Kitabı oku: «Billionaire's Bargain»

One

“Fifty thousand dollars and the baby’s all yours.”

Adam Quinn swallowed back a quick jolt of anger and studied his adversary. Kim Tressler was about thirty, with white-blond hair cut into a sharp wedge that clung to her cheeks. She wore a black, body-hugging dress that left little to the imagination. Her heavily lined blue eyes were narrowed on him and her mouth was a grim, red slash. She stood hipshot, with her infant son propped on her left hip.

Deliberately, he kept himself from looking too closely at the baby. His dead brother’s son. Adam had to keep his head on straight to deal with this woman and that wouldn’t happen if he looked at Devon’s child.

Adam was used to handling all sorts of adversaries. Owning one of the world’s largest construction and property development companies ensured that Adam regularly went head-to-head with many different types of personalities. And he always found a way to win. This time, though, it wasn’t business. It was personal. And it cut damn deep.

Glancing down at the DNA test lying open on his desk, Adam saw proof that the baby’s father was Devon Quinn, Adam’s younger brother. He kept his gaze fixed on the paperwork even as he admitted silently that the test hadn’t been necessary. The baby boy looked just like Devon. So that meant there was no way Adam could leave the baby with his mother. Hell, he wouldn’t want to leave a dog with her. Kim came across as cold and mercenary. Exactly the kind of woman Devon would go for. Adam’s brother had always had miserable taste in women.

With one major exception. Devon’s ex-wife, Sienna West.

Adam felt a flicker of something he didn’t want to acknowledge, then deliberately pushed all thoughts of Sienna from his mind. He was dealing with a very different kind of woman at the moment, and he needed to focus.

“Fifty thousand,” he repeated, slowly lifting his gaze to hers.

“It’s fair.” She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug and when the baby started fussing, she jiggled him furiously to try to silence him. Rather than looking at her child, she slid a fast, careful glance around Adam’s office and he knew what she was seeing.

His inner office was huge, with a massive, mahogany desk that now stood between him and the woman. Wide windows offered a spectacular view of the Pacific, where surfers and boaters plied the water’s surface. Framed photos of some of his company’s more famous projects lined the battleship-gray walls, and wood floors were softened by deep, ruby-colored rugs. He’d worked hard to put his company where it was at the moment and damned if he cared for having her look around like everything in the place had dollar signs on it.

When the infant subsided into whimpers, she shifted her attention back to Adam and said, “Look. This is Devon’s child. He promised to take care of me and the baby. He’s the one who wanted a kid. Now that he’s dead, all of that’s over. My career’s taking off and I don’t have the time to take care of it. I don’t want the baby. But since he’s Devon’s, I’m guessing you do.”

No more motherly instinct than a feral cat. In fact, less, he told himself, immediately feeling sorry for the baby. At the same time, Adam couldn’t help wondering what the hell his brother had seen in this woman. Even considering that Devon had always been as deep as a puddle, why would he choose to make a child with a woman who was so clearly mercenary? She didn’t give a flying damn about her own child—or Adam’s brother.

He swallowed hard at how easily she dismissed Devon and his memory. Adam’s younger brother had had his issues, but damn it, he deserved better than he was getting from his former lover. But that was Devon. He’d never thought beyond the next adventure. The next woman. Sadly, he’d never had a chance to move on from this one. And though he’d known about his child, he hadn’t left a will because he’d expected to live forever.

Instead, he’d died in a horrific boating accident in the south of France just a little over six months ago. That wound was still fresh enough to bring a wave of pain that washed over Adam. When Devon died, it had been a year since Adam had spoken to him. Now he never would.

“Does he have a name?” Since she’d only referred to the child as “the baby,” Adam wouldn’t have been surprised to find she hadn’t bothered to name him, either.

“Of course he has a name. It’s Jack.”

After their father. Adam didn’t know whether to be moved or angry. Devon had cut himself off from the family, and then named the child he’d never know after a grandfather dead long before his birth.

Time for introspection later, he warned himself.

“What took you so long to bring the baby to me?” Adam leaned back in his chair and studied her, still keeping his gaze from straying to the child.

“I’ve been busy.” She shook her hair back from her face and winced when the child slapped one hand against her cheek. “Since all of the publicity revolving around Devon’s death, I’ve had several modeling gigs in France.”

