shaky. Adrenaline, I guess.”
Jake put a hand on his seatbelt and asked, “Why don’t I drive?”
Lil hesitated for a moment then unbuckled hers. “Only because I’m still a little wound up.”
“Of course.”
They quickly traded places. As they pulled onto a main road, Jake asked, “I have to make a quick stop somewhere, do you mind?”
Although Lil wanted nothing more than to get home and relax, she said, “That’s fine.” He had, after all, driven all the way up here just to help her. She’d be home soon enough. Hopefully the press would be gone. If she could settle Colby down for a nap, she might even get some studying done today after all.
Lil stared blindly at the skyscrapers they drove by. Even if she didn’t want to, there was something that needed to be said. “I don’t think I thanked you for coming up here, Jake. I’m not really good at accepting help.”
“Really, I wouldn’t have guessed,” he said smoothly, with only the slightest trace of humor in his voice.
Lil smiled. “Don’t start with me. I’m trying to be nice.”
“Is it an arduous effort?”
“With some people,” Lil joked.
He seemed to want to say more, but didn’t. Instead he pulled in front of a high end residential building and handed the keys to her economy car to a valet, appearing unperturbed by the expression on the young man’s face when he took them. She guessed that he didn’t park many cars that smelled of baby powder and sour milk. Lil unclipped the portable section of the car seat and swung the diaper bag over one shoulder. Hopefully wherever they were headed had a spot where she could change and feed Colby or her daughter’s pleasant personality would soon undergo a drastic change.
The security man at the front desk waved them by. Lil followed Jake through the pristine lobby and to an elevator that looked nice enough to live in. She wondered what kind of people lived in a place like that.
People like Jake, she guessed.
They took the elevator all the way to the top to the penthouse, not a surprise. What did give Lil a moment of pause was the way the penthouse was decorated. Large, comfortable furniture. Warm, feminine colors. It couldn’t be Jake’s place, could it? “Do you live here?”
“No, it belongs to a friend.”
Of course it did.
He probably had a lot of
A moment of jealousy was quickly followed by a mental self-shake-none of that was any of her business and she’d be a whole lot happier if she remembered that. She placed Colby’s carrier on the floor and unhooked her. “Colby’s wet. Do you mind if I change her on the bed? I have a blanket.”
A moment later she returned from the bedroom and said, “You didn’t tell me that your friend had a baby, too. The bedroom has a crib and a changing table.”
Jake didn’t respond to that. Instead he said, “Why don’t you check out the view? It’s quite impressive. You can see the Charles from the balcony.”
Lil opened one of the French style doors and gasped with pleasure. The penthouse was just high enough to give a clear view of not only the river, but a good portion of Boston. “It’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. That will make this easier.”
The hair on the back of her neck went up.
“Make what easier?”
Jake turned, his hands casually pocketed. “You can’t go back to your place.”
“No…” She looked around in stunned refusal.
“Yes.”
“You can’t-”
He motioned to the room around them with one hand. “It’s already done. As you saw, you’ll find that whatever you need for Colby is already here. Your personal things are being shipped over or stored as we speak.”
“I already told Dominic that I wouldn’t take his charity. I don’t want this place.”
“That was before your interview.”
“I fixed that. The interview won’t air.”
“Lil, it’s not that simple. Even without airing, your interview has caught the public’s attention. And that means paparazzi…”
“Why would people care about me? I’m not marrying a billionaire.”
“No, but your sister is and that is a fact that, no matter how much you’d like to pretend it doesn’t matter, does.”
“I won’t stay here.”
“You don’t have a choice.” His expression hardened.
Her mouth went dry. “What does that mean?” Was he threatening her? Jake was smooth, but he was no one’s lapdog. Although he deferred to Dominic, she didn’t doubt that he was a force to be reckoned with on his own.
He approached her and spoke in a tone she was sure he used during his business negotiations. “It means it’s the only course of action that makes sense and you’ll see that once you calm down.”
Of course he wasn’t threatening her-he’d have to muster up enough emotion to do that.
Lashing out, she said, “Really? Once I calm down? Forgive me for having an emotional response to manipulation. Sorry that unlike you I don’t blindly follow Dominic’s orders. We’re not all his puppets.”
Lil felt a slight triumph as her barb brought a flush to his cheeks. Still, his voice remained maddeningly even and rational. “Luckily, your opinion of me has nothing to do with the outcome of this situation. You’ll stay here, not because Dominic told you to and not because I told you to; you’ll stay because you and your daughter are no longer safe at your old house. If what you said earlier is true and you do base all of your decisions on her welfare, then you’ll accept this as necessary.”
How easily he threw her words back at her.
Lil hugged Colby closer.
He shook his head calmly. “You’ll have security here.”
“You can’t do this,” she said desperately.
“It’s done,” he replied with a finality she couldn’t accept.
“I can’t believe Abby went along with this! How could she think she could just spring this on me and I’d be okay with it?”
He shrugged. “She may not know I’m here.”
“So, this isn’t even her idea? It’s her crazy lover’s? But why send you? Anyone could have broken the bad news to me.” The answer came to her with sickening clarity. “Oh, wait, you’re the fixer, right? That’s what Abby told me. Dominic breaks all the rules and then sends you in to smooth it over. I’m just a problem he sent you to fix.” She hated that her accusation ended with what sounded suspiciously like a sob.
Jake approached, his expression softening with concern. “Lil…”
She put a hand up to stop him.
Dominic had sent his right-hand man.
After satisfying her immediate needs, Colby fell asleep in Lil’s lap. Lil crossed the room and tucked her into the white crib. It was obviously an expensive one and whoever had set up the room had taken the time to add a mobile that matched the one hanging above her crib in Lil’s home. Abby knew about this penthouse. She might not know about today’s bait and switch, but she’d definitely played a part in decorating these rooms. Her soft, maternal touch was evident in all of them.
Some of Lil’s anger dissipated. She couldn’t really blame them for thinking she needed to be protected- contained.
She looked down at her daughter and thought,
