Having Jay's Baby (Having His Baby #2) (10 page)

“Can you?”

“Will both of you please shut up!”

Something clattered on to the table. Small and black, my initial reaction was that some kind of bug was crawling across the surface.

Elizabeth was pale and angry. “Look,” she said.

“What is that?”

“I found it under the lamp,” she said. She was shaking visibly.

I picked up the device. It was a bug, all right, but not the type I’d originally assumed.

#

I didn’t know where to start. The phone sat limply in my hand while I sorted through the list of tasks in my brain. It was like trying to push through a crowd. Scanning my contacts list, I stopped at Fueller’s name. Would he be able to help? I had to at least explain the situation to him, get his advice. For a start I needed a new lawyer, someone connected, but connected in a legal way. He might know someone. Katrina, my loyal counsel for the divorce, wasn’t going to cut it for insider trading, among other things, up against the likes of Harry Benson.

I scrolled to Katrina Hummel’s name on the list. First things first; I had to officialise things with Nina. Stella’s doubt—her insistence that it couldn’t be—was making me nervous. Did she just not want to believe it? Was she more attached to this surfer than she was admitting to herself? Either way, I needed the ink dry on a few legal documents so that there wouldn’t be any more stalling. I gave Anna a warning shake of my head when she would approach the door, and hit the call button.

“I’ve just discovered I’m a father,” I said almost as soon as the connection was made. “Elizabeth isn’t the mother. The mother and I broke things off before I was married.” I paused. “What do I need to do?”

Karina Hummel, normally unflappable, was silent for several beats. “Oh,” she managed finally. “Well, let me see. Are you planning to support the child?”

“Financially, of course,” I said, “but I’m more concerned about my rights. The mother’s tetchy; possessive. It’s taking her a long time to come around to the idea. I need something in writing.

“Hmm.” Though it was a non-committal sound, Karina managed to load it ominously. “I’d suggest you agree an allowance of some sort, for the child, and payment terms. You know—whether you’ll pay once a month, annually. How she justifies the expenditure, etcetera.”  She paused. “What about visitation? Or are you and the mother involved?”

Rubbing my eyes, I stared out at the bleak view of the city beyond. The rain seemed unceasing. I could see City Hall in the distance, and from there my mind meandered too easily to a nearby hotel room.

“I need to re-file the divorce papers,” I said, ignoring the more complex questions I didn’t yet have answers to. “Will this affect things? I’m thinking...” I paused, not having had time to formulate any real plan. “The things is, I’m considering going it alone, professionally, but I’d appreciate it if that didn’t go any further than this conversation.”

“Well, I never,” Karina said, before adding impatiently, “You know everything you tell me is confidential, Jay. When did you decide this?”

“Recently,” was all I could admit to. “I’ll need a significant amount of capitol behind me, though, if I do decide to do it, so I need this divorce to go through cleanly.”

“No, I mean, when did you decide to re-file? I thought there were some outstanding legal issues in the family.”

“Harry Benson,” I said in a flat tone. “I’m guessing you watch the news from time to time.”

She made another loaded and yet non-committal sound.

“That particular mess isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” I said. “The only concern I have is whether this baby will complicate things. I don’t need anything dragging the divorce out any longer than it has to be.”

“If the baby was conceived before you were married and you’ve just been made aware of it, then it shouldn’t cause major issues to the settlement,” Karina said. “My feeling is that Elizabeth won’t want this to go public—she won’t make a fuss.” A pause. “It affects everything else though.”

“Yeah…” I breathed out, nodding out to Anna and gesturing five minutes with my hand when she frowned at me pointedly.

“You have obligations, presuming it’s all on the up and up.”

“It’s all legal,” I said. “I did a test. Can you get my name added to the birth certificate, or do I need to do that?”

“I’ll take care of it. I’ll send you the papers.” Karina was quiet for a moment. “We should probably have a meeting, then, before too long. You’ll need to make an appointment with your financial adviser first,” she said with a laugh. “You think ex-wives are expensive? Just wait. There are trust funds, and college funds...”

