by Diana Gardin
“You can’t whoop, Night! I’m the winner, only I can whoop!” He scolds the dog while scratching him behind the ear.
Night butts the boy with his big head and barks again.
“Fine.” Decker sighs. “You can have the win this time. Brat.”
He climbs onto a stool and tosses me a grin before reaching into the jar at the center of the island for a chocolate chip cookie.
“Hey!” Rayne’s tone is half-jovial, half-commanding. “At least grab a plate.”
“I’m on it.” I saunter toward the cabinet, grab a plate from the shelf, and lower it onto the countertop in front of Decker. Then I grab two more cookies to add to his pile. “How was your first day of school, Deck?”
Decker shrugs, his mouth too full of chocolate and sugar to answer. Rayne nails me with an eye roll. “This is what it’s like, living with an eight-year-old. Never more than a one-word answer to the question ‘how was school today?’” She pulls up the stool beside Decker and pulls me in with a sexy smirk. “Watch and learn, mister. Hey, Deck?”
Decker swallows his cookie and turns to face her. “Yeah, Mom?”
“Did you write anything down at school today? Say, maybe some sentences about some topic or other, or maybe some numbers that were added together to create new, bigger numbers?” She places her chin in one hand, focusing on him with a winning smile.
Decker contemplates, before his face lights up. “Oh, yeah! The teacher put a picture on the screen of this awesome giant panda fighting with an orangutan. They were in some kind of tropical jungle or something. And I wrote a paragraph about it that the teacher asked me to read for the class. And then in math we worked together in a group to solve a story problem about making change at the mall. Pretty cool, right?”
She beams at him, tousling his hair.
I’m floored, watching the interaction with pure amazement. I pull out the stool across from them and sink onto it, my eyes never leaving Rayne’s face. “That was…how’d you know exactly what to ask to make him talk?”
She shrugs, leaning back and folding her arms across her chest. “It’s called Magical Mommy Juice. See, I drink it in the morning? And then it helps me interact with my son in a productive way all day.”
“Huh. Magical Mommy Juice? Do you think they make something called Delivering Dad—” I cut my words off abruptly as my eyes widen, realizing what I almost did.
Shit. I almost jumped the gun there.
Rayne isn’t fazed; she gives me a reassuring smile as she wraps one arm around Decker. “So remember how I told you that Jeremy and I have something to talk to you about?”
His green eyes slide to mine with curiosity before nodding. “Yeah.”
“Um.” She searches his face, looking for the words that will make this monumental discussion easier for him to grasp. “Jeremy isn’t just a friend, Decker. He’s so much more than that to me…and to you.”
Picking up his second cookie, he takes a bite and munches, waiting. “Okay. So what is he, then?”
There’s a tiny hint of worry in Decker’s face as he glances around the kitchen. He looks down at Night, lying faithfully on the floor beside him before finding my gaze again. “Do we have to leave?”
My heart stalls; just the thought that he might think I don’t want him here, with me, brings the words that I want to say to the surface.
Catching his eye, I glance at Rayne for the OK. She nods, and I take a deep breath before plunging right in.
“No, Deck. You never have to leave. I mean…I don’t want you and your mom to go because you’re both really, really important to me.”
Decker tilts his head to the side, a quizzical expression crossing his face. Then he nods, as if in understanding. “Oh, because you want my mom to be your girlfriend?”
God, how am I messing this up this badly?
I know that Decker won’t be able to wrap his head around it, but Rayne is so much more to me than a girlfriend. And she always will be.
“Not exactly. Well, kind of. I mean, I care about your mom and you, Decker.”
His little face screws up in confusion. “Me?”
Rayne’s arm tightens around him as her eyes fill with tears. Seeing them starts an ache in my chest that won’t go away until I reassure him that I care about him because he’s mine. I more than care about him. I love him with every fiber of my being, and not because he’s earned it, or has done something to make me happy, but because I’m his father and my love began unconditionally the second I knew he existed.
