Chapter 11
Ivy
“I want custody.” Words I’ve always dreaded come out of his mouth just as we leave Lake’s bedroom.
“You can’t just come here and declare things you want and don’t want. I was sure you said you never wanted kids.”
“That was the old me. New me will not have you deprive me another second away from my son.”
Ugh, he could be so stubborn. This is the same man who was visibly repulsed by a friend of his getting married back in college after the friend learned his girlfriend was expecting a child. Now he barges into my life, demanding custody of a child he never wanted. You invited him in, a small voice said. And what a mistake that was. I should have known this would happen. I was too desperate to think straight.
“You don’t even know if he’s really your son.”
Damien’s lip curls with revulsion. “You would say that, wouldn’t you? Were there other men you seduced in your father’s garden?”
“You damn well know it wasn’t like that.”
“Really? What was it like?” He stalks forward like a leopard. And I like prey mesmerized, stand still. “Because I distinctly remember you begging for my cock.” His voice lowers as his gaze travels from my lips to my cleavage. “I’ve been saving myself for you. Isn’t that what you said? Only you weren’t a virgin, weren’t you? I’ve been practicing with a dildo, was the excuse if I’m not mistaken.”
I feel my cheeks flush. Despite my desire to look away, his gaze holds mine captive. he “You were older. More experienced. You should have known better.”
“Oh, come on. I did not do anything to you that you didn’t want.” My heart skips a beat. He’s standing close. Too close. I can feel his breath fanning my cheeks as he speaks. “Too bad you told your father a completely different story.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“Exactly. You let your father and brother think the worst and said nothing to contradict it. Why?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” He thought and probably still thinks I was Daddy’s favorite, but nothing could be further from the truth. I was a nuisance to my father. Not only would he have cast me out after finding out, he would have ruined Damien’s career. Damien thinks that by firing him, my father did so, but if I had agreed to have willingly slept with Damien, my father would have blacklisted him. Damien would not work again in New York. Hell, make that the entire country. Even though my father didn’t think of me as the apple of his eye, he disliked the possibility of me marrying below my station. He controlled my dating life from the people I dated to who could be my friend.
And when he found out that not only was I pregnant, but the child was Damien’s, he threw me out of the house and cut me off after I said I would not get rid of the pregnancy. He even made sure that anyone who tried to help me would face the same financial consequences. It was his way of trying to make me get rid of the baby. And the longer I stayed resolute, the more stubborn he became.
He steps back as if coming out of a trance. “You’re right. The women I know would never do such a thing.”
Damien paces around the living room, his hand on his chin, facing down, then he stops, lifts his head and says, “Have it your way. Let’s do a DNA test.”
I take a deep breath. A test will give me enough time to get a lawyer and learn my options. “Okay. When do you want to do it?”
“As soon as possible. And in the meantime, both of you are coming to my place.”
“What for!”
“You could run away with my kid, for starters. There’s no way I’m letting Lake out of my sight.”
“No. You can’t just uproot us like that. He has school and friends and a routine.”
“First; it’s summer and schools are closed.”
Fuck expected him not to know that one.
“Secondly, if he wants to play with his friends, he can do saw on a playdate. I won’t stop him and as for a routine, he will develop a new one. He’s seven.”
I cross my arms. “We’re not going anywhere with you.”
“I could stay here if that’s convenient for you.Your place is small, but I’m sure we can make do. I don’t mind sleeping on a couch.”
The thought of Damien crammed with us in this small space is more terrifying to me than living with him in what I assume will be a huge townhouse or something similar. Bumping into him on my way to the shower is not how I want to spend my mornings. “Fine, I’ll tell Lake that we will be visiting your place for a few days.”
***
Damien’s place is not a townhouse, but a penthouse apartment at one of the most coveted addresses in the city. It’s modern and everything I expect a billionaire bachelor like him to live in. It looks like a typical designed-by-an-interior-decorator design, which I find surprising. Damien is the type of person to color his personality all over a place he’s living in.
“Have you recently moved?” I ask after he’s given us the tour.
“Been living here for the better part of four years, actually.”
It’s very different from the last place I remember him staying at. Even though it’s devoid of individuality, I still can’t deny that it’s a much greater upgrade. Lake likes it. He hasn’t stopped looking around and taking everything in ever since we came here. When I told him we will be staying with Damien, he was hesitant at first, but all that was forgotten when he learned he will have his own bathroom. Now he can’t stop tugging my hand in a sign to let go of his hand. But I can’t. I’m afraid Damien will take him and run away with him. Irrational, I know, but I can’t shake the feeling. It’s only after Lake tugs me roughly that I let him go. I thought he would immediately start running around the apartment, but he stands still, staring at Damien.
Damien cracks a smile and bends down to Lake’s height. “So? What do you think?”
Lake glances around, nodding. “It’s okay. Granny’s place is kinda like yours, but better.”
Damien seems unfazed by Lake’s childish candor and brushes his head. “You, me and your mom will be staying here for a while. How do you like the sound of that?”
Lake turns his gaze up at me, to judge if what Damien’s saying is the truth? I nod. “For how long? I have school to get back to after summer and I have friends who will miss me if I’m gone for too long.”
