She was only allowed a one hour visit once a week, and it was still three days away, but it felt very much like a whole year had already passed. She wanted to get a cute outfit while they were out today, she decided. Something that was bound to make Archer miss her, too.
“Kady?” called Athena from out in the hall. “Are you in there?”
Stepping out of the bathroom, Kady called back, “Yeah, I’m here. I woke up late again. Sorry.”
“Oh, don’t worry, dear, it’s normal to be tired in your condition,” she laughed as she stepped into the room. “How do you just roll out of bed looking so gorgeous, my dear? You really were made for the camera to love, weren’t you? You simply must come model some of the maternity clothes in the new line.”
“I don’t know, Athena, with my current reputation it might put people off,” she grumbled.
“But the whole story is a sham!” she protested, the mother in her refusing to let Kady wallow. “You know I was willing to recant the whole thing.”
“But I really did meet him while applying to have his baby,” Kady said glumly. The facts were, unfortunately, the facts. “Just because we changed our minds doesn’t change that fact.”
“Darling, you didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “You have absolutely no reason to hide yourself away from the world over the lies of some jealous woman who wants what you have. You’re so much better than that.”
“Don’t you mean some jealous stalker who would probably love to kill me and take the baby for herself?” Kady pointed out, her hands instinctively covering her stomach at the thought. “How do we know what that little lunatic is capable of anyway?”
“You don’t know that,” Athena said, sounding so calm and logical it almost made Kady want to scream. Nothing about the situation made her feel calm or in control. She felt like Mia had taken so much power away from her with all her media stunts, she wasn’t sure where that left her now.
Athena continued in the same frustratingly moderate tone of voice.
“Besides, Robert is around to keep her away from you. You have nothing to worry about from that woman. Now what do you say? It would only take a couple hours out of your day and you’d get a bit of money put back into your own bank account. You can even ask Archer first, if that’s what is stopping you.”
“Am I really that transparent?” Kady asked then, looking up at Athena, wondering just when that man had become so integral to her life and to her happiness. “That’s exactly what I wanted to do. Not because I’d say no if he told me not to or anything. I just want to keep open our line of communication. Does that make any sense?”
“It makes perfect sense, Kady,” she said kindly, a spark of warmth and affection shining in her eyes, so much like Archer’s. “You love him and you want to share your life with him. Just as long as you don’t let it hold you back from something that you really, really want, it’s perfectly fine to be just a little codependent while you’re pregnant and you baby’s father is rotting in some jail cell.”
“You really do think I’m codependent, don’t you?” Kady chuckled, knowing that had at least a little ring of truth to it.
“The thought has crossed my mind,” she said with a smirk.
“Okay, fine, we can plan to do the shoot next week, and I won’t ask him, I’ll just let him know,” she said firmly, a small smile still playing around her lips. “Is that better?”
“Not a lot, since you just let me push you around instead of him,” Athena said with a grin. “But since I’m getting what I want out of the deal, why complain, right?”
“You know, that’s what I love about you, Athena,” said Kady then. “You really know just what to say to win a girl’s heart.”
Chapter 26
Kady was not greatly surprised, but terribly distressed, to see Mia’s car parked about two blocks down the road as they drove out with Robert in tow and Daryl behind the wheel. She rolled her eyes when it started to follow them soon after they passed it. One thing about Mia Chong was that she was not subtle, that was for sure. She had to know her flashy red car would be spotted in under a minute.
“What is that about anyway?” she wanted to know, new frustration and old dislike winding through her like a snake, a feeling she couldn’t shake as much as she just wanted to enjoy the day of shopping with Athena that was ahead of her. “Can’t she leave me alone just one time. She almost seems more obsessed with me than she does Archer.”
“Well, if she tries anything we can bring her back into court over it,” Robert pointed out calmly. Nothing ever seemed to get him riled. “In fact, I hope she does because then we could bring it to the attention of the media and it might help discredit the claims she made after Archer’s sentencing.”
“I’ll sure be glad when Archer does that interview next week and tells them all what a crazy she is,” Kady grumbled, hearing the whining tone of her own voice but not really caring. It was just the truth. “I don’t know why nobody will listen to me directly, but I’m sure once they hear the story from the horse’s mouth they’ll have to believe it’s true.”
“Yes, about that,” said Athena, interrupting her tirade with gently spoken words. “Archer’s lawyer doesn’t advise him to say anything until his sentence has been served. It might make it more difficult to get time served if a media circus irritates the warden. So we’re stuck putting up with her for the duration.”
“Ugh!” Kady groaned. “That can’t be right. There must be something we can do.”
“Only hope she violates the restraining order and we can have her thrown in jail herself,” Robert replied. “But following us at a distance doesn’t cut it. She has to get up close and personal with you directly. It can’t be someone else other than Archer himself.”
“I know all that,” Kady complained. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Well, let’s not let it spoil the shopping trip,” Athena said, once more in the brisk, business-like tones Kady was used to hearing from the older woman. “We’ve got a lot to do today. I want that nursery to have all the essentials before the little one comes out of there.”