“Okay, I get it, Karina.”

“How’s Elizabeth taking it?” she asked.

It struck me then that my lawyer was the first person I’d told, beyond Fueller. “She doesn’t know yet,” I said, grimacing.

“Okay…” Karina cleared her throat, an awkward sound. “Let’s meet next month. We’ll review your will,” she said, cheerily. There was a pause. “Congratulations, by the way. Is it a boy or a girl?”

A ridiculous grin covered my face.
Holy shit … I’m a father
. “A girl,” I said, and I was unable to keep the pride from my tone. “Nina. She’s seven months.”

“Mazel tov.” Another pause. “And I’d suggest you tell your wife sooner rather than later, Jay. It won’t affect the legalities of the divorce, but…” Karina sighed. “Elizabeth ain’t gonna like it one bit.”

#

Stella was already at the cafe when I arrived, sitting alone at a table on the terrace. My eyes singled her out of the crowds with no discernible effort. Pale in the sunshine, she sat with her head tipped back in reverence to the sun and her dark hair shimmered in the breeze. As he approached, she looked up so suddenly that it was as if she’d caught my scent. It was a little disconcerting.

She smiled, combing my features reluctantly. “Hi.”

“Hey.” I took a seat.

Her eyes were narrowed against the sun, opaque—always cautious. Certainly no open hostility. Could we hope for a truce? The last meeting had left me with a nasty taste in my mouth, hence the reason I’d suggested we meet out in the open this time.

“How are you?” she asked, lifting her coffee cup and taking a sip.

“Good.” It was a lie; I had my meeting with Benson’s lawyer this afternoon, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. “How are you?”

“Good,” she said.

A lie for a lie … she was probably broke and definitely homeless, but I’d get to that in due time. She certainly looked fine. She looked as though she didn’t have a care in the world. It occurred to me that she lived in a very different world from the one I inhabited. There was a freedom about her, a sense of a life with options. I, irritatingly enough, seemed to be merely one of those many options.

I dampened down on the irritation by reminding myself that the paperwork was in progress. “How’s work?” I asked.

Sighing, she brushed a distracted hand through her hair. “Busy,” she said, adding, “the re-election,” as an abrupt explanation. “Nina’s been teething, and I’ve had a pile of freelance work to get through.”

“Why do freelance if you have a column at the Tribune?” I asked.

Still watching me with that half-smile, she rubbed her thumb and forefinger together.

My brow split with a frown. “Speaking of which, I called my lawyer this morning.” The waiter arrived with his coffee.

“Oh,” she said.

I took a sip of the tart, black liquid.

“What did he have to say?”

“She,” I corrected, and felt a tremor of amusement when Stella’s cheeks warmed. “Nothing monumental. But the last time we met you told me to consider the next eighteen years of Nina’s life, which is what I’m doing.”

“Did you speak to your wife?”

I paused. Actually, I tripped, mentally. “No.” I undid the button on my jacket. Stella’s gaze was a direct challenge. The last time I’d seen that her mouth had been hovering somewhere around my cock. The memory was unbidden and utterly debilitating.

“Are you going to tell her?”

“Of course,” I said. I sipped my coffee and scanned the crowds, agitated. I cleared my throat needlessly. “That’s not really your concern, though. I want us to sit down with my lawyer to discuss the situation with Nina.”

“Whoa!” She reared back in her seat. “Lawyers?”

“Yes. There are things we need to discuss-”

“So, let’s discuss them,” she cut in. “I don’t see why we have to bring lawyers into the picture. Why can’t we just take this a day at a time?”

“Well, I’d certainly like to,” I said, smiling even though I felt far from amused, “but you seem pretty determined to keep stalling us into weeks, and now months.”

A sigh left her. “Are we going to go back over this? I know you don’t believe me, but all of this kind of hit me out of left field, Jay.”

