by Alexia Adams
“Why on earth would you give him up? What’s really happening here, Lexy?”
She pulled in a shuddering breath. “Nothing. Sorry, I’m just being paranoid. If my boss, or anyone really, knows that Max is with us, I could lose my job and custody. That would destroy me.”
“Why? Do you have some kind of court order stopping you from taking your son out of the country?” This was getting more complicated by the minute. Why hadn’t she told him any of this last night? Not that he’d given her a lot of time to talk after his announcement. He’d been so angry that she’d kept a huge part of herself hidden while he’d wanted to tell her all his secrets, he’d walked away. Now, in the light of day, he could see he hadn’t really been fair. But his brain had been deprived of blood for so long it hadn’t been working rationally.
“No. Max’s father doesn’t know he has a son. And I have to keep it that way.”
Maybe my mother never told my father about me. Maybe the guy trying to contact me really does just want to meet me once before he dies. But his situation was different. He was beyond the need for a father. Why was Lexy keeping her son from his?
“Who is Max’s father?”
She looked away. “No one important. He’s an American, from Texas, so when we go there it’s essential that Max be kept away from the media.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Lexy?”
Her hands twisted in her lap. “Max’s father is my ex-husband. He left me before I knew I was pregnant. But if he finds out I had his son … well, let’s just say he’s not the type of man who would share custody.”
“How did you hide your pregnancy during your divorce proceedings?”
“That was all done through lawyers. I just signed where I was told. I didn’t want a cent from Wesley. I just wanted to put the whole thing behind me.”
“But you have a constant reminder of your marriage in your son.”
“Max was the only good thing to come out of that relationship. I gave up everything for him. And I love him so much. It’s only right I should get to keep him.”
“What do you mean?”
“At my nineteen-week scan, the doctors discovered that there was something wrong with Max’s heart. They weren’t even sure if he was going to survive the birth. I quit university and concentrated on keeping my baby alive, going on bedrest for the whole last half of my pregnancy. I used all the money my father had set aside for me for school.”
“But Max is okay?” Lexy was a strong woman to cope with that alone. No wonder she was adamant about keeping her son.
“At thirty-two weeks’ gestation his heart rate dropped suddenly, so they performed an emergency C-section. He was in the neonatal intensive care unit for six months.” Her voice broke and again he experienced prickles of pain in his chest. He should get the F1 doctor to check him out before he hit the track next week.
“That must have been really hard. Did your mother help?”
“No. It was just me and Max. One night they let me hold him, as they didn’t think he was going to make it through to the morning. I was at rock bottom, holding my dying baby. I promised him, and I promised myself, that I was going to do everything in the world to keep him safe and be the best damned mother a child ever had. I kept saying over and over to the top of his head. ‘Live for me, Max, and I’ll live for you.’ He kept up his end of the bargain so I have to do the same.”
“Does he still have heart problems?”
“Actually, the next day he got a heart transplant. Someone else’s tragedy saved us. Max suffers from asthma, but the doctors are hopeful that he’ll grow out of it. He’s my miracle baby. He gave me something to live for when I had nothing.”
Lexy went back to chewing on her finger.
Daniel resumed his contemplation of the rapidly passing countryside beneath them. Would I be different if my mother had loved me so fiercely? What if I was really the playboy everyone imagines and I discovered I had a child somewhere? If I discover who Lexy’s ex-husband is, should I tell him he has a child? This was precisely the kind of mental distraction he did not need in his life right now. He could almost feel the championship slipping from his grasp.
With the short flight over, they were soon in a taxi trudging their way through London’s traffic. Eventually they arrived at a small terraced house, the outside clean but in need of a paint job. They were barely on the path before the door flew open and a little boy with a dark mop of hair and bright blue eyes launched himself at Lexy.
“Mummy, Mummy!” he screamed excitedly.
She picked him up and hugged him so tightly the boy squirmed to draw a breath. On seeing Daniel, Max tucked his face into Lexy’s neck for protection. At the door stood a heavily pregnant woman, her tall, thin husband, and another boy a little larger than Max.
