Expecting Fortune's Heir

by Cindy Kirk

  “Amniocentesis?” She looked at Shane. “You didn’t say anything to me about having an amnio.”

  “Remember we talked about you getting a thorough checkup,” Shane said in a patronizing tone that set Lia’s teeth on edge.

  She met his unyielding gaze with an equally firm one of her own. “An amnio is not part of a routine checkup.”

  “You are correct, Lia.” Dr. Gray’s gaze shifted between her and Shane, as if trying to grasp the dynamics. “But Shane indicated there was some question about paternity. The test is ninety-nine percent accurate in telling us if he’s the father.”

  “We’ll also be able to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl,” Shane added in a persuasive tone.

  Lia ignored him and focused on the doctor. “You said the procedure isn’t without risk. What are the risks?”

  “We don’t need to get into all that—” Shane began.

  “Yes, we do.” Lia shot him a narrow, glinting glance before refocusing on Dr. Gray.

  “Lia is right. A patient must be fully informed before consenting to any procedure.” The doctor leaned forward, resting her forearms on the desktop, her entire attention on Lia.

  “Don’t leave anything out,” Lia told her, unconsciously resting her hand on her belly.

  “I won’t.” Dr. Gray’s blue eyes turned serious. “While amniocentesis is considered to be safe and is done almost two hundred thousand times a year, it is an invasive diagnostic test with potential risks.”

  Out the corner of her eye, Lia saw Shane stiffen.

  “Miscarriage is the primary risk. Because we do a lot of them in our facility, the rate of miscarriage after amniocentesis is about one in four hundred. Also, although extremely rare, it is possible for the needle to come into contact with the baby.”

  Before the doctor had even finished Lia began shaking her head. “I won’t agree to it.”

  Beneath his tan, Shane’s face turned pale. “I didn’t realize performing this test could cause a miscarriage.”

  “It’s rare,” the doctor said, “but it can happen.”

  “One in four hundred isn’t rare. But even if it was one in a million, I still wouldn’t agree.” Lia’s voice rose and broke. She crossed her arms across her chest and fixed her gaze on Shane. “There is absolutely no question in my mind that this baby is yours. If you have doubts, we can do a DNA test after the baby is born. But I won’t put his or her life at risk just because you choose not to believe me.”

  Shane nodded agreement. “I should have asked more questions about the risks before bringing up this option.”

  “And you should have told me what you had planned,” Lia sputtered.

  “You’re right again,” he said, looking surprisingly contrite.

  “Let’s take a break.” Dr. Gray rose. “Shane, you can wait here in my office. Lia and I will go into an exam room. I’ll do a quick check so I can reassure you both that this pregnancy is on course.”

  Although Shane now stood, Lia remained sitting, her heart beating a salsa rhythm against her ribs. She didn’t care how much money or power Mr. Shane Fortune had; she was not risking the life of her baby over an unnecessary test.

  “Lia?” Dr. Gray gestured toward the door. “Will you come with me?”

  She lifted her chin. “I’m not having an amniocentesis.”

  “Only an exam,” the doctor assured her. “And perhaps an ultrasound, if that’s okay with you. The ultrasound can confirm the pregnancy is progressing normally and see if you’re on target with your delivery date. If the baby cooperates, we may also be able to get an idea of the gender.”

  Because of cost constraints the Red Rock Clinic only did one ultrasound early in the pregnancy. Lia had thought she’d have to wait until the baby was born to know whether she was having a boy or a girl. “That’d be great.”

  “Do you want Mr. Fortune to come back with you for the ultrasound?”

  “I’ll wait here.” Shane spoke before Lia could respond.

  Lia rose to her feet, ignoring Shane’s outstretched hand. She lowered her voice as she walked past him. “You and I will talk more about this later.”

  “That was the plan,” he said, rocking back on his heels.

  She didn’t bother to respond. In her mind the plan had been to figure out ways for him to be involved with this pregnancy. The plan had been for them to figure out how to co-parent this baby once he or she was born. The plan had not been to put their baby at risk.

