Cade settled himself down to eat. Lainie glanced over at him, and then dropped her gaze from his. Cade tried not to stare too hard during the feeding process, especially not at Lainie's bare breast. He focused on Eli instead: on her tiny fingers wrapped around Lainie's larger one, her crinkled forehead - so serious - and her wide eyes, already open and staring at Lainie. "It's as if Eli's getting to know you."
Lainie nodded. "She is. She's memorizing my face."
"She's got a lot of hair on that fuzzy head of hers."
Lainie held his gaze. "Like you. You have thick hair. So does she." Lainie looked back at Eli. "She has your features, your eyes, your nose. She looks like you. Period."
Cade shook his head. "She's got your hair color, your pointy chin, and your dimples. She's both of us. No doubt about it."
Pride surged through Cade with the knowledge of the part he'd played in the miracle of Eli, especially when he held her in her arms. Cade grinned. Eli was such a needy creature. She stretched but kept her rhythm with her meal. She suckled with fervor on Lainie's mother's-milk. Did Lainie feel any pain? The action of the baby's lips looked as if it might hurt. Love poured from Lainie's adoring face. Nope. She couldn't be feeling much pain - not with the look of wonder in her expression.
Cade laughed. "She got a strong grip, doesn't she?"
Lainie gave a full-blown smile that made Cade's heart ache. "That she does. Probably got that from her daddy, too."
The emotion swelled in his heart, along with anger. He'd give up his very last breath to protect Eli, but he prayed it'd never come to that. Lainie glanced in Cade's direction. She seemed to measure him. What did she want from him? Other than the obvious: protection of Eli.
An intrusive knock came at Lainie's hospital door just as Eli finished eating. Lainie adjusted her clothing to cover her bare chest. Cade broke his own silent reverie to grin at Lainie's modesty. "Come in."
Lainie stared wide-eyed. One bouquet-bearing delivery person after another flooded the room. In minutes, it looked and smelled like an overstocked floral shop. When the last of the flower arrangements was placed neatly on every possible flat surface available, Lainie still sat immobilized.
Cade perched on the edge of his chair in the corner of her recovery room, waiting for some sort of reaction from Lainie. He was ready to jump out of his skin at any moment. Lainie looked stunned and sounded hoarse when she asked, "When did you do all this? How... "
"Credit cards. Thank God for them. It only takes a second to make a phone call to a florist and thank the woman that carried your child for nine months, and then went through unimaginable hell to bring her into the world, healthy and beautiful."
He'd never be able to pay her back, but this was a start. He looked at her, and then at the plethora of flowers. Maybe he'd gone a bit overboard, but he'd wanted to show his appreciation. He didn't think he was good enough at words to do so with them, so he'd chosen this route. Was it enough?
He stood, rigid, awkward, waiting to see if she'd say anything more. When the last flower vase was placed in the room, the delivery guy left them alone. Cade bent to kiss Lainie's forehead. The tears glistened behind her lashes, and her bottom lip trembled.
He smiled. She looked like Eli when the babe puckered up ready to wail, or nibbled on Lainie's ample breast. Cade sighed. A woman's tears weren't something he liked to deal with, in general. He didn't want to make a fuss and embarrass Lainie any further. He touched his lips to the warm skin on Lainie's cheek and a fingertip to Eli's chin. He left the room with a whisper tossed over his slumped shoulder, promising, "I'll be back. I hope you like the flowers."
He didn't look away fast enough. The tears streamed freely from Lainie's eyes. She cuddled Eli closer, and Cade knew he was lost. He stepped out the door and made his escape. Good Lord. He cared almost as much for Lainie as he did for his infant daughter. He didn't love Lainie, though. He wouldn't. He'd sworn never to fall in love again. He could care for her, and take care of her. He could be her friend and a good father to his baby. He could even be a good husband, a good provider and protector. He just couldn't love his wife.
He could make love to her, though, and he would. If she'd have him.
Would she?
Chapter Eleven
Drayton winced. The bodyguard strode down the hall as if he owned the place and Lainie. He'd have to get rid of the stupid man soon. Very soon. For now, he could ignore the murderous impulse surging through him. The rage burrowed deep and ground under his skin, festering like an open wound, infecting his psyche and robbing him of his calm - calm he'd need in order to do his duty and complete his task. The hatred burned and insinuated itself inside his tumultuous mind. The desire for blood battered the hurting heart beating wildly within his tight chest.