I reach out and take his hand, dwarfing it in my large one. “I care about you, Deck, because I’m your father.”
Silence creeps in from the edges of the room, covering us in its heavy blanket until Rayne can no longer stand it. Decker is staring at his plate, his cookies forgotten, and I’m staring at Decker, waiting for his response. Any response.
“Decker, sweetie?” Her voice is soft, nudging. “Did you hear what Jeremy said? He’s your dad.”
Decker glances at her. “I thought you said you didn’t know where my father was?”
She nods. “I didn’t, sweetie. I mean…Jeremy and I went to high school together. That’s when we met and that’s when we created you. But after that, we lost touch and I didn’t know where he was. It was coincidence that I ran into him here…or fate.”
Decker glances at me. “Why didn’t you call me? Or tell me happy birthday? Or send me Christmas presents?”
His voice isn’t accusing; it’s just demanding. He genuinely wants to know why I never reached out to him. And my heart hurts, just knowing that he thinks I ever would have purposely neglected him.
Rayne steps in again. “Honey, that’s not Jeremy’s fault. He never even knew he was a daddy.”
Another round of silence covers us while Decker thinks this over. “You just found out that you’re my dad?”
I nod, never taking my gaze from his face. I’m watching him, studying him, wanting nothing more than for this to be okay with him.
“Yes. There’re a lot of reasons, Deck…grown-up reasons, I mean, that I didn’t know about you before. There’s no fault here, not mine or your mom’s and especially not yours. But now that I know, all I want is to be here. I want you and your mom with me. Can you understand that?”
His eyes, finally full of understanding and now a little bit of uncertainty, stare me down. His dark hair falls into his eyes and his bottom lip disappears between his teeth. “You…want me? I mean, you want me to stay here? And Mom, too?”
Unable to stay seated any longer, I round the island and stop in front of him. Pulling another stool around so we’re face-to-face, I put a hand around his neck as I stare into his eyes. I’m begging him to see the sincerity there. “Yeah. I want you. More than anything in the whole entire world. I’m so happy about this, Deck. Happier than you could ever know. And I hope that eventually you’ll be happy about it, too.”
Finally, finally, his face breaks into one of his true-blue grins. The sight almost causes me to break down, but I swallow the enormous ball of emotion in my throat and return his smile.
“I’m happy about it.”
I glance up at the ceiling, thanking God.
“But…what am I supposed to call you?” Decker’s uncertainty shows in his little confused expression.
Still looking into his eyes, I make sure he knows I’m not going to be disappointed by anything he does right now. “You can call me whatever you want. It doesn’t have to be ‘Dad’ right now. Not until you’re ready.”
He nods, giving me one of his grins, and my chest constricts.
Everything is out in the open. Glancing at Rayne, her eyes are glistening with tears and she nods at me with a smile on her face. The enormity of this moment is taking up so much space in my heart there’s no room for anything else but the two of them. My family.
My everything.
23
Wagner
As I glance around me, my skin crawls. The hotel room I’ve been holed up
in since my arrival in Wilmington is so far beneath my usual accommodations. I now know for a fact I can never be anything but filthy rich. Which means that silencing the little assistant bitch who forced my hand is even more important than I originally thought.
The private investigator I hired, who came highly recommended from my new business partner, actually had the nerve to suggest I lower myself to even dirtier standards. He suggested that I stay in a roach-infested motel, which I laughed uncontrollably about until he informed me of the serious nature of his advisement. At which time I told him to get the hell out of my face and proceeded to book a room at the Amenity Inn and Suites.
And apparently, in places like this the word Suites is a blatant and inexcusable fabrication.
Leaning back in the uncomfortable, stiff-backed desk chair, I stare toward the darkened town alight outside the fourth-story window. My thoughts are calm, despite the fact that my emotions are heightened and frenetic, something that never bodes well for those around me. The cell phone beside me on the desk vibrates and I snatch it up.