  Shane Fortune might be used to having people bend to his will, but he would not run roughshod over her. Not when her child’s life was at stake.

  Chapter Seven

  “I still don’t know the truth.” Shane slammed his fist against the table in the deserted Red restaurant and the silverware jumped. “And I won’t know until the baby is born.”

  “Calm down,” Asher said.

  “Do you want me to fire her?” Sawyer asked.

  “Fire her?” Shane shook his head. “God, no. That would only make everything worse.”

  The truth was, though Shane knew there was a good chance that Lia was scamming him, he’d felt sorry for her this afternoon...and responsible for her distress.

  They’d had a pleasant morning. Even when he’d sprung the appointment on her, she’d been totally willing to go along with his request to have another doctor take a look at her. When Dr. Gray had detailed the risks of doing an amnio, Shane had been stunned. He didn’t recall the doctor mentioning those risks when he’d first approached her about doing the test. As much as he wanted to know the truth, even if Lia had agreed to the procedure, he wouldn’t have let her go through with it.

  “Mr. Bingham,” he heard one of his brothers say. “I’m happy you could meet us on such short notice.”

  Shane pulled his thoughts back to the present just in time to see the attorney, who’d been working with the family on some legal matters, take a seat at their table.

  Tom Bingham reminded Shane of an overstuffed teddy bear with gray hair and a down-home friendliness. He couldn’t help liking the guy. Where opponents made their mistake was in not realizing that beneath that “aw shucks” exterior was a skilled litigator with a razor-sharp legal mind.

  “I didn’t realize he was coming.” Shane’s gaze shifted from Sawyer to Asher.

  “I ran into Tom this morning and thought it’d be good if you got some legal advice,” Sawyer said smoothly. “I didn’t mention him joining us because I wasn’t sure he could make it.”

  Tom lifted his briefcase and laid it on the table. “I’m surprised you’re having a meeting of such a sensitive nature in a public place.”

  “We’re the only ones here,” Sawyer responded, clearly irritated by the hint of reproach in the attorney’s tone. “It’s safe.”

  “Understood,” Tom said, then shifted his gaze to Shane. “Mr. Fortune, I understand from your brother that you’re being threatened with a paternity suit.”

  “That isn’t exactly accurate.” Shane took a sip of iced tea. “A woman I know is claiming that I’m the father of her unborn baby. She hasn’t threatened anything...yet.”

  The attorney peered at him over the top of his silver-rimmed glasses. “Is it possible the allegation is true?”

  “A slight chance,” Shane acknowledged. “But not likely.”

  “Will she consent to having an amniocentesis done to determine definitively if you are her child’s father?”

  “No.”

  Tom lifted a brow. “No?”

  Shane shook his head. “I had it all arranged. But when she heard there was a chance of miscarriage, she refused. She said that after the baby is born, she’ll do a DNA test.”

  “Hmm.” Tom took off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief. “Has she asked you for money?”

  Shane shook his head.

  “Odd.” The attorney settled the glasses back on his nose.

  “What’s odd?” Asher asked.

  “If she’s so certain your brother is the fathe
r that she’ll agree to a DNA test after birth, you think she’d do one now so she could start cashing in.”

  “She didn’t want to take the chance of losing the baby,” Shane explained.

  “Of course she didn’t. If this baby she’s carrying is your child, she’s hit the mother lode.”

  The worry and fear in Lia’s eyes when Dr. Gray was discussing the risks were too real to be faked. She hadn’t been thinking of his money—she’d been concerned about her child.

  His child?

  Maybe.

  “What would you suggest Shane do now?” Sawyer asked.

  Shane shot his younger brother a quelling glance. He could speak for himself.

  “Until you’re certain the child is yours, you have no legal obligation to do anything. Once paternity is established, that’s a different story.”

  “If the child is mine, I’ll want full custody.”

