by Aliyah Burke
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Go on.”
Mila nudged her shoulder and grinned. “Don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll tell your boyfriend you say hi.”
She rolled her eyes and waved Mila out the door. Her day was busy with tourists and others filtering in and out. Some purchasing and others not. Still, she continued to keep an eye on the flat screen up on the wall. When one boat popped up and flipped over, she froze, riveted to the screen. The others never slowed down, went around him and the rescue came shortly after.
She missed the finish because of customers, but when she did get her next chance to look up, a large grin graced her face at the sight of Enzo and Luke standing there, surrounded by people with smiles and cheers.
He’d done it. He’d won. In that moment, she wished she could have been down there with him. She gritted her teeth as four women joined them and slid their arms around him. Two around each of the guys. Blowing out her breath, she turned away from the image.
Nearer to closing, she looked up when the door opened and saw that little boy had come back. The one from the other day, with the same intense, brooding look on his face.
“Hello,” she said, peering behind him, expecting to see his mother.
He gazed briefly at her with brown eyes before walking off farther into the store. She pursed her lips, went to the front, opened it and peeked out, checking up and down the street to see if she was near, or on her way.
Not seeing her, Halyn went back in and found the boy standing by the oversized stuffed animals. A large white bear to be exact.
“Can I help you find something?”
She wasn’t all that worried, she had kids walk in here all the time, but considering the many people in the city for the race, she was slightly concerned.
He didn’t even looked at her. So she tried again. “Where’s your mother?” There was always the possibility he didn’t speak English, given the accent his mother had spoken with. She glanced at him again before crossing her arms. “Let me know if you need anything.”
He was there for about thirty minutes before his mother finally showed. The woman looked more pissed off than worried, and Halyn listened with a concerned ear to the flurry of words that went from her to him. The child never said a word, he didn’t even react to the yelling. He just continued to stare off at something only he could see.
As before, the mother asked to use the bathroom and Halyn gave a nod. Back in the front restocking the items on the counter, she smiled as the door to the shop opened to admit Enzo. He looked tired but so good.
“Hey, there,” she said, ignoring the determined thudding of her heart.
“Bellissima.” He strode to her and gave her a brief kiss on the lips.
“Congrats on the win.”
“Thanks. Are we still on for tonight?”
“Absolutely.”
Movement to her left had her turning to see the child walking into view. He still didn’t say anything but he went on to something else in the store. She shook her head then refocused on the man before her.
“I can’t stay long—Ben wants to see Luke and myself about something else. I just wanted to swing in and say hi.” He leant down and robbed her of her breath with another kiss. “See you tonight, sweetheart.” He was gone before she could even recover.
About a minute after Enzo walked out, the mother left, her little boy in tow. Halyn had three other customers before she closed up shop for the day. After her nightly deposit had been made, she got on her bike and rode home. As she pedalled into her drive she grinned at the very familiar vehicle sitting there and the handsome man leaning against it, waiting. For her.
He stood there, in jeans and a T-shirt with both arms and legs crossed. She stopped beside him and undid her helmet.
“You rode?” he asked with a frown. “Isn’t that why you have a car?”
“Yes. However, I like to ride into work. Good exercise.” She laughed. “It’s much easier to put my bike in the back room of the shop instead of parking then walking. Come on in, I just need to shower and change, then we can go.”
In the garage, she put her bicycle away then walked into the house, Enzo on her heels. She showered quickly, and had soon dressed. His gaze darkened appreciatively when she walked into the living room, and he gave a low wolf whistle.
She grinned and spun, her skirt flaring out. “It’s okay?”
“Baby, you’re gorgeous.” He beckoned to her. “Come here.”
She did, sandals dangling from one hand. Stopping before him, she tipped her head back and stared into his eyes. “Yes?”
He drew her into his arms and held her. Closing her eyes, she rested her head upon his chest. She liked this.
“Where are we going tonight?” he asked.
“What are you in the mood for?”
“Nothing I can order on a menu, I’ll tell you that much.” He grabbed her ass and rubbed against her.
She laughed. “Put it on your dessert menu and I’ll see what I can do for you.”
“I love the way you think. How about we just go and see what looks good?”
“Sounds like a plan to me. You driving, or do you want me to?”
“I’ll drive.” He dropped to his knees and put her sandals on her feet for her, then took her hand as he rose. “Let’s get you fed.”
As she sat in the passenger seat of his car, she sighed in pleasure. Yes, in the back of her mind she knew this might not last but damn it all, she was determined to enjoy it to the fullest while it did. She truly liked Enzo. An amazing man in a wonderful package. Burrowing back into the seat, she took a deep breath and relaxed.
Chapter Seven
Sharing a high five with his throttler Luke, Enzo undid his helmet. For the third day in a row they’d come in first place.
“Great job, man!” Luke said over the crowd on the dock.
“Likewise, bro.”
