Newborn Conspiracy (8 page)

“How long will that be?"

“Hopefully not long, I have team members who’ll have a chat with Genevieve and her lawyer, Royce Foreman. Oh, and the police managed to pick up Donnie Bishop."

Mia certainly hadn’t expected that to happen so soon."Really? They found him?" That helped her stomach settle down a bit.

“Yep. Near the hospital. They cuffed him and put him in lockup, but so far he’s refused to say anything. He did make one phone calk though. Not to his lawyer, either. To Genevieve."

“They’re friends?" Mia asked, surprised.

“More like acquaintances."

“So, maybe she called a lawyer for him." Mia nibbled at the piece of buttered toast."And maybe Donnie was after Collena, because she’s the one who could uncover evidence to send him to prison. He could have been the gunman in the car."

Logan sipped his juice and made a sound of agreement. And just like that, that particular conversation seemed to be tapped out. The room went silent.

Uncomfortably silent.

Mia suddenly became aware of how intimate it felt to be sitting in Logan’s pj’s, in his kitchen, eating breakfast that he’d prepared. She also noticed Logan glancing at Tanner again. Her feeling of discomfort went up a significant notch.

“I’ll get his carrier" she said, standing.

Much to her surprise, Logan didn’t get up, as well. In fact, he sat there, studying her as she went into the narrow hall and then the guest bedroom. She took several deep breaths before she put Tanner in the carrier and went back into the room. She sat the carrier on the floor next to her.

Still. Logan didn’t say anything, though it was clear from his intense gaze and bunched up forehead that he had something on his mind. He sat there, ate some eggs and finished off his juice.

Maybe that was his tactic: no conversation. Make her totally uncomfortable. Grill her with that stare. And then she’d start blabbing.

Which is exactly what she did, “I haven’t let you hold Tanner yet because, frankly, I’m scared of you," Mia heard herself say. She groaned, knowing she should have never opened up this subject for discussion, but unable to put it off any longer. Her ten-pound, eleven-ounce son was the equivalent of the six-hundred-pound gorilla in the room.

Logan made another sound of agreement."You still think I’m a mercenary."

“Aren’t you?"

He calmly got up and poured himself some coffee.

He offered her a cup by lifting the carafe, but Mia declined, shaking her head.

“I do special rescues" Logan explained, returning to the table.

But he didn’t just return, he repositioned his chair so that it was closer to both Tanner and her. Logan leaned back, practically lounging, his long legs stretched out in front of him.

“Define special rescues," Mia insisted.

“I didn’t think you’d want to know that."

She shook her head."I don’t really want to, but…"

He waited a moment and the corner of his mouth lifted. Almost a smile."But you know that you should learn everything about me because I’m Tanner’s father."

“His biological father."

“His father" There was some bite to his tone, “And I ‘m not the slimy criminal you think I am,"

“Yes, because you do special rescues" she mumbled, her sarcasm showing through.

No more lounging. He sat up in the chair as if preparing for some kind of official briefing, “My team is contracted by the government when they need a quiet rescue."

Still skeptical, she shook her head."And what exactly is a quiet rescue?"

“Let’s say that the U.S. Department of State wants businesses, perfectly legal ones, to be established in a country where we have little or no diplomatic relations. And then let’s say something goes wrong, like the head of the company is kidnapped. The government wouldn’t want the word to get out about the kidnapping. That’s literally bad for business. And they can’t send in the military. Too much publicity. No CIA either. Too much talk if the international press gets wind of it."

“So, they hire you?" Mia asked.

“They hire me," he confirmed.

It sounded legitimate. But there was still the obvious objection."Okay, so maybe I was wrong about you being a mercenary. But I wasn’t wrong about the danger. Do you really think with what you do that you could be a suitable father?"

“Funny you should mention that. Two months ago I would have had my own doubts about fatherhood. But this injury changed everything."

Mia was so surprised that it took her a moment to ask her next question, “You’re changing your line of work?"