“I don’t suppose we could lose her?” Kady asked hopefully.
“We could certainly try,” Daryl said, speeding up a bit more even as he said it.
“Don’t you dare to try it!” Athena commanded him then. “I’ll not have you put my grandchild in danger just to avoid a little bit of a nuisance.”
“Damn,” Kady grumbled.
Mia drove past them as Daryl slowed way down instead. Kady suppressed the very real urge to give her the finger or stick out her tongue at the vile woman. Instead, she pretended not to notice her at all even when she waved and smiled.
They finally arrived at the store and went to the section for babies, which was conveniently located on the bottom floor. There were so many cute items that Kady soon forgot all about the troublesome Mia. Athena happily picked out so many items they needed two carts to hold it all.
“I’m amazed we haven’t seen her yet,” Kady commented dryly once they’d finished shopping in the first store, thinking for sure that Mia would have taken any opportunity to make her miserable. “Let’s just hope our luck holds out.”
“Well, if it doesn’t, it may be like Robert said,” Athena pointed out. “Mia may very well hang herself.”
“Yes, that would be nice.”
“Enough about her, we came to shop,” she said with a grin that only a woman with plenty of money could possibly have. “Have you and Archer discussed the furniture yet?”
“Archer told me to go ahead and get whatever I like, and if we decide later that we don’t like it, we can always replace it then,” said Kady with a roll of her eyes. “He really knows how to spend money.”
Athena smirked at this remark. “Yes, but we may need to convince him to slow down just a little. After all, it isn’t like he’s making money while he’s in there, is it?”
“No, but I will be next week,” Kady reminded he
r. “That ought to count for something.”
“I’m sure Archer won’t see it that way,” Athena chuckled. “He is a man, after all.”
They shopped for the next few hours, comparing strollers, cribs, rocking chairs, and toys, and so many other things that Kady would need for the baby more than she even knew. The way Athena cooed and aw-ed over items with her had her thankful for the motherly figure who had stepped into her life without a second thought, and then she had felt an unimaginable amount of guilt eating away at her for the fraught situation with her own mother.
After months of not reaching out, Kady had finally made the call, only to be told that her mother ‘didn’t raise a gold-digger, or a slut’. The words had cut so deeply, with the note of anger and resentment when Kady had tried to explain that they were in love, and were having a baby out of love for each other: that was so unlike her mother that she had hung up the phone immediately.
To make things even worse, a few days later, her mother’s sleazy new husband had actually had the nerve to call her, pretending to be nice and concerned, all the while asking questions about how much money Archer had, and if she was rich now. She had been so furious that she had almost smashed the phone right then and there, but a deep breath restrained her.
She couldn’t believe the nerve of that awful man! After practically kicking her out of her home and her mother’s life, he had tried to call her and basically weasel money out of her now that he had heard that she was with Archer Devonshire. Now who was the gold-digger?
Kady tried to push the whole episode out of her mind, and focus on the amazing time she was having shopping with Athena, the woman who had been more like a mother to her over the past few months than her own. Her thoughts turned unwillingly back to Mia, the other major problem in her life right now. If only there was a way to get rid of that lunatic for good.
Just when they thought they had managed to evade her, Mia rounded the corner where the cribs were kept. She was surrounded by two reporters, one holding the camera as the other asked her questions. They couldn’t tell from this distance just what those questions were, but her presence in the store was disheartening to say the least.
She kept pointing at the different cribs excitedly and pointing to her belly, making Kady think she was insinuating a pregnancy of her own. She really wanted to storm right over there and demand to know what she thought she was doing.
“If that woman is trying to tell them she’s having Archer’s child now I’m going to end up in prison for a hell of a lot longer than one year,” Kady grumbled fiercely.
“Calm down, Kady,” said Athena in her most soothing manner. “And there’s no way she could prove it, anyway. After all, she and Archer were never together.”
“Yeah, which really makes me wonder why she would try a stunt like that at all,” Kady pointed out. “I mean, even if she is pregnant, there’s no way Archer could have gotten her that way. He and I have been practically inseparable ever since we met. Plus, she isn’t even showing, so there’s no way they could have done anything that resulted in a baby before he go put into prison and her not be at least showing a little, right? Don’t these stupid reporters even think of that?”
“I imagine there are some reporters you could try to convince you conceived immaculately and they’d probably run the story,” said Athena with a disdainful sniff, grabbing Kady’s arm and gently nudging her away from the spectacle.
“Yeah, no doubt,” Kady agreed. “Well, it’s about time to get me home. Archer is supposed to call in about an hour.”
“All right, dear,” she agreed. Then she turned to the guy who was cashing her out and said, “Please have all the furniture fully assembled and delivered to his address.”
“No problem,” the man agreed, and they headed back out to the car.
Chapter 27
“Good evening, my beauty,” said Archer when Athena pressed the speaker to answer the house phone a while later.
