Twist of Fate (21 page)

“He didn’t know.”

“Beautiful. All the better for him, huh? You not only saved yourself, but you saved dear daddy’s reputation, too. Quite noble of you.” Sam forced another salute with the now empty bottle.

“Stop it.”

“So let me get this straight,” he stroked his chin, “both Darling Daddy and GQ never knew the baby was mine.”

Kate paced in front of him. “Dante was my roommate Francesca’s brother. We started out as friends and then it became more. He knew I was trying to get over ‘someone.’ He just didn’t know it was you. Knowing you and Robin were having a baby, I was devastated and knew we were over. I had to move on with my life, Sam. I was under so much stress I didn’t realize how late I really was. By the time I stopped denying it and confirmed it with a test, I’d been seriously seeing a bit of Dante, and we’d made love. I did tell him about the baby, but at that time I honestly didn’t know if it was yours or his. It was a moment of weakness, and I was scared.”

“Please, I don’t need to know the sordid details.” Sam popped another beer, his eyes boring into hers. “You’d tell a total stranger about the baby before you’d tell the actual father. Amazing.”

“I had to.” She stopped pacing. “I didn’t think I could do it on my own.”

“Bull.” He drained the liquid quickly, heaving it to join its friends in pieces on the floor.

Her voice trembled. “You don’t understand.”

“You’re right, I don’t. Funny thing is...you were so angry with me for keeping you from her. Wasn’t it you who screamed about trust and how you could never trust me again? At least I never deceived you like this, Kate. I was protecting your health.”

He grabbed the last beer from the cooler. He never thought he’d be having it out like this with her. Lucky for him all the beer made it possible to say the things he normally wouldn’t. “Sure, after you’d been at the house a while, I hoped you’d never want to leave. So yeah, maybe I had some hidden intentions. But looking out for you was always my number one.”

“That was different.”

“You weren’t doing it for me, Kate. That’s what’s different. You were doing it for yourself. And now my daughter’s life could be in danger, all because of the man who you chose to be her father.”

“Dante has been nothing but a wonderful father to her. I needed security for my baby. I did what I had to do at that time, what any woman would have done. In truth, isn’t that what Robin did to you?” He glared at her, and she flinched. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I. We could have been something.”

Her voice sounded hopeful. “We still can.”

“Security comes at a price for you, Kate. Are you ready to pay the cost with our daughter?” He waited while she stared blankly at him. “I didn’t think so.”

“What are you saying?” The words left her full lips in a quiver.

His voice took on a deep commanding tone. “I want her.”

“What do you mean?”

“No judge in his right mind would leave a child in a situation like yours. I’m going to find the best lawyer money can buy, and I will get custody.”

“You wouldn’t.” Fright flashed across her paling features.

“I’ve missed five years of her life. I have no intention of missing more.”

“First Dante, now you? Don’t do this, I’m begging you.”

“She’s my biological daughter. I have rights. You have yourself to thank. Now I suggest you leave.”

Sam flung open the door and gestured toward the idling Mercedes. Kate shot him one more pleading look then ran to the car without looking back. Mr. Suave had been right about everything. Sam was in for the fight of his life, and nothing he could do could prepare him.

**
*

“We’re home, Mrs. P.”

“Oh...what time is it?” Kate stretched the kink from her neck and blinked several times to clear the sleep as she stared at Paulie just outside the opened car door.

“After ten.”

She stepped from the sedan, and Paulie walked her to the elevator. “Thanks for taking me, Paulie. I only wish it could have turned out different.”

“Things will work out, Mrs. P., don’t you worry.” He smiled a rather odd smile as if he knew something she didn’t.

“I hope you’re right. Goodnight.”

The gentle hum of the elevator did little to calm her nerves. She didn’t know if Dante would be up, or even home, but this couldn’t wait. To her surprise, he was seated on the sofa. Dropping her purse and coat at the door, she walked over to him. “I need to talk to you.”

He stared blankly at her. “Not now.”

Catching glimpses of the bruises on his face gave her the drive she needed to continue as she sat next to him. “We have to. I can’t go on like this. I know you went to see Sam.”

He blinked back to reality then looked at her as if he were searching for something. “Are you sorry I got there first?”

“How dare you tell him about Hope? I should have told him.”

“Do you really think it would have changed anything?” He looked arrogantly at her. “You should have thought of that six years ago.”

“Things were complicated then.” She glanced toward the stairs and then into Dante’s eyes. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled. “I want out. I don’t want to play your games anymore.”

“I don’t see you have much of a choice.”

She looked away again, feeling trapped knowing there was no way he would let her out of his sight. He’d probably assign her two bodyguards instead of one. She forced back her anxiety. This had to be done.

Dante raised her chin with his index finger. “Ahh, it’s as I thought. You are upset because he rejected you for keeping such a secret.” He tucked a stray hair behind her ear and she jerked her head away, the motion causing the same lock of hair to fall once more against her cheek.

“Don’t touch me.” Her hand followed where his had been as she pushed the hair firmly back in place. “Let me take Hope, and I’ll leave right now.”

“I can’t do that, and you know it.”

Kate shivered at the dead-calm of his voice. She worked hard to swallow her fear before speaking again. “Hope and I don’t belong to you.”

“And you don’t belong to him either.” His words stung with truth. He stood, pointing at her with each word. “I’ve loved Hope since the day she was born. She is my daughter, and you’ll never take her from me.”

“Don’t do this.” Her voice sounded so weak compared to his. She saw his pain but couldn’t put her daughter in jeopardy any longer. Kate had to believe there was a fresh start, a clean start, a safe start in their future.

