the stress down." As much as I could try until this whole thing with the box was over.

He finished typing, closed out the computer, and turned to face me. "Do you have any other questions?"

"No." I smiled sheepishly. "I actually feel really bad for wasting your time."

His smile was not condescending in the least. "You're not wasting my time. You had a concern, and it's my job to address it. You were being responsible by getting it checked out. Bleeding in the second or third trimester can definitely be a cause for concern. You're just one of the lucky ones."

I didn't feel all that lucky, but I didn't voice that. "Thank you."

"Go home and get some rest," he reminded me before he slipped out of the room to go and see his next patient.

He'd only been gone about twenty seconds when I began to break down, first in one or two tears and then into sobs. There was something about the security of knowing that I wasn't being filmed that made it feel safe to tear apart.

I was okay and my baby was okay, but nothing else felt okay. Steve couldn't be here for this appointment or for any other. I couldn't talk or text Steve because Medici had gotten rid of my phone and it was doubtful that we'd be able to pull off a SIM switch again. I didn't even know when I would get to see Steve again. And there was a very real possibility that I could get caught in this heist and end up being thrown in jail for years upon years.

What would happen then?

"No," I said aloud, though there was no one else in the room with me. There was something about hearing it out loud that made it much more powerful than it was inside of my own head. "Don't do this. Don't give up."

My breathing slowly began to return to normal and I could feel my heart as it steadied. The terrible things that had been swirling around in my mind disappeared, and I was left with an almost chilling calm. A calm that I recognized from my days with the CIA.

And suddenly I wasn't in that exam room anymore. I was hundreds of miles and thousands of hours away.

"I killed someone today." The confession tasted acrid in my mouth. But it was nothing compared to the way that I felt… sick… dirty.

Across the small table from me, Ari didn't flinch. "Okay."

Irrational anger filled me and I snapped at him. "Are you listening to me? I killed someone today!"

Still, he was calm. "Do you want to tell me how it happened?"

"I don't know how much I can tell you." It was an incredibly petty thing to say. Yes, the CIA would charge me with treason if they knew that I was telling a Mossad agent about my missions. But Ari wasn't just a Mossad agent. He was also one of the only people that could understand.

He sighed. "Take a breath."

"Why?"

"Just do it." His tone left no room for argument. "Breathe in. Now. And hold it."

I did as he'd asked. And just when I thought that I couldn't hold it any longer…

"Breathe out," he said. "And do it again." Once we'd repeated that a few times and I was noticeably calmer, he asked me what had happened.

"I was just supposed to break in and take the laptop," I began once I had given him the basics of the mission. "The scouting had already been done… they just needed someone that was good at… well… being like me. The laptop was always downstairs in the office, which was the most heavily fortified room. But it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle."

When I paused for too long, Ari gave me a gentle nudge. "Obviously, it didn't go according to plan. The agency doesn't send you in to kill people. What happened?"

"I got through the perimeter security and disarmed every security measure in the office. But the laptop… it wasn't in the office like it was supposed to be. I told Mikey and he told me to get out of there, and then I heard the footsteps. I dove behind the desk just in time. If I had stayed where I was… I'd be dead right now."

Ari reached across the table and grabbed my hands, his eyes warm and comforting. "It was self-defense."

"Yes," I agreed. "I just grabbed the gun from the holster and started shooting. When he wasn't shooting anymore, I just ran. I forgot the laptop and the mission and everything and I just ran."

"The first kill is always the hardest."

I ripped my hands away from his and stood up, shocked that he would say such a thing after what I'd just told him. "I don't want there to be any more! I didn't even want to kill this one! I'm not a killer! I'm not…" But I trailed off as I realized what was about to come out of my mouth.

Ari stood. "You're not… what? An assassin like me?"

That wasn't what I'd been trying to say, but there was no point in dodging the truth. We were both too smart for that. "No. I'm not."

He nodded and stepped closer, and I let him pull me into an embrace. I nuzzled against his chest and inhaled the scent of him, allowing it to clear my mind. I just focused on him. On the feeling of his strong hands against the back of my head and braced against my lower back. On the softness of his knit sweater. On anything but the pain that had refused to go away since the incident.

