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“We were talking about one child, okay? But if you want Ariel, you . . . you can have her.” Didi swallowed hard, as if her words were choking her. “But you’ll have to pay another quarter mil.” She tilted her head to the side and waited, chin lifted defiantly, platinum hair glistening in the headlights.
“This is insane!”
“Probably. But here we are. And now you have a son. Just like your old man wants.”
His head snapped up. She knew that?
Her smile was cold as death. “That’s right. I know all about you, Brett, and your family. You’ve got what you wanted, and so do I, so let’s just call it good.”
Damn, he wanted to throttle her, but maybe that could come later. In a split second, he remembered her naked body—so hot, trembling with need, so moist. All a setup?
Didn’t matter. Not now. He passed over the briefcase, and she examined it, unbuckling both straps and eyeing the bundles of cash, mentally counting and confirming that each stack was complete.
“It’s all there.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she warned, “You better not have cheated me.”
He snorted, thinking of the scam she’d pulled.
Her lips knotted, and she dropped the opened packs of money back into the case, then cast one longing look at her son before picking up the carrier with the delicate pastel blanket. “Let me know if you want Ariel,” she said, though it wasn’t with any enthusiasm. “Maybe we’ll be able to work things out.”
“Yeah, right.” Pissed, he grabbed the carrier with his son and turned back to the Mustang as she took his daughter, his damned daughter, back to the Caddy. He’ll never see the girl, he knows that. Didi won’t allow it. But she’s greedy and a spendthrift. She’ll blow through the cash he gave her and discover most of the bills are forged. Then she’ll be back and threatening to expose him, but she won’t have a leg to stand on as she will have to cop to selling her own baby.
Maybe they’ll be able to work something out.
When pigs fly.
At the open door of the Mustang, the same bad feeling of unseen eyes observing them, that something dark and evil was lurking in the shadows, was even more intense, and the hum of that motorcycle’s engine was getting louder. Closer. He saw it then, the bike’s headlamp bouncing over the uneven terrain about a quarter of a mile away.
Quickly, he strapped the carrier with his kid into the back seat.
How about that?
He had a son.
And a daughter you may never meet.
* * *
Didi’s heart twisted as she turned back to the Cadillac. It’s only for a little while. Remember that. You’ll have the baby back soon. Tears stung her eyes, though her back was ramrod straight, and she wouldn’t let that son of a bitch know how much she hurt inside, how her heart twisted at the thought that she was giving up one of her infants, if only for a few days.
What if something goes wrong?
“It won’t,” she whispered as she reached the Caddy and unlocked the door. “It can’t.” Expertly, she snapped the car seat into place.
But when he realizes he’s been duped . . .
Oh, sweet Jesus . . .
“It will be all right,” she said and, after tossing the briefcase onto the seat next to hers, slid into the interior, immediately pressing in the button of the cigarette lighter with fingers that shook. She couldn’t think of what she’d done, just about the future. Soon her plan would be complete. “Oh, God please,” she whispered. This was the best she could do. For herself. For her kids. She knew it. You didn’t get more than one shot at the big time, and since she’d failed when she’d landed in Hollywood all those years ago, this, the twins, was it. She started the car, then hit the gas. She didn’t want to give Brett the chance to discover he’d been tricked. Cranking on the wheel, she headed back the way she’d come and found the damned motorcycle in her path.
“Idiot!” she ground out, just as he blew past and did some kind of whee
lie thingie, riding the bike as it stood on its back wheel.
To think that Brett even considered taking the second kid. Oh, yeah, right. That would never fly, and besides, how could she explain it? Unfortunately, she was far from an A-list star, but she did have some kind of following, a few fans, and there had been rumors about her time off, that she might be knocked up. She’d managed to hide the fact that she’d borne twins but hadn’t been able to hide her pregnancy. Seneca and Remmi, the only people who knew she had given birth a second time, would both keep their mouths shut, so she was home free.
Almost.
