The Millionaire's Unexpected Proposal (Entangled Indulgence) (3 page)

But when he sat in an empty room in the courthouse, waiting for the jury to return, he let his thoughts entertain the puzzle of Camilla Winthrop showing up at his office. Clearly the woman had lost her mind. It was a pity, because she was even more attractive than he remembered. He’d been surprised at how strong the impulse had been to walk around the desk and take her into his arms to find out if the chemistry between them was really as strong as he remembered. Fortunately, reason prevailed. He was not going to take any chances with a woman who obviously had delusions about marrying him.

She had to be running some sort of scam, but he couldn’t figure out what her angle was. The sugar daddy she’d latched onto after Sam returned to Miami had apparently left her high and dry, and she’d decided to find out what had happened to that young lawyer she met once upon a time. Sam wasn’t that same kid anymore. He cringed when he remembered how he’d let his guard down, opened up to her, shared his plans and dreams. And apparently Camilla had found out he’d actually surpassed his own expectations.

When he’d started the firm with Jon and Ritchie, he’d expected to be successful. He just hadn’t imagined
how
successful they would be. It had been his idea, which was why his name was first on the door. But it hadn’t taken much to talk his law school buddy Jonathon Berrington, an associate at another of Miami’s major insurance defense firms, into trading in the long hours and associate’s salary for a chance to own their own firm and bring in million-dollar verdicts for plaintiffs. They would change people’s lives and make themselves rich in the process. As the plan began to take form, they’d added Ritchie Perez, a hotshot young prosecutor in the state attorney’s office, whose handling of high-profile drug and gang violence cases had catapulted him into the public eye as the champion of the underdog, a man who got justice for the little guy. It was exactly the image they wanted.

The three of them had agreed from the beginning that there would be no fender benders, no dog bites, no slip-and-fall cases handled by the law firm of Flanagan, Berrington & Perez. And no clients with dubious claims, no scammers in neck braces faking injuries. They weren’t ambulance chasers, and they wouldn’t take a case for a client who didn’t deserve to win. They would be the ones who stood up for the innocent victims of drunk drivers and of unscrupulous companies that ignored the warnings in their own product safety tests and caused needless suffering. They would specialize in wrongful death, serious bodily injury, and million-dollar verdicts.

And that’s exactly what they’d done.

“The jury’s in.”

Sam looked up, nodded to the bailiff, and went into the courtroom.

…

“You mean you didn’t tell him?” Camilla’s sister stared at her. “How could you not tell him?”

“He’s different now.” Camilla paced across the room, stopped, and looked out the window at the Atlantic Ocean.

“Well, duh,” Olivia said, stretching her long limbs and leaning back on the bed. To all appearances, she was the typical 15-year-old, obsessing over the latest pop star, the coolest fashions, the hottest boys in school. Thank God, Camilla thought. She would never let a single day go by without remembering to be thankful. If this had been the only thing Danny had given her, it would have been enough.

“So what did you say?”

“That I wanted him to marry me.”

He sister stared at her, mouth gaping. “Well, that’s an original opening.”

Camilla shrugged. “It bought me a meeting with him. Dinner. Tonight.” She looked at her watch.

“So where’s he meeting you?”

“Here.”

“
Here?
” Olivia glanced at the closed door across the suite. “What about JD?”

“Well, since JD’s the whole point…”

“Look,” Olivia said, her brilliantly blue eyes turning a deeper shade with intensity. “Let’s just leave now. We can go anyplace. There’s enough money—you don’t have to do this. We’ll just…we’ll go live in Italy!”

Camilla shook her head. “We’re not going to start running.” Arguably the only thing of value her mother had passed on to her and her sister was dual citizenship in Italy, a result of her mother’s paternal grandfather, who immigrated to the United States in the 1930s, dying a few years later without ever having renounced his Italian citizenship. It seemed to Camilla to be a tenuous link, but her mother had investigated it and obtained dual citizenship for herself and both her daughters, claiming it gave them “an international flair.” Camilla, however, had no desire to live in exile from the only country she considered her home. Compared to that, a marriage of convenience to the father of her child seemed like not such a big sacrifice at all.

“Trust me, Liv. This is the only answer. It’ll be fine.”

“He’ll hate you.”

“Probably. It’ll only be for a year at most. Then we really will be able to start over.”

“Promise?”

“Absolutely.”

Olivia didn’t look convinced.

“Listen,” Camilla said. “I better get downstairs. I’m supposed to meet him at the restaurant, and he’s probably on his way here now.”

There was a knock at the door and they both jumped guiltily.

