Page 25 of Blood Money

She’d already asked her friend, Daisy, if she would be Nicky’s guardian should anything happened to her. But if she were dead, her will would still have to go through court probate, and the will would become public record. It could leave Nicky totally exposed, and she wouldn’t be there to protect him from—

Alex felt nauseous imagining the fate that might befall Nicky if he were found.

Time to make new plans. Before all my lies come back to bite me.

Alex had told Gray there was nothing else in her past, but he knew she was withholding something. She’d seen the suspicion in his eyes that night at the restaurant. She’d felt horrible lying to him, but it was necessary. At least for now.

When she’d applied for the admin position, she was fingerprinted and a criminal history and an employment history were run, but luckily that inquiry didn’t go back beyond seven years. Simonetti said they would run a more in-depth background under her real name.

In a few days they’ll know everything. They’ll find out about Nicky’s father.

If that happened, she couldn’t stick around, and cooperating with the police would cease to be an option. Alex couldn’t risk being discovered. The violence was something she couldn’t relive—and there was no way she’d allow it to touch Nicky.

Getting hit by a man as if she was his personal punching bag would never happen again. Not to her. The writing on the wall had been clear: stay with him and risk serious injury, or run. Her unborn baby was the catalyst she’d needed to leave the West Coast and never look back.

No matter how this played out, soon it would be time to leave New York and get a new job. She’d have to buy new IDs and start over. She’d done it before, and she could do it again.

Stifling a yawn, Alex went into the living room and knelt in front of the built-in bookcase. From the bottom shelf she pulled out a large, antique, embossed metal box and set it on the coffee table. She sat on the sofa and ran her hands over the cover, marveling at the exquisite decorations hammered into the metal. The box was an heirloom from her father’s family and contained Alex’s personal documents and mementos, such as newspaper clippings, her old driver’s license, college and high school transcripts, and hers and Nicky’s real birth certificates.

Time to get started on that will.

She pulled out a stack of documents, including a dozen envelopes bound by a rubber band, and plunked them onto the table. The rubber band promptly broke, sending the envelopes scattering over the table.

Alex groaned, and her head began to ache.

With no money for a lawyer, she’d have to do more online research on the preparation of legal wills, but her capacity to absorb or make sense of anything else was maxed-out for the night.

Luckily, Nicky didn’t fight her as she settled him into bed early, allowing her to take the time for a much-needed hot bath. When she slid into the tub, she moaned as the warm water and steam instantly began easing the tension from her muscles. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the delicate scent of the freesia bath oil she’d dribbled into the water. After a few minutes, she began to think more clearly.

As bad as the evidence against her was, the worst part of today’s meeting was confronting Gray’s anger. In a very short period of time, he’d become important to her, and it mattered what he thought. It mattered more than she wanted to admit.

After only one official date, she’d begun to have hope. Hope that he was a man she could fall in love with, one who might have it in his heart to be a good father to Nicky. Gray was a man she not only admired and respected, but the only man she ever dreamed of.

Alex lifted her leg and draped it over the edge of the tub. Droplets of water trickled down her thigh in tiny rivulets.

Her dreams of Gray alternated between the sweet and thoughtful moments when all they did was hold hands and share their day, and the kind of hot, steamy ones in which she was peeling off every stitch of his clothing to reveal the muscular body even a suit and tie couldn’t hide. Those dreams inevitably ended just short of bliss, with him stroking her naked body until she woke in a hot sweat, her unfulfilled sexual desires leaving her craving his touch. After today, dreams were all she would ever have of him.

Alex choked down a sob. Gray really was lost to her. There was nothing she could think of that would ever redeem her in his eyes. She’d lied about who she was and used illegal money. It seemed she’d made mistakes in her past life and her present one.

This time Alex did let out a soft sob, and she covered her mouth with her hand.

I’ve done nothing but make one bad decision after the other, and now Nicky might be in danger.

God, she’d been stupid. But she’d had to leave Nicky’s father seven years ago. She’d been punched in the face and stomach one too many times.

How could I not see the evil lurking inside Nicky’s father?

Alex eased down farther into the water, allowing it to completely cover her body up to her neck. It was only a matter of time before Simonetti dug up that juicy little tidbit from her former life, and when he did—she’d be screwed. Nicky’s father would find them, she was sure of it. He was tenacious and had probably never stopped looking for her. Anything that hit the news or became a matter of public record would reveal a trail directly back to her.

She needed to leave town. Get a new name and another job. But she still wouldn’t be able to use her real diplomas, licenses, and resume, and without them she had no official education and no employment history. She’d never be able to earn enough income to pay Nicky’s medical expenses.

She watched as drops from the tub’s faucet created tiny rings that expanded until they reflected off the inside walls of the tub.

Once again she was on her own. Even Gray couldn’t help her now. Loyalty, professionalism, and honor were his trademark characteristics, making him the best man she’d ever known—and the one man whose job it might be to destroy her.

Alex would take Nicky and run if she had to, but Gray would find her wherever she went. She knew that without a doubt. His docket had very few unsolved cases, due not only to his keen investigative skills and relentless tenacity but to the long list of informants he’d cultivated.

She abruptly sat up. Water trickling down her bare skin made soft tinkling sounds as it hit the bath water.