Money made on the broken bones of his dead brother. Kim was trading on being Devon’s last lover and clearly her child was slowing her down. Fury, ripe and rich, boiled and bubbled in the pit of his stomach and he knew he couldn’t afford to let her see it. Damned if Adam wanted to give the bitch a dime, but he also couldn’t see himself leaving a defenseless kid with such a cold woman.

She sighed and tapped the toe of her high-heeled sandal against the hardwood floor. “Are you going to pay me or do I—”

“What?” He stood abruptly, planted both hands on his desk and stared into her eyes. He was willing to call her bluff. Remind her that he was the one in charge here. She’d come to him, not the other way around. He had the power in this little scuffle and they both knew it. “What exactly will you do, Ms. Tressler? Drop him off at an orphanage? Try to sell him to someone else?”

Sparks fired in her eyes, but wisely, she kept silent.

“We both know you’re not going to do either of those things. Mainly, because I’d put my lawyers on you and they’d tangle your career up so tightly you’d be lucky to get a job posing beside a bag of dog food.”

Her eyes narrowed and she breathed in fast, shallow gasps.

“You want money, you’ll get it.” He’d avoided looking at the baby, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her even touching Devon’s kid a moment longer. He came around the edge of his desk, scooped the baby boy out of her grip and held him uneasily. The child stared at him through wide, unblinking eyes, almost as if he were trying to decide what he thought about the whole thing.

Adam couldn’t blame him. The boy had been dragged halfway across the globe, and then handed off to a stranger. It was a wonder he wasn’t howling. Hell, it was a wonder Adam wasn’t howling. He hadn’t been around kids much and babies, almost never. By design.

That was, apparently, going to change. Fast.

“Fine. Then let’s finish our business and I’ll be on my way.”

He dismissed her with a cool look, then hit the intercom button on his desk phone. When it took a few seconds for his assistant to answer, he knew Kevin had probably been listening at the door. No doubt, the man was ready to toss Kim Tressler out on her well-toned ass.

“Kevin,” he said curtly. “Get legal in here. I need them to draw up an agreement. Now.”

“On it.”

“Legal?” Kim’s eyebrows lifted into high arches.

“You think I’m handing you fifty thousand dollars without making sure it’s the last time you come to me for money?”

Adam knew her type. Hell, before Devon died, Adam and the company had paid off dozens of women he’d grown tired of. Again, with the exception being Sienna West. When she and Devon had divorced, Sienna had refused a settlement—in spite of the fact that Adam had done everything he could to change her mind.

“What if I don’t sign?” Kim asked.

“Oh, you’ll sign,” Adam told her. “You want the money too much to refuse. And, I’ll warn you now, if you try anything—like renegotiating—I’ll file for custody. I’ll win. I can afford to fight you for years. Hell, by the time everything’s settled, you’ll be bleaching gray roots. Understood?”

Her mouth worked as if words were gathering there, trying to spill free, but she was holding them back. Finally, she managed to say, “Understood.”

There was no way she’d fight him on this. Mainly because she just didn’t care enough.

Adam looked at the baby boy in his arms and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now. Adam knew nothing about babies. There was no family for him to call on for help. His dad was gone and his mother was living in Florida with her latest boyfriend—and she wasn’t exactly a “typical” grandma, anyway.

He was going to have to hire someone. A nanny. But until then... Reaching for the intercom button again, he pressed it and said, “Kevin, come in here, will you?”

A second or two later, the office door opened to reveal Kevin Jameson. Tall, with dark blond hair and sharp eyes the same shade of blue as his silk tie, Kevin paused long enough to give the woman in the room a hard look, then walked to Adam. “What do you need?”

Instantly, Adam handed the baby over and just managed to swallow a sigh of relief before it could escape. If the situation had been different, he might have laughed at the expression of pure panic on Kevin’s face, but Adam had a feeling his own features hadn’t looked much different a minute or two ago. “Take care of him while Kim and I get this situation resolved.”

“Me?” Kevin held the baby as he would have a stick of dynamite with a burning fuse.

“Yeah. His stuff is in that bag,” Adam added, then waved to the two men in staid black suits entering the room. “Thanks, Kev.”

As the lawyers huddled around the desk, Adam didn’t watch Kevin and the baby leave. But he knew he’d hear about it later. Kevin and he had been roommates in college, so they went far enough back that he’d feel free to let Adam know just what he thought about being made an instant babysitter.

With the doors closed, Adam looked at Kim and said, “This is it. A onetime payment and you’ll sign away all parental rights. Are we clear?”