“Do you think…”

Camilla shook her head. “He doesn’t know what room we’re in.” She peeked through the eyehole in the door, then looked at Olivia. “I guess he found out.”

Camilla opened the door and tried to slip out into the hallway, but Sam blocked the door from closing.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in, Camilla?”

“No, I’m ready to go down…” Even with heels on, she had to tilt her head up to look in his eyes. She’d forgotten how tall he was. His shoulders seem broader now that she was so close to him, and he had an air of confidence that bordered on arrogance. He exuded a kind of casual power that seemed just as intimidating standing in a hotel hallway as it had been sitting behind the desk in his opulent office.

“Who’s in the room with you?” He took hold of her elbow lightly. “Your lover? I want to know exactly what’s going on here, and I don’t think you want to have this conversation in the hallway.”

She stepped back and let him in the door.

…

Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t to see a teenage girl sitting on the bed.

“This is my sister, Olivia. Livvy, this is Sam Flanagan.”

“Hi.”

Sam felt a little foolish.

The girl was staring at him like he was some sort of fascinating other species. She looked over at Camilla. “Oh my God, Cam. You didn’t tell me he looked exactly like—”

“Liv!”

“Sorry.” She silently studied Sam another ten seconds or so, then shrugged.

“Are you satisfied? Can we go to dinner now?” Camilla started toward the door.

Olivia looked back down at her book, something ghoulish with vampires on the cover from what Sam could see of it, and gave every appearance of tuning the adults out.

“Maybe it would be better to talk in the restaurant,” Sam allowed.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

They were almost out the door when another voice interrupted them.

“
Mommy?
”

Sam jerked his head around. The connecting door opened and a small boy walked out, rubbing his eyes and clutching a tattered teddy bear.

“I thought you were asleep, honey,” Camilla said, hurrying over and bending down to give him a hug. She brushed a wavy lock of black hair back from his forehead, and Sam felt something clench in his gut. The little boy looked up then, staring at him with Camilla’s brilliantly blue eyes.

“Who are you?”

“That’s Sam, honey. He’s an…old friend of Mommy’s.” She looked over at Sam. “Sam, this is my son, JD.”

Sam just stared. Was it possible? Of course it was. But for the eyes, he was staring at a mirror image of himself as a child.

“I’m sorry, just let me get JD settled back into bed.”

“Not quite yet,” Sam said, walking over and crouching down in front of the boy, who leaned back against his mother, but kept his eyes on Sam’s face.

“Where’s your daddy, JD?” Sam asked softly, then regretted the question when the little boy’s lower lip began to tremble.

“Daddy had to go away,” JD said.

“That’s enough,” Camilla said sharply, looking at Sam as she pulled the little boy toward the other room. “JD, let’s get you back into bed.”

The little boy rubbed his eyes and held Camilla’s hand, walking with her back toward the bedroom. He paused when he got to the door and turned back to look at Sam.

“Daddy can’t live with us anymore. God needs him up in heaven,” he said solemnly, and Sam heard Camilla catch her breath before she looked back over her shoulder and gave Sam a look that said she wished
he
was the one who was dead.

Chapter Two

“What do you think you’re doing?” Camilla tried to pull her arm away, but Sam kept a firm grip, steering her away from the entrance to the hotel dining room and toward the main entrance.

“Taking you someplace where we can discuss this privately.”

“I don’t want to be alone with you right now.”

“I’m sure you don’t.” He handed the valet his claim check and a folded bill. “The black BMW convertible. M6. Now.”

“Yes,
sir
,” the kid said, sprinting ahead of the other valets.

“I have to get back to JD soon.”

Sam didn’t answer. He had plenty to say to her, but it could—it
would
—wait until they were alone.

The sleek sports car whipped up the drive in front of the hotel, and the valet rushed out to open the door for Camilla.

Once they were out on the highway, Sam opened it up, speeding along the coastline. He left the hardtop up, although he was tempted to see what she’d look like with the top down, the wind whipping through her hair. He reminded himself this wasn’t a joyride. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the thought that he had a son.

“Where are you taking me?”

He glanced over at her. Her fists were clenched on her lap, her body rigid. “Does it matter?”

He punched the gas and the accelerator crept up higher.

“Could you slow down, please? You’re going to get us killed.”

“Hardly.” But he saw her face was white and let up on the accelerator.

He pulled off the highway into a parking lot at the beach. There were few cars this time of evening, and the sky was already darkening over the Atlantic.

“All right,” he said. “Talk.”

…

Now that the moment was finally here, she wasn’t sure what to say. How could she explain why she’d kept JD’s birth a secret all these years, and then chose to end that silence and show up at his office? And it didn’t help that he was looking at her with restrained fury in his eyes.