“Yeah. Out of necessity. Rescue agents need to be a hundred percent. I’m not. And my leg never will be. My top employee, Jason Cartwright, will buy the company, and I’ll concentrate on a new venture— bodyguard services."

Oh, she didn’t like this. Without that dark, dangerous cloud hanging over him, Logan might actually seem to be more… human.

And fatherly.

“Personal security can be risky, too " she pointed out.

“Not as much as you obviously hope it will be "

She frowned at his smugness."But it still could be dangerous."

“Not really. I’ll run the company from my laptop. Or this house," he said, using his cup to motion around the room."But I don’t want to get into a footrace with some badass who can outrun me because of this bum leg."

Mia searched for another objection. There had to be one, but it didn’t immediately come to mind."You’re certain that the injury is permanent?"

He nodded, sending Mia’s pulse and her fears galloping out of control. Because of Logan’s injury and his future job plans, she could no longer have any career objections to his fatherhood.

But she sure as heck could have other objections.

“I wanted a baby," she said."I planned to have one. I never planned on having a father in the picture because I’m not much of a relationship person."

She hated that she sounded a little hysterical, even irrational, but damn it, her well-planned life was falling apart—again.

“I’m sorry," He sounded genuine, leaned closer. So close that she caught his scent—spicy deodorant soap and a musky, manly aftershave, “I wish I could make you feel safe."

Safe?

That wasn’t it. That wasn’t why she objected to him.

Or was it?

Just like that, she was fifteen again and all those horrible images and thoughts came flooding back. Her life had been almost perfect then. Plans for dating, college and travel. She had a phone book filled with friends’ numbers.

And then, she’d blown it.

“I don’t think anyone can make me feel safe." she admitted and hated that her voice actually cracked.

He reached out and slid his hand over hers, “You weren’t responsible for what happened to your parents."

It was an old argument, one she’d heard dozens of times. An argument she’d never been able to believe."I met those two boys at the mall that day. I was attracted to one of them. Because he had that whole bad-boy, biker attitude. We talked. I flirted, a lot. I invited him over." Mia had to pause a moment."He came and brought his friend with him. And then later, he came again. That time he broke in."

Logan sipped his coffee and studied her."You think because you flirted with him and invited him to your house that you contributed to the crime?"

“I know I did. If I hadn’t invited him, he wouldn’t have been there."

“You don’t know that. He was a killer. He might have targeted you the moment he saw you in the mall. He might have come after you even if you hadn’t flirted with him"

“There are a lot of mights in that." Because she couldn’t bear his intense gaze any longer, she looked away, “But I’d love to believe it. I’d love for the nightmares and phobias to stop."

She moved her hand from his. Because she thought it was a good idea. Because she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t let these little heart-to-heart talks soften her feeling toward him.

“I don’t usually talk about this," she said."With anyone."

Logan nodded, leaned back in his chair and lounged again."Then I feel privileged that you talked about it with me."

Alarms went off in her head. They told her to take a huge step away from him."I won’t make a mistake like that again. I won’t ever be attracted to another dangerous man."

He just stared at her with those heavy-lidded sizzling-blue eyes. She figured those eyes alone had been responsible for many seductions. They were certainly responsible for the sudden warmth she was feeling.

“All right," she finally said."I’ll try very hard not to be attracted to a dangerous man."

And for some crazy reason, that confession made her smile. Sweet heaven, it was stupid, she’d just admitted to Logan that she was attracted to him and that was the last thing she should have done. That in-formation in his hands could be very… dangerous.

Her smile was short-lived. But not the attraction. Mia could feel it—simmering, growing. Oh, yes, it was growing, even though she knew it shouldn’t.

But she couldn’t stop it.

Logan obviously couldn’t, either. He shook his head, as if trying to clear it, but that didn’t work. Because he leaned in. Toward her. She caught not just his scent, but she got an even closer look at those eyes that were creating a frenzy inside her.

He was frowning when his mouth came to hers.

Mia could feel that frown—along with the other things. The jolt of pleasure. The sensation of being kissed by a man who knew how to do it right. No pressure. No intrusion. Just the touch of his lips to hers.