“Hi, I’m Daniel Michaud.” He held out his hand first to the man staring at him as though Prince Harry had just shown up to knight the family dog. The woman, who must be Sonia, narrowed her eyes.
“Mark Connors, and this is my wife, Sonia, and our son, Andrew. I’m a huge fan.”
“Of me or F1?”
“Well, the sport. But now that I’ve met you…”
“I’ll try to earn your support. Lexy tells me Max considers you his extended family. He’s a lucky boy to have so many people love him.”
“He’s a great lad. Do you have time for a cup of tea?” Sonia finally spoke.
“We really—” Lexy began. They’d hoped to make a quick turnaround and get back to France as soon as possible. He had a sponsor event he was supposed to attend tonight in Paris.
“Of course,” Daniel replied. He could tell that Sonia wasn’t sure about this change of plans by the way she glared at him.
They all went into a compact sitting room packed with toys. A small suitcase stood against the wall. Max still had his face tucked under Lexy’s chin and his chubby arm wrapped around her neck. A neck that last night Daniel had admired for its graceful elegance as he trailed kisses down to her shoulder. This going back to strictly colleagues thing sucked.
Sonia bustled off to the kitchen to make the tea, and Lexy, after putting Max down, excused herself to grab a few things she’d forgotten from her flat upstairs. That left Daniel with the two boys and Mark. When the other man stood, the sweat broke out on Daniel’s forehead. Children were like spiders, best viewed from a distance.
“I’ll help Sonia,” Mark excused himself.
He was alone with the boys, both of whom eyed him warily. Give him a car going 300 kilometers per hour on a damp track with his tires losing grip any day. That sort of danger he could face. What if one of them started to cry?
Then he spotted a small metal car wedged under the sofa cushion and pulled it out. A Lamborghini Aventador. “I have one of these in life size,” he said. Andrew didn’t look impressed, but Max finally turned his blue eyes on Daniel.
“What color?” Max asked, his head cocked to one side, as if Daniel’s answer could make the difference between them being friends or mortal enemies.
“Red.”
The little boy released what sounded like an Italian term of disgust. “Ferraris are red. Lambos should be lellow.”
Lellow? Mon Dieu, this child was priceless. “You’re right. But they didn’t have a yellow one and I was desperate. Maybe I could have it painted?”
Max nodded as though that were an acceptable solution. It might be okay. This kid was all right, which shouldn’t be a surprise since he was Lexy’s son.
“What other cars do you have?” Max took a step closer, whereas Andrew started to pull the leaves off a potted plant. As the only adult in the room, should he stop him? No way was Daniel going to risk tears over some foliage. He’d send Sonia a new plant.
“I’ve got a Ferrari, in the proper red, a green McLaren, a blue Aston Martin, a white Koenigsegg, a black Bugatti, and, of course, my silver Mercedes.”
Max came right up to him and put his tiny hand on Daniel’s knee. “Can I see them?”
“Of course. They’re at my brother’s house in France.”
Lexy appeared in the doorway and Max rushed over to her. “We have to go right now. The man said I can see his cars. He’s got a Bugatti.” Max said it as boo-cat-ee. Daniel was going to call it that from now on.
She knelt down in front of her son and straightened his hair. “We’ll leave in a few minutes, Max. Don’t you want to say goodbye to Andrew? We’re going to be gone for a long time.”
“Bye, Andrew.” Max tugged on his mother’s hand again, trying to pull her out the door.
“Max.” The warning tone in Lexy’s voice made Daniel straighten in his chair.
“Oh, all right. Grown-ups don’t understand.” He plopped down on the carpet and ran the toy Lambo along the coffee table.
Mark and Sonia returned with a tea tray laden with four types of biscuits. Both boys looked pleadingly at their mothers but didn’t dive for the plate of cookies when it was set down. Cars made Max impatient, but evidently biscuits he could wait for.
“When is your baby due?” Daniel asked as Sonia lowered herself into a chair.
