by Maya Banks
“Spill it,” Kirk said.
“I said some terrible things to her,” Piers admitted. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I was angry and I lashed out.”
“About?”
Knowing he needed this man’s help, Piers poured out the entire story from start to finish. Maybe if he seemed remorseful enough, Kirk wouldn’t think he was a total bastard and give him any information he had on Jewel.
“You are a first-class jerk, aren’t you? Jewel wouldn’t lie about something like that. Did she ever tell you about her childhood? I’m guessing not or you wouldn’t have shoveled that horse manure at her.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kirk made a sound of disgust. “From the time her parents died when she was barely older than a toddler, she was shuttled from one foster family to another. The first few were merely temporaries as the state tried to place her in a more permanent environment. The first was a real gem of a family. The oldest son tried to abuse her. She told her caseworker, who thankfully believed her. So she was placed in another home, this time with another foster child, a girl about her age. What Jewel didn’t know was that the family never had any intention of taking both girls. They took two so they could choose. And it wasn’t Jewel they chose. So she lost a family she’d grown to trust and a sister she loved.”
“Theos,” Piers said through tight lips.
“Things started looking up when a couple who couldn’t have children decided they wanted to adopt Jewel. She went to live with them. The adoption was nearly final when the mother discovered she was pregnant. After years of infertility, she’d stopped trying and now she was suddenly pregnant. They couldn’t afford more than one child, and you can imagine which one they chose. Once again, Jewel was rejected.”
Piers closed his eyes. Just as he’d rejected her and her baby.
“After that, she didn’t believe in happy endings any longer. You might say she grew up fast. She went through the motions of the system until she was old enough to be out on her own. Since then she’s moved around constantly, never settling in one place, never forging ties with people. Never having a home. She simply doesn’t believe she deserves one.”
Kirk stared hard at Piers. “You’ve taken the one thing from her guaranteed to hurt her the most. If you find her, don’t expect her to welcome you back with open arms.”
Piers stared back at the other man, his stomach churning. “If she contacts you will you let me know immediately? She’s pregnant and alone. I need to find her so I can make this right.”
Kirk studied him for a long moment before finally nodding. Piers handed him his card.
“Call me day or night. It doesn’t matter.”
Kirk nodded and Piers rose to leave.
“Where will you go now?” Kirk asked when he saw Piers to the door.
“To New York to see my brothers. Something I should have done already,” Piers said grimly.
Piers knocked on his brother’s door and waited with dread for it to open. He didn’t like facing his brothers with his mistakes, and he liked asking for their help even less, but if it would get Jewel back, he’d do anything.
“Piers? What the devil are you doing here? Why didn’t you call to let us know you were coming? And where’s Jewel?”
Piers looked up, wincing at the barrage of questions coming from Theron.
“Can I come in?”
Theron stepped to the side. “Of course. We were just about to sit down for dinner. I have to say, you look awful.”
“Thanks,” Piers said dryly.
They walked into the formal dining room, and Chrysander, Marley and Bella all looked up. Only Chrysander seemed surprised. The two women were more subdued.
Chrysander’s sharp gaze found him. “What’s happened?” he asked bluntly.
“Jewel left me,” he said bleakly.
Theron and Chrysander both began talking at once while the women merely exchanged glances and remained silent.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Chrysander said. “Not after she spent all that time—”
Marley cut him off with a sharp elbow to his gut. Then she frowned at him and shook her head. Chrysander gave her a curious look but remained silent.
Bella stood, her hands on her hips. “Why did she leave you, Piers?”
Her voice was deceptively soft. It reminded Piers of the reason men feared women so much to begin with.
“Bella, perhaps Piers would prefer not to tell us such private things,” Theron suggested.
Marley raised an eyebrow. “He’s here isn’t he? He obviously wants our help. We deserve to know if he deserves it or not.”
Piers winced. “If you want to know the truth, no, I don’t deserve your help, but I’m asking for it anyway.”
“Why?” Bella demanded.
Piers looked at both women. “Because I love her, and I made a terrible mistake.”
“So you called the stupid lab and they figured out it was all a mistake then?” Marley said furiously.
Chrysander and Theron turned to Marley and Bella. Marley flushed and cast an apologetic look at Bella, who merely shrugged.
“I haven’t called the lab. I don’t care about the bloody results. I love her and our child. I don’t give a rat’s ass who the biological father is. She’s my daughter, and I don’t plan to give her or Jewel up.”
“Why do I get the impression that we’re the only two without the faintest clue what the devil is going on?” Theron said to Chrysander.
“No, but I bet our lovely wives could fill us in,” Chrysander said as he rounded on Bella and Marley.
Both women crossed their arms over their chests and pressed their lips together.
Frustration beat at Piers’s temples. He walked past his brothers to stand in front of Marley and Bella.
“Please, if you know where she is, tell me. I have to make this right with her. I love her.”
