Accidental Father (4 page)

Anyone who was talented enough to play with a symphony orchestra that toured the world, anyone who cared enough to round up musical instruments and volunteer teachers had to be good with children. And have a heart the size of the globe.

Liam was lucky to have an aunt like Julianne.

At least she'd still have plenty of little ones in her life when Liam went to live in St. Michel. It seemed wrong for her not to have children in her life somehow.

As Alex watched Julianne haggle with the shopkeeper, he wondered why she didn't have kids of her own. The report had indicated she'd been married briefly to a man who had also been a musician in the Continental Symphony Orchestra. After their divorce he left the group. Since him, there was no evidence of other romantic interests in her life. Perhaps she'd simply chosen to focus on her
career. God knows she seemed busy enough with the orchestra, the foundation and now, Liam.

Even though they seemed to click, Alex imagined that people took Julianne at face value. She didn't seem like the easiest person to get to know. Sometimes reserve was mistaken for aloofness. Yet she was quite charming when given the chance.

She wasn't shy, as evidenced by the way she'd burst into his office to defend her nephew, and she obviously had no qualms about getting up on stage and performing her music in front of large audiences.

Hmm… The woman was a study of contradictions.

Although he couldn't hear what she and the shopkeeper were saying, she seemed to be holding her own. The man must've spoken English, because Alex witnessed a lot of back-and-forth talking and some emphatic headshaking and gesturing on the part of the shopkeeper, an old man who looked as antique as some of the relics in his cluttered shop.

Someone honked a car horn and Liam startled awake crying. Loudly.

Oh, great.

Clumsily, Alex picked up the baby, and that only seemed to make him cry louder.

Much to his relief, an empty-handed Julianne exited the shop a few moments later.

“Oh no, poor baby,” she said. “What's wrong?”

At the sound of her voice, Liam turned and held his little arms out to her.

“A car horn startled him,” Alex said.

“Here…” Her voice was soothing as she took the baby. Liam stopped crying and smiled at her through his tears.

“Ma Ma,” he said.

Ma Ma? He called her mama?

For a moment, Alex worried about how taking the boy away from Julianne would affect his son.

Mama…

He blinked away the thought. Liam was young, and he was also a sitting duck for a kidnapping. Sending him to St. Michel was the best thing for him, even if he couldn't expect Julianne to drop her life in Washington, D.C., and go with him.

She has her foundation and her job with the orchestra; a full life and important commitments.

“The old coot must be insane to think he can charge $500 for that flute.” Her words chased away his thoughts. “If he's not crazy, he's unscrupulous. If he tricks someone into paying that kind of money he'll be guilty of robbery.”

They resumed their trek toward the hotel.

“How much did you offer him?”

“I was willing to go as high as $30. But even that was high.”

Alex shrugged. “Well, if he was asking $500 apparently he didn't agree.”

“Maybe it's because I'm American, because my French isn't very good? Do you think?”

“Who knows? It's hard to say since I wasn't in there with you.”

That wasn't the only thing that was hard for him to say. She was set to leave Paris the day after tomorrow. At dinner tomorrow night he had to tell her that she'd be leaving without her son. No—without his son!

Her nephew, who called her, “Ma Ma.”

“I
'm speechless,” Alex's brother, Luc Lejardin, uttered through the telephone receiver.

Breaking the news about Liam to the family was the first step in devising a security plan to protect the boy and to ensure Alex didn't lose his son for good. Because Luc had once been the head of St. Michel's national security before his marriage to Sophie, the newly crowned Queen of their country, Alex figured talking to Luc first was the best place to start.

Thank God Luc's loss of words was only momentary. Before Alex could begin explaining how he'd discovered he was a father, Luc was bombarding
him with a barrage of who-what-why-where questions. Not the least of which was, “When do I get to meet my nephew?”

“That's a good question,” Alex said. “Julianne, his aunt, is set to go back to the States tomorrow.”

Luc blew out an urgent breath.

“Is that what you want?”

“I don't know. I mean, no, it's not what I want. I don't want to lose any more time with my son. But realistically, I can't do the work I'm doing and raise a child alone.”

There was a long pause on the line, but Alex could almost anticipate his brother's next question.

“Have you considered the security issues associated with sending the boy back to the States? Especially given the Vonisian issue?”

“Of course,” Alex said. “That was one of the first things I thought of.”

Through his work with iWITNESS, Alex had recently exposed heinous acts of genocide committed by a group of rebel militants in the small, war-torn European country of Vonisia. Working with informants, Alex had gathered enough evidence against Vonisian rebels to involve the United Nations. Even though the case would soon be up
for review by the International Criminal Tribunal, underground Vonisian militants were still carrying out monstrous acts of ethnic cleansing and issuing brazen threats against those trying to end their illegal, brutal rule and bringing them to justice.

