Raising His Baby

by Tressie Lockwood

  “All right,” he said at last, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Lucca will take you home, and I will make arrangements for someone to drop off your car. Type in the tag and your address on my phone. Better add your cell number as well.”

  Her heart faltered. “Um, sure.”

  Once she had done what he asked, she escaped into the car with a muttered thanks. Lucca whipped them away from the curb, and she resisted looking over her shoulder to watch Romy fade into the distance. This was probably a lucky break on her part. She wouldn’t accept any offer to return to the company to make up for the loss of her temporary position.

  Chapter 4

  Romy rubbed his temple. The pain in it didn’t dull although he had popped a couple of pills an hour ago. Staring out the window at the gardens didn’t give him peace the way it usually did. Behind him, Ezio shuffled through the papers Romy had given him. By his brother’s exclamations of disgust, he knew Ezio wasn’t happy.

  “Your instinct was spot on,” Ezio growled. “You aren’t my top executive for nothing.”

  Romy rolled his shoulders, trying to convince the knot between the blades to relax. “It wasn’t instinct. After what happened with Cason, I don’t trust anyone.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve already started something with her. Cason moves fast, but I wouldn’t have thought it of you.”

  “No, of course not!” Romy hadn’t flirted with Sonya. It was more likely that he convinced her he was the worst kind of ogre, all because of stupid Cason. He believed his brother when he said he didn’t actually do anything with Romy’s ex-lover. Cason was clever enough to have timed everything to look the way it did. He’d known Romy’s intentions and his schedule. Romy wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking, so he avoided asking Cason to clarify. What difference did it matter anyway? She betrayed him.

  As for the temp, Sonya, he’d found her attractive from the moment he laid eyes on her. So petite, he bet she fit under his chin. Those big brown eyes in her small face with the full lips of an African American woman, he’d begun to hold onto his anger because he thought she was cute. In fact, when he realized she was hurt, he forgot everything and scooped her into his arms. Bad move!

  Romy wasn’t the cavalier type like his brother Cason. He couldn’t smooth talk a woman if he tried. She was probably convinced of that when all he did was ask her a bunch of questions about her baby. However, his awkwardness had led to him noticing how nervous she became as she talked about the baby and about her sister. He began to believe she was lying in some way, and yet he kept talking to her. His foolishness proved he was still too weak, and he needed to do something about it. That led to making a phone call and obtaining a more thorough background check on Ms. Sonya Davis. The truth didn’t look good.

  “Her sister was a former lover of yours,” Ezio said.

  Romy turned from the window. “Yes, Charlize. I didn’t even know she had a sister, which makes sense because Sonya said they didn’t grow up together. Nor were they close. Charlize died in a car accident six months ago, and she left custody of the baby to Sonya.”

  “We don’t know if this Charlize would have tried to extort money from you, claiming her brat is yours, but it’s obvious that’s Sonya’s plan. There’s no need to dirty our hands with this mess. Get someone to make her go away.” Ezio pulled his phone from his pocket and sifted through the contact list. “The best man for the job is—”

  “No,” Romy interrupted.

  A chilly gaze met his. “What do you mean no?”

  Romy nodded toward the envelope he had given his brother. “You’ve seen the baby picture. He might be mine.”

  “Come on, Romy. It’s a mixed kid. That’s obvious, but there’s nothing to say he’s yours. So what he has blue eyes? A ton of babies are born with eyes that change color later. You said he’s ten months old. He could have brown eyes by now.”

  “You might be right, but I’m not going to be satisfied if I don’t find out for sure. You’ve also forgotten something else.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If the media gets a hold of this, unsavory types will also learn about it. That puts both Sonya and the baby in danger.”

  “Jeez, you have fallen for her! I thought you learned your lesson with that last one.”

  Romy tensed his jaw but said nothing.

  Ezio ran a hand over his head and looked away. “I apologize. That was a low blow. What will you do exactly?”

