'I'd like to see my son.'
Fury raged through her. 'Your son?' she repeated. 'Just like that? The same son you denied when my sister told you she was pregnant? The same Son you denied even after she notified you of his birth?' She lifted her chin and put her hands on her hips. 'Get out, or I'll call the police!'
David Griffin's eyes swept over her. 'You'll forgive me, Miss Cooper. Somehow it's difficult to be intimidated by a woman dressed as you are.' His eyes moved over her again, his glance pausing at the deep V of her black silk shirt, stopping at the black and gold skirt that ended at her thighs. 'As for the police—might I suggest they'd give you more difficulty than they would me?'
Hot colour rushed to Rachel's cheeks. Don't answer him, she told herself. Let him bait you all he likes. Just find out what he wants and get him out of here.
'You want to see your son,' she repeated. 'Why? Why now?'
He looked around the small room, his gaze taking in the shabby furniture, the playpen, the stacks of baby clothes Rachel had not had time to fold during the day. 'I thought of coming by during the day, but I didn't want to run the risk of your being... occupied.'
How had he made such a simple word sound dirty? she wondered. She took a deep breath and forced her eyes to meet his, trying not to think about how exposed her stupid costume made her feel.
'The only thing I'm occupied with during the day is taking care of my baby...'
'Jamie's not your baby. He was Cassie's—and mine. And I want to see him—I already told you that.'
'How touching! You want to see your son. It's a little late, isn't it? Cassie would have given anything to have heard you say those words. Especially after the promises you made her.'
'Promises? What promises?'
'Don't play games with me. You know what you told Cassie.'
David Griffin's lips drew back from his teeth in a mirthless grin. 'The only promise I ever made your sister was that I'd pay her bar bill.'
'She's dead, for God's sake! Can't you admit the truth, even now? You owed her a lot more than that. You...'
'That's what she wanted me to believe, but she was wrong. She...'
Everything that Rachel had wanted to shout in this man's face for months surfaced. David Griffin hadn't seen Cassie's tear-stained face when she told Rachel she was four months pregnant; he hadn't heard Cassie's cries when he'd had his administrative assistant tell her that her phone calls were not welcome; he didn't know the despair of a pregnant woman abandoned by the man who had seduced her. He would never have recognised the Cassie who had come to Rachel in despair more than a year ago, pleading for help, just as she'd always done when they were children. No, all David Griffin would remember was the preening, self-centred cover girl, the Cassie whose face had smiled from a dozen magazine covers. Rachel took a step forward, her embarrassment over her costume forgotten in her anger.
'How dare you come here now? What's the matter, Mr Griffin? Did things get dull for you tonight? Did you suddenly decide to go slumming and see your son? Haven't you got other children you could have visited tonight and just left us alone?'
She gasped with pain as his hands shot forward and grasped her shoulders. Fury roughened his voice. 'That's enough,' he growled. 'Don't say another word!' His eyes darkened, only the golden glints in the brown irises gleamed like fire. Rachel barely breathed; after a moment, he lifted his hands from her shoulders with exaggerated care and dropped them to his sides. 'I am here precisely because I would never desert a child of mine,' he said carefully. 'While Cassie was alive, I admit, I didn't believe the boy belonged to me. But then I read of her death...' He ran his hand through his hair and turned away. 'Is this how you live?' he asked, looking around the cramped room. 'You and the boy?'
The hair rose on Rachel's arms. Somebody was walking on her grave, her grandmother used to say at such moments, and that was how she felt now, as if something terrible was about to happen. 'There's nothing wrong with how we live,' she said quickly, moving towards the couch. Unconsciously, she snatched up some of Jamie's clothing and began to fold it. 'I admit, it's small, but it was the best I could do after Cassie died. Look, why don't you go? You wanted to satisfy your curiosity, and you have. I'll... I'll send you a photo of Jamie...'
David Griffin took a deep breath. 'It's not curiosity that brought me here,' he said .finally. 'I came because of my son.'
'A minute ago he wasn't your son,' she said, picking up the stack of baby clothes and holding them to her chest. 'I told you, I'll send you a picture.'
'He is my son,' he said flatly. 'I've seen his birth certificate. I'm entered as his father.'
