Page 24 of The Duke's Surprise Heir

His woman. Macie was his woman! The thought didn’t make his skin crawl like it had with previous women when they’d asked for more than a brief affair. In fact, the thought of a future with Macie actually energized him. Enough that he could lift a hand to slide his palm over her thigh and bottom. Damn, she had a great ass! Her butt was a perfect handful! Everything about Macie was perfect. For him!

Before he could truly question what he was thinking, Macie fell asleep. He grinned at the ceiling. There was something empowering in a woman as strong and confident as Macie trusting him to keep her safe.

Stroking her hair, he carefully shifted her body so that she was spooned up against him. But he abandoned the warmth of her body for a brief moment to wash up. When he came back, he pulled the blankets over them and snuggled her into his arms again. Then Edward closed his eyes and allowed himself to find sleep, dreaming of making love to her all over again.

Chapter 9

“We have a problem,” Edward announced as soon as Sean and Antonio joined his conference call.

Immediately, his friends and business partners perked up. “What’s going on?” Sean asked, alert as he bounced Declan on his knee. The little guy had grown over the past year. At almost two years old, he was gripping a crayon with both hands, his tiny tongue poking out of the side of his mouth as he concentrated on drawing something.

Antonio shook his head. “I think before we get into the issues, we need to discuss the elephant in the room.” His Spanish accent made the words melodic, but the man’s tone didn’t allow for argument.

Even Declan looked up, blinking his blue eyes curiously at the computer monitor. He turned to his father and whispered loudly, “Is that my brother?”

All three men chuckled, and Edward patted Kyle’s diaper-clad bottom, soothing the cranky boy as he sat in his office.

Sean shook his head. “Not your brother,” he told his son, ruffling his dark hair. “But we’re going to find out how the mean man got a baby!”

“Please tell me you didn’t steal that baby,” Antonio chimed in teasingly, because he and Sean knew that Edward would never stoop so low.

“Damn, mate! I know ye’re English, but I thought you were one of the good ones!” Sean teased, the Irish and English rivalry coming into the conversation.

Edward rolled his eyes. “I didn’t steal the baby,” he grumbled. “However, I met a woman a year ago and…well, I wasn’t as perfect at…” he paused, looking at Declan’s curious features, “uh…protecting…the…uh…”

“You got her pregnant,” Antonio finally finished for him.

Sean laughed and Declan turned his head, looking up at his father. “Momma’s pregnant too!”

Edward chuckled, still doing the butt-patting thing. “You are correct, mate,” he finally replied. “You remember Macie Meyers?”

“Astra’s assistant that you stole away from me? The computer genius who streamlined our shipping systems? Absolutely!” Antonio praised. Then froze. “Don’t tell me…?”

Sean grinned, understanding in his eyes. “I’d heard she’d been out of the office on maternity leave. But no way did I connect the dots back to you! Good grief, the woman has miserable taste!”

Edward chuckled. “I will refrain from providing you with the appropriate set down since there are innocent ears, but yes,” he continued. “Macie gave birth to our son about three months ago. This is Kyle.” He sighed and patted Kyle’s back. “Which brings me back to my original comment. We have a problem.”

Quickly, he explained what Macie had gone through over the past few weeks, the end result was her showing up on his doorstep.

“That definitely sounds like trouble,” Antonio commented.

Sean called out and, a moment later, a very pregnant Kennedi stepped into the camera’s view. “Hey sweetie,” she cooed to Declan. “Can you come help me make cookies?”

Declan hesitated, obviously interested in the mystery being discussed on the computer screen. But the allure of cookies was too much to ignore. “Yep!” he said, and bounced off Sean’s knee. Right after he was out of camera range, he yelled, “Dad, I want to know how to help Macie!” then they all heard his little feet racing down the long hallway of their Georgia home.

Sean stared after the duo for a moment. Antonio and Edward gave him that space because they both understood. A few days ago, Edward would have been impatient to get back to business. But now that he had Kyle and Macie in his home, he got it. The need to savor precious moments was new, but still profound so he waited until Sean’s attention returned to the call.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

Sean leaned forward, his gaze intent as he said, “Henry Vister is the district manager in Philadelphia. Why don’t I fly out and have a chat with him? I can talk to him, ask him for a tour of the warehouse facility. Once I speak with him, I’ll know if he’s involved in any way. If he’s not involved, then maybe we can loop him in as we develop a solution.”

Antonio nodded his agreement. “While you speak with Henry, I’ll fly up to Frankfurt and do the same with Ralph Ministra. As head of our largest European division, he may have some insight into any shipments that were included in the ship manifest, but were mysteriously removed without appropriate documentation.”

Edward agreed. “When you’re done in Philly and Frankfurt, why don’t we all meet here in Bristol to discuss our findings? Then we can form a plan. Maybe by then, Macie will have been able to track down more shipments, or at least get an idea of where the shipments are going.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Sean replied. “I’ll also check in with some of the club members. I know Davey Marjunas and Phil Putman, both of whom run airlines. I’ll see if they have heard anything about illegal shipments.”

Antonio nodded sharply. “Maybe you should speak with the wait staff at the club too. We all know that they hear snippets of conversations that might not make sense until we give them more details.”

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