Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) (14 page)

Barbara dropped the peach-colored roses, vase and all, into the garbage can at the side of the house. If Russ was watching for her reaction, he couldn't possibly misunderstand that one.

The local police had told her to call immediately if her stalker made contact and to hold on to any messages or tokens that might be used as evidence. She figured the big rubber receptacle was an appropriate place to store one of Russ's gifts until she called the authorities.

As she came around the front of the house again, a new-looking burgundy Cadillac pulled into the driveway. The make of the car was a solid clue that Russ was not the driver, so she curbed the impulse to dash inside the house. But she kept her guard up while a man in an expensive-looking coat and hat stepped out of the car.

Before she got close enough to see his face, she heard the front door open behind her.

"Mom?"

She gave a look over her shoulder and tapped her nose with her index finger.
Stay alert.
"Go back inside, honey. I'll be right in." As he obeyed, she turned back to greet the man, but stopped cold as recognition hit. He'd aged considerably more than the ten years it had been since she'd last seen him, but she could never forget the man who disposed of the Hamiltons' dirty laundry. "Simon Decker. I'm afraid I can't say that it's a pleasure to see you again."

He raised his gray eyebrows. "Still holding a grudge after all these years, Miss Mancuso? How very Italian of you."

"My name is Mrs. Johnson, and I—"

"There are numerous documents confirming your name as Johnson, but it has never been
Mrs.
anything. I already checked."

"We have nothing to say to each other, Mr. Decker, and my son is waiting for dinner." She turned and walked toward the door, quickly giving her son a hand signal he'd be watching for.

"Your son is a very handsome young man," Decker said, raising his voice to make sure she heard him. "The image of his father."

Barbara felt the blood rush from her head and ordered herself to stay calm. She slowly faced the attorney. "Yes. Mr. Johnson was a very handsome man."

"You may as well stop wasting both our time, Miss Mancuso. My investigation uncovered the fact that you gave birth to your son, Matthew
Howard
Mancuso, on January first, nine years ago, about nine months after you and
Howard
Hamilton,
ahem,
spent time together. Since then you have moved around a lot, filed a few police reports, disappeared and then reappeared as a completely new person, social security number and all. I obviously underestimated your ingenuity all those years ago."

Rather than acknowledge any of his remarks, she said, "Since you've already admitted to investigating my past, perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me how you found me. And why now?"

He smirked at her. "Once your photo appeared in the newspaper with your names and city of residence, finding you was relatively easy. Confirming who you really are took a chunk of Hamilton money and a good investigator. As to the timing, well, until they saw that photo they had no reason to contact you. In fact, they barely remembered you. It was the boy's picture that alerted them."

"I see," she said, nodding her head. "Well, you are right about one thing. I never married Matt's father. We only dated a few times but accidents happen. I didn't like him well enough to be tied to him for the rest of my life so I never told him about the baby. I was already pregnant when I met Howard. That was why the big rush to get married. Matt was born seven months after we met and by then,
as you know very well
, Howard was out of my life. I gave Matt his middle name because I learned of Howard's death only hours before I went into labor. It was a gesture, nothing else."

"A very reasonable explanation, if it weren't for how much the boy looks like Howard at that age. Also, I can't help but wonder why you are now so certain of whom the father was and yet, on the birth certificate it states that Matthew's father is
Unknown.
Most women wouldn't admit to such blatant promiscuity."

She managed not to look away from his challenging stare, but she felt a telltale line of perspiration rise on her upper lip. "What do you want, Mr. Decker?"

He cupped his hands over his mouth and blew a breath to warm them. "Perhaps we could go inside—"

"I don't want you in my home. Either say why you're here or go away."

"Very well. I'm here on behalf of Howard and Edith Hamilton. As you can imagine, the loss of their only child nine years ago completely devastated them. They never fully recovered from the tragedy. Discovering that Howard may have fathered a son has given them new hope, though they find your keeping his existence a secret from them cruel in the extreme."

"They find
me
cruel!" Barbara threw up her hands and strode toward the house again.

"They're willing to pay you," Decker said quickly.

Still walking, she glared back at him and shook her head in disbelief.

"One hundred thousand dollars, with all taxes paid, for you to grant them custody of their grandson."

Barbara stopped and marched back to him. "That is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard. Now, I want you off my property by the time I count to ten or I'll call the police and have you arrested for trespassing. Since you're familiar with my past, you know I won't hesitate to file a restraining order against you."

He held up his hands as if to ward her off. "No need for that. I'll give you some time to consider the offer."

"One."

"You could never provide for him the way they could."

"Two."

He raised his voice again as he started backing down the driveway. "He's the heir to a corporate empire."

"Three."

He sped up his retreat. "It's what Howard would have wanted. You can't keep him from his birthright!"

"Four. Five. Six."

"I'm in room 220 at the Sheraton, when you're ready to discuss this rationally." He was in his car before she finished her countdown.

Of all the nerve! How could they suggest such a thing? The Hamiltons, Howard included, gave up any rights they had to their grandson ten years ago! It had never occurred to her that the photo in the paper could dredge up even worse scum than Russ.

"Matthew!" she called as soon as she got in the house.

He was beside her in a flash. "Did I get it right? I saw the two fingers up sign. It meant you wanted me to hide, right? I went into your bedroom and hid in your closet behind your long robe. Wasn't that good?"

