Acquisition (6 page)

Luka stared down in awe at his son, feeling a fierce tug toward the little one. It had been difficult not to look at him or touch him during the drive, and now that he was holding his son for the first time, he knew he was smitten with the little man. He could only imagine how much more he would grow to love Lucas in the coming days, since he already felt protective and paternal toward him.

He’d already lost three months of his son’s life, and rage swelled in him. He had to force himself to turn away from Abby, ostensibly under the guise of giving her a chance to change her T-shirt. In that moment, he could have dragged her from the SUV and left her at the truck stop without a flicker of remorse.

As Lucas stretched in his arms, the feeling flickered and faded away. He wouldn’t even have the baby if it hadn’t been for Abby bringing him into the world. He didn’t know the circumstances, but he knew she could have aborted the baby just as easily as giving birth, so he owed her something. She had also kept her mouth shut, which had kept him out of prison, but he was having a difficult time feeling any gratitude for the woman who had ripped his child from him and turned his life upside down for the last eleven months.

He turned back as soon as he had his anger under control, finding her wearing his T-shirt, which was unexpectedly erotic. It briefly reminded him of the times she would slip on his discarded shirts in the mornings and pad around the house, making him breakfast on Gretchen’s days off. Those mornings had usually ended up turning into the rest of the day spent in bed, and his cock stirred to life even as his anger surged again.

She had spent the last eleven months torturing him from afar, and all because he had protected her while taking care of family business. “Did you know you were pregnant when you ran away?”

Her blue eyes widened, and she seemed reluctant to answer, but finally nodded. His breath hissed between his teeth, and if he hadn’t been holding the baby, he was certain he would’ve felt an even larger swell of anger, which was a mostly unfamiliar emotion for him. He was usually the easygoing brother, and Dominic liked to tease him about being the squeamish one. It pissed him off, but it didn’t make the words was less true.

Compared to his brothers, he was the most squeamish of the three, going out of his way to avoid violence whenever possible. So to feel this violent, especially toward someone who had meant so much to him before, was slightly disorienting. “You deliberately left carrying my child. You threw away everything I gave you, including that watch, and just ran. I thought I knew you.” He almost spat the last five words.

Her eyes widened, and her anger was obviously growing. “And I thought I knew you. I didn’t realize you’re the kind of man who would murder an FBI agent or be involved with the mob. I was trying to protect myself and my baby.”

“
My
baby,” he said with a fierce growl. “I can barely stand to look at you right now.”

Her lips firmed, but there was a flicker in her eyes that suggested his words hurt her. He hardened his heart to the urge that prompted him to comfort her. He was simply telling her the truth. “I don’t know how you can justify keeping me from my child. You were just going to let him grow up without me, weren’t you?”

She nodded again before turning away from him. Clearly, she was done conversing. He supposed he had better be done too, before he said something he would regret—though he had a difficult time imagining what that might be at the moment, considering all the angry words on the tip of his tongue.

Instead, he turned away from the car and walked a few feet with Lucas, gently bouncing the baby in his arms. The little guy was wide awake after nursing, and he surprised Luka with a loud burp as he shifted him from his arms to his shoulder. Luka laughed as the baby cuddled nearer, his small, wet mouth grazing the column of Luka’s throat. A cascade of tender feelings overwhelmed him, and it took the edge off his anger enough where he could return to the SUV and the stunted silence filling it.

As the car ate up the miles, he brooded about her actions, trying to settle on a course of action. He’d been driven to find her without a full understanding of why, and now that he had her, he wasn’t sure what he had intended to do with her once he’d found her. Officially, he should have disposed of her and tied up the loose end of her being a witness, but he was certain he never would have done that even if Lucas hadn’t been part of the equation.

Now that he knew he had a son, and Abby was his mother, he couldn’t see a way of disposing of her that wouldn’t make him a villain. Keeping her alive was the right thing, and he couldn’t tear the baby away from her. It was tempting to bury her far away in a dark cell and leave her there to rot, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It would hurt his son as much as it would hurt her.

No, the only reasonable course was to reintegrate her into his life. She could simply slip back into the role she had discarded so contemptuously before, but this time with different rules in place. Before, he had handled her delicately in an attempt to keep her with him and from running away. That hadn’t worked, and she had shown she was clearly untrustworthy.

He might have been able to forgive her running away briefly after witnessing the altercation with Armstrong, but he couldn’t overlook the fact she had stayed gone. Not only that, she had planned to keep him away from Lucas for the rest of his life. He couldn’t forgive the magnitude of that betrayal, and he could never trust her again.

He could, however, lose himself in her body again and assuage the bone-deep ache he still carried for her. It had been eleven months since he’d taken a woman to bed, and he’d known it was ridiculous even as he turned down multiple offers, but he couldn’t seem to find any interest in any of them.

Each time he had tried, he’d started thinking about Abby instead. Luka had tried to dismiss the reaction as pure anger that was killing his libido, now that he was near her again, he’d discovered he wanted her just as sharply as he ever had. His rage with her hadn’t tempered his desire for her.

She would pay for what she had done, she would pay dearly. She would offer her penance in his bed, at his command and at mercy to his every whim. And he had no intention of being merciful.

***

It was late that evening when they arrived home, and she was surprised to find the condo still felt like home, though it shouldn’t have. Everything should have been distorted by the passage of time and learning the truth about the world in which she had lived with Luka. Instead, it felt peaceful and serene, and she was glad to be back in familiar surroundings, even though she knew they were a gossamer reality.