“Thanks, son,” she chuckled.
“Mother? You’re still there?” Archer grumbled. “I thought I talked to you this morning. It’s Kady’s turn right now.”
“Don’t worry, dearest, I didn’t intend to stay,” she reassured him. “I just thought you might like to know about the bit of trouble we ran into while we were out shopping today.”
“Oh no, now what happened?”
“Your little China girl is out causing more trouble,” she told him.
“Well, I had a bit of trouble in here last night, too,” Archer admitted. “I just ran across the guy who actually committed the crime that landed me in here, and a few of his friends. I have no idea why they think they should be mad at me when he is the one that did it, but I guess he’s been telling them that I ordered him to skim funds and they believe it. So anyway, Kady, when you see me tomorrow don’t be too surprised by the black eye they gave me when they knocked me out. I really can’t say what they may or may not have done after that, but at least they didn’t kill me. The warden asked if I wanted to be placed in isolation but I told him no.”
“Oh, but Archer, you might not get so lucky next time,” Kady gasped, suddenly terrified for the father of her child. “My friend Juno’s brother was killed in prison, and he was a real bad ass. I can’t imagine what they might do to you if that guy didn’t even survive.”
“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart,” he replied smoothly. “I may not be a bad ass on my own, but I am able to buy protection same as him. Remember, we’re in a completely different kind of prison than the one that guy probably died in. Not one inmate in here has less than a million dollars in the bank, you know. I’m sure I’ll be just fine. Which reminds me, I need you to put money on somebody’s books for me. Remind me to give you the details before you come out here tomorrow.”
“Sure,” Kady agreed.
“Now go home, Mom, unless you want to listen to mushy stuff.”
“But I didn’t tell you the important part,” she complained, interrupting him.
“Go on,” he sighed.
“Mia was leading around some reporters in the middle of a baby furniture shop and kept pointing to her abdomen,” she explained. “Why on earth would she be doing that?”
“I have no idea,” he said, sounding so tired all of the sudden that Kady felt her heart break just a little. She knew it must be difficult for him, a man who was used to taking action, not being able to lift a finger to help or protect his family. “The woman is totally crazy. Just stay away from her.”
“I know I would, if she would let me,” Kady grumbled.
“I know, hon, she keeps following you,” he sighed. “But was she closer than five hundred yards?’
“Technically, she was,” Kady said. “But she could easily lie and say she didn’t know I was there since we were in a department store. I’m not sure how we could prove otherwise.”
“Well, why don’t you snap pictures of her with your cell if she does it again?” Archer suggested.
“I guess I could try that,” Kady said. “I mean, she’s the one who keeps bothering me, so what difference does it make if I do it back?”
“Yeah, that might just work,” Athena agreed. “Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds to talk, then. Just remember before you get too frisky that you’re being recorded. Ta ta!”
“Good-bye, Mother,” Archer called out as she went. Kady just waved since the woman could actually see her.
“Is she gone?” Archer wanted to know.
“Looks like it,” Kady chuckled.
“Do you have any idea how much I miss you, Kady?” he wanted to know, the tenderness and love in his voice swept over her, erasing the more painful moments of the day. “When I was lying there on the floor with five guys punching and kicking me, I wondered if I was about to die, and all I could think about was you and never getting to see your face again, or even knowing what our baby looks like. It was really tough. I really want to hold you in my arms right now.”
“I thought you said it was ju
st a black eye,” Kady protested, her fear for him coming back in waves at his more detailed description of the attack. “It sounds like they really hurt you, Archer. I really wish you would have taken the warden up on his offer to put you somewhere safe. It can’t be good for the baby if I’m worrying about you throughout most of the pregnancy, you know.”
“Ah, trying to guilt trip me, huh?” he laughed, somehow still managing to sound like the same old carefree Archer despite the drama they were both going through.
“It isn’t funny, Archer,” Kady insisted. “You lost consciousness. You might have ended up dead right then and there.”
“Well, all that tells me is that whatever their agenda was, they obviously don’t want me dead,” Archer pointed out. “Which makes me wonder just exactly what they do want instead. They never even asked me any questions, and they didn’t even bother to threaten me. They just dragged me down and beat me senseless. When I came to, they had just left me in the hallway and a medic was working on me. They took me to the infirmary and gave me a few stitches where someone had bit my thigh, so I really don’t think I want to know anything more about it, if you know what I mean.”
“You don’t think they violated you?” Kady asked with concern.
“I don’t think they raped me, if that’s what you’re asking.” He paused for a brief moment before continuing. “Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. I’m just glad to be alive.”
“I’m glad you’re alive too, honey,” Kady told him. “I don’t know what I’d do if they had taken you away from me forever. I’m already going crazy after just a couple of months.”
“Don’t you worry, Kady, I’ll be out of here before you know it,” said Archer. “With good behavior, I may even be out in just three months.”
Dazzle: The Billionaire's Secret Surrogate (Contemporary BWWM Romance) Page 11
