ALEX I wasn't planning to go to Pas Pour Toi on Saturday evening, but somehow I ended up sitting in the VVIP room with Grayson and Daniel and drinking whiskey. I was too agitated to go home. With everything going on inside my head, I felt like I could explode at any second. Talking about what had happened at the orphanage wasn't something I intended to do when I went to the club. Perhaps it was that third glass of whiskey that finally made me spill it out. "So… let me get this straight." Grayson twisted in his seat to face me. "You sort of met the woman who is going to design your office. Her name is Sarah Hill, and she has a five-year-old son." His brows rose as he waited for my confirmation. I nodded, and he continued. "Her face was covered with paint, but you think that it was the same woman you saw at the airport?" I drew a deep breath and nodded again. "I'm almost positive that's her." A smirk curved my lips as I took a drink from my glass. "I fucking cannot wait until Monday.
SARAH"He knows!" I leaped to my feet, tossing the phone on my desk. I threw my trembling hands forward as I rushed to the sofa where Joy was sitting, drinking coffee. "I don't know how, but Alex knows!" The pitch of my voice went up and died on the last note with a strangled wheeze.Joy's eyes rose from the coffee cup and she studied me for a moment. "Do you need to hyperventilate?"I slumped down beside her and shook my head. "I don't know how he found out, but he knows that it's me!" I pointed at myself as if there was some other "me" in the room. "He knows that Sarah Hill—that I am the one whom he spent the night with! God!" I clamped my hand over my mouth, my eyes widening."What?" Joy raised her brows."Liam… H-he knows about Liam. That is why he wants to meet with me…" The panic mode activated and started to fill every inch of me. Blood rushed through my veins at double speed. Shivers ran down my spine, wave after wave, while my stomach churned. "He will try to take my son away
ALEXI had my favorite black suit and gray shirt on, all ready to meet with Sarah. I spent the last two nights anticipating this moment. I left my office and was driving not far from Park Avenue, but instead of heading to Sarah's apartment, I was on my way to the construction site in Brooklyn Heights.I was seriously pissed. This was supposed to be my night off. I wanted to turn off my laptop and stop thinking about work for several hours. Unfortunately, some fucking dickheads decided to plan the night for me differently.Grayson called me just when I was about to leave the office and shared the news, which initially sounded like a way-out-of-line grim joke. He told me that someone had sneaked into the construction site and shot one of the guards. That's all I knew as I headed there. Grayson was already on the spot, talking to the police and making sure no news got to the press. I trusted him and knew that he could take care of everything until I got there. Unfortunately, he was the o
I hadn't slept that night. I couldn't even think about sleeping. At ten in the morning, I stepped in front of the Ravenford Corporation Building and made an official announcement to the press. The announcement focused on the death of Robin McKinney, the security guard who worked for our company. I spoke of a vicious attack at the future workplace of hundreds of people. I told them about the grief and the support we, as the company, had promised Mr. McKinney's family. And then I lied… I told everyone that we had yet to learn who might have done it.The detectives suspected that Bram Hill might have been hiding somewhere in New York City and they didn't want him to know that he had been identified as a murderer. The last thing the police wanted was to make him flee to another state like they assumed he did five years ago. Certainly, the detectives checked on all those who had known him before, asking if anyone had seen him recently. No one said anything. Then it was time to question his
SARAHI wasn't sure if my heart was still beating. I stared into his golden eyes, then took in every inch of his perfectly carved face. My eyes roamed lower toward that strong body wrapped in a black tuxedo. I barely resisted biting my lip. This man was the very definition of hot, and he was way too close for me not to melt. My hormones were in charge of shutting down the brain and all my fears. I wanted him. Some primal force exploded within me and slowly scratched its way out to the surface, pulling all my desires and needs along with it. I could imagine myself peeling him off this tux, ripping off his shift with my teeth, pulling down his boxer briefs, and freeing his co—"Mommy, you remember Alex, don't you?" Dumbfounded, I snapped my gaze at my son."Y-yes… of course," I muttered as heat washed over my face. I cleared my throat and bravely turned to the smirking sex-god before me. "Hello, Mr. Ravenford."He stepped closer, easily chasing away the oxygen from my lungs. "I thought
ALEX My eyes were locked on the woman standing on the stage, and I felt blown away. I rarely had that feeling, but it occurred the moment her chest rose with a deep breath and she began to speak. I was stunned by the way she exposed herself as if she had nothing to hide. She talked about her past effortlessly, even though I could feel the weight of her words expressed in the brief tensing of her jaw and creasing of her forehead. Funny… I asked for a detailed report about her, but I felt that she had just given me more information than my specialists could gather. Then my mind drifted to everything that had happened before her speech, and restlessness built inside me. It was something I couldn't fathom. I had imagined our confrontation many times. I had imagined she might be confused, uncomfortable, perhaps scared, but not angry. What I saw in her eyes then in the corridor was far from what I had expected. She seemed… hurt. Why the fuck would she be hurt when she was the one who asked
SARAH"I think I need a drink," I told Joy in between sucking shallow breaths."You are drinking." She smirked, pointing at the glass of wine I held in my hand."Oh." I stared at it for a second before shifting my gaze back to Joy. "Then it's not working.""You need to calm down," she said, studying my most likely pale face.I shook my head. "I don't think that's possible." I was in that state since Eleonor invited me and my son to their Sunday family dinner, and I couldn't recover even after Joy and I returned to Park Avenue and put Liam to bed.Joy sighed. "Finish your wine, and I'll get you something stronger."It was all too much, and I couldn't even point out the most disturbing, confusing, or terrifying moment of that evening. It had happened too fast. First, there was Eleonor, who treated me and Liam as if we had known each other for years. Then my heart stopped when she told Liam to call her Granny. GRANNY! I barely stopped myself before exploding into hysterical laughter. The
ALEXI was looking at Sarah, hearing nothing aside from the wild pounding of my heart. Her words spun inside my head. She had mentioned a brief relationship, parting ways, and that he—the father of the child—hadn't known about the pregnancy. Well, HE had just learned about it right at that moment because I was ninety-nine percent sure that I was the one.The reason poking at my hectic mind told me to take a deep breath and analyze different possibilities. She might have had different partners. She might have been sleeping around with other guys. I could have been fooled by the innocence surrounding her that night. My gut told me otherwise. I glanced at Liam and his round hazel eyes; they were just like mine. His hair looked like mine. It couldn't be just a coincidence.I saw her eyes widen in reaction to whatever she read from my expression, as if she were afraid that I had found out. Why? As far as I knew, she had no other man in her life. Didn't she want a father for her son? Would