But this...proposition was neither. He’d carefully measured it, and though just the thought of tying himself to another manipulative woman sickened him, he was willing to make the sacrifice.
Whatever doubts might’ve lingered upon walking up to her building, they had disintegrated as soon as he’d laid eyes on Aiden.
“You’re crazy,” she finally breathed.
He smiled, and the tug to the corner of his mouth felt cynical, hard. “No. Just realistic.” He slid his hands into the front pockets of his pants, cocking his head and studying her pale, damnably lovely features. “Regardless of what you believe, I’m not judging you on the neighborhood you live in or your home. But the fact is you aren’t in the safest area of Chicago, and this building isn’t a shining example of security. The lock on the front door doesn’t work. Anyone could walk in here. The locks on your apartment door are for shit. There isn’t an alarm system. What if someone followed you home and busted in here? You would have no protection—you or Aiden.”
“So I have a security system installed and call the landlord about the locks on the building entrance and my door. Easy fixes, and none of them require marriage to a man I barely know who despises me.”
“If they were easy fixes,” he said, choosing to ignore her comment about his feelings toward her, “why haven’t you done them?” He paused, because something flickered in her gaze, and a surge of both anger and satisfaction glimmered in his chest. “You have contacted your landlord,” he stated, taking her silence as confirmation. “And he hasn’t done a damn thing about it.” He stepped forward, shrinking the space between them. “Pride, Isobel. You’re going to let pride prevent you from protecting your son.”
Lightning flashed in her gaze, and for a moment he found himself mesmerized by the display. Like a bolt of electricity across a morning sky.
“Let me enlighten you. Pride became a commodity I couldn’t afford a long time ago. But in the last two years, I’ve managed to scrape mine back together again. And neither you nor the Wellses can have it. I’m not afraid to ask for help. That’s why I was at the gala. Why I was willing to approach Baron and Helena again.For my son. But you’re not here to offer me help. You’re demanding I sell my soul to another devil, just with a different face and name. Well, sorry. I’m not going to play your game. Not when it won’t only be me losing this time, but Aiden, as well.”
“Selling your soul to the devil? Not playing the game?” he drawled. “Come now, Isobel. A poor college student nabbing herself the heir to a fortune? Trapping him with a pregnancy, then isolating him from his family? Cry me a river, sweetheart. I was there, so don’t try to revise history to suit your narrative.”
“You’re just like him,” she whispered.
Darius stifled a flinch. Then cursed himself for recoiling in the first place. Gage had been a good man—good to her.
“You have two choices,” he stated. “One, agree to marry me and we both raise Aiden. Or two, disagree, and I’ll place the full weight of my name and finances behind Baron and Helena to help them gain custody of Aiden.”
She gasped and wavered on her feet. On instinct, he shifted forward, lifting his arms to steady her. But she backpedaled away from him, pressing a hand against the wall and holding up the other in a gesture that screamedstop right there.
“You,” she rasped, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t do that.”
“I would,” he assured her. “And I will.”
“Why?” She straightened, lowering both arms, but the shadows darkening her eyes gathered. “Why would you do that? Why would they? Baron and Helena...they don’t even believe Aiden is Gage’s. They’ve wanted nothing to do with him since he was born. Why would they seek custody now?”
“Because heistheir grandson. I’ll convince them of that. And he deserves to know them, love them. Deserves to learn about his father and come to know him through his parents. Aiden is all Baron and Helena have left of Gage. And you would deprive them of that relationship. I won’t let you.” The unfairness of Isobel’s actions, of her selfishness, gnawed at him. She hadn’t witnessed the devastation Gage’s death had left behind, the wreckage. Baron had suffered a heart attack not long after, and yes, most of it could be attributed to lifestyle choices. But the loss of his only son, that had definitely been a contributing factor.
Yet if they’d had Aiden in their lives during these last two difficult years...he could’ve been a joy to them. But Isobel had skipped town, not even granting them the opportunity to bond. If she’d stayed long enough, Baron and Helena would’ve done just what Darius had—taken one look at the child andknownhe belonged to Gage.
“And I won’t let you make Aiden a pawn. Or worse, a substitute for Gage.He won’t become Gage. I refuse to allow you and the Wellses to turn him into his father. I’ll fight that with every breath in my body.”
“He would be lucky to become like the man his father was,” Darius growled. “To be loved by his parents. They welcomed me into their home, raised me when I had no one.”
She didn’t get to smear the family that had become his own. Gage had been his best friend, his confidante, his brother. Helena had stepped in as his mother. And Baron had been his friend, his mentor, his guiding hand in the multimillion-dollar financial-investment company Darius’s father had left behind for his young, inexperienced son.
So no, she didn’t get to malign them.
“I’m his mother,” she said.
As if that settled everything.
When it didn’t.
“And they’re his grandparents,” he countered. “Grandparents who can afford to provide a stable, safe, secure and loving home for him to thrive and grow in. He’ll never want for anything, will have the best education and opportunities. Aiden should have all of his family in his life. You, me, his grandparents and aunt. He should enjoy a fulfilled, happy childhood, with the security of two parents and without the weight of struggle. With you marrying me, he will.”
And the Wellses would avoid a prolonged custody battle that could further tax Baron’s health and possibly endanger his life. His recovery from the heart attack was going well, but Darius refused to add stress if he could avoid it.
Besides, as CEO and president of King Industries Unlimited, the conglomerate he’d inherited from his father, not only would Aiden be taken care of, but so would Isobel. She would want for nothing, have all the money available to satisfy her every materialistic need. He had experience with bearing the albatross of a greedy woman with Faith, his ex-wife, and though it galled him to have to repeat history, he’d rather take the financial hit than allow Isobel to extort more money from the Wellses. They’d protected him once, and he would gladly, willingly do the same for them.
“No.” Isobel stared up at him, shoulders drawn back, hands curled into fists at her side. Though she still wore the evidence of her worry, she faced him like one general standing off against another. A glimmer of admiration slipped through his steely resolve. She’d reminded him of Napoleon earlier, and she did so again. But like that emperor, she would fail and eventually surrender. “I don’t care how pretty you wrap it up, blackmail is still blackmail. And I’m not giving in to it. Now, for the last time, get out of my house.”
“Call it what you want to help you sleep at night,” he murmured. He reached inside his suit jacket and removed a silver business card holder. He withdrew one as he strode to the breakfast bar, and then set it on the counter. “Think carefully before you make a rash decision you’ll regret. Here’s where you can reach me.”
