Page 70 of Mile High Baby

He stood, lifting our son and putting him on his shoulders. "Are you kidding? This is the greatest adventure of my life."

I shot up in bed, blinking into the night. It had been a dream. It wasn't real. But could it be? Would it be possible that Alex and I could be a family? My heart ached for just that.

Alex had been clear that he was a one-and-done bachelor, but he’d broken those rules with me. He’d confessed that he couldn’t stop thinking of me. Maybe it wasn’t love, but it was something more than a hookup, right?

But was I brave enough to tell him the truth about my feelings and the baby? And if his feelings were more, would he be brave enough to face my father?

23

Alex

Four days after leaving Victoria at her father's house, great gains were being made in dealing with George Pitney. Tommy and his wife were tucked safely away in another safe house in another part of the city, and they were doing the best they could to help us in exchange for arranging for them to get away from her uncle. They didn't know much about George's business and even less about his criminal activity, but neither was the information they could share unhelpful. They didn't know what we were planning, but through our questioning, we were able to learn who would be good candidates to challenge Pitney to take over the company. Aimee even indicated she had heard discussions between her uncle and a member of the board that suggested animosity between them. It almost sounded like members of Pitney's board, and many of his high-level managers and VPs, were about at their wits’ end with him. There seemed to be some suggestion that Pitney’s behavior was changing, which to my mind wasn't a good sign. It was easier to deal with people when you could predict how they’d act. It sounded like Pitney was becoming irrational and paranoid.

I contacted Henry to ask what he knew of the few names Tommy had given me of people who seemed unhappy with Pitney and would like to take over. I figured with all of Henry’s investigative journalism experience, he was a good source of information as well. The one name that showed up on both their lists was Jack Moore.

We decided Dax would be the one to approach Jack. We wouldn’t let him know our plan, but we’d assess and work to manipulate the situation that would put him in charge. Dax was the best person because although I’d come from an influential family in New York, I’d been gone a long time. Dax hadn’t been from a rich family, but he married into one of the biggest. The Clarke family was right up there with Henry.

With a plan and things to do, I buried myself in work. Research, strategy, surveillance, questioning Tommy and Aimee, and making sure they didn’t change their minds. This distraction was welcome but unfortunately not foolproof at preventing me from thinking of Victoria.

How hard could it be to stop caring for someone? I truly believed that by going cold turkey, cutting off any contact between us and going on with my life, was the answer. I still believed it was the answer, but I was learning that it was going to take a whole lot more time and effort than I had thought.

It didn't help that she showed up in my dreams. In them, she was sometimes calling me out as the coward that I was. Other times, she was sweet and sassy, and those were the times when the longing nearly brought me to my knees.

But if I were honest with myself, the worst times were the mornings waking up alone in bed. The first two mornings, I automatically reached out for her, prepared to pull her to me and wake her up with sweet kisses and slow sex. Yesterday was the first day that I woke up and remembered where I was. I was in a Saint Security safe house, babysitting spoiled brat newlyweds.

Today, we made headway on the plan, and with the information that Tommy and Aimee gave us, we are actively pulling together evidence that we hoped the D.A. would use to pick Pitney up and put him in jail. The charges were still fraud and other stupid charges, but something was better than nothing.

I've been keeping Henry in the loop about what was going on through phone calls, purposely not stopping by the house so I wouldn't have to see Victoria. But now we were at a crucial stage of this mission, and I needed to talk with Henry. Mostly, I needed to get him to back the hell off his investigative reporting until Pitney was put away and Jack Moore was installed as the head of the company.

As my driver pulled up in front of Henry's home, my heart beat a million miles a minute. I wasn’t sure if it was because I so desperately wanted to see Victoria or that I was terrified I would run into her. She was smart and young and had a business to run, so I doubted she thought about me much now. But if I saw her, it would ruin the minuscule progress I'd made this week in trying to move on.

Knightly let me into the house and led me to Henry's office. I didn't let out a breath until the office door closed behind me and Victoria wasn't in sight.

“The end is in sight.” Henry poured himself a drink and then one for me too. “We should celebrate.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Still, I accepted the drink he offered as I needed it. I couldn’t stop glancing at the door, wondering if at any moment Victoria would walk in. "Things are progressing about as we expect. Moore is strong, pissed off at Pitney, and power greedy. He’s the best choice to challenge Pitney."

Henry shook his head. "He doesn't have any scruples either."

"Yeah, but he also doesn't want to kill you. And as long as you don't piss him off, he won't want to. Look, Henry, we’re not going to find a Mother Teresa type. If we’re going to take Pitney’s power away, Moore is our best bet."

Henry took a sip of his whiskey but made a face of distaste. I'm pretty sure it was the idea of maneuvering Jack Moore into a position to usurp Pitney and not the whiskey that he didn’t like.

"If Moore makes this move, that's news," Henry said.

"Report it like everybody else would. Factual without editorial commentary on his less than angelic acts. There's a lot riding on this, Henry. I know that you have no problem risking your life or my life—”

Henry bristled. "Risking your life is what you do. All of you at Saint Security—”

"Yes, we signed up for this, but there are others who haven't." I didn't say Victoria's name because saying it would make her too real again and I had been working fucking hard the last few days to eliminate her from my mind and my heart. It wasn't going very well, but I was determined to succeed.

"We captured one of his men—”

“Captured? You make it sound like a military op.”

Maybe I was telling him too much. “He’s the guy who tried to access the house. He and his wife are working with us. And when this is all over, we’re going to give them new identities and send them off. This is serious shit, Henry. This couple is too young and too naïve to be doing what we’re asking them to do. Please don't make it harder for them by fucking this up."

Henry flinched but nodded.