LITMIR.BIZ

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together in a deep, furious frown.

      “What the hell do you mean you gave birth to him?” he asked, a shocked look on his face and a tone of voice that bordered on anger and total disbelief.

      She met his glare with one of her own. “I meant just what I said. Now may I see him?” She made a move to leave Dare’s office but he caught her arm.

      “Are you saying that he was born after you left here?”

      “Yes.”

      Dare released her. His features had suddenly turned to stone, and the gaze that focused on hers was filled with hurt and pain. “It didn’t take you long to find someone in California to take my place after we broke up, did it?”

      His words were like a sharp, painful slap to Shelly’s face. He thought that she had given birth to someone else’s child! How could he think that when she had loved him so much? She was suddenly filled with extreme anger. “Why does it matter to you what I did after I left here, Dare, when you decided after six long years that you wanted a career with the FBI more than you wanted me?”

      Dare closed his eyes, remembering that night and what he had said to her, words he had later come to regret. He slowly reopened his eyes and looked at her. She appeared just as stricken now as she had then. He doubted he would ever forget the deep look of hurt on her face that night he had told her that he wanted to break up with her to pursue a career with the FBI.

      “Shelly, I…”

      “No, Dare. I think we’ve said enough, too much in fact. Just let me get my son and go home.”

      Dare inhaled deeply. It was too late for whatever he wanted to say to her. Whatever had once been between them was over and done with. Turning, he slowly walked back over to his desk. “There’s some paperwork that needs to be completed before you can take him with you. Since he refused to provide us with any information, we couldn’t do it earlier.”

      He read the question that suddenly flashed in her gaze and said. “And no, this will not be a part of any permanent record, although I think it won’t be such a bad idea for him to come back every day this week after school for an hour to do additional chores, especially since he mentioned he’s not into any after-school activity. The light tasks I’ll be assigning to him will work off some of that rebellious energy he has.”

      He met her gaze. “However, if this happens again, Shelly, he’ll be faced with having to perform hours of community service as well as getting slapped with a juvenile delinquent record. Is that understood?”

      She nodded, feeling much appreciative. Had he wanted to, Dare could have handled things a lot more severely. What AJ had done was a serious offense. “Yes, I understand, and I want to thank you.”

      She sighed deeply. It seemed fate would not be forcing her hand today after all. She had a little more time before having to tell Dare the truth.

      Dare sat down at his desk with a form in front of him and a pen in his hand. “Now then, what’s his name?”

      Shelly swallowed deeply. “AJ Brockman.”

      “I need his real name.”

      She couldn’t open her mouth to get the words out. It seemed fate wouldn’t be as gracious as she’d thought after all.

      Dare was looking down at the papers in front of him, however, the pause went on so long he glanced up and looked at her. He had known Shelly long enough to know when she was nervous about something. His eyes narrowed as he wondered what her problem was.

      “What’s his real name, Shelly?” he repeated.

      He watched as she looked away briefly. Returning her gaze she stared straight into his eyes and without blinking said. “Alisdare Julian Brockman.”

      Two

      Air suddenly washed from Dare’s lung as if someone had cut off the oxygen supply in the room and he couldn’t breathe. Everything started spinning around him and he held on to his desk with a tight grip. However, that didn’t work since his hands were shaking worse than a volcano about to explode. In fact his entire body shook with the force of the one question that immediately torpedoed through his brain. Why would she name her son after him? Unless ..

      He met her gaze and saw the look of guilt in her eyes and knew. Yet he had to have it confirmed. He stood on non-steady legs and crossed the room to stand in front of Shelly. He grasped her elbow and brought her closer to him, so close he could see the dark irises of her eyes.

      “When is his birth date?” he growled, quickly finding his equilibrium.

      Shelly swallowed so deeply she knew for certain Dare could see her throat tighten, but she refused to let his reaction unsettle her any more than it had. She lifted her chin. “November twenty-fifth.”

      He flinched, startled. “Two months?” he asked in a pained whisper yet with intense force. “You were two months pregnant when we broke up?”

      She snatched her arm from his hold. “Yes.”

      Anger darkened the depths of his eyes then flared through his entire body at the thought of what she had kept from him. “I have a son?”

      Though clearly upset, he had asked the question so quietly that Shelly could only look at him. For a long moment she didn’t answer, but then she knew that in spite of everything between them, there was never a time she had not been proud that AJ was Dare’s son. That was the reason she had returned to College Park, because she felt it was time he was included in AJ’s life. “Yes, you have a son.”

      “But—but I didn’t know about him!”

      His words were filled with trembling fury and she knew she had to make him understand. “I found out I was pregnant the day before my graduation party and had planned to tell you that night. But before I got the chance you told me about the phone call you’d received that day, offering you a job with the Bureau and how much you wanted to take it. I loved you too much to stand in your way, Dare. I knew that telling you I was pregnant would have changed everything, and I couldn’t do that to you.”

      Dare’s face etched into tight lines as he stared at her. “And you made that decision on your own?”

      She nodded. “Yes.”

      “How dare you! Who in the hell gave you the right to do that, Shelly?”

      She felt her own anger rise. “It’s not who but what. My love for you gave me the right, Dare,” she said and without giving him a chance to say another word, she angrily walked out of his office.

      Fury consumed Dare at a degree he had never known before and all he could do was stand there, rooted in place, hell-shocked at what he had just discovered.

      He had a son.

      He crossed the room and slammed his fist hard on the desk. Ten years! For ten years she had kept it from him. Ten solid years.

      Ignoring the pain he felt in his hand, he breathed in deeply when it hit him that he was the father of John Doe. No, she’d called him AJ but she had named him Alisdare Julian. He took a deep, calming breath. For some reason she had at least done that. His son did have his name—at least part of it anyway. Had he known, his son would also be wearing the name Westmoreland, which was rightfully his.

      Dare slowly walked over to the window and looked out, suddenly seeing the kid through different eyes—a father’s eyes, and his heart and soul yearned for a place in his son’s life; a place he rightly deserved. And from the way the kid had behaved earlier it was a place Dare felt he needed to be. It seemed that Alisdare Julian Brockman was a typical Westmoreland male—headstrong and stubborn as hell. As Dare studied him through the windowpane, he could see Westmoreland written all over him and was surprised he hadn’t seen it earlier.

      He turned when the buzzer sounded on his desk. He took the few steps to answer it. “Yes, Holly?”

      “Ms. Brockman

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