Authors: Delores Fossen
Tags: #Contemporary, #Fiction, #Romance, #General
Undercover Daddy (16 page)
“I’m feeling great,” Elaina insisted as the nurse wrapped her freshly stitched wound. She looked at the doctor to continue her plea for freedom. “Really great, considering everything that’s happened. I’m ready to leave the hospital.”
The doctor with the craggy face, Roman nose and sugar-white hair made a sound that could have meant anything or nothing, and he wrote something down on her chart. But Elaina knew the truth. Her arm had been wounded, and the adrenaline crash was making her feel bone-tired. The pain meds had made her a little woozy. But she wasn’t critical. Heck, she wasn’t even in serious condition.
But Luke didn’t know that yet.
He was probably out in the waiting room blaming himself for all of this. She needed to set him straight before his guilt built to massive portions. And she also needed to feel his arms around her. While she was wishing and needing, she added Christopher to the list. She wanted to see her baby.
“You can’t leave the hospital just yet,” the doctor informed her. “You’ll stay the night for observation, and then you’ll have to come back to have those stitches checked.”
Elaina barely heard him. She had only one thing on her mind. “I want to see Luke.”
“So you’ve said at least a dozen times.” The doctor examined the bandage when the nurse moved away. “He’s asked at least that many times, too. Oh, and someone named Carrie keeps calling the nurses’ station.”
Elaina would talk to her later and tell her she wouldn’t be returning to Crystal Creek. Once she’d recovered, she’d look for a place closer to Luke so that both of them would be able to see Christopher.
Well, she would do that if Luke approved. She had to get past that obstacle first.
“I want to see Luke,” Elaina repeated.
He nodded. “Let me do something about fulfilling that request.” The doctor left the room and walked across the hall. The nurse followed him.
Elaina couldn’t hear what the doctor said, but she heard Luke. He came rushing into the room and came to a halt next to her bed. He looked rumpled, exhausted and worried. But he also looked incredibly hot. Of course, looking hot was the norm for Luke Buchanan.
“How are you?” he asked.
She told him what the doctor had told her when he made his initial examination. “I’ll be all right. The bullet went straight through and didn’t damage any nerves.”
Luke didn’t take her word for it. He sank down onto the edge of the bed and examined her bandaged arm. And then her eyes. She examined his eyes, too. Yep, there was a hefty amount of guilt mixed with the fatigue.
Elaina decided to nip this in the bud. “You’re not responsible for this.”
He groaned. “Oh, yes, I am.”
She shook her head and touched his hand. “Let’s give ourselves a break and blame Brenda and Kevin.”
Luke looked ready to argue with that, so Elaina leaned over and kissed him. He cooperated. Luke slipped his arms around her, eased her to him and returned the kiss.
It was heaven.
He was warm and solid, and he gave her exactly what she needed—
him.
But it didn’t last nearly long enough.
Luke pulled back and met her gaze. “I do have some good news. I found the memory disk, and it’s already on the way to crime lab.”
Well, she certainly hadn’t expected that news. But it, too, was like heaven. Hallelujah! They were free from Kevin’s horrible legacy.
“Where did you find it?” Elaina asked.
“Behind the raised gold seal on the adoption papers. The seal was thick and nearly two inches wide, and I guess that’s why no one noticed that anything was hidden beneath it. I figured that a fake adoption meant fake papers. Kevin wouldn’t have wanted to put the tiny disk where it would be handled or crushed. He knew the papers would be kept in a file, waiting for him to retrieve it whenever he needed it.”
Of course. She only wished she’d thought of that sooner. “Maybe the crime lab will be able to tell us why Brenda wanted that disk so badly.”
“The lead investigators think they know. It appears Kevin was trying to implant complex computer viruses into commonly used antiviral software. These viruses would basically destroy a computer network’s firewall and security measures. And it was aimed at banks and credit card institutions. Software like that could have made billons for anyone breaking into those cyber accounts.”
Elaina had to take a moment to absorb that. “Billons,” she whispered. No wonder Brenda had been willing to kill to get her hands on it.
“What about Carrie?” Elaina wanted to know. “She wasn’t involved with this, was she?”
“No. It doesn’t look like it.”
“So, we’re safe now?” Elaina asked.
Luke nodded. Then, shrugged. “Well, safe from bad guys. We still have some personal things to deal with. First of all, I want you to slap me for nearly getting you killed.”
She huffed. She’d rather set her hair on fire than hit him. “I said we weren’t going to do this. You’re not to blame. Truth is, you saved me. Not just my life.” She had to clear the lump in her throat before she could continue. “You saved
me
.”
He didn’t say anything. He sat there, staring at her. And that suddenly made Elaina feel uncomfortable. Had her confession of the heart been too much for him to handle?
“You still don’t think I’m faking my feelings?” she asked hesitantly.
Luke blinked. “No. God, no.”