Ben came over with the crew to offer congratulations as well. Enzo constantly scanned the crowd looking for Halyn. She’d said she would be here for this and he wanted to share it with her. But there was no sign of her, so he turned his attention to doing the remainder of his job—posing and smiling. Showing off the sponsors’ names.
This event was smaller than what he was used to—certainly smaller than the XCat—but they were trying to get more people involved in the sport, and these events were great promotion. He didn’t mind. Especially since this one had reunited him with Halyn. There was a big party tonight and she was going with him to that but yesterday one of her workers had got sick so she’d told him she might not be able to make it down to watch him, but that they were still on for the party.
He turned his attention to a reporter, shoving Halyn to the back of his mind—he could focus on her later. Eventually, they pushed through the crowd, heading to shower and change. It was much quieter when he got out of the hot water and had changed into some jeans and a tee. Tonight he’d wear something else but right then he wanted to be comfortable.
Ben slipped in and shut the door behind him. Luke had already left, and the man made a beeline directly to him. His face, normally open and cheerful, had a closed, disturbed look to it.
“What’s up?” Enzo shoved his fingers through his still-damp hair. “You look like you just lost your best friend. You should be happy, we just won.”
“We need to talk.”
“Sounds serious.” He put his wallet into his pocket and added his phone to its holder and placed it on his belt.
“Sit down.”
The tone struck him and he complied immediately. “What’s going on, Ben?”
“There’s someone out there who needs to see you.”
He smiled. “Halyn?”
“No. Definitely not Halyn.”
He shook his head after glancing at his watch. “Is it important? I’m supposed to go meet Halyn so we can get ready for this thing tonight.”
“Yes, it’s important. You need to speak to her.”
“I’ll send her in.”
With another nervous look, Ben turned around then walked out. He was a bit uneasy, Ben rarely looked that way—Enzo sighed and leaned against the row of lockers. The door opened and in walked a small child, who seemed vaguely familiar, and on his heels a woman who had him swallowing a gasp.
“Ekaterina?”
Ekaterina Lagunov was a woman he’d met during a race and they’d hooked up for a while. She looked the same, distantly beautiful. Almost as though she had been handcrafted from ice. At first he’d thought it nothing more than an act, but the longer they had been together, the more he’d realised that was what she was really like. Very aloof and detached. So he’d broken it off.
Her cool brown eyes held his without the slightest bit of affection. “Enzo.” Look at that, her tone had none either.
“What are you doing here?” He glanced down to the boy and realised where he’d seen him before. He was the child from Halyn’s store. Now brown eyes were on him, before he looked away at something else.
“Dropping something off.”
He lifted his brow in confusion. “What could I have possibly left behind you feel the need to drop off nine years later?”
“Liev.”
It didn’t make sense until she slanted her gaze to the boy standing silently at her side. Then it did, and fully fledged panic followed. “What? Are you saying he’s mine?”
“You think I would drop off someone else’s child for you?” She waved one thin hand. “He is yours. I can’t take him anymore, work is sending me out of the country and there is no place for him.”
Why did he suddenly feel like he needed a drink? A big, stiff drink. “Wait a second. You expect me to believe that all of a sudden you decided to tell me I have a child only to drop him in my lap and leave him with me?” His mind smoked as he tried to figure out the timing. Could this be possible?
“Believe it or not, it is what I’m doing.” Her accent thickened with her increasing irritation. She dropped to one knee and spoke to the child. Whatever she said, he didn’t understand. The child finally looked at him, briefly. Then she switched to English. “Liev, this is your father, Enzo. You will be staying with him from now on.” She reached into her large bag and withdrew a manila envelope, which she handed to the brand new, still-in-shock father. “Good luck.”
Whirling on the balls of her feet, she was gone. Just gone. Her tall, waif-like, model-thin body vanished. He ran after her, only to stop at the last second to turn back and see the boy standing there. Watching him. Judging him.
“Stay here,” he commanded. Then he went after her. Ben waited in the corridor, with a worried expression on his face. “Keep an eye on the boy.” Enzo ran on, determined to catch her and figure out this mistake. She was just about to slip outside when he reached her. “Ekaterina, wait!”
She turned, her face—disturbingly—full of relief. “I have to go, Enzo. What?”
“This is some kind of misunderstanding. He’s not mine.” She arched one delicate brow. “Is he?”
“Yes. Conceived the night in Hafnarfjörður.”
His mind, a tumult of confusion, couldn’t quite grasp it. Oh sure, he remembered going there. She’d wanted to go to Iceland and he had just agreed, purchasing them tickets. They’d gone there, a lovely port town on the southwest coast of Iceland, not too far from the country’s capital, Reykjavík.
They’d used protection—yes, he knew it wasn’t a perfect guarantee but damn it all, he’d thought it’d been enough.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
No shame, or any emotion on her face. “It wasn’t important to me. At the time a child was good for me. Now, a baby is, not an older one.”