“Eight weeks and it can’t come soon enough. Andrew was three weeks early, though, so the doctor thinks this baby might be as well.”
Small talk centered around babies and things he had absolutely no knowledge of, but he must have asked the right questions and nodded in the right places, because by the time he’d finished his tea Sonia gave him a friendly smile.
There were lots of hugs and kisses and wishes for safe trips. Andrew was pulled away from denuding the greenery to say his farewells. Daniel, Lexy, and Max climbed into the taxi, and Lexy was strapping her son into his car seat when the boy began to squirm.
“Wait, we can’t go without Dude. We have to bring him with us.”
“Max, that’s not possible,” Lexy tried to reason with him. “Sonia and Andrew will look after him.”
“No, no, no. He has to come. I can’t sleep without saying goodnight to him.”
The more Lexy tried to convince Max that Dude, whatever that was, had to stay, the more hysterical Max became. Tears streamed down his face, which was red with his exertion in trying to convince his mother. It was probably just some giant teddy bear the kid was particularly attached to. They had a private plane; no reason the boy couldn’t have his favorite toy.
“Of course Dude can come,” Daniel said, as Lexy looked at the point of losing it.
“Yay!” Max cheered. The tears stopped instantly and a huge smile covered the boy’s face. Had he just been played? By a three-year-old?
“I’ll go get him. Where is he?” Daniel offered.
“On the kitchen counter, upstairs in our flat.” There was an odd light in Lexy’s eyes as she handed him her keys.
Two minutes later he knew why. Dude was a fish.
Chapter 7
She had to give it to him, Daniel was a great sport. He’d come back from her flat carrying Dude the betta fish in his bowl like a treasured pet, and then held it for the whole flight. Including the rough landing, which ended with a decidedly wet spot right in his crotch. And he hadn’t complained once or rolled his eyes at Max’s continual chatter. Two hours of three-year-old questions had tested her limits as a mother.
“Can I see your cars now?” Max asked as soon as they arrived at the chateau. He didn’t comment on the size of the house or the luxurious grounds.
“Sure. Let me just find a spot for Dude. Do you want him in your room?” Daniel made no mention of needing to change his trousers.
“I share a room with Mummy,” Max said. “Is it big enough for Dude, too?”
“We have lots of bedrooms. You don’t have to share with your mummy. You could have your own room. You and Dude.” Daniel’s eyes lingered on her lips and a warm flush spread from her neck down. Maybe if Max had his own room…
Damn it, no. That ship sailed last night with Max’s ill-timed call. She was back to mum mode. Sexy Lexy had to get back in her bottle and wait another few years, or decades. God, what kind of mother was she that she wanted to roll back time, skip the call from her son, and have one night with Daniel? She had what she wanted from the beginning—not to be parted from Max. It was more than enough. Had to be.
“No, I have to stay with Mummy because she has bad dreams sometimes. Some man named Wesley is being mean to her.” Oh God, did she talk in her sleep? She’d never mentioned Max’s father to him. But it made sense now why her son always asked the name of every man they met. He was on the lookout for the Wesley who was mean to her.
Daniel knelt down so he was at Max’s eye level. “I understand. Just so you know, no man is going to be mean to your mum while I’m around.” The two males shared a nod of mutual acknowledgment. She was to be protected. Max certainly hadn’t inherited that from his father.
“How about I find a place for Dude and you two boys go see the cars?” Lexy suggested. She took the fish bowl from Daniel’s hands, lingering in the exchange, holding his gaze in an effort to communicate how much she appreciated him treating her son like a person and not an inconvenience. When Max reached up to take Daniel’s hand, her heart fibrillated. Was she dangling more of the impossible in front of her son? She’d have to make sure Max understood this was only a temporary arrangement, and Daniel wouldn’t have a permanent place in their lives.
If she weren’t careful, she wouldn’t be the only one to lose her heart to Daniel Michaud. Whoa, hold the phone. Her heart had to keep well clear of that stupidity. But seeing him walk away, holding her son’s hand, talking cars and promising to protect her, it was damned hard to remember he was an international playboy just waiting for the next available woman to pass by.
