She started to walk around him, but he brushed her arm with his hand. Biting the inside of her lip, she paused and looked at the space between his eyes instead of meeting his gaze.
“In the newspaper, I saw a photograph of you with a child. Was he Tabitha’s?”
“He’s mine,” she said, feeling her blood rush to her head. “Joel is mine.”
“Did Tabitha have a child before she died?”
“Joel is mine. I need to go,” she said and walked down the sidewalk to her Camry Hybrid parked in the lot. Her heart pounding a mile a minute, she unlocked the door and slid inside. She started to close the door, but Rafe Medici appeared beside her and caught it.
“Mr. Medici,” she said, terror whipping through her.
“My father died when I was very young. It was a terrible loss. I would not want that for a son of mine.”
The humanity in the man’s expression caught her off guard. Her sister had described him as possessing a monster ego. Nicole shot a look at the large hand that prevented her departure. “Please step away from my vehicle. I need to leave,” she managed in a voice she’d developed to freeze out arguments with uncooperative healthcare agencies.
She felt his assessing gaze as he slowly moved his hand. Not easily intimidated. Why should she be surprised? He stood over a half foot taller than her and with those wide shoulders and well-developed muscles she’d glimpsed as his jacket swung open, he could probably bench press three of her.
“Later,” he said.
Nicole pulled her door shut and peeled out of the parking lot. Later. She certainly hoped not.
Now that Joel was ready to turn four, she’d thought they were in the clear. After all, there’d been no sign of Rafe Medici at her sister’s funeral. No flowers. Nothing. Droplets of cold sweat forming on her skin, she exited on to the interstate, her mind whirling.
Nicole maintained a low profile. It had been easy for her. Tabitha had been the flashy one, and that had been fine with Nicole. Now, after all this time, she’d taken Joel to meet one of her patient clients to see his dinosaur model collection. A reporter writing stories about disabled veterans had surprised them and captured the three of them in a photograph, which had been published in the newspaper. Of all the dumb luck.
Clenching her fingers over the steering wheel, she wondered if she should take Joel and leave immediately. He was a shy little guy, though, and seemed to be flourishing in his pre-school class.
She remembered the look of determination on Rafe’s face and shuddered. She considered her options. Her mother lived on the other side of the world—France, in fact. Nicole and Joel could disappear there, at least for a while. Her mother, however, led an active social life and having a preschooler around would cramp her style.
Tabitha would have turned to their father and performed a butter-him-up act worthy of an Oscar in order to get money from him. Nicole limited her involvement with her father as much as possible. After what he had done…
She took a deep breath to calm herself. She’d always been told she was the practical twin. Something would come to her. No matter what, she would protect Joel at all costs.
She was lying, Rafe thought as he watched her tear out of the parking lot. He felt a tingling sensation in his left hand that had served as a warning throughout his life. The woman would be trouble. Perhaps more trouble than Tabitha had been. If that were possible.
Tabitha had acted as if she’d enjoyed living with him, but soon enough he’d learned that all she wanted from him was his money. To this day, he didn’t understand her greed. After all, her father was very wealthy. He remembered the way she’d begged him to let her sell a few of his yachts. He’d indulged her, secretly enjoying the fact that he was one-upping the mighty Conrad Livingstone via the man’s daughter. The joke had backfired, though. She’d lied to him in order to pad her commission then tried to seduce one of his customers, a Spanish prince. Unsuccessfully.
Narrowing his eyes as the wind whipped around him, he walked toward his rental car. It shouldn’t be difficult to find out the truth about Tabitha, Nicole and Joel.
Sliding into the car, he started the engine then dialed his brother.
“Hey, Rafe. What’s up?” his brother Michael asked.
“I need the name of a good P.I. who is thorough, fast and discreet,” he said.
“Okay. This wouldn’t have anything to do with your bad mood last night, would it?”
“Maybe,” Rafe said.
“Does this mean you’ll be staying an extra night at my place?”
“Yeah, unless it’s a problem,” Rafe said.
“No, but I’ll be gone most of the time. I just found a new business that I can buy cheap. You want to tell me what all this is about?” Michael asked.
“After I find out. Text me the phone number,” Rafe said grimly. He wanted answers and he would get them.
After he received an initial report from his P.I., Rafe met with an attorney. “How much can Nicole Livingstone fight me for custody?”
The attorney shook his head. “She can fight, but unless she can prove you’re an unfit parent, then she won’t win. All you need is a paternity test that proves you’re the boy’s father. It’s easy enough to get a court order for that.”
Rafe thought about the years he’d been cheated from knowing his son, all because of the Livingstones. Bitterness surged through him. “These people have deceived me in the worst way. I want to take Joel away as soon as possible.”
The attorney lifted his hand. “Not so fast.”
“Why not?” Rafe demanded. “You just told me I can get custody without a problem.”
“True,” the man said. “But you have to remember the well-being of your son. Do you really want to rip him away from the one person he’s known since birth? From all appearances, Nicole Livingstone has taken excellent care of Joel. Would you agree?”
“Yes,” he said grudgingly.
“Legally, you may have the right to take him away so that he never sees Nicole again, but you need to consider what’s best for Joel. How is he going to feel about being taken away from the woman he knows as his mother?”
Rafe felt a gut-wrenching twist at the thought. He had been through a very similar experience—losing his parents and his family when he was a child, although not so young. The traumatic event had left him feeling lost for years. Despite his grudge against the Livingstones, he had to concede that Nicole Livingstone had been a loving mother to Joel.
She seemed different from Tabitha, but it was too soon for him to be sure. He found it difficult to believe that she could be so different from Tabitha and their father, especially since she hadn’t bothered to inform Rafe about Joel.
Another surge of bitterness burned through him. He was in a position to pull off the ultimate revenge with the Livingstones. He could take Joel away and they would never see him again. Ultimate revenge was a gratifying prospect, but selfish. He had a son to think about now. The knowledge blew him away every time he thought of it.
Nicole could be useful. An image of her slid across his mind. She certainly wasn’t his usual type. She wasn’t the least bit flashy and kept her sensuality under wraps. Something about the woman made him curious in a sexual way. He suspected that when she let loose, she could be explosive. It would take the right man to light her fuse. In other circumstances, he would give in to his curiosity, but something far more important was at stake at the moment. His son.
The following evening, after dinner and a bath for Joel, Nicole helped her nephew into his footed pajamas and sat beside him in his little bed. “Which book do you want me to read tonight?” she