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“I think I can handle it. I don’t need to be at Eltech all the time.”
“No, you don’t. The company is on solid footing now.”
Vincent stirs, and I cradle him against me. I can’t stop smiling, and when the others come back from canoeing, they give me funny looks. I know what they’re all thinking. The bachelor sitting with a sleeping baby on his lap was something they thought they would never see. Lucian snaps a picture telling me he was going to text it to Paige, who would never believe what she was seeing.
She probably won’t. I never told her I wanted children. Our parents are getting older, and they have no grandchildren. Maybe it’s time to give them one. I decided to check into surrogacy services when I get back to the city.
That night after everyone had retired for the evening, I’m sitting on the porch, examining the pictures of Lana with the flashlight on my phone. The other two tabloids had some of the same though a few of them were different. She looks happy, but on a close up of her face, I can see that her smile is strained. I know I shouldn’t dwell, but I tear out one of the pictures and put it into my wallet.
If she is so happy, then why is she still wearing the locket? Every picture I see has it, including her wedding photos. I wonder if she discarded the one I gave her that she had hidden. It’s curious to me that Declan wouldn’t question why she always wears it and want to see what was inside. Then again, he didn’t seem all that interested in her while she was going through her depression. I wonder if she’s okay.
I head upstairs and check on the children before I turn in for the night. One room has several beds, and Johnny, Arabella, and CJ are sleeping in them while Vincent is in the only crib in the room. I quietly pad inside and check on each of them, stopping at the baby’s crib to stroke his thick black hair. When I turn, I’m startled by Olivia standing in the doorway. I head out to the hallway and close the children’s door.
“I’m sorry I scared you. I thought I would check on them.”
“I was just coming up to bed.”
She smiles at me, “You’re really thinking about having a child, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I want my own. I just never realized it until now.”
“Your life will change. No more going out and clubbing or bringing home women.”
“I’m starting to outgrow that. I need something more stable, permanent.”
“You were hoping Lana would come back to you?”
“I was. I thought she would get sick of Declan’s traveling, but I guess I was wrong. She got upset with me so many years ago for not being attentive. He’s even worse than me, and she doesn’t mind. I don’t understand.”
“I think I do.”
“Explain it to me.”
“She loved you with all her heart. She wanted to spend as much time with you as she could, and when you were absent, you hurt her. Declan doesn’t hold her heart the way you did. I doubt she will ever love him that way. I’m sorry your last-ditch attempt didn’t work.”
I narrow my eyes at her, “Fucking Luc!”
“Don’t get upset with him. He told me what happened by accident. He’s worried about you. I know you thought that making love to her might change her mind, but I think she’s worn down. She’s too weak to let go of Declan.”
“I think he wants her for a showpiece. He doesn’t love her as I do.”
“She’s a beautiful woman. What man wouldn’t want her as eye candy?”
“She’s not a toy. She has feelings. Declan has spent too much time in the world of business, where everything is a trophy. He doesn’t deserve her.”
“He may not, but it’s too late to do anything about it. They're married, and you need to move on. If having a child will help you, then do it. Make yourself happy. She might never come back to you.”
“I know. I just can’t hold on to that anymore.”
The weekend was just what I needed, and when I got back to work on Monday, I felt energized. I made a promise to myself not to pay attention to anything Lana was doing; it was just setting me back. I asked Paige not to tell me about how her married life was because I didn’t need to know. Lana and I no longer had a connection other than our past, and that was long over.
One of our programmers had developed a new game in his spare time, and we were negotiating with him for the right to publish. However, I noticed that Blair Enterprises was also trying to get its hands on the game. I thought we would have a leg up since the programmer, Jared Savina, worked for me. But Blair was playing hardball, and I didn’t want to lose the rights since the game, The Rapids, looked like a winner.
With the Christmas season coming up, we wanted to release three titles, and our other programmers were working feverishly to get all of the bugs out of the other two. Jared had given us clean code. All the bugs were out, and it was apparent he had taken care and put in many hours to achieve this.
I knew that Declan was only bidding because he was upset we had previously turned him down. He had other motives for giving Eltech a lopsided deal though I didn’t know what that was. I didn’t know if it was a bribe or a control tactic. Maybe he wanted to run my resources to the brink, tire out my programmers with endless revisions for his project. Whatever the reason, I didn’t bite.
I sometimes wondered if, in a fit of guilt, Lana told him that we slept together. It wouldn’t surprise me if he knew and was storing that knowledge for future use either to destroy her or me. The first time I met him, I actually thought he was charming, but underneath, I could see his calculating nature simmering.
