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“He looked me up. Called me. Apparently, you panicked him. He was afraid you were going to blow things wide open.”
Ronald had contacted Roarke? Jennifer’s head was spinning.
“Why would he think that?”
“He said you’d spoken with him.”
“Yes. I did. But—”
“And that you were going to sue to regain custody of Susanna.”
Jennifer shot to her feet.
“I never said that. Susanna is yours. She loves you. You love her.”
“He said he wanted to warn me.” Roarke gave a bitter laugh. “A sudden act of decency from a man who contracted with you to sell your baby.”
“No! That’s not true. He told me my baby would go to a good home. To people who would love her.”
“I’m not interested in denials. My only purpose in coming here is to get you the hell out of my life and Susanna’s.” Roarke’s lips thinned. “Ronald had no idea I didn’t know the details. That I didn’t know Susanna wasn’t my biological child. That dirty little secret belonged to him, to Alexandra, her attorney—and you.”
“Dammit, Roarke, are you listening to me at all? Ronald told me he’d arranged for a good home for—for my baby. It was agony to give her up, but I knew she deserved more than I could give her.”
“Right. So you sold her.”
“I did not sell her! And I certainly had no idea that Alexandra had—had bought her, that she’d lied to you about Susanna’s birth.” Tears streamed down Jennifer’s face. “I’m sorry, so sorry you had to find out like this.”
“Damn right, you’re sorry. If I hadn’t offered you the whole package—marriage, a future as a rich man’s wife—you’d have sprung the truth on me yourself. You knew I’d have shelled out whatever you asked to keep you from trying to get Susu back.”
Jennifer’s face paled. “Is that—is that what you think?”
He gave her a look so filled with contempt that it made bile rise into her throat.
“It’s what I know,” he said coldly.
“You’re wrong. Wrong! It’s all a lie.”
“Are you saying you didn’t give birth to Susanna?”
“No. I mean, yes. I gave birth to her. But the rest of it—”
Roarke took a step forward. “You came
to Puerto Rico to blackmail me.”
“I went there to see my baby.” Jennifer’s voice broke. “To make sure she was happy.”
“That’s a charming story.” His tone hardened. “But it’s crap! You came because you’d decided the fifty thousand you got for selling her wasn’t enough. You wanted more. So you flew to Puerto Rico to milk at least another fifty K out of me.” He drew a harsh breath. “Then you had a better idea. If you got me to fall in love with you. you’d have it all. Hell, why settle for a one-time payoff when you could get everything?”
Jennifer wanted to die. That the man she’d loved thought her to be a such a cold, heartless bitch…
She swung away from his hate-filled eyes.
There were lots of guilty parties in this ugly drama.
The doctor, for lying to her about the adoption.
The attorney, for facilitating it.