Whew. That was something, but it didn’t explain the change in mood. “Then why the glum face?”
He, too, cleared his throat. Not once. But twice. And he scratched his forehead. “Because I have something to say, to
suggest,
” he corrected. “And I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.”
Oh. This was about Christopher’s custody. That sapped what little energy she had left, and she eased her head back onto the pillow. “Go ahead,” she prompted.
“You’re exhausted. We can talk about this another time,” Luke said. He started to stand, but she caught on to his arm.
“No. Let’s get this out into the open.”
He waited, looking at her, probably to make sure she was up to this.
“Go ahead,” Elaina repeated. “Just please tell me that you’ll give me visitation rights with Christopher.”
Another blink, and he stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Visitation rights? That’s what you want?” But he didn’t wait for her to answer. “Because I want something more than that.”
Since he wasn’t smiling and since his intensity level was through the roof, Elaina had no idea where this was going.
“We could do this the safe way,” he continued after clearing his throat. “We could spend the next year or so getting to know each other, to make sure that we’re ready for a relationship.”
She mentally repeated that and tried not to jump for joy. Her stitches couldn’t handle that, even if that’s what her heart begged her to do. “You want a relationship with me?”
He shook his head.
Her heart went into a nosedive. “The blood loss must have left me with a foggy head, because I’m confused.”
He leaned in and kissed her, making her even more confused and foggy headed. He also left her breathless, incredibly warm and wanting more of him.
“Not just a relationship,” he clarified. “I want to make love to you.”
Oh, that remedied her nosediving heart. Elaina smiled and felt herself go all warm. “I think that can be arranged. Not now. Not here. But soon.”
He smiled, too, and it made it all the way to his eyes. “I was thinking of lots of sex. On a regular basis. With us under the same roof.”
Elaina was sure her smile widened to a ridiculous proportion. “I’d like that, to be under the same roof with you and Christopher.”
But then, her smile faded.
She hated to say this. She truly did. But it had to be said. “I don’t want a relationship of convenience.”
He shrugged. “Trust me, being married to me will be anything but convenient. I’m pigheaded, moody and often a pain in the butt.”
This time, her heart nearly stopped. “Married?”
Luke pulled away from her, went down on one knee and took her hand. “Let me back up a little. Will you marry me?”
She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t answer. Couldn’t move. Elaina just sat there with her mouth open.
“Please,” Luke whispered. “Don’t say no.”
She tried to speak, but her mouth didn’t cooperate. How had this happened? One day she was living a lie, and now she had the real possibility of living a real life. With Luke and Christopher.
“I love you,” she heard Luke say. “I realized that when I nearly lost you.”
Oh, mercy. That’s when she’d realized she loved him. The tears came. Happy tears.
Luke stood. “Is that a no?”
She shook her head. “No.”
He looked as if she’d slugged him.
“I don’t mean no as in no to your proposal,” she quickly clarified. “I mean no, I don’t mean a no.”
“Is, uh, that your way of saying yes, you’ll marry me?” he asked.
Elaina didn’t trust her mouth or her brain to answer him so she latched on to him and pulled her to him. Her injury protested the exertion, but she ignored the pain. She ignored everything but Luke. She kissed him, and she hoped that everything she felt for him came through in that kiss.
Luke turned the tables on her though. He kissed her, too. Mercy, he really did love her.
“I love you, too,” she managed to say.
He nodded, and there were tears in his eyes. Elaina was past that point. Her tears were streaming down her cheeks. She’d never felt happier or more complete.
But it suddenly got a lot better.
She heard the babbling noises in the hall, and both Luke and she turned in that direction. A moment later, Theresa appeared in the doorway. She was holding Christopher in her arms.
“See,” Theresa said pointing to Elaina and Luke. “I told you that Ma Ma and Da Da were here.”
Christopher eyed them, especially the hospital bed and Elaina’s bandaged arm. Then, he smiled and reached out for Luke to take him.
Luke did. He took Christopher, kissed his cheek and walked to Elaina so that she could kiss him, as well.
Elaina slid her arm around both of her guys. Christopher tolerated the hugs and kisses for a few moments and then wiggled out of her embrace. He babbled something that she couldn’t distinguish. Something happy, no doubt, since he giggled and patted Luke on the cheek.
“Ma Ma, Da Da,” Christopher said.
And this time, it was crystal clear.
Elaina’s feelings were crystal clear, as well. In fact, she’d never been more certain.
“Yes,” she told Luke.
He whipped around to face her. “Yes to what?”
“To everything. Yes, to being your wife. Yes, to us being a family.”
He nodded. Kissed her until she couldn’t breathe. Then, he gathered both Christopher and her into his arms and held on tight.
Piraeus, Greece
“T
HERE SHE IS
, Stefan.