"Some people are under the impression that we assassins are psychopaths that have found the job that we're best at." His voice was a low murmur near my ear. "But I'm not psychopathic. I feel. I feel everything."

"Then how do you do it?"

He sighed and held me even tighter. "I remember who I am. A man that wants to make the world a better place. And if that means that I have to kill bad people to do it, then so be it. But no matter how many people I kill, I'll still be me."

"You make it sound easy."

He chuckled, even though I did not find the situation funny in any way. "It's not. But there comes a time – many times, in fact – that you have to look inside yourself and pull out the last shred of motivation and use it to keep going. You're strong enough to do that. I know you are."

Still back in that apartment in Washington D.C., I hopped off of the exam table and walked over to the sink. I saw my reflection in the mirror – the red eyes and the circles underneath them that no concealer could hide. I saw a pregnant woman that wasn't gaining the weight that she needed to during pregnancy. I saw borderline greasy dark hair pulled up into a messy bun because I hadn't wanted to mess with it.

And then I refused to see that.

In my eyes, I saw years worth of experience that could help me pull off this heist. I saw a pregnant woman that was struggling, but still holding on for herself and her child. I saw hair that had just been pulled up out of the way because there were far more important things to worry about.

"I know who I am," I whispered to my reflection, but maybe also to the memory of Ari, who surely would have been proud of how I'd pulled myself together.

After quickly splashing my face with water and then drying off, I went back out into the waiting room and waved for Medici's guy to follow me. Once in the car, I told him what the doctor had said so that he could inform Medici. I wasn't going to talk to Nicolas again unless it was absolutely necessary.

My plan was to spend the day in bed resting.

Resting and… planning the heist of the century.

Steve

"Let's face it," Max said, ignoring the daggers that Kol was shooting from his eyes. "We're no closer to finding Trent than we were when we got here, we no longer have any communication with Allie, and Medici knows that we're here, so his security is going to be even tighter."

Before Kol could blow up, their father literally stepped between them and held up his hands. I had a feeling that this wasn't the first time that he'd had to come between them, so I let him handle it, as the experience was clearly on his side.

"Enough," he said to Kol, and then he turned his gaze to his other son. "And thank you for that ray of sunshine, Max."

Kol stepped away, but Max (unfortunately) did not. "We don't need sunshine and optimism right now, Dad. We need facts. We need a plan. We need to rescue Trent and Allie before Allie is forced to attempt this heist that might get her arrested and thrown in jail for the rest of her life."

"I doubt," Uncle Edward spoke from his armchair on the other side of the room, "that she would be in jail for the rest of her life."

"I don't want her to be in jail at all," I spoke up, even though I'd remained quiet for the better part of an hour while Kol and Max had been arguing about what the plan should be going forward.

"No one wants her in jail," Max said as though that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard (even though I knew for a fact that he had heard Kol mispronounce "waffle" earlier that same day). "But we need to face the reality of the situation. And we need to come up with a plan. Now."

"No one is disputing that." Kol had turned back around and was clearly not taking any more of Max's shit. "What we don't agree with is your stupid plan."

Max's face turned red, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by someone clearing their throat as they came into the room.

There were gasps.

Kol's jaw dropped almost all the way to the floor.

Max (for once) didn't have anything to say.

Uncle Edward stood and couldn't seem to find his words.

But it was Allie's father's reaction that stumped me… He looked like he was seeing a ghost.

I took the silence to turn and study the woman that was standing in the doorway. Something about her was so familiar…

She was 5'6 or 5'7, with an athletic build. Her almost auburn hair was pulled up into a neat bun which, when coupled with the navy slacks and blazer that she wore, gave her a professional look. But it was her eyes that struck me the most. They were a blue unlike anything I'd ever seen… except for once before.

"Allie," I realized, and then it hit me like a train. "You're Allie's mother."

She shifted slightly to get a good look at me. Once done with her perusal, she frowned slightly. "You I don't know."

Kol stepped up beside me, and I could feel the tension in every muscle of his body. "Nor will you. Goodbye, Mother."

But before she could respond to her son, Allie's father stepped up with an unreadable expression on his face. "Evelyn, perhaps we should talk outside."

They'd only been gone a moment when Max voiced what we were all thinking. "What the fuck just happened?"