  Romy cleared his throat. “First, I’m going to ensure the baby’s safety. That means moving him here.”

  Ezio blinked. “You’ve lost your mind. Do you realize any gold digger with a blue-eyed mixed blood baby could come waltzing in here making claims and demanding to live at the mansion?”

  Romy felt his face burn. “The difference is I don’t have a history with very many women. In fact, I can count only a handful.”

  To his relief, his brother didn’t comment on his embarrassing admission. Of course, Ezio was aware of his limited love life. Romy often performed when he was around Cason, but most of it never led anywhere. Either she would reveal her true colors, or he would back off.

  Sonya had done the same, which was a relief to him. He could ignore the attraction to her knowing what kind of woman she was.

  “I will have the baby tested,” he assured Ezio. “If he’s mine, I’ll take steps to get full custody of him. If he’s not, then no harm done, but I have to take care of him until I’m sure. You would do the same.”

  Ezio sighed. “You’re right. There’s no way I would leave my son in the hands of someone I don’t know. I get that you want him here, but what about her? She might not be willing to let him go. Not when she wants the money.”

  “I’ll handle it. Non ti preoccupare.”

  Ezio grumbled. “I’m not worried. I know you’ll make the right decision. But if you need my input, I’m here. I know how to make an undesirable go away.”

  Romy nodded. Ezio had plenty of experience. Being the head of a multi-million dollar company, he was propositioned quite often. Romy might not have a lot of faith in women, but he wasn’t so cruel as to turn Ezio on Sonya.

  And maybe that proves I’m more of a fool.

  He decided to harden his heart against her and maybe even reserve all feeling for the baby just in case it turned out not to be his. He’d thought he was careful, but a woman determined to get her claws into him would stoop to any means. Maybe that’s why Ezio had negotiated his latest marriage. Romy wondered how long it would last.

  The day had dawned overcast when Romy rose the next morning. Rather than risk Sonya getting a heads-up and working to hide anything if he called, he jumped into his car and drove over to her house. He was glad he’d had the foresight to request her address, but it wouldn’t have been difficult to obtain otherwise.

  The apartment complex looked to be a on the lower end of middle class, possibly lower. He wasn’t an expert as he had entered the United States already wealthy because of his younger brother. The two buildings before him could use a paint job as the gray coating was peeling to reveal dull orange. If management had hired landscaping personnel, they slacked on their job. Weeds littered the overgrown grass. Other than that the property was clean.

  A group of men stood at the corner of the building on the left, and when he pulled in, all eyes swiveled in his direction. Interest rose in his car, and they stirred slowly from their positions. Another car rolled into the slot beside his, a black one with tinted windows. The door opened, and the barrel-chested man behind the wheel stepped out. He removed his sunglasses and strode over to Romy.

  “Mr. Sartori, I don’t like the looks of this place or those guys.” He switched places with Romy, putting his thick form between himself and the men, who had stopped moving the second his bodyguard showed up.

  “Neither do I, Jody, but I need to do this. You stay with the car.”

  “Sir, I don’t know what you’re going to face in there. I’d rather stay close to you.”
/>   “I’ll be fine.”

  “Sir!”

  “That’s an order, Jody.”

  He left the man standing near the cars, radiating his displeasure. Romy entered the building and checked his phone again. Apt D was in the basement. He walked down the single flight of stairs and pressed the bell. Behind the opposite door, a baby wailed. He wondered just how disordered their household would be with an infant in it. Ezio’s son hadn’t been born yet. His wife had a few more months to go.

  “Coming,” he heard Sonya call and recognized her voice.

  The door wrenched open, and he frowned upon seeing her. “Do you always open the door in this neighborhood without checking to see who it is?”

  She clutched the front of her blouse, which she hadn’t buttoned all the way, giving him a vision he preferred not to muddle his senses with. Too late, his mind replayed the image of the smooth cocoa skin and the valley between twin peaks. He bit off a grunt of annoyance.