Sighing, he leaned up against the wall outside Lainie's room. He didn't want to see that baby. He feared that the demon would somehow have power over him. Drayton shivered. No matter. He'd come to talk to Lainie. Nothing and no one could stop him from doing so. Not the Devil's spawn, nor some ridiculous bodyguard that thought he could protect the brat Lainie birthed. Drayton would get what he wanted. He wanted Lainie. Drayton could call out Wayne, and Wayne would see to it that the imbecile hovering over Lainie disappeared. The bodyguard would find out the hard way that nobody messed with Drayton Clausen.
The guilt rammed into his heart. God wouldn't want that. Human life should be protected, at all cost. That was Drayton's purpose in killing the Devil's spawn. Drayton drew his brows together.
Then again, wouldn't God want his servant to be happy?
Drayton wanted Lainie, badly. She'd make him happy. Being abstinent had gotten him nowhere, and if God had meant him to be abstinent, then He would have called him to be a priest or a monk. Drayton was no monk, and if pretending to care for Lainie's newborn babe got him close to Lainie, then so be it. Once he got close enough and spent lots of time alone with Lainie, he'd have plenty of opportunities to allow Wayne to do his violent but necessary deed and rid the earth of the despicable creature Lainie had borne. God's will would be done, and God would reward him by giving him Lainie to be his lawfully wedded wife - to have and to hold, until death did them part. Drayton could have Lainie all to himself.
He grinned. In the end, she'd give him what he wanted... what he demanded. He clenched his fists. What he demanded was all of her, quite literally. For his service to humanity, he deserved anything and everything, as payment. He deserved her mind and her body. He smirked. God could have her soul. Drayton wanted her love and her complete devotion. He'd settle for nothing less. He wasn't into sharing, not even with a baby - certainly not this baby. Drayton nodded to himself and tapped his right fist against his left open palm. He'd get all he desired from Lainie, with her permission, or he'd take it, along with her very life's breath.
He sighed and opened his fist, relieving the pressure on the palm of his hands where his nails dug in. If he couldn't have her, no one could. Surely it wouldn't come to that, though. She'd treated him so well for so long now. She wouldn't throw what they had together away. Would she?
He sucked in a breath and straightened his spine. He locked what he hoped was a cheery smile into place on his lips and strode purposefully into Lainie's room. He prepared to greet his future wife, trying hard to pretend to adore her newborn babe, and not reach out and strangle it to death, knowing it for what it was: pure evil.
He made sure his voice was smooth as butter and loving as any future husband's might ever be when he sing-songed, "Hello, Lainie, my love. How are you feeling, and how is your precious child?"
"Hello, Drayton. We're fine. How are you?" Lainie cared for him. Her happy gaze told him that. She stared up at him and held his eyes with her tender, sparkling ones. She adored him, and the feeling was mutual, but the babe had to go.
"Just great, but I've been missing our visits." Drayton stepped to Lainie's bedside and took her hand in his. He peered down at the wrinkled, pink, blotchy critter wrapped in white and cradle
d in Lainie's arms. He cringed and barely suppressed a grimace. What the hell did anyone see in such a nasty little package as that? Why couldn't Lainie see that this wretched thing was the Devils spawn? Couldn't she feel the bitterness emanating off the little imp, like a black cloud of doom settling like fog around the vile thing's head? Drayton squinted. Were those the stubs of horns beginning to grow out of the top of the child's head? Drayton barely held in the shudder.
Soon, God. I'll do it soon. I promise.
Lainie pulled her hand from his. She touched the baby's cheek and looked up at him, remnants of tears still in her eyes. She crooned, "She's wonderful, isn't she?" Drayton tried a nod. He wasn't sure his head moved. Lainie sighed. "I'm so anxious to go home."
Drayton forced his voice to remain even and calm, even soothing. "When might you be released?"
Shrugging, Lainie swiped a final tear away. At least she'd stopped her blubbering. One thing he couldn't deal with, even for Lainie, was bawling like the brat she held to her chest. "Hopefully soon. Maybe today, or tomorrow at the latest. I don't know. Trish says I need care and monitoring."
