Dazzle: The Billionaire's Secret Surrogate (Contemporary BWWM Romance) (15 page)

Kady told Archer the whole story during their visit the following day. He was as completely perplexed by the entire story as she was and shook his head over it. “Why would she tell you something like that anyway?” he wondered. “While you were at the doctor that day, I took a nap and then woke up and got onto the computer.”

“Maybe she’s just trying to get me to break up with your or something,” Kady decided. “You know that to her messed up, crazy way of thinking, if I wasn’t in the way it would be much easier for her to have you instead.”

“It seriously concerns me, though, that you’re out there where she could go nuts and try to hurt you or our baby, and I’m trapped in here where I can’t do anything about it,” Archer said as he rubbed at his temples. His handsome face looked drawn and haggard, the black ring around his eye finally starting to fade into splotchy greens, yellows, and purples.

“But the only person who got attacked so far is you,” Kady pointed out, looking him over for any new signs of violence. “Have they bothered you again since then?”

“Warden couldn’t make me go to solitary, so he put all six of them in instead,” Archer told her with a negative shake of his head. “That’s probably just going to make them angrier than ever once they get out again.”

“Great,” Kady grumbled, trying to cover the fact that she was filled with worry over him. She knew he had enough on his plate to deal with without having to comfort her as well. “The legal system at work again, huh?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ve already hired my own squad of goons,” Archer said. “They won’t get close enough to lay a single finger on me with these guys around.”

“Yeah, unless Parker is paying more than you are,” Kady pointed out. “Say, Archer, how much do you know about that guy anyway? How long did you two work together?”

“Who, Parker?” Archer scoffed, a hint of anger sparking in his dark eyes. “We actually were at college together. He used to complain all the time that I got better grades and then later on better opportunities, you know, that sort of thing. But he was always more than willing to hang on my shirttails, and I was nice enough to give him a job later on. You’d think he’d be a little grateful.”

“Grateful?” she said, a small piece of the puzzle finally starting to click. “What about jealous?”

“What? What are you saying?” Archer asked.

“What if he was so jealous that he wanted to get even with you?” Kady asked. “How far do you think he’d go to do that?”

“You mean as in completely discredit me and then send his crazy sister around to try to get me in her clutches, that kind of getting even?” Archer asked, giving credence to the idea even though it was completely crazy, and rubbing speculatively at his chin. “But if that’s what this is all about, then how does that other chick fit in?”

“I’m still working on that part,” Kady said with a sigh. Unfortunately, there were a lot of pieces that made up this crazy puzzle, but she was determined to figure it out. “But whoever Cherry Jenks really is, she’s completely unaware that we’re on to her. Your mother agreed that we’d be better off just to watch her for now. However, if these three are willing to go this far for whatever it is they’re after, I really don’t know how much farther they’d go beyond it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Archer agreed. “But you’ll believe in me no matter what, and that’s really all that matters in my book. You have no idea how much I want to kiss you just because of that right this minute.”

Kady forced a chuckle. “Well, that’s not going to happen.” She missed him so much it was like a constant ache she carried around with her, right next to her heart.

“Put your lips to the glass, sweetheart,” he suggested.

“No way, they told us that’s against the rules,” she reminded him. “You’re trying to get me thrown out of here.”

“I’m not,” he protested. “I just really miss you, that’s all.”

“I miss you too, Archer,” she said softly. “But you haven’t been naughty in there, so it shouldn’t be that much longer.”

“Did you do your photo shoot?” he asked her then, changing the topic of conversation before either of them could get too sucked into the depressing topic of their forced separation.

“Oh yeah, we did manage to fit that in along with all the mayhem,” Kady chuckled, remembering how much fun that day had been, and how good it had felt to do something actually productive and worthwhile. “How did you know that camera guy would be—um—uninterested, anyway?”

“Because my mother always tends to hire photographers who will be disinclined to flirt with their subjects,” Archer said with a grin. “I just figured I’d have fun teasing you a bit before I told you that.”

