by Reeni Austin
Cara was taken aback. Perhaps he is much deeper than I gave him credit for. “And you couldn’t have that legacy with her?”
He shook his head as if startled out of a trance. “No. She and I have very different priorities.” Victor turned to her with a wry smile, to ask about something he had been waiting for some time to approach. “So, let’s talk about your personal life for a while, Miss Green. Where’s Isaac’s father? Is he in the picture, at all?”
“I don’t…” Cara’s voice trailed off. A nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach would not permit her to use the lie she had given everyone since the day she announced her pregnancy. Maybe it was the hint of vulnerability Victor had shown that made her feel bad about lying to him. She knew she could not evade this issue for much longer, given the eagerness of Victor’s tone. She swallowed hard and took another second to get her words in order. “No, he’s not in the picture and he never will be.”
“Is that by his choice, or yours?”
“Darn, you’re really nosy.”
“Just curious. You don’t have to tell me, but…” He gave her shoulder a soft squeeze. “I’d kinda like to know. Isaac’s a great kid. I hope to get to know him better. Get to know you both better, if that’s okay.”
Cara gulped. This was not what she had expected, at all. “Um…I don’t know what to say except, Isaac’s father is not a concern.”
“Good.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “And I don’t let Isaac get attached to people. He needs stability.”
Victor held her gaze for a moment, then looked down at the floor. “I understand that. You’re a good mother. Has that happened before? You dated someone and Isaac got his heart broken?”
“Uh…are we dating? Is that what you call this?”
With a half-hearted shrug, he said, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t say we’re not dating. So, tell me. Did Isaac get attached to someone?”
A chaotic swirl of thoughts entered Cara’s mind. Too rattled to consider her options, she said, “No, he’s never gotten attached to anyone, not like a father.”
Victor’s eyebrows knitted. “You’ve dated since he was born, haven’t you?”
Her voice was weak. “No. Not really.”
“Not really?”
She cleared her throat. “Not at all, actually.”
Victor’s eyes were huge. “Okay. Let me ask something else…before today, when’s the last time you slept with a man?”
A thin layer of tears suddenly clouded her vision. “It was Isaac’s father.”
“Oh.” Victor’s eyebrows rose. “Wow. I didn’t know. I’m sorry—”
She held up her hand. “Don’t.” She sniffled. “Please don’t be sorry. I didn’t plan for it to happen that way.” She wiped her hand across her face to erase the few drops that rolled down her cheek. “I guess it’s a lot like what you said about time going by. Wondering where it went. I get that. This wasn’t how I planned it. I didn’t know I’d give so much to my career only to have it taken away so I could move back home.”
Victor gave her a knowing smile. “It’s almost useless to plan. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought I had everything all worked out and then…boom. My world turns upside down.” He sighed. “I guess that’s why I got engaged. I wanted something permanent in my life, besides work. Wanted a sure thing.”
Cara wiped her face again, nodding. “The only sure thing to me is Isaac. He’s the true love of my life.”
“I understand.” Victor tightened his grip around her shoulders. “You have every right to be protective.” Gently, he placed his hand on top of hers. “But I’d really love to get to know both of you better. I hope you’ll let me.”
Cara’s voice trembled. “Maybe.”
“I know you just met me. You don’t have to give me an answer right now.” He kissed her forehead. “Just let things take their natural course.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
In a deadpan voice, he added, “And please don’t file sexual harassment charges against me.”
She laughed, grateful he had added some levity to their conversation. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.” He grinned. “Because technically, it’s not harassment as far as I know. I never said you had to sleep with me to get a job or get promoted. I waited over a week after your date of employment before I got you on a private jet alone and coerced you to be my lover.”
Cara laughed. “It didn’t take much coercion.”
He narrowed his eyes, nodding. “It took a lot more than you realize. You’re a stubborn woman.” He kissed her cheek. “And now I have to figure out a way to focus on those stuffed shirts at the Lochmere Group for an entire afternoon until we can be alone again.” He sighed. “You have no idea the effect you have on me.”
Cara wiped away the last of her tears. “How much longer till we land?”
Victor looked at his wristwatch. “Another hour.”
“Should we go over the Lochmere file again?”
“Nah.” Victor drew her into a deep kiss, his thoughts consumed with something else he wanted to do again before they landed.
Chapter Ten
Alexis signaled to Tom as she sipped her martini.
It took Tom a few seconds to see the redhead at the bar, snapping her fingers high in the air. He nodded and rushed toward her, feeling very out of place in this hoity toity midtown bar.
“Ms. Whitt.” He extended his hand. “Good to see you again.”
“Yes.” Alexis shook his hand. “Thank you for meeting me here.”
Tom straightened his glasses. “All part of the job, ma’am.”
“Have a seat.” She patted the bar stool next to her. “Drinks are on me.”
He chuckled to himself and asked the bartender for a scotch on the rocks. When he retired from the police force two years earlier, he had no idea he would end up tracking down ex-lovers of spoiled socialites. The guys at the station would have a good laugh if they ever found out about it. “Care to move to a table or you wanna do this at the bar?”
