“I can’t imagine anything we have to talk about.”
Trevor stared at her a long time before saying. “I can.” He pushed himself away from the doorjamb and walked past her into the house.
Corinthians took a sharp intake of breath when their bodies accidentally touched when he passed. When he turned around to face her, she stared at him, angered that he thought he could do whatever pleased him. “I didn’t invite you in.”
“I promise not to take up much of your time.”
Corinthians tried not to focus on what he was wearing, but couldn’t help herself. The open V of his shirt exposed a portion of his dark, hairy chest. It was the same chest she could barely keep her eyes off during the times he’d walked around in the jungle shirtless.
She shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts clouding it. She needed to get her mind back on track. Closing the door, she walked into the room to face him. “What do you want?”
Trevor took a deep breath. When he had arrived, he had had every intention of just coming right out and asking her if she was pregnant. But when she had answered the door, he’d almost reached out and taken her into his arms and kissed her, wanting to experience the taste of her again. He wanted the feel of her in his arms.
“Trevor, I asked why—”
Corinthians stopped talking when suddenly the queasiness in her stomach returned. Muttering a barely audible “excuse me,” she dashed down the hall to her bedroom.
That was where Trevor found her moments later stretched out across the bed. When she heard the sound of him entering the room, she tried to pull herself together and sit up, but couldn’t. She was too weak to move. What she was experiencing this morning was worse than ever. Coupled with her nausea, she felt unusually weak and dizzy.
“Corinthians?”
She forced herself to turn toward the soft sound of Trevor’s voice. He was kneeling beside the bed. “Are you all right?” His voice was filled with deep concern.
Although she answered with a slight nod, the truth of the matter was that she was not all right. She no longer needed a pregnancy test to tell her what her body was forcing her to accept.
“Stay put, I’ll be right back.”
She watched him walk into the connecting bathroom and return moments later with a warm, damp washcloth. He sat on the side of the bed and gently slipped his arms around her. Lifting her into his lap, he began to lightly wipe her face. After he had finished, he tenderly stroked her cheek with his knuckles, gazing down at her intently.
“You know, don’t you?” Corinthians managed to get out her words in a shaky whisper. There was no way he could not have seen the pregnancy kit sitting big as day on the counter in her bathroom.
His dark eyes held hers. “Yeah, I know. I had a gut feeling about it. That’s why I came,” he said quietly.
“But how?” she asked with wonder in her voice.
“It doesn’t matter.” He gently eased her out of his arms and placed her on her back in the center of the bed. Kicking off his shoes, he lay down beside her and cuddled her in his arms, placing his hand on her unsettled stomach. He began rubbing it soothingly. Through the cotton material of her dress, she felt him trail his fingers across her belly and around her navel, the place where his child nested inside of her.
A lump formed in Corinthians’s throat. Although Trevor didn’t love her, he had always been there to take care of her when she needed taking care of. And in his own way, he was taking care of her now. She tried to stifle a yawn or two, then gave up. She slowly drifted off to sleep with Trevor holding her in his arms.
Trevor continued to softly massage Corinthians’s stomach long after he knew she had gone to sleep. He knew he should get up, leave and come back later so the two of them could talk. But the rough airplane ride into Louisiana, combined with a number of sleepless nights, made his eyes flutter a few times. Then like Corinthians, he, too, drifted off to sleep.
Gina pulled her car up in front of the quaint oceanside inn. It was a beautiful Spanish-style structure that overlooked the Gulf of Mexico. She wondered why her mother had asked that she join her for brunch there. Her mother’s voice on the phone had been rushed, almost anxious. And the only thing she had said was to join her for brunch at this place. She had a surprise for her.
Taking a deep sigh, she looked out over the ocean, watching the waves repeatedly hit against the rocks just offshore. The view was breathtaking. She wondered what had made her mother select such a charming and enchanting place to eat. The setting was too beautiful to just eat and leave. It was a place a person would want to stay awhile to enjoy and appreciate the surrounding beauty, savor the moments and cherish the memories. It would be a perfect place for lovers.
After entering the building, she glanced around the restaurant, searching for her mother. She saw her waving at her from across the room, trying to get her attention.
Gina smiled and began walking in that direction. When she got closer, she slowed her pace when she recognized her father sitting next to her mother. A number of questions flooded her mind.
“Mom? Dad? What’s going on?” she asked, pulling out a chair and joining them at the table.
Stella Grant smiled brightly. “Your father and I have something to tell you. We wish Trevor could be here, but he left a message on my answering machine saying he had to go away unexpectedly on business.”
Gina nodded. She then looked at her parents, waiting. “Well? What is it you and Dad have to tell me?”
Gina watched as her father reached across the table and took her mother’s hand in his. She then watched her mother’s face light up with a beautiful, peaceful glow, one she had never seen before. And her father, she thought, seemed more relaxed, at ease and also at peace.
She glanced from one to the other. “Mom? Dad? What’s going on?”
It was Maurice Grant who finally spoke. “Gina, your mother and I have decided to renew our vows and live the rest of our lives together as man and wife. We love each other very much and don’t want to waste any more years apart.”
