––––––––

TIME HAD BEEN GOOD to Jonathan. The charming young man that I’d fallen love with had turned into a handsome man. He flashed a brilliant white smile to the driver as I got out of the car, and his dimples only deepened. He knew that I was spoiling for a fight, and he hadn’t wanted to create a scene. Instead, he smoothed his golden locks with one hand and reached for me with the other. “Julie. Thank God,” he whispered. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Relax,” I muttered. “He’s just a valet driver at the Gala I was supposed to attend. He doesn’t work for Graham.”

The limo pulled away, and his smile vanished. “Graham Porter,” he said with an ugly twist of his mouth. “Was I not rich enough for you?”

“Look at where you’re standing, Jonathan. Does it really look like I’m living in the lap of luxury?”

He must have remembered that we were out in the open. As he looked around, he grabbed my elbow and led me to the stairs. “Where is my son?” he hissed.

“You don’t have a son.” I angrily pulled my elbow away from him. “You made that very clear when he was born, or don’t you remember? I believe your exact words were if you tell anyone that he’s mine, I’ll send him overseas to boarding school, and you’ll never see him again. Does that ring a bell?”

Taking out my key, I opened the door and stepped into the motel. Once he was inside, I slammed the door shut and closed the curtains. Praying that Crystal had gotten my message and was ready, I pulled Jonathan away from the window. He stepped away and started searching the small space. “Where is he, Julie?”

Through the thin material covering the windows, I blew out my breath in relief when I saw Crystal and Tyler slip into the limousine. “You don’t even know his name, do you?”

“Tyler,” he snarled. “We’ll be changing his last name when we’re married.”

“Have you lost your damn mind? You had a chance to marry me, and you chose your political career over us. Why the hell would I marry you?”

A cold smile spread across his face. “Look around you, Julie. You’re living in a roach-infested motel with whores and drug dealers as your neighbors. I probably wouldn’t even have to pay off a judge to get custody of him. I’ll try to paint you in an optimistic light when I tell the press that you took off with my son when I caught you with a heroin needle in your arm, and I’d been searching for you ever since. Of course, it’ll look much better if we have a fairy tale ending complete with the wedding of a century. They’ll be talking about our painful courtship and happy ending for years to come.”

He reached for me, and I didn’t even hesitate before slapping him. His cheek turned red, and for a moment, I thought he might hit me back. “You think I haven’t been waiting for this moment?” I asked in a calm voice as I tried to ignore the rising panic. “As soon as I found out that I was pregnant, I took precautions against you. I got a copy of the tape from the restaurant. It doesn’t have audio files, but it does show you laughing at me as I handed that ring back over. I recorded the phone call from the lawyers when they told me that they didn’t believe that Tyler was your son, and I recorded the phone conversation where you threatened to take him away from me.”

Blood drained from his face, and I took a step closer to him. “If you thought that you were going to come here and take what you wanted from me, you’ve got another thing coming. I’m not the same naive girl who fell in love with you. You can try to take Tyler from me. You’ll probably even succeed, but I have enough to bury your political career. No one in their right mind would back you in anything when they discover what you did to me. Now get the hell out.”

“We’re not done,” he threatened. “The press already know.”

“I don’t give a damn what you tell the press. Tell them that I was fucking four guys when I was with you and that Tyler isn’t yours. Tell them I’m just some whore trying to get payback. I don’t care, Jonathan. All I care about is that you don’t come near me or my son.”

There was nothing that I wasn’t prepared to do to save Tyler, and Jonathan must have known that. He left the motel without another word, and I waited an agonizing hour, texting Crystal the whole time, before I finally changed and went to my car. I’d hoped that Jonathan and the press wouldn’t still be around to follow me, but even if they did, I knew they wouldn’t make it past the imposing gates around the Porter mansion.

Graham’s car was in the driveway. My heart leaped into my throat, but I tried to tell myself that he wouldn’t throw us to the wolves. He wasn’t that heartless.

Crystal, Graham, and Miles were all waiting for me in the living room when I burst in. “Tyler?” I asked wildly.

Crystal immediately came over and hugged me. “He’s sleeping,” she murmured in my ear as she stroked my hair. “He has no idea what’s going on, and he fell back asleep in the car. Graham put him to bed. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I lied as I pulled away.

“Did he hurt you?” There was an edge of violence in Graham’s question.

“No.”

He nodded. “Crystal, you’re welcome to spend the night. Miles will show you to your room.”

Miles and Crystal both left the room, and I faced Graham alone. He stood and stalked towards me like a predator on the verge of an attack, but I could see the struggle inside of him. “I made some inquiries at the gala,” he said hoarsely.

“And?”

“Tyler’s father is the next mayor of Hartford. If he’s elected, he’ll probably be the next governor of Connecticut,” he said in a controlled voice. “You failed to mention that part.”