'How? I have the certificate. I...'
'And I've had blood tests done. The boy is mine, Miss Cooper. I'm positive of it.'
'Blood tests? But... but...' Dear God, she thought, money and power could buy anything. Last week the doctor had taken a blood sample, to test for allergies, he'd said. And she'd believed him. She'd believed him... 'What is it you want?' she whispered. 'Now that Cassie's dead, what's the difference?'
David sank down on the couch and stretched his legs out in front of him. There was a sudden weariness in his face.
'It's Cassie's death that's made the difference. When 1 heard she'd died of drugs...'
'She didn't know what she was doing...'
'... when she died, I began to wonder about the boy. He had no father; now, he has no mother.'
'He has me,' Rachel said quickly, her voice sounding breathless. 'He's always had me.'
'Indeed,' said David, his gaze moving over her again until she felt naked under the hard, golden stare. 'You and an old woman who can't even remember her own name half the time.'
'Mrs Gould loves Jamie. And I'm thinking of getting someone else...'
His lips pulled back from his teeth. 'What are you going to pay them with, Miss Cooper? Free drinks at your club?'
A flush darkened her cheeks. 'I'm not ashamed of my job, Mr Griffin. It's honest work and it supports us.'
'Look, this is useless,' he said, getting to his feet. 'There's no easy way to tell you this.' His eyes met Rachel's and she thought she saw pity in their golden depths, then his expression hardened. 'I've come for my son. I'm taking him home.'
'You're what?' Rachel's voice rose an octave. 'Are you crazy?' she demanded. 'This is his home. You can't just walk in here and...' Jamie's thin wail cut through her words. 'Now see what you've done,' she snapped furiously. 'You've awakened my baby!' She turned and hurried to the closed bedroom door. David hesitated for an instant and then followed after her. 'It's all right, sweetheart,' she crooned as she opened the door. 'It's all right. I'm here, Jamie, I'm here.'
The child's voice was ragged with relief. 'Mama?' he sobbed.
Rachel switched on the night light and then bent over the crib. David watched as the crying child within lifted his arms to her. My eyes, he thought with a shock of recognition, while she swooped the baby into her embrace, he has my eyes... Jamie hiccuped softly and Rachel rubbed his back while she cuddled him against her breast. Finally the child's sobs stopped. He gave David a sleepy, curious glance, then his head dropped against Rachel's shoulder. She turned towards David, her eyes pleading with him.
'He's asleep,' she whispered. 'Please, wait for me in the living-room.'
David's eyes were riveted on Jamie. It seemed an eternity before he nodded his head.
'All right,' he said gruffly, 'I'll be in the next room.'
She waited until the door closed behind him. Then, carefully, she laid the sleeping child back in the crib and drew the cover over him.
'Don't you worry,' she whispered, stroking his cheek. 'I won't let anyone take you from me, Jamie, you'll see. We'll be fine as long as we have each other.'
She took a deep breath and switched out the light. David Griffin had appeared out of nowhere and he'd go back to nowhere just as quickly. Wasn't possession nine-tenths of the law? Jamie was hers, not anybody else's. Squaring her shoulders, Rachel stepped into the livin
g-room.
'Mr Griffin, I appreciate your concern,' she began, 'but it's misplaced. Jamie's been doing just fine without you...'
'He'll do a hell of a lot better with me.'
'I don't think you understand,' she said carefully. 'I have custody of him. I'm his aunt.'
'You have possession, Miss Cooper,' he said coldly. 'And you're not even a blood relative. You and Cassie were stepsisters.'
'I love him,' said Rachel, hating the way her voice trembled.
'Jamie is my son. Nothing you can say or do can alter that fact.'
'And he loves me,' she said, as if David hadn't spoken. A tremor raced through her and she wrapped her arms around herself. 'Have you thought about that? He loves me. He... he thinks I'm his mother...'
'Yes,' David said unpleasantly, 'I noticed.'
