Reunited: A Billionaire Secret Baby Romance (Lost Love Book 2)

by Marcella Swann

  “Thank you again, Derrick, from me,” Kara said, and I thought I heard just a bit of flirtation in her voice. I didn’t have time to think about it much, though. I had to focus on making sure Sienna was safe. That was the most important thing. Kara hung up the call and I got my own phone out.

  “Have the police check out the hospital, I’ll have them go to the school,” I suggested. “I can’t think of anywhere else she might me--maybe her apartment?”

  “I’ll suggest both places and you get the DA on the line,” Kara said. “And I’d recommend probably going to the school yourself, if you think she’s more likely to be there than work.”

  Chapter 20

  I’d had a bad feeling about the guys hanging around in the pickup loop from the moment I’d noticed them, but I’d hoped against hope that they were just someone’s mafia-affiliated uncles, or some kid’s gang relatives, something like that. When Tanya came out of the school, making a beeline for me because I’d promised her we’d get ice cream before we went home to celebrate getting an A on her first test in school, I saw the guys moving forward, working their way through the crowd of kids, parents, and teachers. Still I’d hoped that they were going to move on, past me and Tanya.

  When they slowed as they got to me, I’d had a pretty good idea that they were after me or Tanya, though I had no idea why. I scooped up my little girl and hurried to the car to get her loaded up, and prayed to a God I wasn’t even entirely sure I believed in fully that the engine would get started without any trouble. I’d gotten off work early so I had come to pick Tanya up instead of my mother, giving her a chance to put in a couple more hours at the florist shop she worked at.

  “Hey! Hey, wait a second! Sienna!” I trembled, getting the buckles done on Tanya’s car seat. Surely these guys weren’t going to try and attack us on school property? And the fact that they knew my name chilled my blood.

  “I don’t know who either of you are, and you need to leave me and my daughter alone,” I said, firmly. I closed the door to the back of the car so that whatever else might happen, Tanya wouldn’t be within their reach, and looked around. The teachers were getting out their phones, calling for help, but the school resource officers were probably occupied dealing with the kids taking the bus home; they certainly weren’t anywhere near.

  “You need to let us talk to you, Sienna,” one of the two mean said, giving me a hard look. “It’s for the benefit of your daughter and you.”

  “What would be for our benefit is for you to decide to leave us alone,” I said, raising my voice slightly. “And it would help you, too, since the police aren’t all that fond of people attacking kids.”

  “Just get in the car and leave campus, and follow us,” the first guy said, and I shook my head. “Nobody has to get hurt, Sienna.”

  “No, you’re right; nobody does have to get hurt,” I agreed. “But that’s because you can leave and spare yourselves assault and battery charges.” My heart was pounding in my chest, but I had some experience dealing with patients who were aggressive, who wanted to fight; these guys were a little more dangerous based on the fact that they were intentionally coming for me, but they were less dangerous because they were deliberate. They probably weren’t all that interested in dealing with the cops if they could avoid it.

  “You two might want to get the--” the teacher paused in the middle of calling out. “You’re going to want to leave the school premises right now, police are on the way.” That statement made the two guys go from being menacing to being actively aggressive, and they both lunged to grab at me. I was pretty sure they were going to try and get me to let one of them into my car so they could essentially carjack me, and that was the last thing I wanted. I did see a gun on one of the guys’ hips, but it wasn’t out and it would take him a few moments to get it and point it; it was a secondary issue. The primary thing was to keep them from grabbing me or getting my keys, anything like that.

  I went on instinct, blocking and ducking, mostly just trying to evade the two guys grabbing for me. One of them got hold of my hair and I was trapped; I wasn’t willing to let my hair get yanked out of my head. But just when I was about to panic, I heard the sirens and so did the two guys attacking me. The guy who’d grabbed my hair was tangled in it, and I resigned myself to losing a good chunk of scalp as he hurriedly tried to get away from me--but he wasn’t quite fast enough.

