Page 103 of False Evidence

He gave a little half smile. “I won’t. It’s just… Would it be okay if she calls me Daddy, if not now, then at some point?”

Her heart did another little flip. “It would be easier to introduce that now.” She picked up the bottle from the rocker and approached the crib. “Give Mommy a night-night kiss, and you can have your bottle with Daddy.”

Gemma’s face scrunched, but she eyed the bottle.

JT touched his chest. “Daddy Tee. Daddy.”

She raised her arms to him. He took the bottle from Alexandra, then lifted Gemma from the crib.

Alexandra nodded toward the rocking chair. “I usually read her a few board books while she has her bottle. I’d limit it to one tonight because she’s so overtired and doesn’t need any kind of stimulation. If she doesn’t settle down by the time the bottle is empty, just put her in the crib again and let her cry. But I think the novelty of you being the one to hold her might do the trick.”

She kissed Gemma’s cheek and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

This Christmas was full of gifts, and no price could be placed on the best ones.

ChapterThirty-Nine

Ten minutes later, JT returned Gemma to her crib. She grumbled, but she was no longer a wailing banshee. He kissed her cheek before setting her down. “Daddy loves you, Gemmy.”

To be honest, the title felt more than a little awkward, but not because he didn’t feel it in his heart. It was just a term he’d never imagined using. In the last dozen years of his own father’s life, he’d rarely used the worddad.

Joe had been the boss before JT took over the business, then he was the owner and the senator. Those roles overshadowed the father/son relationship, and the only time he appeared to act like a dad—and not a boss or political adviser—was when he gave mortifying advice about women lying about birth control.

JT would do better. Be better.

He would earn the title. It would be as comfortable as calling Lex his wife and being her husband. Gemma was his child. His family.

He closed the door quietly behind him, daring to hope that she had calmed enough to go back to sleep.

He found Lex in her home office. “The cops were really shit about watching over this place. My laptop was stolen.”

He’d figured as much given that the search inventory had listed a MacBook Pro and a desktop computer in Lex’s office. Only the desktop remained.

“We need to call the cops and file a complaint. We also need to tell your attorney.”

“I’ll do a quick search to make sure nothing else is missing. Then I’ll email Anna if you call the detective?” She smiled at him. “I’m not supposed to talk to them without my attorney present.”

It was also the more distasteful of the two chores, and she had a tidy excuse to pass it off to him. He kissed her nose. “Deal. As long as we get to enjoy eggnog by the fire afterward.”

Thirty minutes later, they were settled on the couch. The gas fireplace heated up the room, which had been so cold, JT could see his breath. The detective was not thrilled with the late-night phone call, but he swore the investigators hadn’t turned off the thermostat nor had they taken the computer.

“Tomorrow, I want to move to my place.”

She nodded. “You have better security. I’d say let’s go tonight, but it might break Gemma.”

“Raptor has access to your security system, and they’re monitoring it. Chase lives nearby and is outside already—he’s taking a four-hour shift watching the house, then Raptor will send Tariq for the next four hours.”

“I hate that they’re being asked to work on Christmas.”

“Chase volunteered because he lives so close and he has the next week off. He said he doesn’t mind an extra shift now. Tariq was already scheduled to work nights this week—he likes the overtime.”

“That’s kind of them both. Eden is going to join us for wedding dress shopping. She and Chase are getting married in the spring, so she’s going to try on dresses too.”

“That’ll be fun. How many of you are going?”

“Most of the women who were there tonight. We’ll be quite the entourage. Isabel is going to call and set up the appointments tomorrow. It’s been a long time since I shopped at a place that requires appointments. I’m glad Isabel has connections.”

Once upon a time, JT had set up accounts for her at all the DC couture shops. “I’ll make some calls and add you to the accounts again. Actually, I’m pretty sure I never took you off them.”

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