Anger churned in his gut. How could she be that callous, and to her own flesh and blood? “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, because it would be easier for me if he wasn’t there. Goodbye.”
So perfunctory. So final. Then she was gone, slipping out and blending into the crowd as best a woman of her arctic beauty could.
He blew out a ragged breath and turned his back on the reporters who wanted to see what his conversation with her had been about. Thankfully, they weren’t allowed back in the building, so he took several deep inhalations and made his way back to the dressing room. Ben still waited outside.
“He still in there?” Enzo asked.
“What the fuck, man?”
“Apparently he’s mine.” He ran a hand over his face. Hell, even speaking the words made him a bit lightheaded.
“Yours?”
“So she claims.” He shook his head and opened the envelope she had given him. “Take him somewhere, Ben. I have to read this and figure it all out. I can’t have the press all over this, especially if it’s not true.”
He watched his team manager pull out his phone and make a call. Standing by the door, he peered in the small window and saw the boy standing, pretty much in the same position he’d left him. His heart went out to him—this had to be hard for him. Regardless, he didn’t go in, instead he glanced down at the papers in his hand.
“You should be with him.”
“Why?”
“He’s your son.”
Enzo glared at Ben. “We don’t know that.”
“He’s probably scared.”
“So go sit with him, then.”
Ben shook his head and jerked his head again. “Go.”
Muttering under his breath, he pushed open the door and slipped inside. Liev looked at him and walked to a bench where he sat, his legs too short for his feet to touch the floor.
“Liev then?” Enzo asked. “That’s your name?” Not much came in the way of an answer. “I’m Enzo.” Still nothing. So he began to read.
A short time later one of the other crew members showed up and went to the child. “What do you want me to do with him?”
“I don’t know, Tommy. Take him to get ice cream or something. Then take him to the hotel and I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay. Come on, kid.” He held out his hand and Enzo watched as Liev made no move to take the hand. Tommy had to physically take the boy’s hand before he went with him. As they slipped through the door, there wasn’t even a look back.
Enzo finished the papers in very little time and was on the phone with his lawyer to make sure everything was legit. The woman promised to get back to him when she got all the information on it she could. That call done, he made one more.
“Hello?”
“Gio, I need some help.”
“What’s up? Congrats on the win.”
“Can you come down here?” A slight pause. “I know you’re busy but…I could really use your help.”
“What’s going on?” A baby wailed in the background only to fall silent soon thereafter.
“Do you remember Ekaterina?”
“Not really, no. Who was she?”
“Russian, hot.”
“The one who was actually very cold?”
“Yes, you met her once.”
“Okay, what, did you run into her there and see Halyn?”
“God, if only it were that simple.”
“What’s going on, Enzo? I’m concerned now.”
“And you weren’t before?”
“What did you need my help with?” Gio kept the discussion on track.
“Can you just meet me at the hotel in say a half hour?”
“Okay, I’ll be there.”
“Thank you.” He ended the call, shoved all the papers back in the envelope and left to face more media.
Thankfully none of them asked about the woman who’d brought the child in and he was pretty sure everything was on target when his cell rang again.
“Cassano.”
“I lost him.” Tommy’s frantic words sent chills through his entire being.
“What?”
“He had finished his ice cream, I went to toss the conta
iner and when I turned back, he was gone. Jesus, Enzo, I’m so sorry.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Walking up and down the shops looking for him. I’m in front of the Ye Olde Candy Shoppe now.”
“I’m on my way.” He shoved his phone in his pocket and turned to the media. “This is over.” Not waiting for anything else, he bolted.
It took him a while to get to where Tommy had called from and when he arrived his friend looked panic-stricken.
“I’m so sorry, Enzo.”
“We have to focus on finding him, Tommy. Which way have you gone?” The man pointed. “I’ll go the other way and you backtrack.”
They set off in their own direction and Enzo scoured the crowd and each shop. Every time he turned up empty, he freaked a bit more. What if something had happened to the boy? What if someone had taken him?
* * * *
Halyn was busy. Excitement filled her. Tonight she would be going to a party with Enzo. Assuming her day ever finished. Looked like it would be a long day. Not that she minded usually, but today she was watching the clock for closing.
Hours passed before it was time to shut up for the day. She had the day off tomorrow, her employee who’d been sick felt better and would work tomorrow in her place. Normally they would be closed at least one day of the week, but with the festivities in town, they’d stayed open to help bring in more revenue.
“Good night, Halyn.”
“Night, Jess. See you in two days.”
She waved farewell as her employee left. Blowing out a breath, she headed for the back and slowly made her pre-closing walk, to ensure everyone had left or that those who lingered found what they needed.
So lost in thought, she almost went right past him. It was the tennis shoe which snagged her attention. The bears, while cute, didn’t wear shoes. Glancing down, she noticed the young boy had snuggled himself right in with the stuffed animals.
“Hello again,” she said softly.
Lord, he had such a brooding look it broke her heart. He was a future heartbreaker.
