Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Dante
Noah wakes up exactly five minutes later, just as Tatiana has predicted. He walks through the door from the lobby, rubbing his eyes and holding the patched dinosaur under one arm.
“Mommy?” He glances around the lounge in alarm before fixing his gaze on me. “Where’s my mommy?”
“I’m right here,” Tatiana says behind me with a smile in her voice, exiting the study. “Are you hungry?”
Noah doesn’t look away from me. “Where are we?”
I speak before Tatiana can reply. “At a hotel. Do you like it?”
He considers the question with a serious frown. “Why is it so big? Why isn’t it tiny? Rooms at hotels are always tiny.”
I go over, sensing Tatiana as she follows on my heels. “It’s a suite, meant for a family.”
Noah stares up at me. “Are we a family?”
Tatiana makes a choking sound.
I smile. “We needed rooms for you, your mom, Jasper, and me.”
His mouth drops open as he inspects the space.
“All of this? Just for us?” When he spots the big television mounted on the wall, he sprints over with a squeal and stops in front of it.
“Wow. Look at the size of the TV!” Spinning around, he faces me with barely contained excitement. “Can I watch TV?”
Tatiana walks to him and strokes his hair. “It’s a weekday, Noah.”
His shoulders slump. “Will we still be here this weekend?”
I assume that means he’s only allowed to watch television on weekends.
Tatiana turns to me with worry and uncertainty in her expression, clearly not knowing how to answer that question because their fates are in my hands now. Every decision—where they sleep, what they eat, and when they do so—is mine to make, and she knows it.
I want nothing more than to switch on that television for my son.
It’s such a small thing to ask for. So little.
The expectation on his face is killing me.
Having to say no makes me feel like the monster his mother accused me of being a few moments ago.
But rules are rules, and I’m not going to undermine Tatiana’s authority.
As I’ve already decided we’d stay in Denver until next week, the least I can do is make Noah a promise.
“We’ll be here until Monday.” I don’t care who I have to bribe or how much I have to pay.
I’ll kick out whoever might’ve booked the suite even if I have to do it with a gun pushed against the back of someone’s head.
“Here.” I take the remote from the entertainment center and show him how it works.
When the demonstration is finished, he looks at me as if I’m his hero. And I’ll be damned if it doesn’t warm my stone-cold heart.
“Come, baby.” Tatiana holds out a hand. “Let’s get you dressed.”
He pouts and pulls away. “I’m not a baby.”
I wince. Yeah, I was going to mention that to Tatiana. Boys of his age don’t want to be called babies in front of an audience and especially not when they start going to school.
“Of course not.” She withdraws her hand. “It’s just my way of showing affection and telling you how much I love you. But you’re right. You’re not a baby any longer, so I won’t call you that again. How about pancakes for breakfast?”
“Really?” He gapes. “Really, really? I don’t have to eat oatmeal?”
Tatiana laughs. “Really.”
She’s good with him. Watching them together… it moves something inside me, something that’s been dead for a very long time.
“Are you coming, Dante?” He takes my hand. “Mommy lets me have pancakes with chocolate chips.”
Tatiana drops her gaze to where his small hand rests in mine, seeming a little hurt. She’s quick to hide it when she meets my eyes. The unspoken message in hers isn’t difficult to decipher. She doesn’t want me to join them.
“Sorry, buddy.” Even though pulling my hand from his is like having my skin peeled with a vegetable scraper, I go down on my haunches to put us on eye level.
“I have work to catch up with.” At the crestfallen look that comes over his little face, I offer him a compromise.
“How about we have dinner together again?” Tatiana opens her mouth, no doubt to object, but I continue before she has a chance.
“This time, your mom can choose the restaurant.” I shoot her a glance. “I’m obviously no good at it.”
My phone rings. I straighten and take it out of my pocket. It’s Reino.
While I take the call, Tatiana escapes with Noah to his room.
Reino informs me he’s on his way up via the stairs.
While I wait for him, I push the cabinet away from Jasper’s door. Before I can knock, she steps out dressed in a flannel shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Her hair is loosely braided down her back.
Her tone drips with hostility. “Where’s Tiana?”
“In Noah’s room. She’s helping him to get dressed. You’re going out for breakfast.”
Someone raps on the door. I look through the peephole before opening it. Reino steps inside, wearing his usual attire of dark jeans, a T-shirt, Mexican pointy boots, and a leather jacket. I nod at the men standing guard in front of the fire exit and close the door, making sure to lock it.
