Page 45 of Baby Perfection

She needed to go. A quick, decisive end to it before she lost control, altogether. She carried Mikey into the living room. Lucius stood in front of the bank of windows overlooking the city, the light streaming behind him settling on her and the baby, while framing him in darkness. It was a calculated maneuver, one she’d seen him use before. She negated his advantage by crossing to his side and settling the son in the father’s arms. Now that she knew the truth, it seemed so obvious. The set of the eyes, the curve of the mouth, that stubborn, authoritative chin, one a miniaturized mirror of the other.

“Before we take this any further I want to know, once and for all, whether you’re working with the Ridgeways,” Lucius announced, taking immediate charge. Devil Devlin at his most intimidating.

She released a distracted sigh, glancing around for her purse. She spotted it on the couch and retrieved it. Then she walked to the foyer and stabbed the call button for the elevator.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going? Don’t you even think of walking out on me, Angie.” He took a step in her direction, seemed to suddenly realize that holding Mikey in his arms prevented him from physically stopping her. Frustrationbloomed across his face. “You aren’t leaving until you explain why you did this.”

“Actually, Lucius, you should already know why I did this. You asked often enough.” The door slid silently open and she stepped into the car. Turning, she pushed one of the buttons on the panel. “You just never listened to my answer.”

And with that, the door closed between them.

Lucius glaredat the elevator doors. “How am I supposed to hear something she never said?” he demanded of Mikey. “If she thinks this is the end of it, she’s about to learn otherwise.”

Mikey leaned in the direction of the elevator and held out his arms, making clear his displeasure at Angie’s disappearance.

“You and me both,” Lucius muttered.

He continued to bore holes through the elevator doors as though they held all the answers to the universe and were deliberately keeping them from him. Ever since the call from Pretorius, Lucius had stewed over what Angie had done, the coast-to-coast flight providing him with all the time in the world to first whip himself into a full-blown, brain-melting, self-righteous rage, before chilling into the sort of bitter cold reserve he’d perfected ever since Lisa’s marriage to Geoff. It had been his only defense during that bleak time.

When he and Angie had first made their devil’s bargain, somehow, someway, she’d managed to release him from that. How had it happened?Whenhad it happened? Without himeven being fully aware of it, she’d infiltrated his life, knocking down barriers, easing that long, lean glorious body of hers into every aspect of his world, even the private corners where she didn’t belong. He closed his eyes. Where she’d become so damn necessary. Vital. Needed. Oh,hell.Where he’d fallen in love with her and slowly—like a tender shoot shoving its way through an earth still half-frozen from winter’s barren chill—ever so slowly, come alive again.

Which only made her betrayal all the more cutting. Then he’d arrived home and found her in a wedding dress. God in heaven. She’d been breathtaking. Radiant. And the expression on her face… It had been that of a woman caught in a moment of perfect happiness. Until he’d stolen that moment from her. Until he’d stripped her of the dream the way she’d stripped herself of her wedding gown. And if the sight of her in that gown had threatened to bring him to his knees, it didn’t begin to compare to what he’d experienced seeing her in those filmy bits of ivory, barely held together with satin bows of promise. Bows he’d have given anything to untie, one by one by everlasting one.

Frustration welled up inside. “Damn it, if she didn’t betray me, why didn’t she stay? Why didn’t she fight?”

There had to be a reason and the only one he came up with was that he’d been right about her working for the Ridgeways. And yet… Now that he’d had more time to reflect, seen the quiet pain and hurt anger of her response—or lack of response—it simply didn’t add up. He blew out a sigh. Mikey glanced up at him and babbled out a question.

“Yeah, we’re going after her. And this time we’re not leaving until she tells us why she had Jett set her up as my perfect wife. And then there will be bows to untie.” He gave Mikey a man-to-man look. “That’s a bit like hell to pay, only a lot more fun.”

He snatched up Mikey’s diaper bag, intent on giving chase and that’s when he saw the envelope poking out of one of the zippered pockets, his name neatly scripted across the outside. He instantly recognized Angie’s handwriting. Finally. An explanation.

“Let’s hear what she has to say for herself.” He slid a hip on the arm of the couch, tucked Mikey more securely into the crook of one arm and opened the envelope. It took him almost a full minute to process the information. “Oh, God.”

The test results drifted from his grasp and his second arm wrapped solidly around Mikey. Aroundhis son.He reached out a trembling hand, stroking it along Mikey’s downy cheek, his black gaze locking with an equally black gaze. He had a son. All this time, Mikey was his and he never knew. Never even suspected, not after that initial paternity test. Worst of all, he’d had his son in his life for a full three months and refused to allow himself to get too close, to open himself up to the bond steadily growing between them. And why?

Fear.

Fear of abandonment. Fear of giving himself over to love. Fear of losing control.

Fear of allowing another person in, a person who could hurt him, compromise him emotionally.

He closed his eyes. How close had he come to losing his son? If the Ridgeways had won custody of Mikey would it even have occurred to him to demand a second paternity test? Highly doubtful. If it hadn’t been for Angie…

He slowly straightened. Angie. How the bloody hell had she known? And how had she gotten a sample of his DNA to have tested in the first place? If Mikey truly was his son and she’dfigured out what no one else had, then it didn’t make sense that she was in the employ of the Ridgeways. Nothing made any sense anymore. Only one person possessed the answers he required.

Angie. He needed to find Angie.

It had been an endless night, one in which Angie had gotten next to no sleep. She’d returned home after her fight with Lucius, not quite certain what to do with herself in the little cottage that was her home, and yet, wasn’t anymore.

She’d wandered from room to room while minutes ticked into hours and evening transitioned to night. Little by little, she realized Lucius wouldn’t come. Night deepened into that still, dense time where hope slipped away while fears gathered and wandered freely. And still he didn’t come. Not until dawn chased away the darkness that seemed to have seeped into the walls and furnishings, into the very pores of the house, did Angie finally fall asleep on the couch, curled into a tight ball, an afghan wrapped around her for warmth and comfort.

And that’s where he found her.

She woke to Mikey’s demanding cry, groggy and confused. “I’ll get him,” she muttered, her eyes refusing to unglue themselves. What in the world had happened to their bed? It felt like someone had filled it with rocks during the night. She yawned. “Probably needs his diaper changed.”

“Not really. I think he just needs his mother.”

Dishes rattled nearby and she caught the subtle fragrance of her favorite tea. Memory slammed through her. Lucius. Mikey. The Pretorius Program. Oh, God, their fight. Her eyes poppedopen, fighting to focus through the blur of a sleepless night and too many tears.

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