“How foolish do you think I am, Trina?” He paused when she stared at him in confusion. “I’ll know your every move. There’s nowhere you can go. Even you are smart enough to know that.”

The cold look on Dante’s face told her he wasn’t giving up. Right now, Kate didn’t know if she had any fight left. She stood and paced in front of him, wringing her hands, stopping when she realized she couldn’t give up either. Hope’s safety depended on it.

“Please...I’ll take Hope and we’ll go far away, to another country even. I don’t want her to be in danger, please. Don’t hold us prisoner here, let us go.” She tried not to sound desperate, but at this point she was.

Dante put his hand in front of her face. “Don’t beg. It’s beneath you.” His bearded face twisted with the anger she could tell he was trying to keep in check. “This is a slap in the face to me, Katrina. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“I’ve sat here tonight thinking of a story to tell Carlo.”

“A story? What do you mean?” Kate suddenly wondered if there was hope in all of this. If Dante told a believable story to Carlo, maybe he would back off and leave them alone.

“I will tell him we’re reconciling. No one knows the real reason you disappeared. They didn’t know about your threat at the custody hearing. When your body was presumed missing or that you were dead, I was given full custody of Hope. To Carlo, I said it was a ruse to keep the media focused on something else rather than our separation. I told him we had an argument and you were making me pay for it by staying away, and you were obviously willing to let our daughter live with me. I lied, Trina. I lied to Carlo Santini because I knew he would come after you.” He kept his face closer to hers as he ground out, “While you were off reuniting with your lover, I was here pretending nothing was wrong and protecting you.”

“Why? I don’t understand.”

“I’ve always loved you Katrina, and if I can’t have you, no-one can.”

His words struck her like blood-laced daggers, and she slowly eased into a nearby chair. The reality of hopelessness sunk in. There was no way out, none, unless she risked their lives to do so.

“No matter how badly you may think you want your freedom, I don’t want to be without you. If Carlo knew you’d threatened to expose the family and you’d spent time with an ex-lover, he would have sent someone after you. You’d be dead. I couldn’t let that happen.”

Kate cringed and swore she saw the corners of his mouth tilt into a smirk. She felt like a caged rabbit. Everything was spinning out of control.

Dante moved, and she jumped. His face was like stone as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “My men are loyal to me, unlike my wife. I sent them to look for you. They know the consequences of betraying me. I was the only one who had to deal with Carlo’s questions.”

“What exactly are you saying, Dante?”

“There’s a price to be paid for your little indiscretion. No one deceives me, especially my wife.” He said wife again as if daring her to contradict him. She didn’t. Instead, she folded her hands neatly in her lap.

“I’ve paid a price, believe me.”

“There’s more you owe.”

She narrowed her eyes as a sick feeling reeled in her stomach. “Like what?”

“We will be having dinner with Carlo and Dina in a few days. You will act like nothing is amiss. For all purposes, we will be the happy family of the past.”

“Except we’re not, Dante. We haven’t been in a very long time.”

He didn’t take his eyes off her when he spoke. “We will go back to our lives as if nothing ever happened. We are working our way back together. You will play the perfect wife.”

She left the chair and crossed the room to retrieve her sketchpad out of her bag. “I’ve been sketching again. I want to go back to designing clothes. I’ve been away long enough.” She noticed his features soften as if the old Dante returned when she changed the subject.

“Yes, Francesca has been handling things in your absence but you need to return as we have many orders to fill, as well as new opportunities.”

“What? I haven’t been gone that long. Where has all of this business come from?” She slapped the pad against her thigh. “I don’t know if I’m ready to jump into sixty hour weeks again. I want to spend time with Hope.”

“You will have plenty of time for that. Carlo has made new contacts, and I have increased business with existing ones. We are almost out of inventory at the warehouse. You need to bring your staff up to speed and maybe reissue some of your older fashions.”

“Yes, yes, I may temporarily do that until we agree on patterns for the new designs.” Kate’s mind whirled with possibilities, thankful for the opportunity to talk about something other than Carlo Santini, Sam Hackett or the whole ordeal.

Over the years, Dante had always given her sound business advice. Maybe this is what she needed to focus on to take her mind off the current struggles. With a little luck, her business would pull them back together and Dante could find the strength to disconnect from Carlo Santini. A future with Sam could never happen, but she wouldn’t deny him visitation to his daughter. She also wouldn’t give him custody, even if that meant bonding with Dante to form a united family structure for the courts. Sam wanting full custody could just be the card she needed to play in order for Dante to leave the clutches of the family. For the safety of her daughter, she would do what needed to be done at any cost, even her own happiness. They could return to
Milan
like they’d always talked about. Dante could practice law again, and she could design. Carlo Santini and all of this drama would be a bad memory.

“You have a reputation in the industry.” Dante’s features softened as if he’d somehow read her mind. “Surely once they know you’re alive and well, you will be flooded with new orders.” Kate relaxed for the first time since being back in the penthouse, feeling positive they could come to a mutual agreement.

“Of course, I can do that. New orders will be a fabulous way to come back.” She sounded confident now, taking the positive energy she felt and running with it. It would be a lot of hard work, but she would make the badness disappear. She would continue to be a success, and he would respect her like he used to.

Kate watched Dante’s expression transform from calm and supportive to intense. His mouth formed a thin line, and his brown eyes seemed darker. Somehow she didn’t think he was buying her change of heart. He stroked his bearded jawline several times and dropped the bomb. “Until you prove yourself to me, I do not want you in the public eye. There will be no interviews with anyone from the paparazzi unless you clear it with me first. When you leave the penthouse, you will be with my men or under my escort. You will not disobey me on this.”