For just a few seconds, she forgot all about the danger. She forgot that he was the enemy who could ruin her plans for the future. She forgot about everything.

Everything, but Logan.

Mia just let herself… feel. She let the heat of the pleasure slide through her. For those few seconds, she didn’t allow the old fears to win out.

Still, she hadn’t gone completely insane, either. Mia pulled away from him, forcing herself to stop.

When she opened her eyes, she could see that Logan was still frowning. She was certain that she was frowning, too.

And then she heard the sound.

A car approaching the house.

Logan and she jerked away from each other as if they’d been caught doing something wrong.

Which wasn’t far from the truth.

That kiss shouldn’t have happened. No way. She was playing with fire and, in this case, the fire could cost her full custody of her son. But the car was a more immediate concern. No more passionate haze. No more thoughts of kisses. Her body went on an alert of a different kind.

The gunman could have found them.

“It’s probably one of my men with the supplies" Logan assured her.

Oh. She’d somehow forgotten about that. Obviously, she’d forgotten a lot of things—like common sense and the consequences of doing something stupid.

While she chastised herself, Logan took his holster from the top of the fridge and went to investigate. Mia could see him looking out one of the side windows that framed the door.

Mia also saw the immediate change in his body language.

“Take Tanner and go into the bedroom." He ordered. He hurriedly put on his boots, drew his gun and used his cell phone to call for backup.

That didn’t do a thing to steady her nerves."What’s wrong?"

“That’s not my team member out there. It’s Genevieve Devereux and her lawyer, Royce Foreman,"

How the hell had Genevieve found them?

That was the foremost question on Logan’s mind as he watched the car come to a stop next to his SUV.

One thing was for certain, he’d never brought Genevieve or Royce to the house. He’d never even mentioned the place to either of them. And on the drive from the hospital the night before, he’d taken a circuitous route to make sure no one had followed Mia and him.

And no one had, he was positive of that.

Yet, here were Genevieve and her lawyer friend stepping from a sleek red sports car as if they had come to pay a friendly visit.

Logan knew there wouldn’t be anything friendly about it.

Both his visitors were wearing coats. They’d both probably come armed, Genevieve was partial to carrying a snub-nosed 38 in her purse, and Logan had learned from a background check that Royce had a permit to carry concealed.

Logan was prepared to take them both out if they so much as reached for a gun. He wasn’t going to put Tanner or Mia at any more risk, and he would use every ounce of his training to make sure they stayed safe.

He checked to see that Mia had taken Tanner to the bedroom. She had. What she hadn’t done was close the door all the way. She was peeking out, probably waiting for him to assure her that all was well.

He couldn’t do that just yet.

Genevieve walked just a few steps ahead of her lawyer, and had her attention focused on Royce rather than the house. They appeared to be arguing or at least having an intense discussion about something. Neither seemed on the verge of pulling out semiautomatics and launching an attack.

But Logan prepared himself just in case that happened.

Genevieve kept her pace at a leisurely stroll. Maybe because she was wearing Mood red stilettos and it was difficult to walk on the frozen ground. Whatever the reason, it gave Logan plenty of time to observe her.

She certainly hadn’t changed in the past year. The same short, choppy red hair. The same aristocratic demeanor. She was as high maintenance as they came. Once, Logan had been able to overlook that, but that was before she showed her true colors. With the lies, drama-queen episodes and obsessive behavior, he’d learned that she was not worth the price of that high maintenance.

However, there were some changes in Royce Foreman. Worry lines creased his forehead and there were threads of gray in his otherwise dark-brown hair. Logan was betting that unlike the man’s cashmere coat, the gray wasn’t there to make a fashion statement. Genevieve was likely responsible for Royce’s aging.

When the couple was within ten feet of the porch, Logan disengaged the security system, threw open the door and took aim at them.

“Don’t come any closer," he warned.

The pair stopped, but if either of them had any fear of his weapon or his thoroughly riled expression, they didn’t show it. They both stood there, staring at him.