She didn’t look happy—probably because she’d imagined coming back for more money whenever she felt like it. Adam wasn’t stupid enough to allow room for that.

“Fine.”

Nodding, Adam said, “Gentlemen, write it up. I want a document that turns over care of Devon’s infant son to me. And I want one that will stand up in any court.”

Kim’s eyes narrowed. “Seriously? You don’t trust me to keep my word?”

“You’re selling your son,” Adam reminded her tightly. “Why in the hell would I trust you?”

* * *

An hour later, Kim Tressler was gone and Kevin was back in Adam’s office, his feet propped on the edge of the desk. “I’ll get you for handing that baby off to me.”

“I figured you would,” Adam said, lifting his own feet to the desk. He leaned back in his chair, took a sip of coffee and wished to hell it was scotch. “You heard all of it, right? I mean before you came in to get the kid.”

“Damn right I did.” Kevin drank his own coffee. “As soon as I saw her come in with that baby, I knew there was going to be trouble.” He shook his head. “Kid looks just like his father. Adam, we both know Devon picked some crappy women in his time, but that one I think takes the prize.”

“If they gave prizes for selling your own kid, yeah, she would.”

“Man, it’s days like these that make me glad I’m gay.”

Adam snorted, then stopped. Looked around. “Where’s the baby?”

Kevin laid his head back and closed his eyes. “I put Kara in charge of him. She’s got three kids of her own, so I figured, hey. Experience counts.”

“Plus, then you didn’t have to watch him.”

“Major bonus, yes.” Kevin opened one eye to look at Adam. “I noticed you weren’t real anxious to cuddle up, either.”

“Well what the hell do I know about babies?”

“And you think I magically know something?” Kevin shuddered. “Kara’s taking care of him and I sent Teddy from accounting out to buy diapers and food and whatever the hell else it needs.”

“He. Not it.”

“Excuse me.”

“Okay, so the baby’s fine for now. But that won’t last.” Adam frowned. He needed help and he needed it now. “I have to find a nanny.”

“Well don’t look at me.”

“I wouldn’t do that to the kid.”

“Funny.” Kevin took another sip of coffee and sighed. “So do you want me to set up interviews or something?”

He could trust Kevin not only to advertise, but to interview and find the best possible person for any given job. Still, this was something he should probably do himself. “I’ll take care of it. But I need someone today.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“What about your mom?” Adam asked, delighted when that brilliant idea popped into his mind. Kevin’s mother had practically adopted Adam into the family years ago. She was warm, kind, funny and already a grandmother thanks to Kevin’s sister Nora. “You think she’d help me out for a while?”

“She’d love it,” Kevin said, nodding. “Nothing Anna Jameson likes better than a baby.”

“Good—”

“Unfortunately for you,” Kevin added, “she’s on that Alaskan cruise you gave her for her birthday...”

“Damn it.” Scowling, Adam took another drink of his coffee.

“Got a video email from her last night,” Kevin said. “She and Aunt Noreen are having a great time. Mom bought Nick and I fur coats for winter.”

“We live in Southern California.”

Kevin shrugged. “Didn’t seem to matter to Mom. Oh, and she said to say thank you again.”

“She’s welcome again. Your sister lives in San Diego, so I can’t ask her.”

“Nora’s got three of her own. If you don’t mind the drive she probably wouldn’t even notice a fourth.”

“Funny. I just wish—never mind.” Adam looked at his friend. “Who else do we know?”

“Any number of people.” Kevin shrugged. “None of whom I’d trust with a baby. Except for maybe Nick—and before you suggest it, no.”

Kevin’s husband, Nick, loved kids. He was already an uncle many times over through not only Nora, but his own two sisters and a brother, as well. “It wouldn’t be for long.”

“Overnight is too long.” Kevin shook his head firmly. “Nick’s still talking about us adopting and I don’t want to give him more ammunition.”

“Fine.” But it wasn’t fine at all. He’d done the right thing—saved his nephew from a mother who didn’t deserve him, and now Adam had to come up with some answers. He couldn’t think of anyone who might ride to the temporary rescue. Not as if he could ask his own ex-wife. Even the thought of that made him laugh quietly. Tricia was a TV reporter and had less knowledge of kids than he did. Besides that, he and Tricia hadn’t spoken since their marriage ended more than five years ago. They’d had nothing in common then and even less now. And to top it all off, Tricia was working at a Seattle station now, so geographically undesirable anyway.