She hated the fact that he spoke of hiding as if it were a normal activity, but it was a necessary evil in their lives, just like their secret codes. She playfully chucked him under the chin. "You did great. And what would you have done if I'd scratched my head?"

"Call 911."

"Ten points, kiddo. Another perfect score. Did you get a good look at him?"

Matt made a face. "It was kind of hard with his hat and all, but I think I saw him okay. Is he a bad guy, too?"

She sighed. Bad guys. Good guys. Black and white. Little boys had no concept of gray. "As far as you're concerned, yes. He's a very, very bad guy. You mustn't let him get near you, either. Even if you just see him hanging around, you tell me. Come here, sweetie."

He stepped into her open arms and she gave him a hug that she needed more than he did. At nine years old, he was already nearly her height. He was going to be a big man, like his father, but for now, he was still a little boy who had real live bogeymen after him. "I promise, no matter what it takes, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. And we're not moving this time. You got that, kiddo?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "Got it, Mommyo."

"You're not a helpless little baby anymore. If somebody tries to mess with you now, you can use some of that karate stuff you're getting so good at."

He whirled out of her arms and performed a kick-and-punch exercise he'd learned. "Maybe I'll ask Sensei to show me some new moves, just in case."

She mussed his blond hair. "I was only kidding. If anybody bothers you, the rules are still the same. You run for help as fast as you can. You only fight as a last resort."

"Aw, Maw!"

"I mean it. Now, how about burgers and fries tonight? If you do your homework before I'm done cooking, we can watch the movie we rented while we eat." And while he was occupied with homework, she would make her call to the police and hope this time they might actually be able to help.

* * *

Russ Latham tossed the binoculars onto the floor of his Volkswagen and started the engine as the Cadillac passed where he was parked. He had been so turned on at the sight of Barbara after such a long separation, he had thought he might have to jerk off before approaching her, but Simon Decker's unexpected appearance
was as good as a cold shower.

Now that he knew where to find the bitch and her kid, he could come back any time. His number-one priority had just switched to finding out what the attorney's plans were and how he could either take advantage of them or disrupt them.

He grinned as he recalled the last time he
helped
Decker along with his plans for Barbara. Not only had he gotten some fun out of it, the little jobs he was given had a personal bonus that the attorney knew nothing about. In fact, only two other people on earth knew the secret behind everything he'd done for the last twelve years.

Decker had no idea that when he paid Russ to help the Hamiltons get rid of Howard's greasy little whore, he also handed him the weapon he'd needed to see justice done. Thanks to the attorney's dirty dealing, Russ was able to learn of Barbara's pregnancy and a plan came to him that should have evened the score. All he had to do was marry Barbara and adopt Howard's bastard.

But the bitch hadn't fallen in line like she should have. He courted her, played nursemaid for her, bullied and threatened her. None of it had worked. To make matters worse, the more she resisted him, the hotter he got for her, until he wanted her as badly as he wanted vengeance.

Russ noted the Cadillac's turn signal flashing and followed Decker into the Sheraton parking lot. The ass-licking lawyer had always figured Russ was stupid and Russ never let on otherwise. For now, he would continue to pretend idiocy, but one of these days they would all be in for a very big surprise.

* * *

Barbara ended the call with the police department and got started on dinner. Over the years she had talked to a lot of law enforcement officials in a number of cities, some more helpful than others, yet it never failed to make her nervous.

The first time, before she discovered how useless the system could be, was probably the easiest. When Dr. Roselli had brought the police officer to her in the hospital while she lay bruised and broken, she had been confident that he would protect her and hadn't hesitated to press charges against Russ. She wanted to see him punished for what he had done to her. Before Russ was arrested, however, he managed to get into her hospital room... to beg forgiveness and proclaim his love and devotion to her and
their
son.

That first officer had done the only thing he could. He arrested Russ and helped her get a restraining order against him, but warned that her attacker would probably be out on bail within a few days and the trial wouldn't be held for months. He suggested she find a safe place to hide until then. If she had been alone, she might have stayed in New York, but she had a baby to think of first, so she followed his advice.

The sound of the doorbell pulled her thoughts back to the present. Glancing out the front window, she was quite surprised to see a uniformed policewoman on the front porch.

"I didn't expect such a fast response," Barbara said after inviting her in.

The woman gave her a friendly smile that went a long way toward relaxing her. "I was only a few blocks away when I heard the call and recognized your name from the report you filed the other day. I'd been planning on stopping by to talk to you tonight anyway."

"Oh?" Before Barbara could ask why, Matt came into the room. "As you've already guessed, I'm Barbara Johnson and this is my son, Matthew."

The officer offered her hand to Barbara, then Matt. "Sergeant Danielle Pelusi. Call me Dani."

Matt shook her hand politely then complained to his mother. "Is dinner ready yet? I'm starving."

"Not quite. Is your homework done?"

"Not quite," he said, mimicking her.

"Then get back to it. I'll call you when food's on the table." He made a face, but returned to his bedroom. Turning to Dani, Barbara asked, "Will you have something to eat with us? It's just hamburgers, fries and salad, but I have plenty."

"That would be terrific, thank you. I just have to let dispatch know where I am and hopefully, it will stay quiet long enough for me to eat."

The officer radioed in, then removed her hat and heavy jacket. Barbara found it interesting that the woman wasn't much bigger than her and had similar coloring, though her uniform and gun belt made her appear bulkier and her hair was twisted into a knot on top of her head. Although it was unreasonable, she had always assumed that women who went into police work were big and rather masculine.