“I’m not sure where to begin.” She heard the slight tremor in her own voice and steeled herself. She’d done what she
had
to do.

“You could begin with why you have a child who looks to be about four years old and looks an awful lot like me when I was that age.” Every word was deliberate, cold.

This would have been so much easier if they were having a civilized discussion over dinner, like she’d suggested. Instead of sitting in a car in a deserted parking lot at the beach, the sky darkening over the unrelenting waves that advanced on the shoreline and then receded. The sudden annoyance she felt at the way he’d taken control of the situation steadied her voice.

“I didn’t mean to tell you like this. That’s why I wanted to meet you at the restaurant. I don’t know how you found out what room we’re in.”

When he didn’t answer, she sighed. “I got pregnant when we were in Las Vegas.”

“That much is obvious. What isn’t obvious is why I never heard from you until now.”

She looked over at him in surprise. “You’re the one who didn’t want to hear from me. Obviously you didn’t want me to disrupt you career just when it was taking off.”

“That’s bullshit, Camilla.” His voice was calm, controlled, and because of it, even more terrifying than if he’d shouted at her. “It’s more likely you didn’t want to disrupt your own life, including your marriage plans. Did your husband even know he was playing daddy to another man’s bastard?”

She blanched. “I can’t believe you’d use such a word to describe your own son.”

“Well that’s just it, Camilla. Up until about an hour ago I didn’t have a son. Whose fault is that?”

“Look, I know you’re angry—”

Sam just looked at her, his face a picture of icy control. “Angry doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

He tapped his fingers on the dashboard.

“So, tell me, Camilla, why contact me now? If that’s my son—and it seems obvious he is—I’ll support him. But what gave you the idea I’d marry you?”

“My husband died recently. And I don’t…get along with my in-laws. They’ve threatened to take JD away from me.” Camilla knew there was no
legitimate
way they could take away her child. She certainly wasn’t an unfit mother. But with the kind of power and influence the Winthrop family wielded, she couldn’t risk a legal battle for custody. These were people who wouldn’t hesitate to make up lies about her and twist the system to their own ends.

“So tell them he’s not their grandson.”

She turned her head, looked out the window. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t.”

She looked down, realized she was clenching her hands in her lap, and forced herself to relax.

“JD loved his father,” she said, finally. “I can’t take that away from him.”

“JD never met his father before today,” Sam said coldly, and she felt a hot prickling of anger stab through her.

“It takes more than some sperm in a hotel room in Vegas to make a father.”

“Well, I guess I wouldn’t know that, would I? Since I didn’t know you were pregnant. And now, five years later, you show up and expect me to bail you out of whatever trouble you’ve gotten yourself into, and
marry
you? But not acknowledge JD as my son.”

It sounded ridiculous even to her own ears. How could she make him understand?

“It’s the only thing I could think of. If I can show that I have a stable home for my son, and a husband with influence and money, my in-laws won’t be able to do anything. A year, that’s all I’m asking from you. Then we get a quiet divorce. I’ll sign whatever papers you want giving up any rights to your money.”

“Damn right you will.”

“I just can’t risk losing JD.” She felt tears pricking behind her eyes and she fought them back. She hadn’t come looking for pity. She’d beg if she had to, but she wouldn’t break down.

“Why exactly do your in-laws think you’re too irresponsible to raise your own son?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m sure it is.” His jaw hardened. He looked like he’d come to some sort of decision, and she held her breath.

“I’m going to give this some thought tonight, Camilla. Don’t you even think about changing your mind and leaving town with that child, because I will hunt you down. Is that understood?”

“Yes.”

“Come to my office tomorrow at ten o’clock. I haven’t decided exactly how to handle this yet, but I’m going to tell you one thing for certain. I am going to be part of my son’s life.”

He pulled back on to the highway, headed back toward her hotel.

“That’s fine. After the divorce you can have visitation. I wouldn’t try to stop you from seeing him.”

He glanced over. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

“Are you trying to tell me you would have been thrilled to hear some girl you hooked up with in Vegas was pregnant? You didn’t even know my last name.”

“Well, I guess we’ll never know, will we? I may not have been ready for a relationship then. But I would
never
have walked away from my responsibility for a child. All you needed to do was pick up the phone.”

But she had. Once, in a moment of desperation, she’d called his office, spoken to his assistant, been promised that Sam would return her call. He never did. And again, six months later, she’d tried again. She never heard from him. Apparently she had meant so little to him that he didn’t even remember now.

She’d made plenty of mistakes, but she wasn’t going to take full responsibility for this one.