'It must be wonderful to have the money to buy everything you want,' she said, fighting against the quiver in her voice. 'But you'll never be able to buy that baby's love. Never. He doesn't even know you...' She swallowed and took a breath. 'Look,' she said slowly, 'we can work something out. I won't object if you want to see your.... want to see Jamie. I... I'd even understand if you wanted to take him out for the day...' A faint smile flickered at the corners of David's mouth and Rachel plunged on with hope born of desperation. 'You could do that, you know, you could even have him for a weekend once in a while, when he's older... Damn you, David Griffin, why are you laughing?'
'Are you sure you and Cassie were only stepsisters? That's pretty good, Miss Cooper. Cassie laid a neat little scheme to con me into marriage and I managed to sidestep it—and now here you are, offering me what sounds a hell of a lot like the kind of visitation rights a divorced father gets from his wife. Maybe you'd let me send the boy some support money too. Wouldn't that be nice, eh?' The smile vanished from his face and he took a quick step forward. Despite herself, Rachel stumbled back. 'I don't know what your game is, Rachel,' he said softly. 'Maybe you really care for the child. Maybe he fills some kind of emptiness inside you.' He moved forward again, until only inches separated them. 'Or are you like Cassie?' he asked in an ominous voice. 'Do you bring men here where my son can see what you do?'
Rachel shook her head wildly. 'I don't know what you're talking about,' she whispered. 'I'm a cocktail waitress, I told you that. I...'
'It's a touching story,' growled David. 'And you do it all for Jamie.'
'Yes,' she said, 'for the money...'
His hand closed around the dark spill of her hair. 'I'll bet it's for the money,' he murmured, drawing her towards him. 'Just like Cassie...'
His mouth came down on hers, covering it with a cruel passion. She cried out against his lips, but he was too strong; too certain of what he believed. Rachel's eyes filled with tears. They crept down her cheeks as she stood rigid in his unyielding embrace. His hand spread in the tangle of her hair and he cupped the back of her head. For the span of a heartbeat her mouth trembled beneath his, then she put her hands against his chest and pushed free of his punishing embrace.
'You son of a bitch,' she whispered. 'Let go of me! You're everything Cassie said you were!'
The golden eyes flashed darkly. 'Cassie didn't know a damned thing about me.'
'She knew you didn't want her baby.'
His lips twisted in a parody of a smile. 'She was right, Rachel. But I want mine. And he's not going to stay here another night.'
She shook her head in disbelief. 'No, please... That's cruel!'
His hands fell to his sides and he laughed. 'Cruel? To acknowledge the boy as my son and heir? To take him to my home and give him everything money can buy? Is that your definition of cruelty, Rachel?'
'But you don't... you don't want him... You don't know him... He doesn't like cold milk—you don't even know that. You don't know that he has bad dreams unless you leave the door open while he's falling asleep. You don't know that he loves Jack and the Beanstalk but he cries if you read him Little Red Riding Hood...'
She caught her lip between her teeth. What was she doing? She could hear the desperation in her voice. She sounded pathetic. Jamie's idiosyncrasies wouldn't matter to a man like this, a man whose money and power could buy everything. There had to be a way to reach him, a way to stop him destroying her and Jamie. Think of something, she told herself furiously. Think, damn you, Rachel Cooper, think!
'You can't get away with something like this,' she said with more conviction than she felt. 'No court would take him from me.'
'No court would hesitate. My lawyers have assured me of that.'
'You can't just steal him from me! I'll... I'll go to the newspapers. I'll tell them about you. I'll...'
'You'd have to tell them about Cassie, too,' he said softly. 'Have you thought about that?'
'I don't care,' she said, desperation in her voice. 'I'll do whatever I must. Jamie needs me. He'll be lost without me. He...'
Suddenly he nodded his head. 'All right, Rachel, you've made your point. Jamie and I don't know each other yet, and I don't want to make this any harder for him than it must be. You can come with him. I'll hire you as Jamie's nursemaid.'
No, she thought, this was his idea of a joke...
David paused and then nodded again. 'Yes, that's what we'll do.' A smile touched his lips. 'You can stay with him for a while.'
'A while?' she repeated in disbelief.
David shrugged his shoulders. 'Until he can adapt to someone who's better qualified to care for him. And then I'll give you a substantial bonus and...'
'You can't buy me off,' she said bitterly, 'just as you couldn't buy Cassie off.'
