Page 16 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

Her hackles rose. ‘Her name is Ashling and she’s with my father—her grandfather.’

‘A name that until a week ago I’d never even heard before.’

Guilt struck Erin again, like a little piercing needle. ‘It’s Irish...it means dream.’

He didn’t seem particularly impressed by this. And then, as if remembering his manners, he offered, ‘Would you like something? Water? Coffee?’

Erin’s throat suddenly felt as dry as sandpaper. ‘Maybe just a little water, please.’

She watched as he came around from behind the desk and walked with loose-limbed grace to the drinks cabinet. He poured her a glass of water and brought it back. She plucked it from his fingers as quickly as she could, afraid that her skin would touch his.

As it was, she was battling flashbacks to that second night, when they’d had an impromptu midnight feast in his kitchen. She’d laughed when it had become apparent that he didn’t know where basic things were in his own kitchen.

They were a long way from that moment now.

She took a sip of water. Ajax went back behind his desk.

He put out a hand, ‘Please, sit down.’

Erin shook her head. ‘I’m fine standing.’ Then, before her nerves could consume her, she blurted out, ‘What are your plans?’

He’d had a week to absorb the news and think it all over...consult with lawyers. Erin was acutely aware of that.

A muscle in Ajax’s jaw pulsed. ‘My plans are to discuss how we proceed from here.’

Erin swallowed. He sounded terse. Angry. He had every right to be.

‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry again that you had to find out the way you did. That I couldn’t get a message to you sooner.’

He said, ‘There’s no point going back and forth over a past we can’t change, we need to think about the future.’

Erin’s gut clenched. Ajax was in no mood to be conciliatory and she couldn’t blame him. She was in this situation and had to deal with it as best she knew how.

She said, ‘I agree, to that end, I’ve drawn up a legal document, if you’d like to see it?’

Ajax focused on the woman in front of him, who was taking a sheaf of papers out of her briefcase, head bent. He was momentarily glad not to be looking into those far too mesmerising eyes. One second brown, the next green, and then gold. They were too distracting. Too perceptive. They made him forget what was happening here. The huge betrayal of her not telling him about his daughter.

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected today, but Erin taking legal documents from her case, as if this was a business meeting, was definitely not a scenario that had come into his head over the past week.

She was looking at him now and holding a sheaf of papers over the desk towards him. He took it, bemused. Glanced at it. It was entitled:Custodial and Visitation Agreement between Ajax Nikolau and Erin Murphy.

She said, ‘First of all a DNA test needs to be done to establish paternity.’

Ajax put the contract down. There was a needling sensation at the back of his neck. Normally he was the one who took others by surprise.

‘I know she’s mine.’

‘I appreciate that, but it’s for your benefit. Without legal confirmation that she is yours, you don’t have any rights to claim paternity or custody.’

She shouldn’t have had to remind him of that.

The needling sensation got stronger.

He said, ‘And presumably you wouldn’t have the right to demand paternal support?’

Erin’s face flushed. ‘There are nodemands. She will be entitled to support from her father the same as any child. I can support us quite well, in any event—’

‘On a part-time attorney’s salary?’

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