Shattered

by Joan Johnston

  “Are you going to wake the boys up and tell them goodbye?”

  “You think I should?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “It’s five-thirty in the morning.”

  “They can go back to sleep after you talk to them.”

  He grabbed his suitcase and carried it with him down the hall, where he left it as he entered Lucky’s room. Kate followed him, waiting in the doorway as he said his goodbyes.

  He went first to Lucky, shook him on the shoulder and said, “Hey, buddy, I’ve got to fly to China today.”

  Lucky rubbed his eyes, patted Harley, who laid his head back down on the other side of Lucky’s pillow, then wrapped his arms around Shaw’s neck and hugged him. “Can Chance and I come, too?”

  “No, you have to stay here and go to school.”

  “Will you bring me something from China?”

  “Sure. What do you want?”

  Lucky grinned and shrugged. “I don’t know. What do they have?”

  Shaw cuffed him on the chin and said, “I’ll surprise you.”

  Kate saw Lucky didn’t want to let him go.

  “It’s not time to get up yet,” Shaw said as he eased the boy’s arms from around his neck. “Go back to sleep.”

  Lucky turned on his side and put an arm around the dog’s neck. “G’night,” he mumbled.

  Shaw crossed to Chance and gently shook him awake. Chance sat bolt upright, looked from Shaw to his mother and back, and said, “What’s wrong?”

  The cat skittered off the foot of the bed and went running down the hall, tail held high, to Shaw’s bedroom. She would end up, Kate thought wryly, on Shaw’s pillow, where she could be found whenever Shaw wasn’t sleeping on it.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Shaw told the anxious boy. “But I have to go to China.”

  Chance scrambled out from under the covers and launched himself at Shaw, grabbing him tightly around the neck. “I don’t want you to go!”

  Kate saw Shaw’s surprised look when he glanced at her over Chance’s shoulder.

  He hugged the boy and said, “I have some business in Peking. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “When?” Chance insisted, his gaze focused on Shaw’s face.

  “I don’t know, exactly.”

  “Can Lucky and I come?”

  “You need to stay here and go to school,” Shaw said.

  Chance gripped him tightly around the neck and pleaded, “Don’t go, Shaw!”

  “Hey,” Shaw said, sitting down on the bed and pulling Chance into his lap. “What’s this all about?”

  “I had a dream that you went away and never came back.”

  Kate met Shaw’s gaze as he raised a brow, questioning what he should say next. Kate was at a loss. This was another scar J.D.’s “death” had left on Chance’s psyche. She shrugged slightly, leaving the decision up to Shaw.

  He pulled Chance close, tucking the boy’s head under his chin, and said, “I’m coming back, Chance.”

  The boy clutched at him. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” Shaw said. “I love you and Lucky, and I’m always going to love you.”

  “Are you sure?” Chance asked again, leaning back to look into Shaw’s eyes, as though to gauge the truth of his words.

  “As though you were my very own flesh and blood.”

  “I love you, too, Shaw,” Chance whispered. He glanced at Kate as though he was saying something he shouldn’t be saying.

  Kate felt her throat swell with emotion. She glanced at Shaw and saw him swallow hard. His voice wasn’t quite steady when he spoke again.

  “If you have that dream again,” he told their son, as he tenderly brushed Chance’s hair from his brow, “know that when you look for me, I’ll be there.”

  It was harder to get Chance settled again, but Shaw stayed with him until he was lying quietly in bed with his eyes closed.

  Kate met Shaw in the hall. He took her hand tightly in his, grabbed the suitcase with his other hand and headed toward the front of the house. When he got to the front door, he set the suitcase down and took her in his arms.

  “I never imagined it would be so hard to leave them,” he said, his raspy voice more rough than normal. “Or you.”

  Kate hugged him, and when he kissed her, found herself kissing him back. The passion flared fiercely between them, and she had to make herself pull away. “Be careful,” she said.

  “I’m the one who should be saying that.” His hand lingered on her cheek after he tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” Then he grabbed his suitcase and was gone.