“As it did, me.” My patience twanged like a stretch rubber band. “How broke are you, anyway?”

Her jaw relaxed. A short laugh escaped her. “Just come out and ask, why don’t you…”

“You brought it up. Take it the surfer cleaned you out before he left.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“It’s my business if it affects Nina. Can’t you sue this guy, get the money back?”

“Don’t you think I would have done that already if I could have? I signed control over to him.” She glowered into the distance. “I already know it was a colossally stupid mistake. I was planning to at least sue him for child support before...” Her glance grazed off me.

“Oh. But don’t you want to sit down with my lawyer?”

“No, I don’t.” Lack of understanding was obviously evident in my expression because she shifted in her seat and made a stab at explaining. “Because then I would have to hire a lawyer, too, which costs money. So if we can avoid that by agreeing things between us, without legal intervention, I would be very grateful.”

“You don’t have to hire a lawyer,” I said. “I’m not suing you. Karina can take care of organising things for both of us.”

Her expression suggested I’d just asked her to walk off the edge of a cliff. “I’d need my own lawyer, Jay. What do we need to discuss, anyway?” she asked, settling back into hesitation. “Child support; visitation? We can agree these things before we get lawyers involved.”

Custody
. The word stuck in my throat. Stella’s gaze on me was bruised, but not beaten. She looked like she might get up and leave if I as much as alluded to the topic. Yet we did have to discuss it ... Christ, did I want custody? Certainly not full custody. I had no intention of interfering with Nina’s relationship with her mother. But visitation sounded so impermanent. I wasn’t some derelict father who deserved to be kept on the sidelines.

I took a deep breath, casting my gaze aside in an attempt to reboot the tension.

“Why don’t we make a list?” she suggested, brightening. “Once we’ve agreed on things, you can have your lawyer write it all up.” Her expression clouded over again. “We should at least try.”

I exhaled. “Have you found a place to live yet?”

She eyed me so guardedly that it was like recoil. “I have a place to live.”

“I have resources,” I said. “I don’t see why you should be living in that dive in SoHo when my apartment’s empty.” Once I’d dealt with the bugs, of course.

“It might not be the Four Seasons,” she said with an empty laugh, “but it’s not a dive, Jay!”

Twisting my watch, I stared blindly out at the alley. Nina was my daughter, too, no matter how circumspect Stella wanted to be about that fact. It was inexcusable for her to be living in a two-room walk-up in SoHo when I could afford something much better. I could just imagine Stella’s response to any edicts from me on that topic, though. If I wanted to keep things civilised for the moment—and I certainly didn’t need another uncivilised complication in my life—I was going to have to wait until she had her ‘list’ ready before I waded in with my demands.

In the meantime, I’d have Karina create my bloody list.

Stella leaned on her hand for a moment before straightening. Her eyes were dark with repressed curiosity. “At the paper, they’re saying that Fitzsimmons & Jones is under investigation.” She frowned, tossing the words at me like an accusation. “Is it?”

I lifted my brows. “No.”

“Are you involved with this investigation into Harry Benson?” She paused. “He is your father-in-law.”

I eyed her for a long moment. This was all speculation. It had to be. Fueller would have given me a heads-up if the vultures really were circling. 

She was still watching me. “A lot of people seem to think your father’s the real brains behind Harry Benson’s operation,” she said. “Was that what you were arguing about that night in your office? Did he get you involved somehow?”

I took a sip of coffee and considered her. The sun had moved and now it shone behind her against the trellised brick wall. It created a halo of soft-looking fuzz around her hair and cast her bone structure into gentle relief. It was utterly misleading. Her expression had all the shrewdness of a predator.

Was she likely to fight me if I made claims over Nina’s upbringing? A light flared in my consciousness as more memories came flooding back, or rather, suggestions of memories; lemon yellow heat and supple limbs. Memories weighted with physical rather than emotional sensations. So why this urge to touch her, ground myself in her somehow? It flickered at the edge of my consciousness.