Alex was at the top of their hit list because he'd been the driving force behind the victims' fight for human rights. Despite numerous threats, there'd never been an actual violent incident aimed at Alex thanks in large part to his own private security team. However, now that Liam was in his life, it made Alex all the more vulnerable. The people he exposed wouldn't hesitate to take his child hostage and use the baby as leverage against him. They'd done it to their own countrymen enough times for Alex to know that was their favorite mode of operation.

“You can't allow the aunt to take Liam out of France,” Luc said. “It's just not safe. Plus, if you do, you might have a harder time getting him back if she decides to play hardball.”

The image of ice queen Julianne that first day she'd arrived at his office, fighting for Liam's child support, snapped into focus in Alex's mind's eye. He'd experienced firsthand how strong her “mama bear” instinct was and how fast she'd rear up when it came to protecting the boy. Still, even though
she could be fiercely protective, she'd be no match against conscienceless monsters intent on cleansing the world of people who weren't like themselves, including anyone who tried to stop them.

Yes, it would be in everyone's best interest for Liam to stay in Europe where he could have the highest degree of protection with the least amount of interference from St. Michelian Secret Service. But it was a double-edged sword: It would be hard on the boy to be taken away from Julianne, the person he considered
Mama
. Alex knew what it was like to have his mother ripped out of his life; he'd lost his own mother when he was a child. It was heartbreaking to think of hiring a stranger to care for Liam when the baby loved Julianne so much. On the other hand, leaving Liam with Julianne was exposing both of them to potentially life-threatening danger.

And the idea of Julianne being in harm's way roused his own protective instincts. He grappled with whether he should tell her about the specific dangers, but decided it would only alarm her. For now, all she needed to know was that the nature of Alex's job posed danger to all who were in his life and that danger increased for Liam since he was a member of the royal family.

“You do want to be a part of your son's life, don't you?” Luc asked.

“Yes, I do. There are just so many things I still need to sort it out. I travel so much, I can't exactly take him with me or stick a fourteen-month-old in a boarding school.”

“Bring him to St. Michel,” Luc offered. “The palace is one of the safest places on earth. He'd be well-cared for among family. Maybe we'll even get to see you more often since Henri and I aren't enough to get you back here regularly.”

“Liam's cuter than you are.” Mixed emotions washed over Alex. It was exactly the offer he'd hoped to receive from Luc—even if Alex hadn't realized it when he called. Despite how close Alex and his two brothers were, asking either of them to raise his son was a tall request.

So, for Luc to offer…

“But then there's the matter of Julianne.” Alex squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know for a fact neither she nor Liam will be happy being separated.”

“She's welcome to come St. Michel, too. Believe me, there's plenty of room in the castle.”

“Easier said than done,” Alex said. “She has a career and a charitable organization she's involved with. I doubt she'd go for it.”

“Even if it was a matter of the boy's safety?” The pitch of Luc's voice rose at the end of the sentence, as if such hesitance was unthinkable.

“I don't know, Luc. Like I said this is all new. I'm still getting my mind wrapped around it. All I know for sure is that she's fiercely protective of Liam.”

Alex leaned back in his office chair and stretched his legs out under his desk.

“Has she legally adopted him?” Luc asked.

“According to my preliminary investigation, no. The court has simply appointed her his legal guardian.”

“Good. That is very much in our favor. You are his father. Any idea if this Marissa named you as the father on his birth certificate?”

“Yes, she did.”

Alex picked up Liam's file, the most important item on his desk. He thumbed through the documents, most of which—including Liam's birth certificate—he'd copied the day of Julianne's first visit. Other documents had been obtained during the background check his investigators had performed.

“You're in a very good position, then,” Luc said. “Is it an official birth certificate?”

“No, just a photocopy.”

“It won't be difficult to get our hands on a legal copy,” Luc said. “Send over everything you have and I'll get the St. Michel legal team to formalize everything. Liam is family, Alex. We'll make sure you get to bring him home where he belongs.”

Still, even though he'd gotten everything he'd wanted from that call, Alex felt terrible after he hung up the phone. Was taking his son away from the only mother he'd ever known really in Liam's best interest?

Then he remembered the video he'd obtained of the Vonisian militants torturing a captive.

No, taking Liam to St. Michel was for the best. For his son and for Julianne. Somehow, he'd have to make her see things his way.

 

The message from Alex said that he had a surprise for Julianne, and asked if she could meet him for lunch at the Café des Capucines, just down the street from the Opéra Garnier.

It was the day of the concert, and her schedule was full. The morning was packed with rehearsals and photographs and last-minute fine-tuning for the evening performance. Still, when she'd tried to beg off, he'd told her it was urgent, that he really would appreciate her making the time.

“You have to eat,” he'd said. “Let's get lunch.”

She had a nagging feeling the
urgency
centered around Liam. Surely, given how attentive and interested in the boy as Alex had been, she couldn't imagine the surprise would be anything bad…

After all, he said he had a
surprise
for her.

