I nearly jump out of my skin when I see Damien standing next to me. I stand up subconsciously wanting to be closer to equal height with him. “What are you talking about?”
“The shape of your jawlines. Look.” He bends over and delicately traces Lake’s jaw without waking him up. Then he straightens and brings the same hand to caress my jaw. My breath catches as I am once again imprisoned by his gaze. “It’s the same.” If we weren’t standing so close I might not have heard him. His voice is low and sexy and fills me with warm fuzziness I shouldn’t be feeling.This man wants to take away your son.
But does that practical voice register? No. Yearning screams louder than anything inside me as I lean forward. The space between us disappears as our lips touch. His lips caress mine and I brush my tongue against his wanting more. He groans, grabs my head, and crushes our lips together. He nips and licks as he kisses me with a fervor that lights a fire inside me. A hunger similar to our first time. He devours me with the kiss until I’m moaning in his mouth. My hands caressing his back and simultaneously holding on for dear life.
Just as abruptly as it started, he pulls back. “Fucking hell.” Without thinking, I look down at Lake. He’s sound asleep. “Don’t swear in his presence,” I whisper to Damien.
“Who’s Brad?” He whispers back. I motion to the door to leave. He follows me and as soon as I close the door behind me he asks again, “Who’s Brad.”
“We kiss and that’s the first thing you say?”
“I couldn’t resist your soft lips. I had to get a taste.”
“Brad is my ex-boyfriend. The only boyfriend Lake knows before you go into some diatribe about how I exposed your son to a boatload of men.”
“So you admit that he’s my son.”
“He could be Brad’s.”
His eyes darken. “If I were you Poison Ivy, I would be playing nice.”
His threat clear, he marches to his room. I enter my own, situated opposite Lakes and next to his I notice, and fall straight on the bed without taking my clothes off.
We stay at his place for the next three days while we wait for the DNA tests. Some paparazzi caught me coming out of Damien’s apartment and it made it onto the Gossip Blogs for a few days.Coming out of the Devil’s layer, was the headline. It must have been a slow news day for them to care that much about me. Luckily they didn’t see Lake or at least they were wise enough not to report it. Sonya wouldn’t stop talking about it and the rest of the staff kept giving me odd looks.
When the results came out, Damien called me to his office. I could have said no but trying him would be another mark against me.
“The test is positive,” he says as soon as I enter his office. Nicole who opens the door for me, makes a face. What’s with her? Maybe because she knows? I try not to think about her and focus on Damien. Sleek as always in a white shirt, navy tie and navy suit pants, he throws the results on the desk. I don’t bother checking them. I know he’s telling the truth.
“We have to tell him,” he says as he walks around his desk and comes to stand in front of me.
“Can you give me some time to think of a way to break it gently to Lake?”
“Break it gently? I’m not a convict. Why would you need to do that? You’re telling him tonight or I am.”
Lake’s in his room when I come back from work. He’s playing with a new Lego set Damien bought for him. It’s among one of the many toys he filled his son’s room with. During the threedays we’ve been here, the room has gone from a plain guest room to something similar to Lake’s room at my apartment but grander. Even the sheets are Spiderman-themed now, and the French, Greek, and Spanish-speaking nanny he got is an upgrade from the monolingual Paige. Greta is a little older than Paige and is currently doing a degree in childcare at some prestigious nanny institute. Mary Poppins herself would have been envious of her skills.
“Mom!” he drops the Lego pieces he has in his hands and he runs to me on his short awkward legs. Dragging me by the hand to the center of the vast room he says, “Look at what Greta and I built!” On the floor next to Greta lays a half-finished Lego bat cave.
“Wow! Impressive!” I’m genuinely surprised by how quickly they’ve been able to build something so big and complex. Lake rarely stays put long enough to invest time in a project like this. Greta sits with her legs tucked underneath her as she puts back some of the blocks into a case. “Your son is wonderful,” she says getting up.
I hold out my hand to help her stand. “Thank you for your time.” Unlike with Paige, our conversations don’t end with a discussion of money since Damien has taken care of all that. One would think it wouldn’t make them awkward, but it does.
“Do you think I can keep it when it’s done?” Lake jerks my hand again. “Can you ask Uncle Damien if it’s okay?”
A pang of guilt hits me at the pit of my stomach. “Lake you don’t have to ask. It’s yours.”
He beams. “So can I take it home?”
“Lake honey, can you wait here while I usher Greta out?”
He slumps down onto the floor and picks up a block. “No problem.” I thank Greta again as she leaves and go back to Lake’s room, my shoes feeling weighted by lead and my hands clammy.For god sake he’s your son. Telling the truth should not fill you with dread.
Lake is still playing with his legos when I get back to his room. I perch myself on the corner of his bed.
“Lake honey can I talk to you for a moment.”
Lake looks up, nods, and goes back to his toys.