  Asher opened his mouth then shut it.

  “That may be, uh, difficult.” Tom seemed to choose his words more carefully now, apparently sensing Shane’s animosity. “But definitely not impossible,” he hurriedly added when he saw Shane’s scowl. “We’ll simply have to prove she’s an unfit mother.”

  Shane rubbed his chin. “That may be a problem.”

  “What makes you say that?” Tom asked.

  “I think Lia will be a good mother.”

  The attorney shrugged as if it was of no consequence. “In this business perception often matters as much as reality. She doesn’t have to be unfit. We just have to make a judge think she is. So the more information we can dig up on her, the easier my job will be.”

  “You’re suggesting we hire a private detective to look into her background.” Wyatt spoke for the first time.

  “That would be a good start,” the attorney said, then hurriedly added, “if your brother agrees. I have several I can recommend if he’s interested.”

  “Anything else you’d suggest?” Shane wondered why it felt as if he was betraying Lia when all he was doing was protecting his own interests.

  “Get close to her. Do whatever it takes to get her to trust you.” A sardonic smile lifted the attorney’s lips. “If the child is yours and she does fight for custody, we’ll know all her weaknesses.”

  * * *

  It had been forty-eight hours since Lia had seen Shane. She glanced unseeing at the numbers on the computer screen. The workday had ended but she couldn’t summon up the energy to get out of the chair.

  She wondered if there had been a better way to inform him that, while she appreciated his desire to know for sure the baby was his, she could not take the risk.

  The chilly atmosphere between them on the drive back from San Antonio told her he was upset with her. Well, she was upset with him, too. He shouldn’t have sprung something like that on her. And she had to admit a part of her was hurt he’d thought she was lying about the baby’s paternity. But if she were in his shoes, she’d have been skeptical, too. Even she had found it difficult to believe she’d conceived with all the precautions they’d taken that night.

  She pushed her chair back from the desk and glanced down at her belly. “I guess you were simply meant to be, mi amorcito.”

  “Hiding someone beneath your desk?”

  Lia jerked her head up to find Shane leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed, an amused look on his face.

  Her heart did a triple flip. The tension that had turned his face to stone when he’d dropped her off after their jaunt to San Antonio had disappeared. Today, he reminded her of the charming guy she’d met in the courtyard all those months ago.

  “What brings you to the ranch today?” she asked cautiously.

  “I live here.” Shane’s easy smile held a hint of amusement. “It’s not just Sawyer’s home—it’s mine, too.”

  “Oh” was all Lia could manage.

  “I heard there’s a jazz concert in one of the parks tonight. I thought we could go together.”

  Was he extending an olive branch? Or would the night be spent fending off attempts to convince her to have an amniocentesis? If the latter was the case, she’d rather stay at home, put her feet up and watch a television rerun.

  “I’m not changing my mind about the amnio.” She spoke bluntly, rising to her feet with as much grace as she could muster. “If that’s what this is about you can—”

  “That’s not what this is about at all.” He crossed the room in several long strides. Tonight he looked more cowboy than business executive in his jeans, boots and cotton twill shirt open at the neck. But no less dangerous.

  Through the grapevine she’d heard that after he and Sawyer had returned from a lunch meeting in Red Rock, the two brothers had spent the afternoon inspecting their property on horseback.

  “You were right to refuse the amniocentesis,” he said in a husky voice filled with emotion. “And I was wrong to ask. The risk isn’t worth it.”

  She shot him a skeptical glance. “Are you saying you believe me?”

  He hesitated only a second. “I honestly don’t know what to believe. Until the baby is born and we do the paternity test, I’m willing to concede that it’s possible I’m the father.”

  While it wasn’t the total acceptance she’d hoped for, it was a start.

  “I appreciate the fact that you’re keeping an open mind,” Lia said softly. Her lips quirked in a rueful smile. “I’d have doubts, too, if I were in your shoes.”

  His eyes widened in surprise.

