Scandalous Heroes Box Set (119 page)

“Courts? You plan to flash the idea of going to court in front of Lindy?”

“It might be necessary. Obviously she wanted nothing to do with us, but if that’s my son she’s been hiding, I want him to know the real me. And I will do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.”

Blaine shook his head and turned to the side. “You can’t bully her, that’s not going to make him want to know who you are or spend time with you. You’d shoot anyone who did that to mom.”

“True. So what if she continues lying? What should I do if she refuses to allow us to see the kid? Just let it slide? Wish her another happy fifteen years?” His scowl deepened just thinking of any of those possible scenarios and he knew he’d sue his former lover in a heartbeat if she tried to keep his son from him despite what Blaine said.

The silence between them grew.

“We have to wait and listen to what she has to say. If the child is old enough to apply for work in construction, he has an opinion on what he wants. That’s all I’m saying. We’re not even sure how much we’ll have to deal with her yet. But I don’t want us to get there and be all defensive. That won’t help the situation. No need to tell everything.”

Donald nodded. His twin was right. “Okay. I’m good as long as everybody’s cool.” Hesitating, he glanced at Blaine. “What if there’s still something there? What if she’s available and still interested?” He released a breath as he forced out the crux of his dilemma. “What if she wants both of us?”

“Won’t be the first time a woman has wanted that,” Blaine said sardonically.

“True, but Lindy is the only woman
I
have ever wanted like that. So what do we do?”

Blaine shrugged. “It’s ladies choice.”

Donald ground his teeth. It was the knowledge that his twin was not deliberately being evasive, as a financial analyst Blaine rarely spoke in absolutes when it came to future events, which kept him from snapping. “I’m aware of that. But the last time we tried to share her affections it caused us problems, I don’t want that to ever happen again.”

He met his brother’s gaze. “This time we’re older, and hopefully wiser. We both fell in love with the same woman and she loved us. If, and this is a big if…there is still something there, I propose we look at this as a poly relationship, especially with a child involved. At the appropriate time, we can explain to her how it all works and see if she would be interested. Other than that, I don’t see how it will work.”

Since he had been thinking along those lines himself, Donald nodded. Neither man spoke. It seemed incredible that after all this time he would finally get some closure on what he quietly admitted to himself, had been the roughest patch of his life.

“I loved her. But I also hated her for ripping my heart out when she kicked me aside. Seeing her again is raking all of that up again. I don’t like being unsure of what’s going on inside me,” Blaine said into the silence.

“Yeah, me neither. I didn’t find any pictures of her, you?”

“No. Not yet. I guess my guy would have to travel or send someone to Flint. I don’t want to spook her. Red sent another message that the kid signed up with another mentor,” Blaine said softly. “Just as well, I’ll see her tomorrow.”

“Yeah, tomorrow.” Donald exhaled hoping to dispel the butterflies that had taken flight in his belly.

Chapter 6

Donald glanced at the house numbers on the large two story dwelling and exhaled before glancing at Blaine. “This is the address Red gave us.”

“Yeah.” Blaine remained in the passenger seat, staring at the house.

“Ready?”

“Give me a minute.” Blaine shifted in his seat as he continued to gaze at the building. “A son, it’s possible he’s inside. I need a sec to process that.”

Donald nodded. His stomach had been twisted in knots since last night. Not only would he confront a run-away lover, but there was a possibility that he’d meet his son. Silence settled comfortably between them as they gazed ahead.

“Who’s that?” Blaine asked, pointing at an older woman who'd stepped outside and headed toward a parked vehicle in the driveway.

Donald opened his door. “I don’t know.” He straightened his short-sleeved collarless shirt and headed toward the female. He heard the other car door close behind him.

“Hello, ma’am,” Donald said in a lowered voice when he was still a short distance from the woman. Her head snapped up as her eyes narrowed.

“What?” She wrapped her arm around her waist and took a step backward.

He held his palms up and offered her his best smile. “Sorry to startle you, my brother and I are here to talk to Lindy.”

