Page 26 of Nico
He had to chuckle at that. "That piece took a lot out of me."
"It's butt ugly." She smiled at him over her glass as she took a sip.
"One of my best works."
"Not likely." Her magnificent eyes searched his face and had her wondering what was bothering him. Something clearly was. She had not heard from him all of yesterday and he had called her this afternoon to say that he was dropping by. He had never done that before. The premonition was heightening.
"We received a donation from the Eldridge estate this afternoon." If he wanted to wait to tell her what was going on, she was going to oblige. "Several lost pieces of art from a few famous painters. And a sculptor or two. Andre is salivating. In the meantime, I'm going to inventory every piece and decide what to donate to the museum and what to keep. I think you should have a look at them."
"Perhaps." He sipped his wine and looked away.
"Nico, what's going on?"
It was time and he could not very well do this while seated next to her. Shoving to his feet, he distanced himself from her and went to stand by the window. It was almost the end of November and Thanksgiving was a few days away. He had had plans for them both. Dinner at his place and maybe taking in a movie orstrolling through some museums or the other. Or a night at the opera. Now everything had gone to hell.
He had a daughter.
"This must be really bad."
At the sound of her soft cultured voice, he turned his head to look at her and wished he hadn't. Her hair was spilling over her left shoulder and her lips rosy from the wine. She hardly ever wore makeup, but with her skin tone, she didn't really need it. He studied her features and tried to memorize every line for posterity. He had tons of sketches of her of course, but it could never compare to the real thing.
"I... We had a visitor yesterday," he began.
"Okay." She was watching him closely.
Lifting a hand to the back of his neck, he rubbed at the tension. "A woman I'd been involved with almost three years ago. Someone I had forgotten of course. I almost did not recall her name when I saw her." He took a gulp of wine. "She had a child with her."
Sadie felt the tension springing to life inside her chest.
"I see."
"The child is mine." He said it baldly and quickly.
"I see."
"She left the child with us. Signed papers stating that Gracie, her name is Gracie, is completely mine. She's married and is moving to Italy, I think. The husband is some rich older guy and does not want children."
"So, she just up and left her child?" Sadie's brows winged up. "Just like that?"
He nodded and considered that a woman like Sadie would never do something like that. "Yes."
"And you had no idea she was pregnant?"
"Of course not." The irritated response reminded her the kind of man he was. His strong sense of responsibility would never allow him to abandon his role as a father.
"Where's she now?"
"At the manor. We decided that it would be best for her to live there. You know how untidy I am."
"You're a slob."
The fact that he did not rise to her teasing told her a lot.
And he avoided her eyes again. "I'm going to have to learn how to be a father," he murmured, staring out the window and noticing absently that it had gotten dark. And there was a chance of rain. "I'm in the process of getting the place cleaned thoroughly and adding things that a toddler, she's a year and a half. Things that she would want around her. The arrangement is that she would stay at the manor during the week and I take her on weekends for us to get to know each other. She's pining for her mother of course, but mine and my sister are doing their best to make it easy for her." He shrugged his shoulder jerkily. "I have to be there for her." He turned then and braced himself.
"We never spoke about children."
Her brows lifted. "No, we didn't."
