LITMIR.BIZ

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shoulder.

      ‘Home.’ That one single word was as much as she could muster.

      ‘And how far are you going to get without shoes on your feet?’ he wanted to know. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Sienna.’

      ‘So what am I supposed to do?’ she asked angrily, turning to face him. ‘Perhaps you’d like to pay for a taxi?’

      ‘I could do that,’ he said slowly. ‘Or I could take you myself. And meet this boy I am supposed to have fathered.’

      His eyes met and held hers but Sienna saw red. ‘Supposed?’ she queried, her eyes flashing hot sparks. ‘Thanks for your offer, but no thanks. If and when you two ever meet, I want to prepare Ethan first. He doesn’t know about you yet.’

      ‘So who does he think his father is?’ asked Adam, a sudden fiercely quizzical look in his eyes.

      Sienna shrugged. ‘He’s not old enough to ask questions like that.’ Actually, Ethan had more than once asked her why he didn’t have a daddy but she’d always managed to avoid a definite answer, thankful that there were other single mothers at the nursery he attended. She believed that it would be best to tell him when he was older, when he could understand better.

      ‘But he will have to know one day. So why not now?’ Adam insisted.

      ‘Because I need to prepare him,’ she answered sharply. ‘I can’t suddenly introduce his father to him. I need to talk to him first, make sure he understands why you haven’t been a part of his life.’

      To her annoyance Adam’s lips pulled into a brief, dry smile. ‘And you will tell him—what? That his father’s been busy making money? Actually, it should impress him. It does most people.’

      ‘Most people don’t know the agony it causes,’ flared Sienna. ‘It’s no life living with someone who’s rarely home.’ She saw a pulse jerk in Adam’s jaw and knew she had hit a raw nerve. Good! He deserved it. ‘I’d be obliged if you’d phone for a taxi.’

      Adam closed his eyes momentarily and Sienna knew that he was warring with himself as to whether to do as she asked or insist that he run her home himself. If only she hadn’t broken her stupid heel. She did not want him anywhere near where she lived. She had been protecting herself as well when she’d said that she needed to prepare Ethan.

      Just as she had begun to think that Adam was ignoring her request he reached out for the phone and barked a request.

      ‘My driver is at your disposal.’

      Sienna’s brows rose though she said nothing, privately wondering whether there was anything this man could not organise at a moment’s notice. Money spoke. And money ruined marriages! She compressed her lips and nodded her thanks.

      ‘Before you leave I propose we arrange another meeting. We need to talk about our son and his future.’

      Sienna felt her heart drop. It had been hard coming there, it would be even harder seeing him a second time. She had dropped a bombshell, which he would pick up and dissect and come back at her with suggestions that she would not like. Even though it was to be expected, even though she was the one who had started the ball rolling, she felt her whole body grow icy cold at the thought of seeing Adam again, of talking about Ethan, arranging for them to meet.

      It was something she had shied away from for the past four years. She had known that Adam wouldn’t want his life disrupted. But now she had done it, and she had to face the consequences. It was quite possible that he might insist she and Ethan move in with him. How disastrous would that be? On the other hand he might be happy to settle a sum of money on them. Wasn’t money his god? Wasn’t it all he wanted in life? His answer to everything?

      Ethan would naturally be delighted to meet his father. He wouldn’t know that Adam would remain a distant figure, seen only occasionally. So it would be up to her to stand her ground, declare that they were happy living as they were. She would allow him access, but as for anything else…

      ‘What are you suggesting?’ she asked stiffly. She was missing the extra three inches her shoes had afforded her. She needed to look up now into his face and it put her at a definite disadvantage. Nevertheless, she kept her chin high and her eyes cold.

      ‘Dinner tomorrow night?’

      ‘I thought you always worked late?’ Her response came back with the speed of a bullet.

      Even though Adam smiled, it did not reach his eyes. ‘I’m prepared to make an exception.’

      So miracles did happen! Or would it be a one-off? She’d like to bet that he would rarely make such exceptions. In the beginning maybe, but soon he would be back to his old lifestyle and poor Ethan would be left wondering what had happened to the father he had only just met.

      ‘Very well,’ she agreed reluctantly. ‘I guess there are things we need to talk about.’

      ‘I’ll send a car for you.’

      Sienna raised her brows. He would send a car! Not he would pick her up. Oh, no, he didn’t have time for that. He would send his driver. It would give him extra time at the office. Damn the man. She felt like slinging his suggestion back in his face, telling him that he didn’t deserve to meet his son, he would be a failure as a father and she wished that she had never set eyes on him in the first place. But, of course, she said none of these things.

      ‘Eight o’clock. You do have someone who can look after…Ethan?’

      It was the way he said his son’s name, the awkward way he said it, that made Sienna realise that the shock she had given Adam went far deeper than she had at first thought. It had shifted the earth from beneath his feet and he was having great difficulty in getting used to the idea.

      Had she made a mistake? A big mistake? Nevertheless, she nodded. ‘I have a friend who will look after him.’

      ‘Good.’ The word came out harshly. ‘Till tomorrow, then.’

      Within minutes Sienna was being driven away from the riverside development, sitting like royalty in the back of a gleaming black Bentley. In the rearview mirror she could see the driver’s impassive face and knew he must be wondering who she was and what sort of a relationship she had with his employer. If only he knew!

      Sienna lived in a rented two-bedroom ground-floor apartment in the north London suburbs and as Adam’s driver pulled up outside she could imagine what he must be thinking. Nevertheless, she held her head high and her shoes in her hand.

      Once indoors she flopped down on a chair in her living room. Tiny in comparison to Adam’s oversized apartment, but comfortable. She had everything she needed here. Dropping her head back, she let out a deep sigh. It had taken a lot of courage facing Adam today and where had it got her? Precisely nowhere. OK, he now knew he had a son, and he wanted to talk about him, but he hadn’t been exactly enamoured by the fact.

      She went over their conversation in her mind and could see no part where Adam had shown enthusiasm or pleasure. Anger that she had kept him in ignorance, yes. But he had asked no immediate questions about Ethan, hadn’t enquired whether she had photographs. She had to face him again to fill him in on the details he should have asked there and then. She guessed it was shock on his part, but even so…

      And the outcome was that she would have to buy her friend a new pair of shoes. She glanced at her watch. Jo would be here any moment with Ethan. She had no children of her own and was always willing to look after him, even on a Sunday afternoon.

      As if on cue, she heard the sound of their voices outside the door and jumped up to let them in. Ethan ran to her and wrapped his arms around her. Jo smiled. ‘How did it go?’

      Her friend lived in the flat above. They had both moved in at the same time and become firm friends. ‘I broke your shoe,’ Sienna said with a rueful grimace. ‘It was a dumb idea, wearing them. I’m sorry.’

      ‘What were you doing? Running away?’ asked Jo with a laugh. ‘And don’t worry

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