“Alfonso is a real sweetheart,” Kady said. “And he has an excellent eye for color schemes.”

“Well, that’s good,” Archer said with a nod. “I look forward to seeing what the two of you came up with together.”

“You know me too well, I think,” Kady grumbled.

“I think I like knowing you too well,” Archer said. He kissed a finger and held it to the glass. Shyly, Kady took the kiss and put it onto her lips.

“Oh yeah, Dee told me that the nursery furniture just arrived and she’s having loads of fun putting it together,” Kady chuckled. “Something tells me she’s going to like becoming a nanny as well as a housekeeper. She might actually be more excited about this baby than we are.”

“That’s impossible,” Archer grinned, the tenderness in his voice breaking her heart all over again. She couldn’t help but feel that he was missing so much as they readied for the baby’s impending arrival. “Take some pictures and send them to me, will you? You can send some of yourself as well as the nursery too, if you will. I really do miss your face, you know.”

“I love you, Archer,” Kady told him with a tremulous smile, instantly covering it up with a naughty wink. “You’ll have those pics in the mail before the end of the night.”

“Good girl,” he grinned, knowing she hated it when he called her that. “Now I won’t have to spank you.”

“Oh, really?” Kady chuckled, her voice suddenly husky. “Then I’ll have to think of a way to make you change your mind, won’t I?”

The pair of them were giggling like crazy by the time Kady had to go.

“So what does that mean, Doctor Franz?” Kady asked with a furrowed brow, her panic spiking at the doctor’s news.

“Well, in regular diabetes the body is unable to properly process sugar because the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to pump into the system to do so,” he explained. “That’s sort of what is happening with gestational diabetes except that it’s a temporary condition which is being set off by the hormones from your baby. We generally want to keep your sugars down as low as possible, so we’ll be starting you on some insulin shots which the dietician will explain to you further. But what it all boils down to is a strict change of your diet for the rest of your pregnancy. If you don’t follow it, the baby will grow big really fast and you’d probably be looking at a C-section birth.”

“I’d definitely like to avoid that!” Kady gasped. “I doubt anybody would want to hire me as a bikini model with a huge scar like that on my belly.”

“I think you ought to focus more on your after-pregnancy weight loss than that at this point,” he said. “Having babies in general can pack on pounds, but for most women the boys can tend to put on more than the girls.”

“Did you just tell me the gender of this baby?” Kady laughed.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot you’d asked not to know,” he said, with a slightly abashed look and a shrug. “Must be my senility catching up to me.”

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter,” Kady sighed, as inside she was secretly thrilled, already picturing a little baby boy with her hair and Archer’s eyes, his dazzling smile and charisma, and her patience and strength. “I was really close to asking you anyway.”

“Changed your mind, huh?”

“The curiosity was really starting to get to me,” she admitted. “Besides, I saw the most adorable onesies the other day with Athena at the store.”

“Where is grandma today anyway?” the doctor wanted to know.

“She had to go deal with something in Milan for the week,” Kady explained. “I guess it’s some fashion show her company puts on over there once every four months or something. She tried to get me to go along, but I just didn’t want to do it in my condition, you know?”

“Well, I don’t blame you, and besides, with this new development the last thing you’ll want to do is go traveling,” he agreed, his voice once more strictly professional. “Keeping to a diet is hard enough as it is without adding in that kind of stress. You made an excellent choice, I think.”

“Well, Doctor, I don’t really want to take up too much of your time, so if you’ll just point me in the right direction I’ll speak with the dietitian and get all the details.”

“Great, and then you and I need to meet in about a month for your physical,” he said. “We’ll want to measure all that little guy’s arms and legs and whatnot and schedule him for a heart exam. Nothing to worry about, it’s standard procedure these days.”

About an hour later Kady went home armed with a bunch of needles, a bucket to put them in, and a large book of instructions where she was also meant to write in her sugar numbers so they could keep track of all the medicine she’d need to take to keep them down. She was not looking forward to taking her first shot along with her dinner, that was for sure.

