CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Can he make me do this?” Ebony asked her lawyer, her voice trembling.
“If he can prove to us that he has a good reason for thinking Atlas isn’t the father. He may be attempting to prove that you are an opportunist, that you are claiming Mr. Tigri is the father to fool the court into thinking you are a family, that living with you would be the best for Fino.”
“Fuck.” Atlas spat and stood, pacing behind Ebony’s chair. “Ebony is no gold-digger, and as far as I’m concerned, that is our child growing inside her. How the fuck did Cormac even suspect?”
Ebony groaned. “He must have been listening when I had the scan at the hospital. Shit, why didn’t that even cross my mind?”
“It’s not your fault, darling. Damn it, he’ll stoop to anything.”
“Well, we have a preliminary hearing to ascertain whether he can force you to do this. I seriously doubt the judge will grant it, but we have to go through the motions. If you are willing to attend the hearing, it’ll look good for you. Cooperating, showing you have nothing to hide. These things will strengthen our case.”
The day of the hearing was less than a week later. Ebony, hampered by morning sickness, held Atlas’s hand as Cormac’s lawyer outlined his request for Ebony to take a paternity test. Ebony was cheered by the skeptical look on the judge’s face, and when he stopped the lawyer, her heart soared. He’s going to shut this down…
“If I might ask Mr. Duggan directly,” the judge said, his tone even, “Mr. Duggan, why on Earth would Mrs. Tigri’s child have any bearing on this case? It seems to be a left-field attempt by you to embarrass a young mother-to-be for no other reason than spite. Could you clarify your reasons?”
Cormac stood. “Of course, Your Honor. I can assure you there is no malice on my part. I’m just seeking to find out the paternity of the child.”
“For what reason?”
Atlas made a disgusted noise, but as Cormac turned to face them, Ebony saw something else in Cormac’s eyes. Triumph.
“Because, Your Honor, I have very, very good reason to believe that the child Mrs. Tigri is carrying…is mine.”
Ebony gasped, and Cormac smiled. “That’s right, Ebony. Don’t you remember our little tryst, almost two months ago now? In New Orleans? In that…specialist club, for want of a better description? You and I made love, and now I believe that is my child growing in your belly.”
“You’re lying,” Ebony managed to gasp out as Atlas got to his feet, enraged.
“Oh, I think you know I’m telling the truth, Ebony. Atlas, you have to come to terms with the fact…you married a whore.”
Cormac smiled, knowing exactly what Atlas would do next…and Atlas didn’t disappoint him, throwing himself at Cormac. The court was in an uproar, the security teams dragging Atlas off of Cormac. Ebony reached out for Atlas, but he wrenched himself from her grip.
“Don’t touch me,” he spat at her. “Don’t ever come near me again…you just lost me, my nephew…I never want to see you again…” His eyes were wild, his face contorted with rage.
The shock was so powerful that she stopped still for a moment. Then Ebony reeled away and walked out of the court room, too numb to run, walked blindly through the halls, past curious onlookers, out of the building into the pouring rain. Deranged with grief and guilt, she kept walking through the downpour. And through it all, the realization replayed itself over and over in her mind.
Cormac Duggan was the father of her child, she knew it in her bones, and Atlas would never forgive her. She had lost everything…
Stanley Duggan kissed his step-daughter as he strode back into the mansion. “Where is he?”
“Upstairs. He’s…broken, Dad. That’s the only way I can describe it.” Bella sighed and hugged her arms around her slender body. “We can’t find Ebony anywhere. She gave her protection the slip and disappeared into the city. Juno and Obe are out looking for her.”
“What about Fino? Is he here?”
“He is, but he knows something is wrong. He keeps asking for Ebony…I don’t know what to tell him.”
Stanley sighed. “Maybe you should take him out, distract him.”
“I thought of that too. We could go to the Aquarium, I know he likes it there.”
Stanley smiled at her. “Your mother decided to stay in New York for a while, Bella.”
“Thank god.”
Stan chuckled, hugging her. “Families are rarely, if ever, uncomplicated, Bella dear. Your mother loves you in the only way she knows how to.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Go see Atlas, Dad. I’ll take Fino out.”
“Good girl.”
Atlas was staring out of the window in his bedroom as Stanley entered his room. “If you’re here to lecture me about responsibilities, I wouldn’t,” Atlas warned as he saw Stanley.