“He hasn’t been elected yet,” I pointed out.

“You made it sound like he was some dead-beat dad.”

“You of all people should know that money doesn’t keep someone from being a dead-beat dad. In fact, the story should sound pretty familiar to you. Rich guy decides to rebel and dates well below his station. He sweeps a girl off her feet and proposes. She thinks it’s true love and happily ever after. The only difference is that while you were ready to turn your back on your family’s money, Jonathan couldn’t rip the ring off my finger fast enough.”

He winced at the parallel. “He never wanted Tyler?”

“He told me that he’d take my son away if I even stayed in the same state, but all that changed when Mayor Jackson wanted young and old-money blood on his ballot for Vice Mayor. Jonathan realized what a black stain like a bastard child could do to his sterling reputation. He sent someone to track me down and propose again, only this time, I wasn’t so naive. I would rather work three jobs to make ends meet than force Tyler into that life, and I told him as much. That night, I started running, and I never looked back.”

I could see the realization dawning on him. “You pay everything in cash.”

“We moved frequently, but I guess the hospital record is what did us in.” I swallowed hard, still remembering the fear when Jonathan got out of the limo.

“No,” Graham said harshly. “Darleen is what did you in. The press got an anonymous tip, and I’d bet every dollar in my bank account that it was her trying to drive you out of town. What does he want?”

I shrugged. “What do all men want?” I mocked. “To marry me.”

“He can’t force you,” Graham said evenly. “You have a choice.”

“I know. Unfortunately, with money comes power, and rich people have a way of getting nasty when they don’t get what they want.”

“He’s threatening you?”

I didn’t want to talk about Jonathan to Graham. All I wanted was for Graham to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay, but I could tell that even he was fighting to keep the white knight routine going. “This isn’t your fight,” I murmured. “I’m sorry that it’s on your doorstep, and I’m sure that it’s going to do a number on the sterling Porter reputation, but if you would just let Tyler and I spend the night, we’ll be out of your hair in the morning.”

“He’ll follow you,” Graham growled. “You won’t be safe.”

I couldn’t help but smile when I thought of Jonathan’s face when I’d threatened him. “I think he’s starting to realize that I’m not going to go quietly. He might stick around for another day or two, but then he’ll go home to Daddy with his tail tucked between his legs. He’ll come back with big guns, but by then, I’ll already be gone.”

“You’ll stay here until he leaves,” he said roughly. “At least think of Tyler.”

“Thank you.”

He didn’t invite me into his bed before he walked away. I consoled myself with the thought that even if he’d offered, I wouldn’t have taken him up on it. Tonight, I needed to hold Tyler.

Despite what Crystal had said, my son was wide-awake when I walked into his room. “Is it true?” he asked me quietly. “Is my father here to take me away?”

“Who told you that?” I asked with a forced smile as I climbed into bed with him. Pulling him into my lap, I held him tightly and kissed the top of his head. He had little peach fuzz growing around the scar on his head.

“I heard Crystal in the car talking to the driver, and then I pretended to sleep so I could hear more. I don’t want to leave you.”

“Oh, baby.” My heart broke. “I’m not going to let you go, okay? No matter what it takes.”

“Is he a bad man?”

It took me a moment to find the right words to say to him. I didn’t want him growing up thinking that his father was a monster. “Your father and I were very young when we started dating. I think a part of him loved being with me even if he didn’t love me. He comes from a wealthy family, and they didn’t approve of me.”

“Graham is wealthy, and he approves of you,” Tyler said in a small voice.

“Graham doesn’t have to answer to his parents,” I said wryly. Of course, that didn’t mean that Graham wasn’t still answering to his parents’ ideals. “Anyway, your father isn’t just wealthy. He’s also a politician.”

Tyler’s eyes rounded. “Is he a president?”

“He’s the vice-mayor of a big city in Connecticut. It’s like a vice-president for a city. Not everyone would understand why he abandoned us, and he needs the voters to like him, so he’s hoping that I’ll marry him, and we’ll be a family.”

“I’d like to have a father,” Tyler confessed to me in a small voice. “Is he my only choice?”

A lump welled up in my throat, but I forced it down. I couldn’t fall apart now. “I’m not going to marry him, baby. He’s never going to love you the way that you deserve to be loved. If I promise that I will love you enough for two people, will you be okay with that?”

He immediately turned in my arms and hugged my neck. “Of course, Momma. But I want you to be happy too.”

No four-year-old should have to worry about his mother’s happiness. In protecting Tyler from the world, I’d somehow managed to give him a whole new set of things to worry about. “As long as I have you, I’ll be happy, baby,” I assured him.

He didn’t say anything and gently scooted on the bed until we were side-by-side. Soon I could hear his breathing even out, but I couldn’t sleep. I was too busy listening for the sound of footprints, terrified that Jonathan was going to follow through on his promise and take Tyler away from me.