  “Romy, what are you doing here? I mean Mr…”

  “Romy is fine, and I’m here to see the baby.” He strode by her into the tiny apartment and glanced at her over his shoulder. “You were going to insinuate that he’s mine, weren’t you?”

  “Insinuate? Who do you think you are coming in here uninvited and accusing me of lying?”

  “So none of what you told me was a lie?”

  She didn’t say a word. He waited with an eyebrow raised and his hands locked before him.

  “I didn’t lie.”

  “You didn’t tell the real reason you came to work for me.”

  She jammed a hand on her hip. “So what? You did a background check on me, and you think you know all about me now?”

  “I will get straight to the point.” He was proud of the fact that he sounded calmer than he felt inside. If he told himself this was all business, he could present a confident exterior. “I’ve come to confirm if you will claim Arron is my son.”

  He paused for her to answer.

  “And if he is?”

  “Then he will come with me now.”

  “What?” Her voice cracked in alarm. “You’re not taking my baby. I thought you would at least want some kind of proof. I have his papers from the hospital, my sister’s records, including pictures of you and her when you two were hot and heavy. And I assumed you would want to get DNA tests done.”

  He nodded. “So you’re confirming?”

  She sighed. “Yes, Charlize said he’s yours.”

  “And you believed a sister you didn’t know well?” He couldn’t keep the doubt from his tone.

  Sonya pursed her lips, drawing his attention to them. “She left a will and a kind of journal for me. Having Arron changed her, from what I read. He meant the world to her, and she wanted to be sure he was going to be okay. She wrote that she didn’t intend to tell you about Arron, but if anything ever happened to her and he wasn’t grown, you should know about him.”

  Her words shocked him. He didn’t for a moment believe her sister never intended to tell him about the baby, but if it were true and the baby was his, the thought of the loss tore him up inside. Not knowing his own son? Nothing could be worse.

  The bell rang, and directly following it someone banged hard on the door. Romy could guess whose knock it was. At the forceful sound, Sonya jumped and almost lost her balance. Romy caught her arm, but she jerked away and hobbled to answer the door. Jody stood in the hall behind a terrified young girl and a man, who seemed to be working hard not to look frightened.

  “I followed him in, sir. He looks shady, and I was right because he was coming here.” Jody made this observation in Italian, and emotions flitted over Sonya’s face as she worked out what he said. When she understood the gist, she glared at him.

  Romy did his best to hold back his amusement. “Do you know this man, Sonya?”

  She ignored him. “Come in, you two. Kevin, I’m so sorry about our lunch date, but I’m having family issues that I need to take care of.”

  The man who had arrived to visit Sonya was no taller than she was. Romy looked him over and found nothing whatsoever appealing. The slight shoulders couldn’t hold his shirt up well let alone support Sonya on a crutch.

  “A date?” He spoke with distaste before he could catch himself.

  “Who’s he?” Kevin demanded, looking up at Romy.

  “That’s not your concern,” Jody said. “I’m going to need you to step three feet away from Mr. Sartori.”

  The young girl let out a sound of awe, all wide-eyed and dreamy as she stared at Jody.

  “Romy, your bodyguard doesn’t have any business ordering my guests around!”

  “Bodyguard?” The scrawny guy wrinkled his nose. “What’s he got a bodyguard for, a man big as he is? Some people think they’re more important than they are, I guess.”

  “He’s—” Sonya began.

  Jody coughed. “Not your business, dude. Move now, final warning.”

  “Hey!” Sonya rounded on him.

  Romy was thinking this apartment was too small for so many people. He had no wish to reprimand Jody as he was doing his job, although he did worry about the safety of his Porsche. No way would he get Jody to leave with this Kevin character there, whom he hadn’t been able to search. His and his brothers’ bodyguards took their jobs seriously because of incidents in the not too distant past.

  “He’s just doing his job, Sonya. I need to talk to you.”

  “Mamma,” came a small voice.