“This better be good news.”
“It’s not.”
With a barely stifled snarl of infuriation my back teeth snap together as my face contorts.
“I hired you to do a job. That job needs to be successfully completed or you’ll receive nothing from me other than a promise that your life will become hell on earth from this point on.” My voice, layered with subdued fury, is staccato and sharp.
“I understand, sir. We’ll be trying a different tack. We sent one man after the girl, thinking it would be sufficient. She was able to get away, and because of that we’ll adjust our tactics and the next time we’ll be successful.”
Standing, the phone clenched tightly in my hand, I suck in deep breaths in order to calm myself. “And exactly when do you think that will be?”
My vision is hazed with red. In my head, I picture someone trying to grab the gorgeous, raven-haired ex-assistant and my cock grows instantly hard. She’s a feisty one, she would have fought. Hard.
I want to be the one she’s fighting. I’ll enjoy it, relish it, even. I want her kicking and screaming and beating my chest as I make her body mine in every despicable way I can think of. And I won’t stop until she’s pleading for more.
Because I’m going to make her like it. And then she’ll learn that my way is the only way she’ll get to keep breathing. I don’t want to kill a body like that. Not if I don’t have to.
I want to appreciate a body like that.
Adjusting myself, I focus again on the conversation, catching him midexplanation.
“I don’t care how you do it. Get her and bring her to me. Soon. Do you understand?”
I can almost hear the man on the other end of the line nodding. “Yes, sir.”
I end the call and drop the phone down on the desk. And then I lower myself into the chair and open my laptop. My fingers fly across the keyboard until I find the file I’m looking for, clicking OPEN.
It contains the details of my new business deal, contingent on the rolling out of the new tech that will change the way everyone in the world communicates. My lips pull into a hopeful smile.
This deal will go through. I will become the most successful and innovative technological powerhouse on the planet. Horton Tech will become even more successful than I ever could have believed, thanks to my new partner.
And I’ll have the incomparable, newly tamed Rayne Alexander in my bed.
And all will be right with the world.
24
Rayne
Seeing the look on my son’s face tonight when he looked into Jeremy’s eyes and realized for the first time that he was looking at his father nearly broke me. The longing he’s been feeling for the man who helped create him, the ever-present hole in his life that existed no matter how hard I’ve tried to fill it…it’s all been repaired. Now Jeremy and Decker can begin the road to finding the bond that they should have had from the very beginning.
The one that was stolen from us, thanks to Jeremy’s grandparents’ calculations and their manipulation of two teenagers.
Mason and Alyssa Teague have been on my mind very little over the past nine years. I chalked their cruelty up to being rich, entitled assholes. I assumed they had gotten to Jeremy and corrupted him, too. After I escaped Wilmington and never looked back, I just never wanted to give them the satisfaction of dwelling over what they’d tried to do to me. How they, along with my uber-conservative parents, had tried to take my choice away.
“Why do you think they did it?” My hands shake the tiniest bit as I lift my wineglass to my lips and sip the crimson liquid.
My legs, sprawled across Jeremy’s lap as we sit on the love seat in the cozy sitting area of his bedroom, coil with tension as I bring up the topic the Teagues.
“Do you think it’s because they really hate me that much? They couldn’t stand the thought of you having a life with me? Of me being the mother of your child? What’d I ever do to them?”
Jeremy’s strong fingers, massaging the stress from my calves, still. “No, baby. It had less to do with hate and everything to do with control. My grandmother is one thing, a snob on her best day, but my grandfather couldn’t stand the thought of not being in total control of my future. You were a wild card, especially when you got pregnant. He saw an opportunity to work the situation to his advantage, and he pounced on it.”
Staring down at the wineglass, absently swirling the drink around and around, I sigh. “Well, I guess I put the kibosh on that real quick when I up and left without a word. And he must have known that I was somewhere out there raising his grandson. You know? And he never said anything to you. And he never tried to contact me, ask about Decker…nothing.”