“Bar’s fine.” Alexis took a long sip of her drink. “Please don’t drag it out. Just give me the bad news.”
“As you wish.” He pulled his phone and a small notebook out of his pocket. “The girl’s name is Cara Green. She’s a single mom who lives on Brockton Avenue in Newark with her widowed mother.”
Alexis’s mouth dropped open. She swiveled on her stool to face him. “Single mom? Newark? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” He handed her his camera. “He went to her house for dinner on Friday night.”
Alexis scrolled through the pictures. “Is this the kid?” Her eyes grew wider with every photo of the tiny boy sitting in Victor’s car, holding the steering wheel. “Has this been going on for a long time?”
“Dunno, ma’am.”
“It had to be. They look like they’ve known each other for a while.” Alexis let out a sound of disgust when she came to the pictures of Cara joining them outside. “What does he see in this woman?”
Tom silently took a sip of the scotch that had just appeared in front of him.
“Is it the kid?” Alexis asked. “Is that what he wants? Is that why he won’t get back together with me?”
“I can try to find out.”
“Did he father this child or something? Was he living a double life I never knew about?”
“Couldn’t tell ya ma’am. But I can dig deeper if ya want.”
“Sure, sure.” Alexis waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever. Money’s no object. Find out about this kid’s paternity.” She sighed. “If nothing else, maybe I can make her ex really jealous with some pictures. That’d break ‘em up, for sure.”
Tom took another drink. “I’ll do my best. Oh, almost forgot. She lost her job in Chicago about six months ago. That’s how she ended up back home in Newark. Probably needed her mother to take care of the boy. Day care’s expensive and—”
Alexis shook her head. “Whatever. I need
to get her away from him. I don’t care what it takes. Jealous baby daddy. Or maybe find some way to get her to move back to Chicago.” She emptied her martini into her mouth and swallowed. “You came highly recommended, Tom. Please live up to my expectations.”
Tom sighed. He could get her the information she desired, but he was convinced it would do nothing to help her win her fiance back. “I said I’ll do my best, ma’am.” He looked at his watch. “It’s noon. If I head out now, I might have some more information for you today.”
“Great.” Alexis choked back her tears.
* * *
“Isaac, be careful on that swing,” Patty called out.
Isaac waved at his grandmother then threw his head back, laughing, as his new friend Alissa pushed him higher.
Feeling a chill in the air, Patty pulled her sweater across her chest a little tighter and relaxed against the steel bench.
A portly gray-haired man with a newspaper in his hand sat down beside her. “I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt a nip in the air.”
Patty raised one eyebrow, nodding slowly. “Oh yes. I can tell we’re gonna have an early winter this year.”
He smiled. “I’ve been thinking the same thing all day.”
Patty narrowed her eyes. “Have I seen you here before? You don’t look familiar. I thought I knew all the grandfathers in the neighborhood.”
“No, we’ve never met.” He held out his hand. “Tom Sutton. Nice to meet you.”
Patty shook his hand. “Likewise, Mr. Sutton. Patty Green.”
“Please, call me Tom.”
“Call me Patty.” She grinned. “So, is one of these rug rats yours?”
“No.” Tom glanced around at the small mass of children playing in front of them. “I have four grandkids, all in Connecticut. Today I’m just out and about. Went to a deli around the corner. Thought I’d stop by the park and read the newspaper for a while.” He turned to her. “One of these yours?”
“Yes.” She pointed. “Fluffy hair, blue-striped shirt. Laughing his head off on the swings.”
“I see.” Tom straightened his glasses, feeling a twinge of guilt that he already knew what Isaac Green looked like. He took a deep breath and went on, determined to do the job he was paid to do. “He looks like a handful.”
“He is.” She sighed as she watched him. “He certainly is. But I don’t know what I’d do without him now. He and his mother moved in with me a while back.” She turned to Tom, shrugging. “Recession casualty. My daughter had a great job in Chicago. Then one day.” She drew her hand across her neck in a line. “Axed.”
“Sorry to hear it.”
“S’okay. She finally got another job. Started last week.”
“Good for her. Here in Newark?”
“No, it’s some ritzy place in Manhattan.”
This is going to be easier than I thought. Tom asked, “So, how’d she get a job like that? I know people who been outta work for a year or more. She know someone?”
Patty kept one eye on Isaac to make sure he was okay. “Sorta. She met a guy when she was working at a catering job for all these rich people. Next thing I know, she’s getting all dressed up and driving to Manhattan every morning.” She sighed. “I figure she’ll get ‘em an apartment there, soon as she finds one she can afford. The drive every day is starting to get to her.”
“I would imagine so. I never drive there unless I absolutely have to.”
“Me neither.” Patty shrugged. “But she hates the train.”
“So, you’re the full time babysitter? Your daughter divorced or something?”
Patty shook her head. “No, Isaac’s never had a father. A one night stand in college. Isaac’s our little souvenir, courtesy Drexel University.”
Tom let out a nervous chuckle. “These kids these days, I tell ya. They do anything with anyone.”