Alexandra’s Dream
.” David Anderson squatted beside his new son and pointed at the dark blue hull that towered above the pier. The cruise ship was a majestic sight, twelve decks high and as long as a city block. A circle of silver and gold stars, the logo of the Liberty Cruise Line, gleamed from the swept-back smokestack. Like some legendary sea creature born for the water, the ship emanated power from every sleek curve—even at rest it held the promise of motion. “That’s going to be our home for the next ten days.”
The child beside him remained silent, his cheeks working in and out as he sucked furiously on his thumb. Hair so blond it appeared white ruffled against his forehead in the harbor breeze. The baby-sweet scent unique to the very young mingled with the tang of the sea.
“Ship,” David said. “Uh,
parakhod
.”
From beneath his bangs, Stefan looked at the
Alexandra’s Dream
. Although he didn’t release his thumb, the corners of his mouth tightened with the beginning of a smile.
David grinned. That was Stefan’s first smile this afternoon, one of only two since they had left the orphanage yesterday. It was probably because of the boat—according to the orphanage staff, the boy loved boats, which was the main reason David had decided to book this cruise. Then again, there was a strong possibility the smile could have been a reaction to David’s attempt at pocket-dictionary Russian. Whatever the cause, it was a good start.
The liaison from the adoption agency had claimed that Stefan had been taught some English, but David had yet to see evidence of it. David continued to speak, positive his son would understand his tone even if he couldn’t grasp the words. “This is her maiden voyage. Her first trip, just like this is our first trip, and that makes it special.” He motioned toward the stage that had been set up on the pier beneath the ship’s bow. “That’s why everyone’s celebrating.”
The ship’s official christening ceremony had been held the day before and had been a closed affair, with only the cruise-line executives and VIP guests invited, but the stage hadn’t yet been disassembled. Banners bearing the blue and white of the Greek flag of the ship’s owner, as well as the Liberty circle of stars logo, draped the edges of the platform. In the center, a group of musicians and a dance troupe dressed in traditional white folk costumes performed for the benefit of the
Alexandra’s Dream
’s first passengers. Their audience was in a festive mood, snapping their fingers in time to the music while the dancers twirled and wove through their steps.
David bobbed his head to the rhythm of the mandolins. They were playing a folk tune that seemed vaguely familiar, possibly from a movie he’d seen. He hummed a few notes. “Catchy melody, isn’t it?”
Stefan turned his gaze on David. His eyes were a striking shade of blue, as cool and pale as a winter horizon and far too solemn for a child not yet five. Still, the smile that hovered at the corners of his mouth persisted. He moved his head with the music, mirroring David’s motion.
David gave a silent cheer at the interaction. Hopefully, this cruise would provide countless opportunities for more. “Hey, good for you,” he said. “Do you like the music?”
The child’s eyes sparked. He withdrew his thumb with a pop.
“Moozika!”
“Music. Right!” David held out his hand. “Come on, let’s go closer so we can watch the dancers.”
Stefan grasped David’s hand quickly, as if he feared it would be withdrawn. In an instant his budding smile was replaced by a look close to panic.
Did he remember the car accident that had killed his parents? It would be a mercy if he didn’t. As far as David knew, Stefan had never spoken of it to anyone. Whatever he had seen had made him run so far from the crash that the police hadn’t found him until the next day. The event had traumatized him to the extent that he hadn’t uttered a word until his fifth week at the orphanage. Even now he seldom talked.
David sat back on his heels and brushed the hair from Stefan’s forehead. That solemn, too-old gaze locked with his, and for an instant, David felt as if he looked back in time at an image of himself thirty years ago.
He didn’t need to speak the same language to understand exactly how this boy felt. He knew what it meant to be alone and powerless among strangers, trying to be brave and tough but wishing with every fiber of his being for a place to belong, to be safe, and most of all for someone to love him….
He knew in his heart he would be a good parent to Stefan. It was why he had never considered halting the adoption process after Ellie had left him. He hadn’t balked when he’d learned of the recent claim by Stefan’s spinster aunt, either; the absentee relative had shown up too late for her case to be considered. The adoption was meant to be. He and this child already shared a bond that went deeper than paperwork or legalities.
A seagull screeched overhead, making Stefan start and press closer to David.
“That’s my boy,” David murmured. He swallowed hard, struck by the simple truth of what he had just said.
That’s
my
boy
.
“I
CAN
’
T BE PATIENT
, R
UDOLPH
. I’m not going to stand by and watch my nephew get ripped from his country and his roots to live on the other side of the world.”
Rudolph hissed out a slow breath. “Marina, I don’t like the sound of that. What are you planning?”
“I’m going to talk some sense into this American kidnapper.”
“No. Absolutely not. No offence, but diplomacy is not your strong suit.”
“Diplomacy be damned. Their ship’s due to sail at five o’clock.”
“Then you wouldn’t have an opportunity to speak with him even if his lawyer agreed to a meeting.”
“I’ll have ten days of opportunities, Rudolph, since I plan to be on board that ship.”