Drayton frowned and had a hard time sounding worried when he asked, "Why? Didn't everything go well?"
Lainie rolled her eyes but smiled sweetly. "Hardly. Eli was breached, and, well, I doubt that you want to hear the details, but let's just say it was a rough labor and delivery, so I'll need extra time to heal."
Drayton sighed and suppressed a shiver. No, he certainly didn't want to hear the gory details. Sure, he'd been a child once, and he'd had a mom. She'd birthed him, but that was the extent of all he'd let himself think about a woman's anatomy, except when he'd accepted God's charge to donate sperm.
He shuddered. So much for doing God's will and remaining abstinent all his life. He'd tried to live right. Look where it'd gotten him. It'd gotten him in the Devil's good graces instead of God's. He might as well go for it and dive right in, with Lainie, as his bride and lover. He closed his eyes for a moment and asked for forgiveness for his sinful nature and rampaging sexual urges. Would God forgive him, if he did his duty, and prayed enough?
Squaring his shoulders, Drayton tried to draw on his alter ego's strength - the man he'd created in his mind - his total opposite, personality-wise. What would Wayne say and do right now? How would he handle this opportunity? Drayton touched Lainie's cheek. He would have sworn she trembled at his touch. "Won't you marry me, Lainie? You know we're friends. You know I could make you happy. I've got money. I could give you anything you need or want."
Lainie gawked at him and answered the way he knew she would. "I can't marry you, Drayton. I hardly know you, and I don't love you, except as a friend. I'm sorry."
He hoped he didn't sound like a wimpy beggar. He'd never wanted to marry anyone, until now, but he'd decided his path. His future included Lainie, and she'd have to come around to his way of thinking.
He'd found Lainie three months ago, but he'd never had the chance to be completely alone with her. That Trish character hardly left her side when Lainie was out in public, and Lainie refused to let anyone but Trish into her home, unaccompanied.
Drayton suppressed a grin. Who could blame her for rejecting the idea of anyone entering her supposedly protected domain? He scoffed inwardly. No security system would keep him from his ultimate goal of killing this runt. He'd find a way in. He had to. Success meant his very salvation.
The babe looked right at him. Drayton gulped. It was too dangerous to remain here in the presence of the Devil's spawn. He could feel the evil emanating off that horrid creature. He needed to escape, now. Drayton stepped to the door and opened it, tossing over his shoulder, "I gotta run, honey, but you think about it, and I'll be back soon."
He practically ran down the hallway, desperate to get as far away from the evil being as possible. Outside, he caught his breath. He walked to his car and climbed inside, locking the door, as always. He'd spent too much time around Lainie with the babe inside her. Did the spawn know him - recognize his aura, his voice, his scent?
Drayton struggled to maintain control. He needed to end this. He needed to kill the beast.
"Wayne, we need to talk."
Chapter Twelve
Drayton had just left when Trish entered Lainie's room and stood at the end of Lainie's bed with her hands on her hips. Her mouth twitched with a ghost of a smile at the tips of her full lips. Her freckles stood out, extraordinarily prominent, and her red hair resembled fire pulled back into a slick pony tail. How did she manage to look professional with a pony tail? The accomplishment was a marvel to Lainie, whose dark hair always went wild and never did what she wanted it to - especially not now, even when she'd tried the same style as Trish. It never ceased to amaze her. Trish could control her mane, and Lainie couldn't. Humph. The unfairness of it all.
"Okay, Lainie, spill it. Tell me your secret, and I mean it. Don't leave anything out or hold anything back. I'm your friend, and I deserve the truth, and details - lots of them."
Lainie blinked. "What secret? You already know all my secrets. I told you yesterday who Cade was."
Trish rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I'm still freaking out about that one. So much for the guy just being your bodyguard." She narrowed her gaze. "And I do not know all your secrets, but I want to know how you do it."
Lainie grew truly perplexed. "Do what?"