Frowning, Adam realized how insular his world was. He set his coffee cup down and tapped his fingers against the desktop. Most of the people he knew were business acquaintances. He didn’t have time for friendships, so anyone he knew was just as busy as he was.

“You’re tapping.”

He stopped, looked at Kevin. “What?”

“Your fingers. Tapping. Either start playing a tune or cut it out.”

“Right.” Adam pushed to his feet and shoved both hands through his hair. “It shouldn’t be this hard to figure out.”

“What about Delores?”

Adam shook his head. “She’s a housekeeper, not a nanny.”

“But temporarily...”

“She leaves tomorrow to visit her sister in Ohio.”

“Perfect.”

“It’s the beginning of summer. People take vacations.” Of course, the reason his people were currently gone was because he’d bought them tickets. Was this some kind of weird Karma? Make him suffer for doing something nice for Anna Jameson and Delores Banner? It seemed like the universe itself was conspiring against him. And damned if Adam would surrender. There had to be someone—

As one particular thought sailed into his mind and settled in, Adam examined it from every angle. Okay. It could work. If it didn’t blow up in his face, first.

“Who are you thinking about?”

He looked at Kevin. “Sienna.”

Kevin’s mouth dropped open. “You want Devon’s ex-wife to take care of Devon’s kid with someone else.”

Frowning, Adam murmured, “It didn’t sound that bad in my head.”

“Well it should have. Adam, she left Devon because he didn’t want kids.”

He waved that aside. “That’s only one of the reasons.”

“Exactly.” Kevin stood up and faced his friend. “Devon was an ass to her and now you want to continue the Quinn family tradition?”

“This will be a straight-up business arrangement.”

“Oh well, that’s different then.”

Ignoring the sarcasm, Adam stalked across the room to the wide window that overlooked the sea. Kevin was right, but that didn’t matter because Adam couldn’t think of anyone else but Sienna.

One part of his mind took in the scene before him, the impossibly small boat, red sails billowing in the wind. A pod of dolphins leaping from the water like ballet dancers. Surfers riding waves toward shore. But while he could enjoy the view, most of his brain was talking himself into his best chance. “She’s the only one I know who could do this.”

“Maybe, but why should she?” The argument was a good one and they both knew it. Kevin walked over to stand beside him. “When she divorced Devon, she didn’t want his money. What makes you think she’ll take yours?”

Adam looked at his oldest friend. “Because I won’t give her a choice.”

* * *

Sienna West gently tucked the newborn’s arms beneath its chest, turned that perfect little face toward her, then stepped back and took the shot. The lighting was perfect. The pale, lemon yellow blanket beneath the baby highlighted the tiny girl’s copper skin tone and the yellow-and-white daisies scattered around and across the impossibly small, naked body gave an almost fairy-like impression.

Sienna took a few more shots in rapid succession, then her assistant, Terri, stepped in to gently lay a daisy against the baby girl’s ear. More clicks of the digital camera and finally Sienna sat back and smiled. She checked the screen on her camera and felt that familiar flush of accomplishment. They’d already been at it for half an hour while the baby quietly slept through prop changes, hair brushing and lighting changes. This couldn’t last forever. Quickly, she scrolled through the shots, seeing ones she liked, ones she would edit and others she would delete.

Glancing up at the proud parents hovering close by, she said, “I think that’s got it.”

“They’re going to be beautiful,” the young mom said, hurrying in to scoop up her daughter and hold her close.

“Hard to be anything else,” Sienna assured her. “She’s a gorgeous baby.”

“She is, isn’t she?” the baby’s father mused, reaching out to run one finger along his daughter’s cheek.

Quickly, Sienna lifted her camera and took several shots of the family, connected, touching, sharing a moment they weren’t even aware that they’d created. The tenderness of the young mother. The protective stance and gentle touch of the father and the sleeping baby nestled close. Checking her camera screen, Sienna smiled to herself. Since they hadn’t asked for a family print, this would be a gift from her. And, with their permission, she’d showcase it on her website, as well.

Standing up, she said, “In about a week, I’ll have some proofs to show you. Terri will give you the sign-in code for the website. Then all you have to do is decide which ones you want.”

Kissing her baby tenderly, the mother laughed a little. “That’s going to be the hard part, isn’t it?”

“Usually, yes.” Terri spoke up and began to herd the family from the room. “If you’ll come with me, you can get Kenzie dressed and I’ll get that code for you.”