  Kate was surprised a moment later to find Chance standing by her side. He slipped his hand into hers and said, “Do you think he’ll be coming back?”

  “He said he would,” she replied.

  “But do you think he will?” Chance persisted.

  Kate realized it was time to tell her sons the truth. Maybe if they knew that Shaw was their father, they would understand why he loved them “like his own flesh and blood.” And why he would always be coming back to them.

  “Let’s go wake up Lucky. I have something I want to say to both of you.”

  It turned out Lucky had gone back to sleep. He was grumpy when Chance woke him up. But Kate wanted to give herself plenty of time to tell her sons about their father before it was time to get ready for school. She was determined they would keep as much to their regular schedule as possible while Shaw was gone.

  “What is it?” Lucky said. “Why did you wake me up?”

  Chance was sitting on the bed beside his brother, the dog between them. Kate sat on the edge of the bed close enough to be able to touch both boys.

  “Did you hear what Shaw said to Chance?” she asked Lucky.

  “Which part?” Lucky asked.

  “Then you heard everything?” Kate confirmed. “About him loving you?”

  “That he loved us? Yeah, I heard that part.”

  “There’s a reason why Shaw loves you both,” Kate said.

  “It’s ’cause we’re cute,” Lucky said with a snort.

  “Yes, that’s part of it,” Kate said, smiling at the twins, who certainly could be adorable when on their best behavior.

  “And fun to play with,” Chance added.

  “Yes, that’s true, too. But there’s something else, something more.” Kate paused to gather her thoughts and was surprised by Lucky’s next comment.

  “Is it that ‘flesh and blood’ thing he said?”

  Kate was amazed at her eight-year-old son’s perception. “Yes. Do you know what that means, to be someone’s flesh and blood?”

  “To be like, a relative?” Chance suggested.

  “Exactly,” Kate said.

  Lucky’s young brow furrowed. “So Shaw is like, a relative?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “Like our uncle?” Lucky asked.

  “Yes, but not your uncle.” Kate took a deep breath and said, “Your biological father.”

  “Biolocal? What does that mean?” Lucky asked.

  “Biological,” Kate repeated. “It means that I provided the egg and Shaw provided the sperm that split inside me and grew into the two of you.”

  “So our dad was…I’m confused,” Lucky said.

  “I was married to your dad, so he was your father while you were growing up.”

  “But you knew Shaw a long time ago,” Chance deduced. “Before we were born.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Lucky was frowning again. “So…why didn’t Shaw tell us he was our bio—whatever—father?”

  “Because I asked him not to.”

  “Why didn’t you want us to know?” Lucky asked.

  “I was afraid it would confuse you. And I wasn’t sure you would like Shaw.” Or whether Shaw would be a good father.

  “I like him fine,” Lucky said.

  “I love him,” Chance said. “And he likes me. I can tell.”

  “He loves you,” K
ate said. “I heard him say so this morning.” She focused on Lucky and said, “He loves both of you, as though you were his own sons. Because you are.”

  “So are we supposed to call him Dad or Daddy or what?” Lucky said, that unnatural furrow back in his young brow.

  “That’s up to you, I think.”

  “I don’t think we should call him Dad, because Dad was Dad,” Chance reasoned. “We could call him Daddy,” he suggested to his brother.

  “I guess I’d like to call him Daddy, if you think he wouldn’t mind,” Lucky said. He turned to Kate and asked, “Do you think that would be okay with Shaw? If we called him Daddy?”

  Kate had never been more proud of her sons. She put a hand on each boy’s shoulder and said, “I guess you’ll have to wait till he gets back and ask him yourselves.”

  29

  Kate had just sat down at a table for two in the Waterfall Café when she was joined by a very tall, very thin, white-haired man with thick black brows over piercing blue eyes.

  “I hope you don’t mind if I join you,” the gentleman said as he sat down across from her.

  Kate had seen this man before. With his son.