Trish threw her hands up in the air in mock frustration. "As if you don't have a clue what I'm talking about. You string two breathtakingly handsome men along, have a baby with one and keep the other one drooling and wanting to marry you." Trish exaggerated a shiver. "I don't know though. There's something odd about Drayton. He's good looking and all, but he's a strange dude." Trish shrugged. "Still, he's at your beck and call and groveling at your feet. He gives the impression of a good catch, and he wants to take on the responsibility of being the father of a baby that isn't even his. So he can't be all that bad." She waved her arms in the air in mock hysteria. "Anyway, I'm off track again. Seriously, how do you do it?" Trish demanded with a wide grin and a flirtatious wink.
"You can have them, Trish. Both of them," Lainie murmured, shaking her head and lowering her tired eyes.
Trish's eyes widened. "Are you serious? I mean, hey, I'd take them both off your hands in a New York minute, but I don't think I'd stand a chance. They're both head over heels for you. At least Drayton is - the mushy thing." Trish twisted her face up comically. Lainie giggled, but Trish kept plowing on, "I don't get him, by the way, Lainie. He acts too girly, if you ask me."
Lainie laughed. "Maybe he's just getting in touch with his feminine side."
Trish shrugged and wiggled her eyebrows up and down. "He doesn't look girly, though, does he now?" Trish whistled. "But Cade? Wow. What a hunk. A real man's man, too, if I ever saw one. Don't you dare deny how attractive he is."
Trish waved her hand in front of her face as if to erase a picture painted there or stop Lainie's objection, if she'd had one, which she didn't. Lainie didn't bother to discredit Trish's opinion. "I can't agree more, on either count. Drayton is weird but cute, and Cade... well... since you already know that I went at him last summer like a mad woman - enough said. He obviously turned me on then."
He still did, but she'd didn't admit that... wouldn't, not for a million more lottery dollars. Her cheeks heated to broiling. Maybe she'd get rid of Trish for tonight, and talk to her about being released tomorrow. She didn't need to hear anyone singing the man's praises. She already had enough, more pressing, issues to deal with. Death threats to her baby and Cade's overpowering presence would drive her mad soon.
She opened her mouth to tell Trish goodnight and come back early tomorrow, but Trish barreled on. "Okay, so maybe he did disappear last summer, but he still wants you. That's easy enough to see. Oh, yes, I know I've been complaining about him for you, for months now, but he did stay and go through the entire labor and delivery process with you, which, let me tell you, some married fathers don't even do, by the way. I admit I thou
ght it odd you wanted your bodyguard you'd never even met to accompany you into labor and delivery, but I assumed you'd feel better with him there. Little did I know."
Trish shook her head, speaking the last of her words with an added grimace and a finger pointing and shaking at Lainie as if to stress the significance of her sermon. The next words were emitted with a gracious, conciliatory flare. "He's redeemed himself in my eyes, big time, and I think Cade might be the way to go, here." She lowered her voice an octave and pointed out, "You know you're still in love with him, and he's the father of your baby and all, so it's the perfect set up, the way I see it."
Lainie shook her head in adamant denial. "I'm not in love with him. I never was. It was all lust. Just chemistry. Now I just... well, we're just... he's just... " She stuttered and sputtered and fidgeted. She adjusted the quilt over the baby's body. "Well, he's working for me. That's all. So, you see, he's being paid to be here. He's Eli's bodyguard. He has to be here and stick close."
Trish stared at Lainie as if she'd grown horns. "You can't be serious. Are you really that blind? Or are you in extreme denial? That man looks at you as if you were the cream of the crop, and he'd like to gobble you up, and you just gave birth." Trish fanned herself. "Goodness, but I'd like to have been a little mouse last summer and see that boy in action."
Lainie almost burst into laughter, but she blushed furiously at the thought of Trish's watching her and Cade locked together in a heated embrace, making love. She'd never been an exhibitionist. She wouldn't start now.
Squaring her shoulders, she announced, "I'm dead serious, Trish. I don't need the complication of Cade in my life, so stop trying to confuse me, and don't play matchmaker. My mother does enough of that with me, and I don't need to deal with anything, except take care of Eli and get her home where she'll be safe and sound." She looked Trish right in the eye. "I don't need any man in my life. All I need is Eli, and I want to go home. Think you can manage to check me out of here soon, Doc?" Lainie feigned impatience and allowed a loving tone to lace her voice.
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