Page 10 of The Duke's Surprise Heir

Edward looked up at her. “You didn’t get your bonus.”

It wasn’t a question. But Macie still shook her head. “Nope. I haven’t received a bonus.”

He walked away, still bouncing Kyle gently, thinking through this newest piece of information.

“I can create a bed for him with a couple pillows,” Macie offered, bringing his attention back to the present.

Edward looked down at the sleeping bundle in his arms, then shook his head. “If you don’t mind, I’m really enjoying holding him.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Plus, I feel like I need to make up for lost time.”

Macie swallowed painfully, regretting her decision not to tell Edward that she was pregnant.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have told you about Kyle.”

He turned, still bouncing Kyle lightly. “Why didn’t you? We didn’t leave on bad terms.” He paused, looking down at Kyle. “Did I give you the impression that I didn’t want our relationship to continue?”

“Yes,” Macie replied. “You left me with a note that explained that you had a meeting on Monday morning.” She looked directly at him. “I never heard from you again. So yes, I took that as a message that we were done.”

She noticed the muscles clenching in his jaw and wondered about that. But not for long.

“I was wrong,” he admitted. “I didn’t think you wanted to see me again. You never called either, so I took that as a message that you only wanted that one weekend with me.”

She grimaced, looking down at her interlaced fingers for a long moment. Then she sighed, nodding before lifting her head to look at him again. “We both messed up. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” he replied.

She gave him a half grin. “Where do we go now?”

He looked down at Kyle, then at Macie. “Why don’t we take it one day at a time?”

Macie considered that for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I can’t do that. I need to make a plan. I have to keep Kyle safe.”

Edward nodded his agreement. “That’s my priority as well. But also, I want to keep you safe.”

“So, you’re going into hiding with us?”

He chuckled. “I was thinking along the lines of something more proactive.”

Chapter 4

Macie considered his words for a long moment. “What did you have in mind?”

He considered her words for a moment, still patting Kyle’s back gently in a soothing rhythm. “You’re scared. I get that.”

“Terrified,” she corrected.

“Right,” he said, nodding as he considered something in his mind. “However, I have better security here at my house.”

She looked around, then chuckled. “And yet, I was able to drive up to your house in a taxi and knock on your door before dawn. No one stopped me.”

“Good point.” He started walking again. “But I have a security system and cameras around the perimeter of the property. Plus, I’m about three miles from the nearest village.” He looked at her. “You must have noticed that much at least.”

“True. But I inherited my mother’s farm. I moved out there right before I gave birth. Kyle and I had been living there while I worked part time.”

“And you’ve been logging into the Linx systems from your house?”

“Yes.Why?”

He nodded. “You probably have security on your computer. But you didn’t try to hide your IP address?”

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