Her brows furrowed as she glanced over his shoulder and then met his gaze again. “Lindy? Who is that?”

He smiled as he shook his head. “Belinda.”

The landscape of the older woman’s face changed as she smiled. “That’s sweet, you call her that.” She chuckled and relaxed. “You just missed her, she went to the library down the street.” She pointed to the left. “If you go down this street, make a right, then go a few blocks and turn left, you should see it. Can’t miss it.”

“Thank you.” Donald took a step backwards, intent on punching in the local library into his GPS when her next words stopped him.

“You remind me of somebody, can’t place who right now, but...”

“I do?” he asked in spite of his heart pounding in his chest. Was she talking about his son?

“Yes, your twin too, must be the season…” She threw her hand up in a dismissive gesture as she turned toward the house. “Anyway, if you follow those directions, she’s there.”

Deflated with her inclusion of Blaine, he nodded as he headed for his car. “Thanks again,” he said before she stepped into the house.

“Thought she was talking about the boy?” Blaine asked once they were in the car.

Instead of answering, he nodded.

“That’s good, we look alike so that cancels out someone else being the father.” Blaine settled into his seat drawing the belt across his chest.

“Good point.” Although it left the question open, which one of them was the father? He waited until Blaine looked up points of interest in the GPS. The feminine voice piped from the device with directions.

“Let’s do this,” Blaine said.

Donald started the car and backed out. “Yeah, time to get this settled.” The older woman’s directions were correct to a point and within ten minutes they parked in front of a large, two-story modern-looking building. Blaine stepped out of the car and glanced back at him.

A queasy feeling assaulted Donald. Pissed at his hesitation, he unsnapped his seatbelt and stepped out of the car, closing the door harder than warranted. Blaine’s brow rose but thankfully he refrained from commenting.

Mentally he castigated himself for his momentary loss of control. It rarely happened. Damn it, he was over Lindy and that time in his life. Straightening, he glanced at his brother, who waited for his signal that he was ready.

Nodding, they took a few steps toward the double glass doors. Just as they reached the top landing, the doors opened. Donald’s breath caught as a woman stepped outside holding a phone to her ear. His stiffening shaft and speeding heartbeat should have told him immediately who she was. But his mind went into fight mode, declaring the curvy, brown beauty was not his Lindy. For one thing this woman was darker, wore her hair in a shorter style that made her dark eyes appear much larger than Lindy’s. Regardless, her high breasts and full hips called to him the way only one woman’s ever had.  Engrossed in her conversation, she walked passed them. His body vibrated with awareness.

“Lindy.”

Her head whipped around as she stumbled a bit before stopping at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at him. “Whaaat?...” She looked over his shoulder and then back at him. Blaine moved down a step. Lindy backed up.

“What?” She closed her eyes; those beautiful eyes in the past had mirrored his need and love. “This is a dream…” she murmured and then opened her eyes slowly. He and Blaine now stood directly in front of her.

“No dream,” Blaine said his voice held a bit of humor. And in a way, her reaction to seeing them was funny. Not funny, ha ha… But funny strange. She had left them, had given birth to their child and never told either one of them they were a father. He expected guilt or shame, not the clenched fist at her side, narrowed eyes, or pinched nostrils.

“Nightmare then,” she snapped as she turned to leave.

His hand shot out and caught her upper arm. “Wait…” She stopped but eyed his hand until he removed it. “We just want to talk.” He used the same tone he would use on a skittish client or new submissive.

She released a long sigh as if standing in their presence taxed her strength. “Give me your number, a good one this time,” she said looking at the parking lot. “I’ll call when I have time, right now I have to check on something.”

“We’ve come all this way and you blow us off, you act as if we did something…you disappeared and never contacted me…us.” Her scent tugged at Donald, familiar and yet different. He stepped closer. So close he saw the fire blaze in her eyes at his words, and felt the sting on his cheek a second later.

