Page 34 of Secret Seduction

“My kid isn’t your accessory to decorate. He’s a living, breathing baby. If you want a baby doll, go buy one at the damn store.”

He snatches Leo from me, and I glance at him in shock. The past several days, it’s felt like we’ve come to some sort of truce. And while he’s still grumpy, it’s not usually aimed directly at me.

“I don’t think he’s a baby doll,” I tell him. “I made this for him.” I hold up the pacifier holder and step over to him. “He keeps dropping his pacifier, and then we have to wash it, so I made this. It holds the pacifier on one end and clips to his outfit on the other. And because anyone hanging out with me needs to be fashionable, I sewed this cute little monkey onto it.”

I clip it onto Leo’s onesie, and when he tries to grab it, it holds, and he gives up trying to throw it, instead popping the pacifier into his mouth.

“You made that?” Lorenzo questions.

“My stuff arrived today, which included my sewing supplies.” I shrug. “I happen to think it’s a brilliant idea.”

“It is,” he agrees. “I’m sorry. His mom … she loved to shop and thought buying him clothes made up for the lack of attention and love she gave him. When I saw you accessorizing him, I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”

“It’s okay. We all have a past.”

He fingers the monkey. “This is cute.”

“Right?” I beam. “I should totally trademark it.”

“You could.” He smirks. “If it wasn’t already done.”

“What?” I gasp.

Lorenzo walks out of the room and comes back a minute later, holding an ugly plastic clip. “This is for the pacifier. Dani bought it for him, but I always forget to use it.”

“Well, shit.” I sigh. “Guess I won’t be getting rich off my idea after all.” I eye the ugly pacifier holder and then glance at the one I made. “But you have to admit, mine is way more stylish.”

Lorenzo chuckles. “It definitely is.” He makes a show of throwing the plastic clip into the other room. “Fuck that shit. We prefer the monkey clip.”

His playful gaze meets mine, and my stomach does some weird somersault that has me chanting to myself, Do not fall for the grumpy single dad. It will not end well.

12

Lorenzo

“Good afternoon,” Ronald says. “Your guest has a visitor. Mrs. Vanderbilt is here to see Vanessa Baker.”

“My mom’s here?” Vanessa hisses, appearing in the doorway.

She glances at Leo, who’s munching on his fruit puffs and babbling at her.

“I’ll go down there,” she says. “I don’t want her anywhere near Leo.”

Before I can respond to her comment, she disappears down the hall, and a moment later, the front door slams closed.

It shouldn’t shock me that the woman who’s only been in our lives for a short time is determined to protect my son, but every time I watch her with him, I can’t help but be surprised by how quickly they’ve bonded. Every smile, every laugh, every sweet word she speaks to him has him—and me, not that I’d ever admit that out loud—falling under her spell.

When she leaves, life will go on, but I can’t help but wonder if Leo will miss her. Will he wonder where she went? Feel abandoned? He didn’t even notice when Hillary disappeared, but Vanessa’s spent more time with him during her stay here than I ever saw Hillary interact with him.

“Ronald, Ms. Baker is on her way down,” I tell the doorman who’s still on the phone. “There should be a guard with her. If there’s not, don’t let her go anywhere near her mother.”

“You got it, sir.”

There’s a screeching sound, and Ronald sighs. “Ma’am⁠—”

“I want to see that selfish bitch right now!” a woman, who clearly isn’t Vanessa, yells, making my hackles rise.

Grabbing Leo from the floor, I ignore the pain radiating down my arm and head straight for the front door, finding Vince—one of Matteo’s men—standing by the door.