  “Stay right where you are! Freeze!” I looked around as much as I was able to and saw that there were no fewer than five police officers, with three different cars, surrounding us. The next thing I saw was Bobby emerging from behind one of the cops, his face in angry lines.

  “One of their hands is stuck in my hair, officers,” I called out. “Someone come help the guy get untangled so I don’t get a bald spot, please?” One of the officers came forward, cautioning the two men not to try anything stupid, and I waited patiently as the guy’s hand slowly worked out of my hair, letting me move my head around a bit more. I stepped away from my car while my two attackers were being handcuffed, and Bobby hurried the rest of the way to my side.

  “You’re sure you’re okay? Should you get checked over?” I shook my head.

  “I’ve had elderly dementia patients get in some more surprising damage than this,” I said. “But probably we should get pictures of the bumps and bruises just for the sake of evidence.” Bobby nodded and took out his phone.

  “I got the cops out here as soon as I could,” he said, sounding apologetic.

  “Oh, wow--I guess I probably should have wondered why you and they got here so fast,” I said, opening the back seat of the car so Tanya could get better airflow as the police worked to document the scene of the crime and get the two guys put away in the backs of separate cars, to take them off to jail.

  “Yeah, I’d been looking into that…” Bobby glanced at Tanya. “At that woman we encountered the night we had dinner together. And the private investigator found out about what was going on here, too.” My eyes widened.

  “Okay so why the hell were they after me, then?” Bobby pressed his lips together and looked from me to Tanya and back again.

  “Maybe we should have this conversation somewhere a little more private,” he said. I glanced around and waved over one of the police officers.

  “Do you need a statement from me? I kind of just want to get my kid home,” I explained to the man.

  “I’ll take your statement right now,” the officer said. Fortunately I didn’t have much to go over with him; I told him about seeing the two men, surmising their intent towards me, getting Tanya into her child seat, and the attack. Bobby looked angrier and angrier by the moment, and I wanted to ask him why, but I had to focus on telling the story.

  “That’s really about it, from my perspective,” I finished saying.

  “And the two men knew your name? And your daughter’s name?” I nodded.

  “Thanks for confirming that,” the officer said. “From Mr. Clawson’s information provided to us, this looks like a fairly standard contract attack--possibly kidnapping as the goal, something of that nature.”

  “Yeah I would assume so, though I have no idea what I would have done to attract attention like that,” I said, feeling tired.

  “I think probably it’s your connection to Mr. Clawson,” the officer said, clearing his throat. “He has some ideas about that, and we’ll be investigating fully.”

  “I appreciate it, officer,” I said. “Is there anything else you need from me?”

  “If you can send the pictures you’ve taken into us? Let me give you my card,” the officer said. “That way we can include them in the evidence packet. We’ve got our own pictures of course, but yours will be good to have as well.”

  Once I was done with the police, Bobby hugged me tightly, kissed me on the cheek. “Do you want to go back to your place? Or we can stop at my house for a bit, just until you’ve gotten over the nerves.”

  “I’d like you to explain what the hell is going on, and then we
can figure out where we go from here,” I said.

  “Mama, why did those mean men want to hurt you?” I glanced at my daughter, and I dreaded the idea of her spending the next several days--maybe weeks--afraid.

  “Let me talk to Mr. Clawson about it for a minute, baby girl,” I told my daughter. “Then we’ll explain it all to you.”

  “My cousin,” Bobby said quietly. “He’s the next in line to inherit if I don’t fulfill all the requirements my uncle set for me.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Bobby smiled bitterly.

  “He found out that I might be close to doing that with you,” Bobby said. “One of the requirements is to have at least the prospect of an heir to follow me.” He glanced at Tanya but she didn’t see it; she was too busy enjoying the spectacle outside of her window on the other side of the car. The police were interviewing as many of the witnesses as they could.

  “So…” I looked from Tanya to Bobby. “The reason you wanted to get close to my daughter?”