Marley sighed and glanced over at Bella.
“I might have helped her get a place in Miami,” Bella hedged.
Chrysander’s eyebrows went up. “But isn’t that where…”
Marley shot him another furious glance.
“Where in Miami?” Piers said, ignoring the exchange between Marley and Chrysander.
“If you go down there and upset her again, I’ll personally sic every member of Theron’s security team on you,” Bella threatened.
“Just tell me, Bella. Please. I need to see her again. I need to make sure she and the baby are all right.”
“When I spoke to her yesterday, they were just fine,” Marley said casually.
“It would appear that you and Bella have been very busy women,” Chrysander said darkly.
Marley sniffed. “If things were left to you men, the world would be a disaster.”
“I think we’ve been insulted,” Theron said dryly.
Bella thrust the piece of paper she’d been writing on toward Piers. “Here’s her address. She trusted me, Piers. Don’t screw this up.”
Piers hugged her quickly and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you. I’ll bring her back for a visit as soon as I can.”
Jewel smoothed her hand over Eric’s hair as he slept and smiled at how peaceful and innocent he looked. Tucking his blanket around him, she turned to tiptoe from his bedroom.
Once in the kitchen, she prepared a cup of decaf tea and sipped the soothing, warm brew.
Her arrival in Miami couldn’t have come at a better time. Eric had been taken from his previous home and was awaiting placement along with several hundred other children. It had taken several days to complete the paperwork, have the home study and background checks, but Eric was finally hers.
At first he’d been silent and restrained. No doubt he thought his placement with her was as temporary as all his other ones. She didn’t try to persuade him any differently. It would take time to win his trust.
The important thing was that he had a home now. Thanks to Bella’s generosity, they both had a home.
After checking on Eric one last time, she went into the living room and settled into her favorite chair. Nights were difficult, when all was silent. She missed Piers and the easy companionship they’d developed.
She had nearly dozed off in her chair when the doorbell rang. She got up quickly so it wouldn’t disturb Eric and went to look out the peephole. No one knew her here, and she was wary of anyone knocking on her door. Surely Social Services wouldn’t pay a surprise visit at this time of night.
What she saw shocked her to the core.
Piers. Outside her door, looking worried and a little haggard.
With fumbling fingers, she unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door a crack.
“Jewel, thank God,” he said. “Please, can I come in?”
Her grip tightened on the door as she stared through the crack. Anger, pain—so much pain—surged through her veins. What could he possibly have to say to her that hadn’t already been said?
She steeled herself, opened the door just enough that she could see him and he could see her.
“I won’t ask how you found me. It isn’t important.”
He started to interrupt, holding up one hand in a plea, but she shook her head.
“No, you’ve said enough. I let you say all those things, and I took it, but I don’t have to now. This is my home. You have no rights here. I want you to leave.”
Something that looked suspiciously like panic spasmed in his eyes.
“Jewel, I know I don’t deserve even a moment of your time. I said and did unforgivable things. I wouldn’t blame you if you never spoke to me again. But please, I’m begging you. Let me in. Let me explain. Let me make things right between us.”
The sheer desperation in his voice unsettled her. She wavered on the brink of indecision, her anger warring with the desire to relent and let him through the door. He stared at her with tortured eyes and slowly, she stepped back and opened the door wider.
He was inside in an instant. He gathered her in his arms and buried his face in her hair.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, yineka mou.”
He kissed her temple, then her cheek and then clumsily found her lips. He kissed her with such emotion that it staggered her.
“Please forgive me,” he whispered. “I love you. I want you and our baby to come home.”
She pulled away, holding onto his arms for support. “You believe she’s yours?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness or suspicion from her voice.
“I don’t care who the biological father is. She’s mine. Just as you are mine. We’re a family. I’ll be a good father, I swear it. I love her already, and I want us to be a family, Jewel. Please say you’ll give me another chance. I’ll never give you any reason to leave me again.”
He gathered her hands in his, holding them so tightly that she was sure her fingers were bloodless.
“I love you, Jewel. I was wrong. So wrong. I don’t deserve another chance, but I’m asking—no begging—for one because there’s nothing I want more than for you and our daughter to come home.”
She stood there, mouth wide open, trying to process everything he flung at her. He loved her. He still didn’t think he was the father. He didn’t care if he wasn’t the father. He wanted her and the baby back.
Her throat swelled, and her nose stung as tears gathered in her eyes. How difficult must this have been for him, to come all this way, thinking that the baby wasn’t his, but wanting them anyway, accepting them anyway.
She should be angry, but the results had confirmed his worst fears, and yet it didn’t matter.
He’d humbled himself in front of her, made himself as vulnerable as a man could make himself. She had only to look at the sincerity burning like twin flames in his eyes to know that he spoke the truth.
He loved her.
“You love me?”
She needed to hear it again. Wanted it so desperately.
