Page 23 of Laying His Claim
What the hell was this woman talking about? She stared in shock at Lorena’s carefully innocent face and then turned to Justin. “Tell me you don’t believe her, Justin!”
The man was cradling their son in his arms, holding him close and looking at Jalissa as if she had the potential to cause him harm. “We need to be extra careful in this phase in his development, Jalissa,” he told her, as if she was some idiot schoolgirl who didn’t know anything. “You’re going to have to be very careful in everything you do. You need to double-check everything—”
“I closed the damn door! I did not let him get outside!” She took a step forward to examine the baby, and was horrified to notice that for just one second, Justin flinched away, as if he was afraid she’d try to take him. “Look at his romper! It’s perfectly clean! Look at his knees and hands. If he was outside as she says, why isn’t he dirty?”
“The grounds crew was here this morning, remember?” Lorena countered. “The entire driveway has been swept clear, and the blower has removed all the leaves and debris.”
Jalissa glared at the nanny with murder in her eyes. The girl was lying, deliberately trying to make her look bad in Justin’s eyes. But why?
“Thank you, Lorena,” Justin said sincerely. “I’m glad you had the presence of mind to make sure he was safe.”
Lorena practically glowed, throwing Jalissa a triumphant look that said,Don’t mess with me.And that was when she finally understood. Lorena was in love with Justin. Not only that, but she saw Jalissa as competition, and was willing to stoop to lying to get her in trouble with him. She felt a cold sensation of dread creep up her spine. The woman was dangerous.
Justin was the father of her child, the man who’d pledged to look after Sebastian for the rest of his life, and he’d made this baby with her. By making love withher.What made this little nanny think she could turn up in this house and get between them? What made her think she could insinuate herself into this family and become a part of it?
Jalissa knew she’d made herself an enemy, but that was okay. From what everyone had told her, the old Jalissa never backed down from a fight. Well, the new Jalissa wouldn’t either!
Justin was still talking nicely to Lorena, still oblivious to the nefarious woman’s trickery. “Why don’t you take the afternoon off, Lorena? You’ve sure earned it.”
Lorena looked crestfallen. “I was kind of hoping to stick around for the rest of the day. You know…” She glared at Jalissa. “… to make sure he’s safe.”
Jalissa took a menacing step forward. “Now, look here you b—”
“It’s fine, Lorena,” Justin dismissed her. “That will be all.”
Lorenahumphedand spun around, stomped out of Justin’s office and headed the way she’d come. For Jalissa, it was like watching a small, vicious predator- a ferret or no, a wolverine- slink back into its den.
She rounded on Justin. “Tell me you don’t believe her!”
He tried to placate her. “It’s easy to make a mistake, especially if you’re fatigued from a grueling session.”
“I did not leave the door open!”she yelled at him, so sharply that Sebastian looked startled.
Justin looked at her, surprised to hear her raise her voice. It was the first time she’d done so since she got here, and she didn’t regret it. It was like a spark of the old her igniting.Welcome back,she thought to herself.
“Why would she make something like that up?” he asked calmly.
“Because she’s in love with you.” Jalissa said, shocked that he could have possibly missed the looks Lorena had been giving him.
He laughed scornfully. “That’s ridiculous. She’s a kid. Barely out of her teens.”
“And does that make her more or less likely to be crushing on you hard?” Jalissa pointed out. She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Jeez, men could be so dense sometimes!
He sighed, shifted the baby to his other shoulder, and looked weary of the argument. “Very well, Jalissa. But let’s take every care to ensure Sebastian’s safety in the future, okay?” As the baby began to drowse on his shoulder, Justin turned his attention back to the papers on his desk.
Jalissa felt deflated, disheartened and very angry. She knew she had been dismissed.
In the days that followed, it irked her to note that Justin had begun coming home a bit earlier, and was always willing to “help” her with basic caretaking duties, such as feeding or bathing their son. She knew that even though she had sworn her innocence, somewhere in the back of his head he was concerned that she might not be capable of ensuring Seb’s safety.
Even though it was clear evidence of the tremendous love and care he felt for his son, his mistrust of her broke her heart. Meanwhile, Lorena kept swanning around, cooing at Sebastian and making inane baby talk with him, doubling down whenever Justin was within earshot.
And when he was out, it was a different story entirely. The house felt colder, darker, and Lorena did everything she could to make sure Jalissa had as little time with her son as possible: he was sleeping, he was eating, she was walking him in the garden. Most of the time she demanded that Lorena hand him over—he was, after all,herson. Other times, Lorena prevailed, and that irked her no end.
She knew this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
Chapter9
The call came in the middle of the night: Justin rolled over and looked at his smartphone. When he saw his father’s ID, he sat up in bed. Nothing good ever happened at three in the morning.