  Romy spun around. A baby boy on hands and knees crawled into the living room where they all stood. He stared at the baby’s fair skin and dark curly hair. From the distance between them and the shadows, Romy couldn’t tell if his eyes were still blue or if there were any other telltale signs this was his son. Regardless, he was spellbound watching him.

  Sonya clicked with her tongue and started over to him. “You climbed out of your crib again? Ciò che è la mamma di andare a fare con te, eh?”

  Romy was impressed with how fast she spoke the words. Apparently, there were some phrases and sentences she could speak.

  “Did you just talk another language?” Kevin asked, confused. “What does that mean?”

  Sonya scooped the baby into her arms and wandered back over to them. “It means ‘what am I going to do with you?’”

  “Mamma,” Romy interjected. “You called yourself his mamma.”

  She eyed him. “His mother died when he was three months old. I’m all he knows, and I decided to raise him as my son. Do you have a problem with that?”

  Romy shifted his gaze to the baby’s. Ocean blue eyes. That was the only resemblance. He didn’t even favor Sonya all that much, but something inside Romy wanted to take a chance.

  “Pack his things. If you want to come with him, pack yours as well.”

  “Excuse me?” Her anger radiated, but Romy wasn’t a Sartori for nothing. He knew about his reputation as being the nicest of the three brothers, but he also knew his worth. He was aware of the dangers, and even a one percent chance this boy was his was enough to bully Sonya into caving to his will.

  Chapter 5

  Sonya jerked awake, her heart pounding. She pressed a hand to her chest and looked around the unfamiliar room. Gradually, memories returned of the day before. She no longer lived in her rinky-dink apartment but in a real honest to goodness mansion.

  When Romy drove her and Arron up to the place, she couldn’t believe her eyes. A two-story building so wide it had to have more than ten bedrooms. She was no judge since she had never been in one, but definitely no less. The grounds went on forever, and there were even a couple of gardeners out there tending to it all.

  After she hobbled inside, the butler blew her mind again. Who had butlers these days? She began to think she’d died and gone to heaven or maybe someone had slipped her drugs. To top off everything, her bedroom, which she insisted on sharing with Arron, was just a little bit smaller than her apartment.

  She climbed out of bed and limped over to the
crib in the corner. Her sweet baby boy hadn’t awakened yet. He tucked a chubby little fist into his mouth and sucked contentedly. Sonya stroked his silky hair. She had always thought Arron looked like her sister, which was a shame because when she ran into Ezio the day before, it was obvious what he thought about the baby and her—imposters. Well he could believe what he wanted. Tests would soon prove their case.

  A quick shower left her ready to face the family. She bathed and changed Arron but found it difficult to maneuver with him on her hip. Instead, she let him crawl along the hall until they neared the stairs. Then she made him stop.

  “We’ll have to take this slow, button.” She sat down and gathered him into her arms. His little cheeks demanded a few kisses first, and he giggled, hugging her neck. “Here we go.”

  “What are you doing?”

  A little thrill raced through her, and she looked up into Romy’s curious gaze.

  “We’re trying to get downstairs. I smell something good, and my stomach is growling. I brought along a few groceries, so maybe I can make a trade with whoever’s cooking that cinnamon-flavored dish.”

  He whipped the baby from her arms, sat him on his hip, and tugged her to her feet. His arm encircled her waist, and she fell roughly against his side. “I’ll carry you both down.”

  She moved out of his hold. “No, you won’t. I can do it myself.”

  As if he came to himself, realizing what he was doing, he didn’t argue. She grabbed hold of the banister, and Romy spun away. “Then I’ll meet you below. Do you need me to carry the crutch?”

  “I got it.” Embarrassment ate her alive, and she stood there watching him as he descended the stairs. A man shouldn’t smell that good in the morning or otherwise, and a woman who shouldn’t be thinking of him in wrong ways shouldn’t be as close as she just was.

  All right, get it together, Sonya. It’s not that serious. Nice feel of those muscles. Now move on.