“I love you so much, yineka mou.”
She shook her head. “What does that mean, anyway?”
“What does what mean?”
“Yineka mou.”
He smiled. “It means my woman.”
“But you called me that the first night we made love.”
He nodded. “You were mine even then. I think I fell in love with you that very night.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she swallowed back the sob that clawed its way up her throat.
“Oh Piers. I love you so much.”
She threw herself back into his arms, holding onto him as tightly as she could. He held her just as firmly, his hands stroking her hair. Then his palm slid down to cup her belly.
He trembled against her, his big body shaking with emotion. When he spoke, there was a betraying crack that told her how close he was to breaking.
“How is our child?”
She closed her eyes as tears slipped from the corners. Then she reached down to hold on to his wrist as she stepped away.
“She’s yours, Piers. I swear it to you. I haven’t slept with another man. Only you. Please tell me you believe me. I know what the tests said, but they were wrong.”
He stared back at her, hope lighting his eyes. He swallowed and then swallowed again. “I believe you, yineka mou.”
She closed her eyes and hugged him again, burying her face in his strong chest.
“I’m sorry for hurting you, Jewel. I won’t do so again, you have my word.”
“There is something I must tell you,” she said quietly.
He stiffened against her and slowly drew away, his eyes flashing vulnerability.
“You should sit down.”
“Just tell me. There is nothing we can’t work out.”
She smiled. “I hope you won’t be angry at what I’ve done.”
“We can fix it. Whatever it is. Together, yineka mou.”
She took his hands in hers as they sat on the couch. “I came to Miami to find Eric.”
He went completely still. “Why?”
“I thought you needed closure. I thought if you could see him happy and well adjusted that you could carry that memory instead of the one where he screamed and cried as his mother took him away.”
“And did you find him?”
There was anticipation in his voice that told her how eager he was to know of Eric’s well-being.
“Yes, I found him,” she said softly.
Her grip tightened around his hands.
“Joanna abandoned him two years ago.”
“What?”
Anger exploded from him in a volatile wave. He bolted from the couch, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“Why didn’t she bring him to me? She knew I loved him. She knew I’d take him in.”
Jewel shook her head sadly. “I don’t know, Piers. He was taken into foster care and has been there for the last two years.”
“This must be rectified. I won’t allow him to remain in foster care. Not like you were, yineka mou. I won’t allow your pain to be his.”
She stood beside him, touching his arm. “How did you know about me?”
Piers looked at her with such pain in his eyes. “Kirk told me when I went to San Francisco looking for you. Theos, Jewel. I am so shamed by the way I treated you.”
“Piers, Eric is here,” she said gently.
His mouth dropped open in shock. “Here?”
She nodded. “He’s asleep in his bedroom. You see, I couldn’t allow him to remain in foster care either. I knew how much he meant to you, and I know how painful my childhood was. I searched for Eric before we split up. It was why I came to your office that day. I was going to tell you that I’d found him and that he was in foster care. I thought we could both fly to Miami to get him.”
He closed his eyes and let out a groan. “Instead, I drove you away, and you came here yourself to take care of him.”
“He’s here, and he very much needs a mother and a father.”
“You would do this? You would take in a child that is not your own?�
�� he asked.
“Isn’t that what you plan to do? What you planned to do when you thought our daughter was not your own?”
He gathered her close in his arms, his body trembling against hers. “I love you, yineka mou. So much. Never leave me again. Not even if I deserve it.”
She laughed lightly. “I won’t. Next time, I’ll stay and fight, which is what I should have done this time. You won’t get rid of me so easily again.”
“Good,” he said gruffly. “Now let’s go see our son.”
Epilogue
“S he’s the most beautiful girl in the world,” Piers said proudly as he held up six-week-old Mary Catherine for his brothers to admire.
“You can only say that because Marley is having another boy,” Chrysander pointed out.
“Listen to them,” Bella said in disgust. “Why is it that babies turn men’s minds to mush?”
“I thought that was good sex,” Marley said mischievously.
“Well, that too,” Jewel said with a laugh.
Eric stood with the Anetakis men, looking absurdly proud of his little sister. Jewel’s heart never failed to swell when she saw the love between father and son.
Eric’s adoption had become final just two weeks before Mary Catherine had been born. A week later, Piers had received a frantic phone call from the laboratory that had performed the paternity test. They had, indeed, made a mistake and mixed up his results with someone else’s. Piers had been horrified all over again over the fact that he’d blasted Jewel, but she reminded him that he’d taken her word on faith long before he knew the results were in fact in error. That was enough for her.
Bella had been quick to point out that all they’d needed to do was wait for Mary Catherine to be born because no one in their right mind would ever deny that she was an Anetakis through and through.
She was dark haired and dark eyed, and blessed with the olive complexion of her father. She was for all practical purposes a miniature Piers.
Jewel looked around at her family, all gathered at her home on the cliff