“You abandoned me.” Her last word ended on a hiss as her finger filled his vision. “Don’t play with me, I am not in the mood. Now get the hell out of my way.” She walked around him toward the parking area. From the corner of his eye he saw Blaine move quickly behind her. Donald shook his head to clear the intoxicating fog from his mind. Lindy had always had this effect on him and there was little he could do to change it now after all these years.

Seeing her finger in Blaine’s face, he followed slowly.

“What’s going on that's so important you can’t spend a few minutes talking to us,” Blaine asked.  “Is it Adam?”

Twice in the span of five minutes she whipped around, this time she placed her hand on her hips while staring between the two of them. “So you knew about Adam all this time?” Glaring, she stepped closer. “Stupid. That’s what I was, thinking you had no idea about him or Abe. I should have known better. Get the hell away from me.” She spun on her heels as Donald’s mind spun.

“Abe?” Blaine asked before he could.

“We just found out about Adam the other day, my youngest brother lives here and met him at a construction site. He noticed the resemblance and contacted everyone in the family,” Donald explained as he and Blaine lengthened their strides to keep up with her.

Once again she stopped, stared at him and then Blaine. “So why didn’t you return my calls?”

“Calls?” Blaine asked, frowning. “What calls? You left and we never heard from you. Never talked to you until a few minutes ago. When did you call?”

“What number? My office?” Donald asked, ready to make some immediate terminations.

She drew back with a frown of her own. “Office? You have an office?”

“Yes.”

Her cell beeped and she read the text in silence. “Look I have to go, we can finish this discussion another time –”

“Is this about Adam?” Blaine asked again.

“None of your business, move out the way,” she said as she pushed through them.

Donald grabbed her arm, pulled her close. Her body met his with a slap, her breasts were pressed against his chest. He muffled a groan at the pleasure having her in his arms again.

He gazed into her wide uncertain eyes and then at her full, sweet lips. It had been years. He was starved for a taste of her sweetness. Without care or thought of her reaction, he bent down and brushed his tongue against her lips. She gasped and he slid home. The warmth, the taste and the feel were old friends that he desperately wanted to spend more time with. Her arms wrapped around his neck pulling him close. Moaning he moved her a bit so that she felt his hunger for her.

When had her arms left from around his neck, he wondered as she pushed against his chest, breaking their connection.

Her chest heaved as she stared up at him. “No…no, not again.” She turned and moved away as if hell were dogging her footsteps.

They caught up with her. “What’s wrong?” Donald asked.

“Why? After all this time, why are you here now?” she snapped without slowing down.

“I told you, we just found out about him. You never told us you were pregnant…” He stopped at the flash of surprise and then anger that crossed her face. He remembered that look and braced himself.

“I called from Georgia after I left, quite a few times. I talked to your daddy, told him I needed to talk with you and that it was an emergency. Each time he promised to give you the message and the phone number I left with him. I called twice a week for a month. I was desperate. Mom wanted me to have an abortion and disowned me when I refused.” She swallowed hard but continued meeting his gaze. Pain, hurt and disappointment simmered beneath the surface.

“So I was…pregnant and stuck in Backwater USA. Neither of you ever returned my calls, your dad promised to give you the messages, and after a while the number was changed to a private number. I had no way to contact you.” She stepped closer, pointing at him and then Blaine. “So either your father lied and he never gave you the messages, or you’re lying and acting like you didn’t know.”

Heart pounding, Donald swallowed hard. Pop had never told him and he’d bet his next case, Blaine had just been blindsided as well. His dad had been angry over the fight he and his twin had over Lindy, but would he have taken it to this level? Stolen all these years he could have spent with his son?

“We are not lying,” Blaine said into the silence. “We just found out about Adam, and we never received any messages that you’d called. Never! Neither of us would’ve allowed you to go through a pregnancy by yourself.”

Lindy might not have heard the anger in Blaine’s voice but Donald did. His father had crossed a line and he would deal with him later regarding that. Right now he had to switch gears and convince the mother of his son he had not abandoned her.

“You know or, knew, us, Lindy. You know we’d never leave our kid, we’re not like that.” Donald hoped she would give them the benefit of past shared memories and allow them to make it up to her and the boy.