  He confirmed her suspicion when he said, “I’m Dante D’Amato, Wyatt’s father. Your sons’ grandfather.”

  The blood left Kate’s head in a rush. She gripped the edge of the table, afraid she might faint. She’d wondered whether D’Amato knew the truth about the twins. Obviously, he did. Shaw’s stories about D’Amato’s treatment of him and his mother had frightened her. She found it ominous that the mob boss had waited until Shaw was out of the country to introduce himself.

  A glance to the side showed a table for four occupied by four very large men in bad-fitting suits, every one with something bulging beneath his armpit. She wondered how the men had gotten weapons into the hospital, which was quite security conscious. Then she remembered that Shaw had contributed a great deal of money to the hospital. Had his father done the same?

  Kate stared at the food in front of her and felt acid in the back of her throat. She wouldn’t be able to swallow a bite with that dangerous man sitting across from her. She felt her heart knocking around in her chest like a frightened bird caught on a wire.

  D’Amato smiled and said, “I would like to meet my grandsons.”

  Kate lowered her hands to her lap so he wouldn’t see they were shaking. All the saliva was suddenly gone from her mouth. She had to clear her throat to say, “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  “Actually, I wasn’t asking,” he said in a pleasant voice. “I was telling you I intend to see them. I can do it under your supervision. Or not.”

  Kate felt a cold chill rattle down her spine. She nodded curtly and said, “Given those two options, of course I would choose to be there when you meet them.” She added, “Shaw won’t be happy when he hears about this.”

  “By then I will have met the twins,” D’Amato said. “So his objection will be moot.”

  Kate’s eyes flashed at the disdain in his voice. “Why do you want to meet my sons?” she demanded. “What purpose could it serve?”

  “They’re family,” D’Amato said. “My family is important to me.”

  “Only if you can use them for some purpose of your own,” she retorted.

  D’Amato’s crystal blue eyes narrowed.

  Kate found herself wanting to taunt the cold-blooded reptile sitting across from her. She resisted the urge. This deadly snake had poisonous fangs and seemed entirely willing to use them.

  “I believe you have plans to take the boys out for dinner tonight. I would like to join you,” D’Amato said.

  How could he possibly know that? It didn’t really matter, Kate realized. The important thing was to contact Jack and make sure he was there tonight, to ensure that D’Amato didn’t try to take the boys from her. And of course, Bruce would be with them. She’d never been so grateful for the bodyguard.

  “Bruce is bringing Lucky and Chance to the hospital after school to visit a friend of theirs who’s sick.”

  D’Amato nodded. “Jack McKinley’s boy. A shame about that.”

  Kate’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Was there anything he didn’t know?

  D’Amato smiled. “I’m acquainted with Sergeant McKinley. He’s been chasing me for nearly twenty years.” He winked and said, “Hasn’t caught me yet.”

  Kate was appalled. Did the mob boss know Jack was only pretending to help him, that he was still working, even now, to put D’Amato behind bars? Was this frightening old man playing Jack like a fish on a line? Or was he the one who was in for the big surprise?

  “If you know Jack, then you won’t mind if he joins us for supper,” she said in a cool voice.

  “Should we ask his wife to join us, too?” D’Amato said.

  Kate felt the flush rising up her throat to land on her cheeks. The man was diabolical. He knew everything. And seemed to enjoy using what he knew to unnerve and embarrass her. She was determined to deny him the pleasure of seeing her discomfited.

  She picked up her soupspoon, keeping her hand as steady as she could, and said, “I’ll see if Jack wants to invite Holly along. The more the merrier, right?”

  D’Amato scowled. “Wrong. This game has gone on long enough, Mrs. Pendleton. Bring the boys. Tell Jack to stay away. No, I’ll tell him. I expect you to introduce me to your sons as their grandfather.”

  “They just found out a few days ago that Shaw is their father,” she protested.

  “I know,” he said. “So they won’t be surprised to discover that Shaw has a father who’s their grandfather.”