  “No, I wanted to get to know her before I knew she was,” Bobby said. “And even if that wasn’t a requirement, I’d want to get to know her. It helps things, but it isn’t the only situation. I’m supposed to be married by thirty-two, also.” He gave me a wry grin. “Just as things stand now it only helps, it doesn’t actually complete the requirements.”

  “So this cousin of yours is going to be attacking me and my daughter for the foreseeable future until you fulfill all the requirements and he doesn’t have a chance to inherit anymore? Is that it?” Bobby shook his head.

  “He’s going to jail,” Bobby told me. “This, the thing with the woman the other day, all of it together will put him behind bars for at least a few years, which will mean that I can take the time I need to settle things.”

  “Are we going to be attacked again, Mama?” I looked at my daughter. “Why?” I glanced at Bobby and took a deep breath.

  “We might as well tell her,” I said.

  “If you’re comfortable with it, I’m ready for it,” Bobby said.

  “Tanya, do you know how you’ve been asking me sometimes about your Daddy?” Tanya nodded.

  “Yeah! You said he didn’t exist,” Tanya replied, furrowing her tiny, childlike brows.

  “Well, that was because I didn’t know…” I tried to think of how to explain the situation in a kid-friendly way. I sat down on the edge of the back seat. “I didn’t know how to get in contact with your father.”

  “Why not?” Tanya frowned again.

  “It’s complicated,” I said, smiling a little wryly. “But I can tell you, Mr. Clawson is your father. He found us, and we got to talking about how things are.”

  “My real Daddy?” Tanya’s eyes went wide. “Not a step-daddy like Shanna Baker has?” I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing.

  “Yes, he is your real Daddy,” I confirmed. “That’s why we’ve been spending so much time with him, so you and he can get to know each other.” Tanya looked at Bobby.

  “Do I have to keep calling him ‘Mr. Clawson’?” I couldn’t hold back the laughter at that very pragmatic question.

  “No, you can call me ‘daddy’ or ‘dad’ or whatever else you want,” Bobby told her. He leaned into the car and smiled at our little girl.

  “Hi, Daddy,” Tanya said, and then giggled with delight.

  “Why don’t we go back to the house? Or to your apartment? I think it’s probably best to get somewhere a bit less…”

  “Yeah, that’s a good point,” I agreed. People had stopped being involved in talking to the police and now they were starting to mill around, rubbernecking. “Tanya do you want to go home to Grandma or back to Mr.--I mean, your Daddy’s house?”

  “Daddy’s house!” I looked at Bobby.

  “I guess we’ll go there, then,” I said.

  “Do you want to take my car? We can get Tanya’s safety seat in there, I think. I’m sure the police won’t mind helping us.”

  “I’d have to move my car anyway, I’d block the pickup loop,” I pointed out. Bobby called one of the officers over and took care of everything: one of the police would drive my car back to my apartment building and leave it in my spot, and another moved Tanya’s seat into Bobby’s chauffeured car. He walked me over to it, and stopped me from immediately getting in, reaching into the front seat only to produce a bouquet of sunflowers, like the ones he’d gotten me before. I tried to shake my head, to tell him that I didn’t need flowers.

  “I got them for you before I knew this was happening,” Bobby said. “I know you’ve been dodging my calls and texts, and this doesn’t exactly change things--not really--between us. But I want to at least think about thinking about what we could be. Okay?” I looked at my daughter, who was still so obviously pleased with the news she’d received about her father, and I sighed. I had to admit I liked Bobby, in spite of everything. Now that Tanya knew about her father, wasn’t it only fair to at least see if there was something other than co-parenting responsibilities between me and Bobby? “They’re just flowers, they’re not a marriage proposal,” Bobby murmured, and I took them from him, smiling.

  Chapter 21

  I had hated waking up at six-thirty in the morning, but by the time I reached Wet’n’Wild Splashtown, I was already starting to consider it worth it. Since I was paying for the entire school to visit the park for the day, I had also managed to wrangle myself permission to be a chaperone; and I fully intended to spend as much time as possible with Tanya. I didn’t think it would come across nearly as weird to occupy her as it would to be around the other kids, who I didn’t know at all--besides which, I didn’t really have any interest in spending time with any of the other kids.