Reino smiles at Jasper. “Morning.”
She cuts him to pieces with her gaze. “I don’t make nice with liars, so save your breath.”
Reino grins. “I reckoned we’re even, Delilah.”
She fumes in silence, continuing to glare at him.
I take my credit card from my wallet and give it to Reino. “Take them for breakfast wherever Tatiana wants to go. Make sure a team follows, and check out the place before you let them go inside.”
He slips the credit card into the back pocket of his jeans. “Where would you like me to take them after breakfast?”
“To work. Keep a watch around the clock, and send me hourly updates.”
“Yes, sir,” he drawls, grinning at Jasper when he catches her gaze.
Tatiana and Noah walk from the bedroom. Noah is dressed in the same tracksuit pants and sneakers as yesterday, but he’s wearing a Superman T-shirt that’s a tad too small for him.
Tatiana has twisted her hair in a messy bun and put on her sneakers.
The scarf she’s tied around her neck this morning hasn’t escaped my attention.
I assume she’s not wearing it because she’s cold.
Her tote bag hangs over her shoulder. She doesn’t seem happy to see Reino either.
I go over and pull her into my arms before kissing her on the lips. “Have a nice day, baby. I’ll come over as soon as I’ve finished important business.”
She’s too caught off guard to react at first. I set her free before she can push me away.
Noah stares at us, his gaze moving from his mom to me and back to his mom. “Are you in love, Mommy?”
A flush taints her cheeks. “Of course n—”
“That’s how grownups greet one another when they’re in a relationship,” I interject.
Tatiana clenches her jaw so hard her teeth snap together.
Noah considers me with a tilted head. “Are you calling her baby to show affection too?”
A strange sound escapes from Jasper’s lips, which she quickly disguises with a cough.
I suppress a smile. “Something like that.”
“Come on, Noah.” Tatiana ushers him toward the door. “We better get to the Pancake Stack before all the good tables are gone.” She addresses me with a cool smile. “I assume you have men downstairs?”
That goes without saying. I raise a brow, waiting for her to continue.
“I’ll tell them they can help themselves to the breakfast you ordered.” It’s just her way of getting in a jab to pay me back for kissing her in front of Noah. “It would be a pity to waste so much food, even if it’s drugged.”
Amused, I chuckle.
Reino leads them to the elevator. I see them off and wait until the door closes before installing myself in the study.
Like me, my business partner, Saverio De Luca, is an early riser.
Knowing he’ll be at the office he runs from their club with his wife, Anya, I call him.
With everything that’s gone down, I haven’t had the time yet to bring him up to speed with the turn of events.
I was in a plane somewhere over England when my investigator finally hit the jackpot after years of following false leads and useless information.
The news didn’t reach me until I landed in Amsterdam.
I was drafting the contract terms of a tricky negotiation and didn’t connect to the plane’s Wi-Fi to check my messages.
But the minute I stepped onto the tarmac in the Netherlands and got the message that he’d found Tatiana, I cancelled my business meetings and got right back onto the plane.
I didn’t give a fuck that my clients threatened to pull the plug on our deal.
The investors’ chagrin didn’t faze me. Neither did the pilot’s refusal to take off in a storm.
I put a gun to his head and told him to fire up the engines.
Sadly, he’d been right. We had to divert to Paris or risk crashing the plane. It took hours for the thunderstorm, that led to widespread hailstorms, to pass, hours that I paced the airport building and watched the sky through the windows as if I could change the weather.
The pilot and I were back in the air the minute the control tower cleared our takeoff. Even with a private jet, it takes time to cross the Atlantic Ocean. So I put Reino in charge of watching Tatiana until I could get here.
Sav greets me with, “How’s Amsterdam?”
“I wouldn’t know. I never had a chance to do sightseeing.”
Caution sharpens his voice. “Where are you?”
“Denver.” I pause, still battling to process the last twelve hours. “I found Tatiana.”
He whistles before asking carefully, “How is she?”
“She’ll adjust.” I rack my brain for the right words to share my news. Coming up empty, I give it to him straight. “I have a kid—a boy, four years old.”
“Jesus. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you ask for a DNA test?”
“I don’t have to. I know he’s mine.”
Saverio is quiet for a beat. “What do you want to do?”
I don’t hesitate. “Bring them home.”
He doesn’t question the wiseness of that decision. “If you need me, my men are at your disposal.”
“I appreciate that.” Sav always has my back. “The Dutch investors aren’t happy. I left them hanging.”