  It was the feeling of being helplessly swept along, of things moving out of her control, that scared Kate the most. Even if she could get in touch with Shaw, she didn’t think there was anything he could do from so far away. Shaw had his own share of bodyguards, but Jimmy had gone with him to China, and Bruce had orders to stay with the twins.

  She’d met the men who patrolled the grounds of Shaw’s compound, but she wouldn’t have known how to reach any of them, and wasn’t sure what help they’d be against the four truly gigantic enforcers D’Amato had brought with him today. Besides, she was afraid that if these big men started shooting at each other, they wouldn’t be the only ones who got hurt.

  “All right,” she said at last. “We’ll join you for supper. We were going to—”

  “You’ll come to my home.”

  “No!”

  “I could have taken your boys at any time since they started at that school in The Woodlands. I’ve chosen not to do that. I want to meet them as their benevolent grandfather—”

  “Which you’re not!” Kate snapped.

  D’Amato lifted a dark brow. “It is what I will be to them, you may rest assured. I trust you won’t tell them differently.”

  “Why shouldn’t I tell them who you are? What you are?” Kate snarled.

  “Because I’m their grandfather,” he said simply.

  Kate’s brain worked furiously to come up with some other option than taking her sons to Dante D’Amato’s home. But absolutely nothing came to mind.

  The mob boss rose and pushed his chair back under the table. He waited for her to look at him and said, “By the way, tell Bruce his presence won’t be necessary.”

  “What if he won’t leave the boys?” she asked, a last desperate hope for some physical bulk between herself and this malevolent man. “Shaw told him not to—”

  “Shaw is gone,” he interrupted. “I’m the one making the rules here. And rule number one is that you and your sons come alone. I’ll send a car to the hospital at five-thirty. That should give the boys time to visit their friend.”

  Kate couldn’t believe this was happening. She hadn’t spoken to Shaw in the four days since he’d left. He’d given her a phone number to use in an emergency and made sure her cell phone was equipped with a SIM card so she could make overseas calls.

  Kate got out the phone and sat with it in her hand for several mi
nutes, debating whether to call. Wondering what Shaw could do to help from so far away. Wondering if D’Amato had the power to order Jack to stay away, and whether Jack would defy D’Amato and show up if she asked him to be there.

  As her heart rate slowed and she could think more rationally, Kate realized that if D’Amato had wanted to steal the twins, he probably could have done it with impunity at any time over the past few weeks. He seemed to know everything that was going on in her life—and Shaw’s and Jack’s for that matter. He obviously had well-placed spies telling him their business.

  It seemed that what he wanted was a chance to make a good impression on the twins, with the hope of—what?—enticing them to come into his business someday? Kate snorted. Fat chance of that with Shaw around.

  The only question was whether she should contact Shaw before she and the boys had dinner with his father to let him know what was going on. That seemed only prudent. She needed to tell someone with the power to fight D’Amato about this command performance, in case the mob boss changed his mind and decided he wanted his grandsons to himself.

  If Shaw was right about what had happened to his mother, D’Amato might arrange for her to disappear from her sons’ lives. And D’Amato would be able to use threats against the twins as a way to keep Shaw at a distance.

  Kate’s body was quivering with anger and frustration. There was a reason all the nature books warned you about getting between a mother and her babies. Kate wondered if D’Amato would expect her to carry a weapon. She began planning how to conceal the small jackknife she kept in a drawer in her office. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but if she got close enough to D’Amato, she could kill with it.

  She picked up the phone and hit the speed dial that had been set for Shaw’s phone with the preset country code for China. What time was it there, anyway? It didn’t matter. If it was the middle of the night, she would just have to wake him up.

  30

  “I found him, Mr. D’Amato.”

  Dante D’Amato didn’t curb the smile of satisfaction that spread on his face. “Good work, Roberto.” The elusive J.D. Pendleton had finally been brought to ground. “Where was he?”

  “Caught the fucker sleeping in his car on the side of the county road leading to Shaw’s compound. Found this piece of shit on him.”