  The teachers gave everyone a buddy and sent the kids off in groups of four to each adult for the younger kids, up to eight kids per adult for the older students. I had Tanya and three of her friends: Sari Neasom, Janna Becker, and Heather Nolan. We all consulted the map of the different attractions, and I let the girls decide which things they wanted to go to first, which slides they were most comfortable going on. We put their backpacks in lockers and I made sure everyone was slathered in sunscreen, and off we went.

  Once we’d gotten everything squared away, I led the girls over to the Tree House, which was quickly a popular destination for the younger groups of kids, not just Tanya and her friends; I watched and played along while they climbed on net ladders, and got more and more adventurous on the slides, and squealed in delight whenever a water blast hit them from above. We moved on to the more adventurous parts of the park, avoiding the oldest kids who seemed to need constant reminders not to jump right on top of the younger ones, and I made sure to reapply sunscreen on all the girls whenever I saw one of the other chaperones taking care of it.

  “Can we go on the big slides now?” I looked at Tanya and then at her friends, considering. They weren’t the minimum height to ride any of the bigger slides alone, and I wasn’t entirely sure how okay it would be for me to ride with the other three girls. Fortunately for me, one of the Mom-chaperones was nearby, with a troupe of four boys, and we discussed riding down the slides and how it would work out. I’d arranged to make sure that there were plenty of staff on hand as well; I wanted to make sure nobody at Tanya’s school ever lacked for fun at any point in the day, as well as I could.

  We arranged things around a bit and Tanya and I went up to try the Alien Chaser, one of the tallest waterslides the park had to offer. “If you decide you don’t want to go, if you get scared, we can go back down,” I made sure to tell her.

  “I’m okay!” Tanya was practically prancing from one foot to another while we waited in line for our turn. Fortunately there were enough slides that the lines weren’t incredibly long; we got up to the top within about ten or fifteen minutes, and Tanya was just as sure as she’d been when we started that she wanted to go down the slide with me. We piled into the raft together and Tanya shrieked with delighted fear as we plunged down, holding on tight.

>   We managed to get to almost all of the raft-based slides together, me taking turns waiting with some of the kids while Tanya’s friends went up with another chaperone and vice-versa. It worked out well, and by the time we went to get lunch at our scheduled slot, Tanya was already planning out everything else she wanted to do. The teachers reminded the kids to make sure they ate something more than just junk food for their lunches, but I saw my daughter’s eyes go big at the Dippin’ Dots stall, and I knew that this was going to be a major test of my ability to parent.

  “Okay, Tanya,” I said as we both waited in line for our turn at the Ocean Breeze Cafe. “Let me make a deal with you: we’ll get chicken tenders or a burger or pizza, and if you finish that you can have as much ice cream as you want afterwards.” I figured that her stomach would be too full after eating lunch to eat too much junk food or sweets, so it seemed like a safe bet.

  “Okay!” Tanya nodded her agreement with that plan. We ordered one of each--the burger for me and the chicken tenders for her--and sat down with her friends who’d gotten their food as well, and there wasn’t any trouble at all getting Tanya to eat her meal. What I hadn’t anticipated was that she seemingly had an endless appetite for sweets. Once she finished, we went to the Dippin’ Dots counter and she got a large one, and then before we went back to the slides and pools she wanted an Icee. Of course, it was all free: I’d paid in advance for it, essentially creating a tab with the waterpark for all of the kids’ and chaperones’ food and beverage. But the other kids were much more restricted in their ability to get sweets than Tanya was, since the chaperones weren’t the ones footing the bill.

  We played in the wave pool and activity pools for a while and before the teachers started rounding everybody up, Tanya couldn’t decide between a funnel cake and an ice cream cone, so I got her both. We stopped to get everyone’s things out of the lockers on the way out, and Tanya pulled me towards the gift shop.