“This royally sucks!” she told Daryl as she got into the car. “Now I can’t even comfort myself with chocolate.”

“Oh, why’s that?” he asked.

“They tested me for gestational diabetes and I have it,” she grumped. “That just figures when you consider everything else that’s happened to me this year.”

“Oh, you mean like when you met the man of your dreams who just happens to be richer than sin, or when you found out you were having his kid, or—“

“Okay, okay, so some good stuff is happening too,” she conceded with a laugh. “But I’m talking about the whole losing my apartment thanks to a drug addicted roommate who was supposedly my friend, and this whole mess with that Mia chick. You have to admit those are both pretty messed up.”

“Yeah, they are, but what I was trying to say is that you’re much better off to focus on the positives than the negatives,” Daryl pointed out, always one to offer fatherly advice, whether she asked for it or not. It was usually not. “Life’s always got both good and bad things going on, you just have to pick and choose which ones you want to care about.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” she agreed. “Oh, the doctor blurted out which sex this baby is, by the way.”

“Really?” Daryl asked, his interest written all over his face.

“Yeah, but I’m not telling anybody until I tell Archer first,” she said with firm resolve. “Especially not his mother. She’d be telling him all about it before I’d even hung up the phone.”

“Well, I’m not going to argue that point,” Daryl chuckled, and then his voice turned conspiratorial. “But you could tell me. You know I won’t rat you out.”

“Oh yeah?” Kady scoffed, chuckling as she remembered another occasion where he did just that. “Like when you didn’t tell Archer that you’d taken me to Manhattan and followed me to Central Park? Yeah, I can sure trust you, Daryl.”

“Come on, Kady, you know I did it for your own protection,” he grumbled. “It isn’t safe trying to sleep on a park bench in there, especially not for a sweet young girl like yourself. Besides, if I’d kept my mouth shut you wouldn’t be where you are today, would you?”

“While I cannot fault your logic in that, the fact remains you did tell Archer where I was,” she pointed out, having way too much fun teasing the older man.

“Well, yes, but I don’t remember promising not to do so,” he pointed out. “Also, like I said, you were in danger. I would never forgive myself if you got hurt somehow. So I’m not even going to apologize. You know I did the right thing.”

Sighing, finally giving into his demands and the genuine affection in his voice, Kady said, “Fine, he’s a boy. Are you happy now?”

“I am, actually,” he chuckled. “Too bad I won’t be there to see Archer’s face when you tell him you were right and he was wrong. That would be priceless.”

“I just hope all this stabbing doesn’t leave any lasting scars,” Kady complained when she told Archer about her ordeal with her new medication over the phone that night. “This really sucks. Why do I have to get good news and the worst news ever all on the same day?”

“Oh, there was good news?” Archer asked, picking up on her unsaid words, and she could tell he was smirking by the sound of his voice.

“In a way, I guess,” she said, dragging the words out teasingly. “The doctor accidentally let it slip out that we’re having a boy. I know we agreed not to find out, even though you wanted me to, so it ought to make you happy that you at least have your answer, even if he’s not a girl.”

“Kady, I don’t mind at all that our baby is a boy,” Archer said, the joy in his voice reaching her even through the phone. “I was only teasing you.”

“Well that’s a relief,” she chuckled. “I was beginning to think you’d have a cow over it.”

“Don’t be silly, woman,” he scolded. “You should know by now that I love you no matter what happens. Which reminds me, you’re never going to believe this. I had a letter from the welfare office stating that Mia has named me as the father of her baby, but that since my accounts are frozen they won’t attempt to charge any support at this time. How the heck can they charge support without even proving the kid belongs to the man being named or not? That has to be totally illegal.”

“Hmm, are you sure it’s a real letter?” Kady scoffed. “Maybe she had it forged just to mess with you some more.”

“I wonder if she’d actually go that far,” Archer speculated, but Kady had no doubt. After the way Mia attacked her in the lobby of Dazzle, she wouldn’t put anything past that crazy woman.