Jeremy had resumed the massage, but then his fingers go still again, and this time he squeezes as the muscles in his hands tense up.
“What, Jer?”
He glances at me, his gaze pensive and a little bit cautious. “It’s just…that part doesn’t sound like him. Now that I think about it, I can’t imagine that he’d just let you go like that and never attempt to find you. It’s not his style. He’d want to know where you were, and he wouldn’t have stopped until he did.”
All the blood in my body slows as I contemplate that chilling thought. “You think he knew where I was? And he never said anything?”
Jeremy smoothes his hands up my legs, trying to reassure me. I take comfort in his touch, letting his hands warm me where I’m suddenly cold. “Baby…I went to see him today.”
I sit up, my spine straightening so fast that Jeremy’s hands fall away from me. “What? Your grandfather?”
He reaches for the wineglass, setting it down on the small oak table. Gathering my hands in his, his thumbs rub calming circles over my skin. “Yeah. And it wasn’t a good visit, not by a long shot. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since I left for the army years ago.”
Pushing away from him I stand and pace away, reaching the other end of the room where the bathroom door lays closed before spinning back around to face him. “Are you fucking serious right now, Jeremy? And you didn’t think I’d want to know?”
He stands, too, spreading his arms out wide in an open gesture. “I had to do it, Rayne. And I knew it’d upset you. I had to get it off my chest. How pissed I am about what they did to us. I wanted to get answers. I said my peace, and then I got the hell out of there.”
My breath is coming fast, and the anger inside me curls my hands into fists as I stalk back toward him. “I don’t want anything to do with them! I don’t want them near Decker. Not ever!”
Jeremy’s voice is calm, but there’s an edge to it that lets me know he’s just as upset as I am. “I know that, Rayne. I don’t want them to have anything to do with our family either. But they essentially stole my family from me. I couldn’t let that go without telling them exactly how I felt, and finding out the reason why.”
Closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose with one
hand while the other floats to my hip, I attempt a calming breath. It helps to slow down my racing thoughts, so I take another. “Okay…yeah, I guess I get that. Just…the thought of them trying to insert themselves in our lives again after everything…it scares me, Jer. And I don’t handle being scared very well.”
His hands rise to the sides of my face, his palms so big they span my cheekbones to the top of my neck. “Rayne…you have to trust me. You have to know that now that I have you and Decker in my life, you’re both my first priority. Your safety, Decker’s well-being…they come first with me. I’ll never let anything happen to you again. Look at me.” He tilts my head slightly, forcing my eyes up to his. “Tell me you trust me. I need to hear that. I need to know it, and I need it to be true.”
I stare into his unwavering gaze. His eyes tell me a story; they let me know that every word he says to me is something he’d swear on. They say that he might not have known what anchored him before, looking for his purpose in the armed forces, in the team, in his house, and on his boat…but now he’s found it in us. In me and in our son. They tell me that he would absolutely lay down his life if he had to in order to protect me.
And I trust it. All of it.
But with that trust comes a certain amount of fear that I can’t deny. Now that Jeremy and Decker have found one another, they deserve a chance. They don’t deserve to be torn apart because of a mess I’ve made.
I trust him completely. But I don’t trust the universe to keep us together when it’s all said and done.
Gripping his wrists with my hands, I return his stare with a fierce one of my own. Then, keeping my eyes locked on his, I let him go and slowly remove my clothes. My shirt is the first thing to go, yanking it up and over my head before tossing it over my shoulder. My skirt is next, sliding down my thighs and finding itself in a heap right beside my shirt. Jeremy’s throat works, his Adam’s apple bobbing as I reach up for the clasp of my bra, loosening it and tossing the garment on the floor. When my thumbs hook into the side of my panties and drag them down over my hips, his eyes flare with heated intensity and his hands curl into fists at his sides.