Stanley sighed. “I’m not here to lecture anyone about anything, son.” He sat on the end of Atlas’s bed and ran a hand over his balding head. “But there’s a young woman out there, scared, distressed, and pregnant.”
“It’s not my child.”
“I understood you knew that from the beginning. So why does it make a difference that it’s possibly Cormac’s child?”
Atlas looked at Stanley for a long moment. “For the life of me, I will never understand how you could have produced a son like Cormac. He’s petty, vindictive…and he’s taken everything away from me. Do you think the courts will grant me custody now? He knew exactly what he was doing, he knew I’d attack him.”
“I’ll ask again…so it’s his child. I take it Ebony didn’t know?”
Atlas hesitated. “I don’t know. I don’t know who I can trust anymore.”
“I do.” Stanley stood and put his hand on his stepson's shoulder. “You can trust the woman who supported us all when your brother was murdered. The woman who sat up all night with Fino, holding him, talking to him, trying to help him process his father’s death. The woman who changed her entire life to suit you. The woman who put up with your desperate urges when you were trying to bury your grief,” Stanley said pointedly, making sure Atlas was clear on the fact that his behavior hadn’t gone unnoticed. “The woman who wore a locket with your brother’s photo to her wedding so he could be part of your day – yes, Bella told me.”
Atlas’s face set in a neutral expression and Stanley watched him, unable to read his mood. “Ebony Verlaine loves you, Atlas. She loves Fino, Bella, even me and Vida. She came into our lives when we didn’t even know we needed her. Can you imagine our lives without her now?”
There was a long silence, then “No.”
“Neither can I. Come on, let’s go downstairs and discuss how we can find her. Because this behavior, son, is not a man’s. And it is not yours.”
Bella parked the car in the parking lot of the diner and got out. Fino, tugging his coat over his head, looked confused. “This isn’t our usual place.”
Nervously, Bella pulled him toward her. “No. I thought we’d try somewhere new. It’s okay,” she said to the security guard with them, “you can wait here.”
The bodyguard looked skeptical. “My orders were to…”
“And I’m telling you, you can wait here.” Bella glared at him, then taking Fino’s hand, they walked into the diner. Fino was immediately wowed by the retro look of the diner.
“This is so cool.”
“Well, let’s find a table, and we’ll order some food, hey, sport?” Bella smiled at him, even though her heart was thumping wildly. This was the plan. Get the boy to the diner, get him into the bathrooms…
Bella swallowed hard. Why am I doing this? Her hands felt slippery with sweat, but then, as Fino cried out, she felt a jolt of shock.
“Ebony!”
Bella whirled around to see Fino run into Ebony’s arms as the other woman slid from her seat, hidden in the corner, to greet the boy. Ebony looked tired and somewhat bedraggled, and Bella felt a pang of guilt, but then realized this was even better. She had a scapegoat.
She greeted Ebony with a hug. “Everyone’s been looking for you.”
Ebony seemed close to tears. “I didn’t know where to go, what to do. He hates me, Atlas hates me.”
“No.” Bella made her sit down, an anxious Fino snuggled in next to Ebony. “Look, let me get you some hot coffee…Fino, do you need to use the bathroom?”
He nodded. Ebony took his hand. “I’ll take him.”
Good, this was good…except…
What would he do to Ebony? The man who wanted Fino, the man who was blackmailing her. Him. Would he kill Ebony?
Bella’s hands bunched up into fists, but she made herself nod and turn away as the two of them went back toward the bathrooms. She leaned over to the waitress. “May we have two coffees, please?”
“Of course, coming right up.”
Bella heard the door open and saw her bodyguard walking towards her. “Sorry, Miss, I just checked with Mr. Tigri. He doesn’t want any of you alone.” He looked around. “Where’s Mr. Tigri Junior?”
“In the bathroom,” she said casually. “We ran into Mrs. Tigri. They’re both in there.”
The waitress brought coffee, and with a shaking hand, Bella sipped it. There was no noise, no commotion from the bathrooms – but neither did either Ebony or Fino emerge. After a few minutes, the bodyguard stalked over to the doors. Bella stood, feigning surprise as he came out, barking instructions into his phone. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
The bodyguard stared at her, his eyes trying to read hers. “There’s blood in the bathroom, but no sign of Fino or Ebony. They’ve been taken. They’re gone.”