Page 57 of Friends with Benefits (Club Risqué)

Trinity squeezed his hand. “You’re thinking so hard I can practically hear you,” she teased, pulling him down far enough that she could place a sweet kiss on his cheek.

Disentangling their fingers, Christian looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, feeling like he needed her to breathe. How had he never been aware of this before? It wasn’t a new thing. She’d always had this calming effect on him. But it had taken Christian far too long to realise the importance.

Trinity might have forgiven him, but Christian was still working on forgiving himself for being such an idiot.

Winding his other arm around her as well, he rested his chin on the top of her head. “Do you think this will work?” he asked, aware of the vulnerability in his voice.

Trinity turned and cupped his cheek in her small hand. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning into her and nuzzling against the innocent touch. Taking strength from her calm presence.

“I think Krista will most certainly be here today, on your father’s birthday. Whether we’ll be successful in reconnecting with her…” She trailed off, her eyes overflowing with empathy for him. “I wish I could reassure you, and tell you the answer is yes. But all we can do is try.”

Christian sighed and dipped his head, finding her lips and drinking from them to try and stop his heart from breaking. It wasn’t the first time, but at Trinity’s insistence, he’d once again tried everything he could think of to find his mother, but he seemed to be blocked at every turn. If any of the board members at the company knew of her whereabouts, they weren’t saying. And the address logged on every official file he’d discovered, belonged to a PO box.

“I don’t think she wants to be found,” he whispered, sadness bleeding from his voice. “She’s cut herself off from everyone. Even you.”

They had discovered, when Trinity offered to contact Krista on Christian’s behalf, that in fact, the mobile phone number Trinity had for his mother had been disconnected.

“Give it a little more time, Christian,” Trinity cajoled. “Let’s try this before we write it off.”

Sucking in a bracing breath, Christian stepped back, took the envelope in its protective, clear plastic pouch, out of his pocket and fastened it to the flower arrangement they’d already placed on Ian’s gravestone, so his mother’s name was clearly displayed.

At least the one thing he knew for sure, was that his mother hadn’t yet joined his father, since they’d purchased a joint plot and her side was blessedly empty. He took some consolation in that. It meant there was still time to make things right.

“Who knows,” Trinity murmured as she wrapped her arms around his middle and laid her head against his chest. “If the knowledge that Bianca is no longer in the picture isn’t enough, maybe the temptation of grandchildren will be enough to bring her around.”

“I hope so,” Christian replied, his voice choked as he buried his face into her neck.

Despite the sadness of the occasion, a smile bloomed across his face as he placed his palm protectively over Trinity’s still flat tummy, enthralled with the knowledge of the budding life growing there.

And as he stood in the memory of the man who had guided his own childhood, Christian knew, whatever the future held, he was ready to be a father.

THE END

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