“Well, my Cara’s not a slut. I can promise you that.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to imply such a thing. I was just saying—”
“No, no. You’re right. These kids. But my Cara isn’t like that.” She patted his knee. “So, what about you? What’s your story?”
“Oh, there’s not much to tell. I’m a widower. Retired cop.”
“Cop?” Patty’s eyes perked up. “My Nathan was a cop. Killed in the line of duty eleven years ago next month.”
Tom put his hand over his heart, then gave her a reassuring tap on the arm. “I’m so sorry. Truly sorry. Was it here in Newark?”
“Yep.”
“And you stayed in the area?”
“Yep. Makes me feel closer to him. What about you? Where’d you work?”
“Brooklyn.”
“Oh. I bet your wife was pacing the floor every night until you walked in the door.”
“Yes.” Tom nodded. “And I heard about it every single day.”
“And you’re a widower, you said?”
“Yes. Breast cancer.” He let out a sad sigh. “Happened quickly, almost three years ago.”
Patty gave Isaac a quick glance then rested her hand on Tom’s knee, angling her body to fully face him. “I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah. It was rough, but I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.” He gave her a warm grin and reached into his pocket to turn off his recording device. “So, are you familiar with Bryson’s Deli a few blocks from here? They make the best cannoli.”
“Oh, no. You’ve never tried my cannoli. In fact, I was just thinking I hadn’t made those in a while. You like Italian food?”
“Do I ever?” Tom put his newspaper down on the bench. This new assignment of his was starting to feel a lot less grueling.
* * *
“Great work today.” Victor squeezed Cara’s hand as they walked into the restaurant.
“Thanks.”
It was seven o’clock in the evening and instead of being alone in a hotel room, Victor had whisked her off to a restaurant. She smiled, trying to hide her disappointment as she watched him speak to the hostess. When he finished, Cara said, “So, you still haven’t told me who we’re meeting for dinner. Is it one of the guys from Lochmere?”
Victor glanced at his phone again. “No. We’re meeting my brother, Ramon.”
Cara’s eyes widened. “What?”
Victor laughed. “Don’t be scared.”
“I’m not scared, I’m surprised. Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“Because it took me two days to get up with him, and then I wasn’t sure he could get here. He runs a ranch about three hours away, near San Antonio. I try to see him if I happen to be in Texas but he can’t always get away on short notice.”
“Your brother owns a ranch?”
“Yes. It’s the same ranch where we all worked when we left Mexico.”
“So, he moved there and never left the ranch?”
Victor laughed. “It’s funny to hear you put it that way. But yes, that’s essentially what happened. I went off to college, and Armando followed my lead a few years later. But Ramon always knew that wasn’t for him. He liked the outdoors, the hard physical labor. But these days he oversees that ranch and two others.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how he does it. He’s not outside in the fresh air nearly as much these days but he puts in more hours than ever.”
Cara examined Victor from head to toe. He was so polished in his black fitted suit, it was hard to imagine him working as a ranch hand. Cara asked, “So, what does Armando do for a living?”
With a light shrug, Victor said, “Same thing as me, mostly. Asset management, helping venture capitalists find new investments. But he’s in Los Angeles.”
“Do you see your brothers very often?”
He let out a sad sigh. “Not nearly as often as I’d like.”
Just then, Victor turned around in the direction of a surprise slap on his shoulder. His face lit up when he saw Ramon.
Cara watched as they hugged. Ramon was as handsome as Victor, but his face was obviously a little more weathered from being
outdoors in the hot Texas sun.
Ramon put his arm around Victor. “Leave it to you to pick some ritzy restaurant like this. Make me wear a suit.”
Victor smirked. “It’s good for you once in a while.”
Ramon peered down at his dark gray ensemble. “Can you see the dust on this thing?” He sighed and gave Victor’s back a hearty slap, then extended his hand to Cara. “Hello there. My name is Ramon Barboza. Please forgive my rude brother for not introducing us himself.”
Victor elbowed him. “You didn’t give me time.” He motioned to Cara. “Cara, my brother, Ramon.” He looked at Ramon and gestured to Cara. “Ramon, Cara Green.”
Cara felt the rough skin on Ramon’s hand as she shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you as well.” Ramon smiled and gave her hand a quick shake then turned to his brother. “So, co-worker? Girlfriend?”
Victor’s eyes narrowed at him as he considered his response.
Cara spoke up. “We just started working together last week.”
Ramon nodded and shot Victor a sly glance. “And yet, he brought you with him to meet his brother. That sounds pretty serious.”
Victor knew his youngest brother too well. Ramon wanted to embarrass him. It wasn’t malicious. It was just Ramon’s way. “It’s none of your business.” He smiled. “Now that you’re here I’ll tell the hostess we’re ready for our table.”
As they trailed behind the hostess and Ramon to their table, Victor took Cara’s arm and whispered in her ear, “Just so you know, I was going to say you were my girlfriend.”
Cara blushed and tucked her head down to hide her smile.
Soon they were seated around a small round table in the bustling restaurant.
Victor quietly nudged Cara as Ramon placed his drink order. “Order something that’ll make you crazy for me later. But pace yourself. I definitely need you awake.”