Gina closed her eyes. It had been nearly twenty years since a little girl had gotten on her knees and asked God to bring her parents back together. It had been a request she had continued to pray for over the years. The answer had been a long time coming, but He had come through for her.
“Gina, are you all right?”
Her mother’s soft voice was filled with concern. Gina opened her eyes, not ashamed of the tears that filled them. The smile she gave her parents was full, happy and, most of all, thankful. “I’m fine, Mom. It’s just that I’m filled with so much happiness for the two of you. I just had to take a moment to thank God for everything. He has truly answered my prayer.”
“Corinthians Elizabeth Avery, wake up!”
As the sharp, loud voice of her father suddenly demanded, Corinthians came awake immediately. Her sudden movement also made Trevor open his eyes. He wiped the sleep from his face and found himself staring up into Reverend Avery’s deep, dark frown. Next to the man’s side was a nice-looking older woman Trevor could only assume was Corinthians’s mother.
“Dad! Mom!” Corinthians was saying, scrambling off the bed. “When did you get back?”
“Never mind when we got back. I want to know what’s going on here?” her father asked. The tone of his voice did not hide the fact that he was upset.
“It’s not what you think, Dad. See, we still have our clothes on.”
Reverend Avery’s frown deepened. “Is that supposed to assure me of anything, young lady? You better have a good reason why you and Mr. Grant are sharing a bed in my house. I want to see the both of you in my study in less than five minutes.”
Without saying anything else, he turned and walked out of the bedroom.
Corinthians wished there were some place where she could go and hide. She turned pleading eyes to her mother who was still standing next to the bed. “Mom, please, talk to him.”
Her mother shook her head. “No, sweet
heart, this is one you’ll have to handle on your own.”
Maudlin Avery then turned her full attention to the man who had not made an effort to get up out of her daughter’s bed. So this was Trevor Grant, the man who had made her son’s knees shake and had put her daughter in a tizzy when she had awakened in Key West to discover him gone. He was also the man—if her guess was right—who had fathered her first grandchild.
“Mr. Trevor Grant, I assume,” she said, extending her hand out to him. “I’m glad to meet you.”
Trevor relaxed somewhat. The smile on Mrs. Avery’s face was friendly. He couldn’t help but return the smile. “Yes, ma’am. I’m glad to meet you, too,” he said, sitting up and accepting her handshake.
“I’ll give you fair warning, Mr. Grant. My husband gave you and Corinthians less than five minutes. If I were you two, I’d make it even less than that.” Smiling brightly, Maudlin Avery turned and walked out of the room.
Corinthians closed her eyes, feeling a headache coming on. She knew her father was livid. It didn’t matter that she and Trevor were fully clothed. All that mattered to him was that he had found them in bed together…under his roof.
“Corinthians?”
Corinthians eyes flew open and she gave Trevor a look that could have melted steel. Why did she always manage to find herself in some of the most embarrassing situations with this man?
“You have to go so I can smooth things over with my father. I appreciate your being here when I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m fine now. It’ll be best if you go.”
Trevor looked at Corinthians, totally lacking an understanding of where she was coming from. “Go? And just where do you expect me to go? You heard your father. He wants to see the both of us in his study.”
“Let me handle Dad. I’ll—”
“I’m not letting you handle anything. There’s a lot your father and I have to talk about and it’s best we do it now. I want him to know that I plan on upholding my responsibility as your baby’s father.”
“What! Are you nuts? Dad doesn’t even know I might be pregnant. Even with these symptoms I’ve been having lately, there’s a chance something else might be wrong with me. Let’s not get carried away and blow things out of proportion. Just leave and let me handle things with my father.”
Trevor gave Corinthians a hard look. “I’m not leaving. If you don’t tell your father you’re pregnant, then I will. I won’t let him think I’m not man enough to take responsibility for what I did.”
Corinthians sucked in a furious breath. She had heard what he’d said earlier, before they had fallen asleep on her bed. The only reason he had come was because he’d had a gut feeling she was pregnant. He had not come because he loved her and wanted to be with her. The last thing she wanted was Trevor in her life because of any sense of responsibility he felt.
“I don’t need for you to take responsibility for anything, Trevor Grant. Even if I am pregnant, I won’t need your help. I will raise my child alone. I’ll be fair and allow you visitation rights, but—”
“Don’t even go there, Corinthians. I won’t be just some visitor in my child’s life. I refuse to be a part-time dad. So you may as well get used to the idea that we’re getting married.”
“Married?”
“Yeah, married. I suggest you go ahead and take that pregnancy test because if you are carrying my child, we will be getting married.”
Corinthians gave him a look that told him just what she thought, but for good measure and to make sure there wasn’t any misunderstanding, she stated it anyway as she glared up at him. “I am not marrying you.”
Trevor’s eyes narrowed and he glared back at her. “Yes, you are.”
Corinthians was completely livid. She tipped her head to look up at him, with hands on both of her hips and her dark brown eyes flashing. “I am not!”