Sienna watched them go, then turned to her equipment. Terri was good with the clients. As the mother of four and grandmother of six, she knew her way around babies. Plus, she had a calming touch with nervous parents and jittery kids. Hiring her had been the best move Sienna had ever made.

She took the memory card from the camera, inserted it into the computer and opened a new folder for the Johnson family. Once the images were done loading, she flipped through them with a critical eye, deleting those that didn’t meet her expectations and marking those that would be the winners.

Already, she loved the last-minute shots she’d taken of the family as a whole. It said something to her. The love in the mother’s eyes. The trusting curl of the baby’s body against her mother’s chest. The protective gleam in the father’s eyes and the visual element of his much bigger hand against his tiny daughter’s cheek.

Sienna’s heart gave a hard squeeze. Once upon a time, she’d dreamed of having kids herself. Of building a family with a man she loved, who would look at her and see everything in the world he wanted. She’d made a grab at the brass ring a few years ago—only to discover that she hadn’t really caught it at all. Instead, she’d been grabbing at fog. Wisps of dreams that in the light of day lost all cohesion.

Devon Quinn had been both the dream and the nightmare. So handsome. So charming, with a wicked smile and a twinkle in his eyes that promised adventure and love. But she’d only seen what she’d wanted to see and it hadn’t taken her long to figure out that marrying Devon had been the biggest mistake of her life. Now Sienna was divorced, with a struggling business taking pictures of children that weren’t hers.

“Wow.” Shaking her head, she ordered, “Snap out of it, Sienna.”

She usually didn’t wallow. Sienna was a firm believer in letting the past go and concentrating on the now. She didn’t spend much time remembering Devon or the marriage that had been such a disappointment.

“Sienna?”

She looked up at Terri. “The Johnsons have a question?”

“No,” the older woman said. “They paid and left. But someone else is here to see you.”

Terri didn’t look happy about it, either. Which only made Sienna wonder who could have put the uneasy look on her friend’s face. “Who is it?”

“Me.”

Terri jumped when the deep voice sounded out from right behind her. Sienna’s gaze was locked on the man standing behind her assistant as she stood up slowly. Even if she hadn’t seen him, she would have known that voice. Though she hadn’t heard it in two years, she’d have recognized it anywhere. That voice was not just deep, it carried the ring of power, letting everyone know that the man speaking was used to being heard and obeyed.

Which just didn’t fly with Sienna.

Still, her gaze locked with his and a rush of heat filled her stomach, swirled around for a heartbeat or two, then rose up in her chest.

Adam Quinn.

Her ex-brother-in-law. Funny, looking at Adam now, she could see the family resemblance between him and Devon. But she could see so much more than she once had. For example, Adam’s chocolate eyes met hers squarely. They didn’t shift around the room as Devon’s had, as if he were looking for someone more interesting to talk to.

Adam’s mouth was firm, and some would say grim, but Devon’s smile, she’d discovered, was used to disarm, deceive. Adam’s hair lacked the wave of Devon’s, but somehow the expert, somewhat shaggy cut suited him. Devon had boasted a dark tan, which had come from so much time spent playing on lakes or ski slopes while Adam’s skin was paler, letting her know that he was still more focused on his business than in entertaining himself.

He was taller than she remembered, Sienna thought. At least six foot two, and even wearing the elegantly tailored navy blue, three-piece suit, he looked more of a pirate than a businessman. Maybe, she told herself, it was because he carried an air of, not danger, exactly, but as if he were issuing a silent warning to stay out of his way or be mowed down.

And just watching him had her heartbeat speeding up. It happened every time she was around Adam. Sienna hated acknowledging that, even to herself. Devon’s brother was off-limits. Or should be. While Devon had been completely self-indulgent, Adam was too straitlaced. Too much the corporate raider for her. What she needed to do was find a man right in the middle of those two extremes. The problem was, Sienna didn’t think she’d ever meet a man who could turn her insides into a blazing inferno with a single look like Adam could.

Two years since she’d spoken to him. Seen him. And the internal fire was sizzling away. Ridiculous or not, she really wished she were wearing something more flattering than a long-sleeved white shirt and an old pair of jeans.

When she realized the humming silence between them had been stretching out interminably, she cleared her throat. “Adam. What are you doing here?”

He stepped out from behind Terri and the woman sort of skittered sideways to keep out of his path. Sienna couldn’t really blame her. Adam was intense.

“I need to talk to you,” he said, slanting the other woman a look. “Privately.”