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‘Go,’ I say gruffly. ‘Take a break.’
She meets my gaze. Yeah, it’s definitely more dangerous to be near her without Lukas. But apparently she feels the same because she scuttles away.
In the late afternoon my team get in touch. They’ve expedited the information I requested and I print the file they’ve sent. The space for the father’s name is blank but the baby’s name gives it all away. Lukas Dain Parrish.
Just as she said. It would have been easy enough for her to discover my grandfather’s name. It’s in the brief family history I allowed on the company website to sparsely furnish the company’s ‘story’.
An hour later I put the printout on the kitchen table in front of her. ‘You didn’t name me on the birth certificate. I understand that if I were named, then I would be a guardian. As guardian I’ll then have some say in my own child’s upbringing.’ I breathe out but my chest is tight. ‘My lawyers filed a declaration of paternity.’
Her hands tremble, and my teeth clench because I hate her obvious fear of me.
‘I want to establish Lukas’s legal rights as well as my own. If anything happens to me, Lukas inherits.’ I try to explain my reasons. ‘No question. No delay. Plus he gets everything he should have had from the start.’
‘We don’t need things.’
‘You don’t have to have anything from me,’ I say pointedly. ‘Lukas, however, is different.’
‘You sure you don’t want a DNA test?’
My skin tightens. She thinks I have any doubt? ‘Eventually. My lawyers will insist on it but you and I already know.’
Her eyes widen.
‘What’s weird to me is that you wanted him to have a family connection yet barely tried to contact me. It’s hard to understand.’ Was money really no motivation? Because that’s not how it usually works in my world.
She bites on her lip. ‘I don’t like having to rely on anyone.’
Trust issues. Yeah, we have those in common. I offer the faintest smile. ‘You’re still a control freak, then?’
‘Leopards. Spots.’ She drops her gaze.
‘Born that way or forged?’ I ask.
She freezes.
‘I was forged,’ I mutter.
‘Your parents?’ She jerks a nod, answering before I do. ‘Ditto.’
Right, we have dysfunctional families in common too. ‘What is it you don’t like about me, Talia?’ I can’t believe I’ve asked.
‘You’re used to being in charge.’ She doesn’t deny it.
I bristle. ‘So are you.’
Her glance is pointed. ‘Not on the same level.’
Lukas cries and she goes to him before I can blink.
I make more arrangements. Sort flight schedules. Offload my over-full diary for the next couple of weeks.
Dinner is desultory. She glances at me a few times but doesn’t break the silence. I glance at Lukas and don’t know where to begin with him.
She takes him to bathe and get ready for bed and I don’t interfere. Given I’m going to need time away from the office, I draft a tonne of instructions. It’s late when I turn out the light and the house is silent.
Three hours later I’m lying there still wide awake when I hear him crying.
I get up and pull on my jeans. The house is warm enough not to bother with anything else. I step into the doorway and see her pacing around the small room with him. She looks exhausted. And beautiful.