“We’ll see, won’t we? If you’re pregnant, we get married.” He walked toward the door.
“Don’t hold your breath.”
Trevor turned to her and smiled. “I remember having a similar conversation with you about two years ago when you told me not to hold my breath about something else.”
Corinthians turned a darker shade of brown when she also remembered that conversation.
“I suggest we not keep your father waiting. And I also suggest that you use that kit in there to find out for certain if you’re pregnant. I’d hate to jump the gun and give your parents false information.”
Without giving Corinthians a chance to respond, Trevor opened the door and closed it behind him.
Colonel Ashton Sinclair waited for the man to finally show his face. He had known that he was being followed from the time he had left the embassy. He continued to sit in his car in a semidarkened area of the parking garage of his apartment complex, waiting. It shouldn’t be long now. He would just wait it out.
Although he didn’t see anything, he heard a faint sound of movement. His ears sharpened, his vision keened, he scanned the area, and still he didn’t see anything.
Ashton’s eyes narrowed. So he wants to play games, does he? he thought, as he reached up and disconnected the light in the ceiling of his car. Then, easing the car door open, he slipped outside.
The hunted was about to become the hunter.
Crouching down, he made his way around his car and several others parked nearby. His Indian instincts, those of a fierce hunter, alerted him his prey was nearby, waiting for Ashton just like Ashton was waiting for him.
The standoff had begun. But Ashton was not in the mood. He had missed lunch and his stomach was growling. Deciding that he no longer wanted to play games, he stood to his full height of six feet three inches and looked around, still not seeing anything. He leaned against the vehicle he was standing next to.
“All right, Sir Drake. Playtime is over. I’m hungry.”
A mellow chuckle filled the air just moments before Drake Warren materialized like a beam of light in front of him.
“You’re getting rusty, my friend.”
Ashton frowned. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your words will never faze me.” He smiled when he heard Drake’s laughter. He knew his friend had very little to laugh about these days. Drake Carswell Warren was the best weapons and explosives expert around. He knew it, the military knew it and, most important, the United States government knew it. It was also a known fact that he could be a walking piece of dynamite when he chose to be, highly explosive. A special mission three years ago had changed Drake’s life. With all his knowledge, know-how and expertise, he had not been able to save the woman he loved.
“I got your message, Ash. What’s up?”
“Does the name Santini mean anything to you?”
“No. It’s a fairly common last name in South America. Why?”
Ashton gave Drake the details of what had gone down with Trevor.
“Is Trev okay?” Drake asked. There would always be feelings of brotherhood among the men who served in the Force Recon.
“Yeah, other than a woman problem, he’s fine.”
Drake nodded. “I’ll find out what I can. I’ll do a few profile searches to see if I can get any type of link to Armond Thetas. But I doubt that I will. While hanging around Thetas I got to know the people in his inner circle pretty well, and the name Santini doesn’t ring a bell. But I’ll check it out.” He turned to walk away.
“Drake, wait! When will we make contact again?”
Drake gave his friend a cool smile. “When I think you’re ready to play another game. Adios, amigo.”
He then disappeared as quickly as he had materialized.
The smile vanished from Trevor’s lips the moment he stepped in the study and gazed into Reverend Nathan Avery’s face. It was evident the man saw no amusement in having discovered him in bed with his daughter. He gave Trevor a look that clearly said he had a lot of explaining to do.
“Come in, Mr. Grant and take a seat. Where’s Corinthians?”
“I think she wanted to u
se the bathroom first, sir,” he said, taking one of the chairs that sat across from the huge desk in the room. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.
He was glad when Corinthians walked into the room. Without looking at him or her father, she took the chair next to Trevor. She then looked up at her father, waiting. Evidently she had been party to one of these “study talks” before.
The Reverend Nathan Avery took his place behind the huge desk and settled into what he considered a comfortable position. He then gazed thoughtfully at the young man and woman sitting across from him. He decided not to make things easy on them. From the little bit he could gather, they had some heavy-duty problems between them, problems they definitely needed to work out. He would do whatever he could to help set them on the right course.
“Now then,” he began in his most imposing oratorical voice. “Do you mind telling me what the two of you were doing in bed together…in my house?”
Before Corinthians could open her mouth, Trevor began speaking. “Yes, sir, I’ll be glad to explain things. Corinthians was not feeling well and when she went into her bedroom to lie down, I followed her to comfort her by lying down beside her. I guess we both fell asleep.”
Reverend Avery gave Trevor a look that said his story sounded too pat. “That’s the truth, sir.”
“That’s right, Dad,” Corinthians added quickly in an attempt to validate Trevor’s story.
The Reverend leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. The look on his face indicated he still wasn’t buying it. He turned his full attention to his daughter. “What does he mean you weren’t feeling well? You seemed fine when I left this morning. Did you suddenly become ill? If you did, you certainly look fine now. Just what kind of sickness was this that lasted a few hours and caused Mr. Grant so much concern that he had to lie down with you in bed?”
Fire and Desire (Arabesque) Page 22