“Based on what I’ve seen her and the rest of them do so far, I’d give that a big, fat yes,” she said. “For all we know, that other woman who hangs around with her might even work at the welfare office and she’s the one who sent the letter.”

“No doubt,” Archer agreed. “Well, they’re about to lock us all in for the night so I have to get off of here. Hey, babe, don’t sweat the needle thing so much. It’s all for a good cause, right?”

“Yeah, right,” Kady sighed. “I love you, daddy, and baby kick says he loves you too with some really big feet. Damn!”

“Wish I could feel,” Archer sighed, the regret and sadness in his voice had her sighing as well. “Love you guys too.”

Kady laid in the bed unable to go to sleep for the next couple of hours. She couldn’t get it out of her head that she needed to know who the third woman of the Mia trio was. And also, why would Mia be stupid enough to think she could prove that the baby she was pregnant with belonged to Archer? Didn’t she know that once they did blood testing it would be obvious that she had lied? The woman must really be crazy to try a stunt like that.

Idly curious, she wandered out into the hallway and headed for her computer room, which was the room Archer had originally given her as her own bedroom on the night they’d first met, but which she’d transformed into a more useful room since she and Archer had decided to share his bed each night instead.

She went to a criminal record site and typed in a description of the woman she was wondering about, and the computer found too many people to count. Patiently, Kady thought of different ways to narrow the search down. Not surprisingly she found Cheryl’s name and photograph with counts of petty larceny and check fraud. Then she spotted the other one.

Kathy Dale wasn’t even an American citizen, but a white woman who had been born in Japan. Cheryl was adopted by the same parents as she had been when the girls were about five after their own parents had died in a head-on collision. Their last name had been Chong. They had one daughter of their own, and her name was Mia. She found all of this out with a great deal of searching outside of the criminal records, of course.

Next she checked to see the status of Cheryl’s citizenship. She had become an American citizen ten years ago when all three women had come here, just as Mia had done. It was only Kathy who had failed to do so, and even further digging supplied the reason. She had been arrested almost as soon as they’d arrived, but bailed out by Parker Chou, a fellow student at the university they had attended. She had been living as an international citizen ever since.

“They all know each other, and they were all at the same college,” Kady whispered as she rubbed at her temples. “Archer knew Parker back then. I wonder if he knew these three women as well.”

Try as she might, she couldn’t find any evidence to either prove or disprove any affiliation between Archer and the three women either during school or after graduation. However, since he knew Parker as a work colleague for several years, it was possible he’d interacted with one or more of them during that time. So, the real question was, what was really going on here? Did Archer know more than he was letting one? Had he really told her the truth at all?

Kady hated the fact that she was doubting Archer at all. He had taken her off the streets and given her a home. He had also opened his heart to her as well, and they were about to have a child together. But what if the things Mia had said the other day were somehow true? What if, right before he’d gone to jail, Archer had gotten her pregnant, and once he came out of jail he intended to be with the other woman instead of her? The unwilling thoughts tumbled through her head until she could finally get a hold of herself.

“Stop this!” she scolded herself. “There’s no way he had a chance to have sex with her. We were inseparable that whole week.”

And Kady desperately wanted to believe that Archer was innocent in all of this. That all of Mia’s disgusting lies were just that, blatantly made-up and desperate lies.

Still, there had to be something between Archer and Mia in order for her to become as obsessed with him as she was. Kady was still fairly new to the whole situation. She’d only known Archer for just shy of seven months. She didn’t have any clue about most of his past except the fact that both he and Daryl had proclaimed that he had been a playboy.

Maybe Mia was one of the women he’d slept around with sometime and she hadn’t gotten it into her head that they were through. It made more sense than any other theory she could think of. And Parker, her loving brother, had been mad about it all these years and finally decided to get his revenge. Yes, that must be what had happened.

Certain that she’d solved the mystery at last, Kady was finally able to drift into a restless sleep. Her dreams were populated with playboy parties and diabetic syringes that kept her mentally running away the rest of the night.