Lucas was asleep over Luka’s shoulder, since he had insisted on removing the baby from the car seat in the car instead of bringing it in. She carried the seat and followed forlornly behind them up the stairs, assuming the last call Luka had received from Amber a couple of hours ago had detailed where she had left the supplies to set up a makeshift nursery.

They entered the master bedroom, and everything was set up in a semblance of a nursery. There was a pack-and-play instead of a crib, and a fancy-looking swing that she was certain Lucas probably wouldn’t use much, since he liked to be carried and walked when he was feeling fussy rather than soothed by a swing. There was also a changing table stacked with diapers, and all the myriad things a baby could need.

She was unsurprised when she opened the armoire that hadn’t been in the room before and found it crammed full of baby clothes. She was probably looking at thousands of dollars of merchandise, and it made her feel slightly ill that she couldn’t have provided these things for her son in a million years, no matter how hard she would have worked.

She sniffed, wrinkling her nose. “It smells like Lucas needs a diaper change. I’m going to use the restroom.” She might as well let Luka have all the tasks of fatherhood, since he seemed to be so eager to embrace it. Without awaiting a reply, she disappeared into the
en suite
bathroom and did her business, lingering a few minutes longer to ensure he had plenty of time to change the diaper before returning to the bedroom.

She was so startled by the sight before her that her mouth dropped open slightly. Luka lay on his back on the mattress with Lucas resting on his stomach. The baby was holding up his head and cooing at his father while reaching out to pat the stubbly growth of whiskers on his cheek. It was so sweet that it sent a pang of regret through her that it couldn’t always be like this and hadn’t been until now. If only things have been different…

If only Luka hadn’t been a murdering mobster.

With a sigh, she pushed aside any stirrings of regret and approached the bed cautiously, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared down at them. “How is this going to work? You don’t have a guestroom, so where are you going to sleep?”

He seemed surprised by the question, though he barely glanced her way before looking back at Lucas, appearing enthralled. “Right here.”

She rolled her eyes, trying to think where she could sleep. “I guess I could sleep on the loveseat in the media room for now, since you’ll be here to hear him when he wakes. You’ll have to bring him to me to nurse when he wakes up though.”

“No, I won’t.”

Impatience stirred, and she struggled to find an even tone. “I’m afraid you will unless you’re planning to wean him early so you can get rid of me. You should know that most authorities on the subject consider nursing vital until twelve months and still important through twenty-four months—just in case you’re planning to kill me.” She struggled to sound cool and unaffected, but her voice wobbled when she spoke the word
kill
.

This time when he looked at her, she seemed to have his full attention. “I’m not going to kill you, and you’re not going to sleep in the media room.”

A surge of relief filled her, but it was tempered by caution. “Then where am I supposed to sleep? Will you put me on the floor like a dog? Is that part of my punishment?”

He laughed softly, though it was difficult to tell if it was in reply to her comments or the way Lucas let out a happy squeal as his fingers slipped in the side of Luka’s mouth, and he tugged on his father’s lip. “You’ll sleep just where you’ve always slept, and that’s right beside me. Of course, I’ll be sleeping with one eye open now that I know I can’t trust you, but it’s the best compromise.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you crazy? We can’t go back to where we were.”

He looked up at her again, nodding just once. “Very true, but you can go back to where you belong, which is servicing my every need. You owe me, and you’re going to pay for everything you’ve done. I can think of no better way than having you and that luscious body obeying my every command.”

She shook her head, turning away from him. “You’re so full of crap. We both know you don’t mean any of that.” Without looking at him again, she stormed from the bedroom and went straight to the media room. It had been a long day, and she was tired, so she curled up on the loveseat and covered herself with the afghan as she settled down and tried to sleep.

Despite her exhaustion, sleep was elusive, and she stared at the ceiling of the room while she turned his words over in her mind. He was clearly fucking with her, trying to prolong her torture, but the anger behind his words had been real. She shivered to remember them again, imagining all the horrible things he wanted to do to her, but was constrained from doing because Lucas needed her.

What would happen when Lucas no longer needed her? What would he do with her then?

She had no answer, and it left her in a sleepless state as her mind worried at questions with no answers.

***

Breakfast was a tense affair, and they barely spoke. She didn’t formally sit at the table and eat with him. She just happened to be serving herself freshly made oatmeal when he came in with Lucas in his arms, holding out the baby. She shifted her position in the chair so she could take the baby and allow him to nurse while she ate a bowl as quickly as she could.

It was only after she’d gotten up and put her bowl in the sink, switching Lucas to the other breast as she started to leave the room, that he spoke to her at all. “I wasn’t joking. Tonight, I’d better find you in my bed and ready to do whatever I want.”

She lifted her middle finger in an obscene gesture as she strode from the room, uncertain if he was torturing her, or if he was serious. Either way, she certainly had no intention of curling up in his bed and waiting for him like a sacrificial virgin. He could go fuck himself, but he wasn’t going to fuck her.

***

It had been another long day, and Luka still wasn’t back by nine p.m. that night. She was tired and more than ready for bed, but she wasn’t about to climb into his. Instead, she laid a blanket on the floor and took a pillow from the linen closet. She didn’t want a pillow that had been anywhere near him in case it smelled like him.

She would have slept in the media room again, but without him there to listen for Lucas, and without baby monitors—one of the few things Amber had overlooked during her shopping spree—there was no alternative but to sleep in the bedroom. She hoped curling up on the floor would send the message she wanted it to, and thanks to her sleepless night the previous evening, this time she had little trouble falling asleep despite the uncomfortable floor.