She hurried to put Dude in her room, giving him a few shakes of food Daniel’d had the foresight to grab as well. Should she follow them to the garage? Or give them space and wait for their return?
As she dithered in the hallway, Marie the housekeeper approached her. “Mademoiselle Lexy, Daniel said you would need an au pair to help look after your son while you travel. I called my niece who is a teacher, and she is here if you’d like to meet her.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
“Would you like to interview her in the petit salon? She’s waiting now in the kitchen.”
“Oh, I’ll just come down to the kitchen with you.” Or wasn’t that the done thing in a house like this? Hanging out with Daniel should come with a manual. “Unless, of course, you don’t want people in your kitchen.”
Marie beamed. “The kitchen is fine. Follow me.”
The kitchen was not what she was expecting. Neither was the woman at the long wooden table cradling a cup of coffee. The room was bright and airy, painted a sunny yellow and full of knickknacks and photos of Daniel and, she assumed, his brother Jacques as a child. It was the kind of kitchen a mother would cook in. Not a servant in a big house.
And the woman waiting for her looked nothing like any teacher Lexy had ever had. Her blond hair fell in a pure glossy sheet to her waist. Large, gray eyes stared out of the face of an angel. She was even more beautiful than Lexy’s mother had been in her time.
“Mademoiselle Lexy, please allow me to introduce you to my niece, Genevieve Dubois.”
Genevieve stood and Lexy forced a smile on her face. For God’s sake, why did the woman have to be tall and slim as well? Next to her, Lexy’d look like the also ran. But she wasn’t here to compete in a beauty pageant. She had a job to do and needed help to do it. No one could find out Max was with them. This was so complicated.
“I am pleased to meet you, mademoiselle,” Genevieve began. Her English was perfect. Max would have no difficulty understanding her.
“Please, call me Lexy. And you, too, Marie.” The older woman just nodded then bustled about the kitchen making tea and coffee.
“You’re not currently teaching?” Lexy asked as Genevieve resumed sitting.
“No. I was teaching abroad last year and I had a traumatic experience. I’ve not be
en able to go back into the classroom. But ma tante thought that perhaps if I only had one child to keep safe, it might be better for me.”
Keep safe? That was an odd choice of words. Surely her job was to teach. The haunted look in her eye stilled Lexy’s tongue. Yet there was a gentleness about the woman that set her at ease. “Max is a good boy, but he does need to be watched closely. He has a tendency towards mischief. Are you sure you’re up to it after your, um, experience?”
“I believe so. I understand you’re not leaving for a few days. Perhaps I could have a test period and see how we get on. I have a friend who would also be available if I can’t manage. I have to try something. At the moment I have too much time to think.”
Lexy knew that feeling. How many hours had she sat beside Max’s NICU bed thinking? Her son had given her something to live for, so perhaps he could help in Genevieve’s healing. “As Daniel is paying the bills, I’ll have to ask him.”
“Ask him what?” Daniel said as he appeared in the doorway, carrying Max. Her son had his head on Daniel’s shoulder and was fighting to keep his eyes open. Without waiting for her to reply, Daniel greeted the other woman. “Genevieve, how good to see you. How are you doing? Better?”
“A little.”
Daniel touched Genevieve’s shoulder in a show of support. But aside from that there was no hint he was interested in the woman. Instead his hot gaze roved over Lexy, lingering on her lips. “Is the question you want to ask whether I think Genevieve would be a perfect person to look after Max while you’re busy? If so, the answer is yes. I asked Marie to call her this morning before we left.” He stroked Max’s arm until her boy raised his head. “Max, this is my friend Genevieve. She’s going to help look after you while your mum is working. Okay?”
“She’s bootiful,” Max said before returning his head to Daniel’s shoulder. God, Max was so like his grandfather. If her father showed up at the next race, she’d introduce him to his grandson. It was time to mend fences. Max deserved to have a man in his life, and she could use a father again.