He shrugged impatiently. 'Take it or leave it,' he said, glancing at his watch. 'I have an important appointment tomorrow and I've got to get some sleep tonight. Are you going to take my offer or aren't you? The choice is yours.'
The choice is mine, she thought, staring at his expressionless face. But David Griffin had made the choice for her, just as he had made it for Cassie.
'Yes,' she murmured, hating herself for being so powerless, 'yes, I'll accept your offer.'
'Good,' he said, patting her shoulder. 'You won't regret it.'
But you will, she thought, repressing a shudder as his hand touched her. You will.
CHAPTER TWO
'WE'LL be at the house soon. Is there anything you want my housekeeper to make ready for the child?'
Rachel turned at the sound of David Griffin's voice. The emotionless words were the first he had spoken during the past two hours as they drove up the Hudson River towards the darkly looming Catskill Mountains. She turned towards him, watching as he reached towards the car telephone beneath the dashboard. Jamie stirred in her arms and sighed in his sleep.
'Nothing, thank you,' she said with curt formality. 'I have everything I need.'
David glanced at her. 'Shall I call her and ask her to prepare some breakfast?'
'Breakfast? At this hour?' She shook her head. 'All Jamie will want is his bottle. And you don't have to bother her on my account.'
'I won't be bothering her, Rachel. I've told her to be waiting for us when we arrive.'
And she'll do your bidding, Rachel thought. She's in your employ, just as I am. She turned away from his impassive profile and stared blindly out the window of the luxurious BMW sedan. At least there was some comfort in knowing there was a housekeeper waiting for them. They were driving along roads so isolated that she had felt they were leaving civilisation behind. There hadn't been time to tell anyone that she'd gone with this man, not that there was anyone to tell, really. Her parents had been dead for eight years, ever since her eighteenth summer. And her grandmother was only a childhood memory. Mrs Gould, perhaps, but she was going off to visit her son. The owner of the Golden Rooster would grumble for an evening and then replace her with another girl. David Griffin hadn't given her the time to do anything except pack a small suitcase. He'd stationed himself at the doorway of her tiny living-room and glanced at his watch.
'You have half an hour,' he'
d said. 'Just take what you and the child will need for the day. One of my people will come in and pack the rest of your things.'
It was an order, not a suggestion. Anger blossomed within her like a hot white flower, but she forced it away. Don't antagonise him, she warned herself. He could just as easily change his mind and take Jamie away without her. She was forced to do as she'd been told.
His eyes were on her as she pulled a suitcase from the closet, and she packed without conscious thought, her hands and body functioning automatically while her mind remained detached, racing in ever-tightening circles, searching for a way out of this nightmare. But there was none that she could see. 'The Hawk', the papers called him, a predator who swooped down on defenceless corporations and carried them off. He did the same with women, Cassie had said, although they were easier prey than the corporations. If David Griffin set out to seduce a woman, she was going to be his. He was too charming, too sensual, too...
Rachel had glanced at him as she packed. There was nothing charming about him now. His mouth was drawn into a cruel line, and his eyes were cold and hooded. The Hawk indeed! she thought, cramming things into her suitcase. And she and Jamie were certainly defenceless, although why he'd chosen to come into their lives was a mystery. He was here because Jamie needed a father, he'd said, but the boy had needed a father long before Cassie's death.
'Aren't you finished yet?' he asked impatiently. 'I told you to hurry.'
Rachel slammed the suitcase closed and turned to face him. 'I know what you told me,' she snapped. 'Would you like me to click my heels and, salute too?'
His smile was cold. 'Perhaps you'd prefer not to accompany the child, Rachel. That can be arranged.'
That's it, Rachel, she thought as her heart began to race. Make him change his mind about letting you go with Jamie. That'll be marvellous, won't it? She turned away from his empty stare and swallowed the angry words that filled her mouth. Everything had happened too suddenly. She needed time to think, time to plan. And there would be time, if only she didn't let rage make her say or do something stupid. Carefully she walked past him to the bedroom, turning on the lamp nearest the door. Jamie stirred almost immediately and began to cry. Rachel bent over the crib and lifted him into her arms, cuddling his sleep-warmed body against her.
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