Weren't surprises usually good?

She certainly was pleasantly surprised when she arrived at the busy café and found him waiting for her at the most charming, most private table in the place. She only had about an hour before she had to get back to the theater, so it was a definite plus that he already had their table.

He looked nice in khaki pants and a dark blue button-down. His hair was gelled so that it stood up a little, just enough to be fashionable, but messy enough to look like he wasn't trying too hard. The sight of him made her smile as she wound her way through the crowded maze of tables toward him.

He looked up from the menu and spotted her, getting to his feet to greet her.

“You look beautiful,” he said. “Thank you for meeting me.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned in and kissed her on the right cheek. Her face warmed and her heartbeat sped up. Even though she knew the kiss was strictly a polite custom, he hadn't greeted her like that before. Another nice
surprise, she thought as he pulled out her chair and she settled herself.

It wasn't until she was reaching for her napkin that she noticed the battered Bundy flute case on the table next to her place setting.

“What is this?” she asked, even though she knew good and well it was the flute she'd looked at yesterday in the Boulevard St. Michel junk shop.

Alex sat across from her looking very pleased with himself.

“It's your surprise,” he said. “Though I think you already know what it is. Open it. Give it a look and see if it's still as you hoped it would be.”

She shot him one last quizzical look…an un-spoken
why…?
Before she placed the case on her lap and did just that.

“Alex, why did you do this?”

He shrugged. “You mentioned it would help your students.”

A warm glow spread through her, and as a heartbreaker of a smile spread over his face her pulse jumped again. Unnerved, she struggled for a way to get back on solid ground. Especially because what she wanted to do was jump up and hug him. That's what Marissa would've done. But that wasn't Julianne's style. By the time she'd finished thinking through the act in her head—seeing the flute,
imagining jumping up while squealing a thrilled thank-you-so-much-Alex, throwing her arms around his neck, possibly even planting a kiss of gratitude on his full bottom lip—the spontaneity had passed.

The moment was gone.

“Please let me reimburse you,” she murmured. “But please tell me you didn't pay the price that bandit was demanding.”

“Ahh.”
He waved away the suggestion. “Think of it as a charitable contribution to your foundation. Though I did manage to get the local discount.” He winked at her. “In all seriousness, I simply went in with proof of what the flute was selling for online and offered him double that amount. It worked out to about the same cost after you factor in shipping and handling.”

She was quite touched by his gesture, and for a moment, the words to relay her gratitude escaped her. She was relieved when the server, a petite blonde wearing a white button-down and black slacks with a white apron tied around her waist, approached and started speaking to them in French.

When Alex relayed that the special of the day was salade niçoise, Julianne was delighted to discover it was a dish she'd been dying to try.
She ordered it and iced tea. Alex ordered
boeuf bourguignon
and suggested they share a bottle of wine.

“I know it would be delicious with the salad, but I still have a long day ahead and if I drink, I might fall asleep at my music stand.”

She closed the flute case and set it on the floor by her feet.

“You're still coming to the concert tonight, aren't you?”

He leaned forward, as if he was interested in her every word. “I wouldn't miss it.”

The relief that flooded through her was unsettling. It struck her like whiplash, flipping her thoughts first one way, and then back in the other direction. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small, white envelope, happy to hand it to him rather than leave it at the impersonal will call window. “Here's your ticket.”

“Thank you.” He smiled at her and she lost herself for a moment. There was more to Alex Lejardin than she'd initially given him credit for. The proof was in how he treated his son. And in his purchase of the flute for her music foundation, which proved that he was not only generous, but warm-hearted and kind, too. He was also funny and gorgeous with his mile-wide shoulders and
that way of looking at her that threatened to make her lose her good sense and contemplate ridiculous things such as jumping up and kissing him.

That was not good. Even if the thoughts of kissing him were just that…thoughts. And that's exactly how they would remain—rogue thoughts forever banished to the dark corner of her mind.

Alex Lejardin was of no interest to her beyond being Liam's father because he'd been intimate with her sister. She still didn't know his side of the story…other than that they'd had a child, and that was more than enough information to blind her to his green eyes and great smile.

Even so, as he raised his glass to hers, she heard herself uttering, “Good. I'm glad you can come.”

The server brought their food, and they made polite conversation as they ate. After the dishes were cleared, Alex looked at her for a long moment, his face serious.

The light that had shown in his eyes earlier as they talked about the Bundy was gone, replaced by something more solemn.

“So, you're leaving tomorrow,” he said, settling back in his chair.

She nodded, grounded by that jolt of reality. “Yes, we are. I can't believe we've been away for three weeks. It's gone by so fast.”

“I'm glad it's been a good trip.” He absently fingered a coffee spoon that remained on the table, moving it back and forth in a contemplative gesture.