“I
did
try to contact you. You were too busy to take my call.”

For a moment, his face registered surprise, then his features hardened.

“I’m busy a lot, but I do return phone calls. If you really wanted to reach me, I’m sure you could have managed it over the past five years.”

“I know how it looks. You don’t know how much I’ve regretted—”

“This isn’t about you. It’s about an innocent child.
My
child.”

“
Our
child,” she said quietly.

“That’s the unfortunate part of this situation I’ll have to deal with.”

He pulled into the hotel parking lot and stopped the car abruptly, leaning back in his seat to look at her. His voice was cold and deliberate, but his eyes were dark with anger.

“You’ve made all the decisions for the past five years. I’m making the decisions now.”

As long as his decision was to protect JD from a custody challenge, that was fine with Camilla. But what would it be like to be married to this man, who seemed more like a stranger than someone she’d once shared days and nights of passion with? The car suddenly felt too small, and she felt too aware of him in the confined space.

She saw something change in his eyes, as if he were aware of her thoughts, and for one crazy moment she thought he might reach across the seat and pull her to him, his mouth taking possession of hers. And she imagined herself kissing him back.

The chemistry between them had always been explosive. That was the one thing, it seemed, that hadn’t changed. Her mouth went dry and she could feel her heartbeat racing.

Then the valet opened the door and she was standing in front of the hotel, watching Sam drive away. And wondering if that moment of connection had been just her imagination.

Olivia jumped up the second Camilla opened the door.

“Thank God. I’ve been so worried.”

“JD?”

“Sound asleep.” Olivia settled back down onto the bed. “Well? What happened?”

“He’s really angry. But I think he’s going to help us. I have to meet him at his office tomorrow morning.”

“I still think we should try to come up with another solution. You’re JD’s mother. They’re not going to be able to take him away from you.”

“You know what kind of people they are.”

Olivia rolled over on her back, stared at the ceiling. “Yeah.”

“Besides, it’s too late now. I can’t
un
tell Sam about JD, and he wants to be part of his life.”

“I guess. I just wish for once you’d put what you want first.”

Camilla walked over to the bed, sat down, and gave her sister a hug. “Taking care of you and JD is what I want. And after a year or so, it’ll all blow over and we can go on with our lives.”

“Maybe,” Olivia said. “I don’t think they’ll ever leave you alone.” She lowered her voice, glancing over at the connecting door. “Not unless you tell them Danny wasn’t really JD’s father.”

“He
was
JD’s dad. In every way that counted,” Camilla said, stroking Livvy’s hair. “I owe Danny at least this much.”

“Yeah,” Olivia said. “Good luck explaining that to your new husband.”

…

Sam leaned back in his chair. The Camilla he remembered had been sweet and fun, with a touching vulnerability just beneath the polish. The Camilla who’d shown up at his office two days ago had concealed her pregnancy from him and married someone else just a week after the two of them had been together in Vegas. Despite being furious that she’d kept the knowledge that he had a son from him, there was no question he was still attracted to her. There’d been a moment last night when he’d had the urge to kiss her, just to see how much of the chemistry they’d had in Vegas was still there. But this morning the cold light of reality had set in.

He’d been searching the internet for information about Camilla Winthrop—Camilla Billington Winthrop—and it was worse than he’d thought. Her father had been an investment banker who supported his family in a lavish lifestyle. Then the market crashed and the authorities started taking a closer look at his business practices. It was reported that he lost his own fortune as well as the fortunes of a number of his clients, although rumors persisted that he’d managed to squirrel away a couple million dollars in an offshore account, earning him the nickname
Bilk
ington in some quarters.

He died in a car crash before the indictments had ever been issued. He and his then-10-year-old daughter Olivia had been picking up Billington’s wife from an exclusive rehab center. The couple had died in a one-car crash en route to their home in Connecticut, which was by then listed for foreclosure.

He clicked through to the next article. Although nothing could be proven, there were strong suspicions that Billington had intentionally driven his car off the road, intending to commit suicide and take his family with him. The reporter noted that the couple’s only child had been the sole survivor, and that she was listed in critical condition. The wife had a daughter from a previous marriage, Camilla, who couldn’t be reached for comment.

Now that was interesting. So she hadn’t been Billington’s daughter after all. But she hadn’t minded using his name while he was flying high.

A child could never be blamed for their parent’s irresponsible or even criminal behavior. But still. A disturbing pattern was starting to emerge.

There was a sidebar story on Camilla’s mother, noting that before her marriage to the financier, she had been the wife of a wealthy entrepreneur three decades her senior, whom she met while working as a showgirl in Vegas. How ironic, Sam thought.