  “Don’t look so startled.” She chuckled. “You’re not the only one blindsided by this pregnancy. I couldn’t believe it, either. I didn’t want to believe it.”

  He looked at her, really looked at her, as if he were seeing her for the first time. “The pregnancy changed your life.”

  The statement hung in the air between them.

  “It will change both of our lives.” Lia put her hand to her back, which had begun to ache from so much sitting. “But I’m a firm believer that all things happen for a reason. Somehow, my having this baby is all part of God’s plan.”

  “A lot of women in your situation wouldn’t see it that way,” he said in a conversational tone. “They might have chosen not to continue the pregnancy.”

  Her gaze shot to his. “Is that what you wished I’d done?”

  Shane shook his head and the look in his eyes reassured her.

  “Do you like jazz?” he asked abruptly and she remembered his earlier invitation.

  “I like Louis Armstrong.”

  “Well, you won’t hear him but there will be some up-and-coming jazz artists at the park tonight.” Shane’s tone turned persuasive. “I thought it’d be good for us to get better acquainted, to become more comfortable with each other. If this baby is mine—”

  “It is.”

  “—then the better we know each other, the easier it will be to co-parent when the time comes.” He rocked back on his heels. “Will you go with me?”

  Lia sent a quick prayer of thanks heavenward. At least he was keeping an open mind. “What time do the festivities start?”

  “Seven. Supposedly there will be food vendors, so we can eat there, too.”

  Lia glanced down at her navy dress and heels. “I’ll need to go home and change.”

  “I’ll stop by your place around seven.”

  “Sounds good. And, Shane—”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks for reaching out.” The smile wobbled on her lips. “It means a lot.”

  * * *

  When Lia opened the door that evening, Shane noticed the dress and heels were gone, replaced with a pair of white shorts and a sleeveless shirt in a wild-animal print. She looked cute, young and, without her heels, impossibly petite.

  He’d forgotten how small she was, and a sudden protective instinct reared. Whether the baby was his or not, Lia would be facing a different future. Or, at the very least, different from the one she’d planned for herself.

  Since the park was within walking distance of Li
a’s apartment, they decided to leave his car in the secured lot behind her building.

  “How tall are you?” He took her arm as they started down the stairs.

  “Five foot three.”

  He gave her a disbelieving look.

  “I am.” She drew herself up to her full height. “In fact, I’m actually five-three and a half.”

  His lips twitched. “Is that like being twelve and a half?”

  She laughed, a silver tinkling sound, and pleasure lit up her entire face. “Yeah, kinda like that.”

  The streets around the park in downtown Red Rock had been barricaded off, allowing vendors to set up individual booths. Residents sat on lawn chairs and blankets on the grounds surrounding the bandstand. Many had brought picnic baskets filled with food and bottles of wine.

  While looking for a good spot, they ran into several people Lia knew. Some spoke to her in Spanish while others conversed in English.

  “You’re bilingual,” he said, sounding surprised.

  “What was your first clue?”

  “Are you going to raise your baby to be bilingual?”

  My baby? she wanted to say. It’s your child, too.

  Small steps, she reminded herself. The fact that he was with her now and they were talking about the baby was encouraging.

  “Actually, I’ve done some research on the topic.” Lia waved to a woman she used to work with before returning her attention to Shane. “Studies suggest that children raised to be bilingual show positive cognitive benefits, including early reading and improved problem-solving skills.”

  He simply nodded as if she’d said the price of gasoline was set to take another hike upward.

  She tugged him to a stop. “What do you think?”

  Puzzlement filled his eyes. “What do you mean, what do I think?”

  “This will be your child, too,” Lia reminded him. “Do you have any concerns about my plan?”

  For a second, Shane was struck speechless. His initial impulse was to say that they should wait to see if the baby was even his before getting into any heavy-duty parenting discussions.

  From the beginning, Shane had been concerned about the liability of giving Lia the impression that he believed this was his child. Tom had told him not to worry.