Damien chuckles. “A man who knows his schedule. I like that.” He ruffles Lake’s hair and straightens.
“Looks like you’ll be staying here for the summer. That is until I,” he leans and whispers, “Crush you in court.”
A chill runs down my spine. “I will not let you take my son,” I whisper back. And I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me. I have money now. Money that’s still tied to him and, knowing Damien, he can find a way to freeze it. However, I’m sure I can liquidate enough to mount some sort of resistance.“Wanna bet?”
“Bet what?” We both look down at Lake, who’s staring back at us. His brow furrowed, sensing the tension in the room. I scramble for an excuse, but Damien is quicker than me. “Your mother was telling me you don’t like pizza and I said I bet you did.”
Lake giggles. “I like pizza, but Mom says it’s unhealthy to eat it for breakfast, lunch and supper every day.”
“Did you have it for breakfast?”
Lake shakes his head.
“How about lunch?”
He shakes his head again.
“Great! Pizza for supper it is!”
Lake glances at me wearily.
“Don’t worry about mom. My house. My rules.”
Lake ignores him and continues to look at me for permission. I nod. He beams and jumps up and down.
Damien orders more than enough pizza for three people and a few minutes later, we are having a makeshift picnic in the living room. Damien and Lake do the bulk of the talking during supper while I struggle to finish a single slice. My heart hasn’t stopped beating ever since the two met each other for the first time. And now, as I look at them, I can’t miss the similarities. No wonder Damien knew Lake was his son the moment he saw him. Not only do they look similar, but they also have similar mannerisms. They both emphasize words with hand gestures. They both bend their heads at a slight angle when listening to someone speak. And speaking of pizza, they like the same toppings.
I sit quietly and let them talk to each other. For some reason, they seem to have endless topics to discuss and I have to reluctantly agree that Damien would make a good father. He has a natural way with kids. He’s attentive, indulgent of Lake’s silly tangents, playful and fun. Should I have done more to get in touch with him? All these years I was sure he wanted nothing to do with me and my child. And now? I don’t know what to think.
When we are done, I put Lake to sleep while Damien puts away the plates and empty pizza boxes. “He’s fun,” Lake says as I put him to sleep. “More fun than Brad.”
I shake my head as I button his pajama top. “Are you saying that because you like his place?”
“No! He’s…” Lake turns his head up as he tries to think of the right word. “He’s easy. I feel like I can talk to him.”
“And you didn’t like talking to Brad?” I lift him, place him onto the double bed, and cover his tiny body with the sheets.
“I liked talking to Brad, but Brad didn’t like talking to me.” His declarative statements never cease to amuse me. His childish honesty is refreshing and something I hope he gets to keep as long as possible. The truth is, Brad, unlike Damien, was never good with children, but tried his best to be friendly with Lake.
“Who’s Brad?” Damien’s voice booms from the door. I turn to see him leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and his biceps bulging out.
“Mom’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Lake!”
“Are you her new boyfriend?” He says to Damien.
Damien raises his brow in a way that I used to think was cute but is now irritating. Fuck, I still think it’s cute. “More than that actually.”
“Damien!” He shrugs and I turn back to Lake, “Do you want me to read you Timmy the Traveling Tea Train?”
Lake yawns. “Yes.” But by the time I’ve pulled the story on my phone, Lake’s already asleep.
“He has your jaw.”
I nearly jump out of my skin when I see Damien standing next to me. I stand up subconsciously wanting to be closer to equal height with him. “What are you talking about?”
“The shape of your jawlines. Look.” He bends over and delicately traces Lake’s jaw without waking him up. Then he straightens and brings the same hand to caress my jaw. My breath catches as I am once again imprisoned by his gaze. “It’s the same.” If we weren’t standing so close I might not have heard him. His voice is low and sexy and fills me with warm fuzziness I shouldn’t be feeling. This man wants to take away your son.
But does that practical voice register? No. Yearning screams louder than anything inside me as I lean forward. The space between us disappears as our lips touch. His lips caress mine and I brush my tongue against his wanting more. He groans, grabs my head, and crushes our lips together. He nips and licks as he kisses me with a fervor that lights a fire inside me. A hunger similar to our first time. He devours me with the kiss until I’m moaning in his mouth. My hands caressing his back and simultaneously holding on for dear life.
Just as abruptly as it started, he pulls back. “Fucking hell.” Without thinking, I look down at Lake. He’s sound asleep. “Don’t swear in his presence,” I whisper to Damien.
“Who’s Brad?” He whispers back. I motion to the door to leave. He follows me and as soon as I close the door behind me he asks again, “Who’s Brad.”
“We kiss and that’s the first thing you say?”
“I couldn’t resist your soft lips. I had to get a taste.”
“Brad is my ex-boyfriend. The only boyfriend Lake knows before you go into some diatribe about how I exposed your son to a boatload of men.”
“So you admit that he’s my son.”
“He could be Brad’s.”
His eyes darken. “If I were you Poison Ivy, I would be playing nice.”
His threat clear, he marches to his room. I enter my own, situated opposite Lakes and next to his I notice, and fall straight on the bed without taking my clothes off.
We stay at his place for the next three days while we wait for the DNA tests. Some paparazzi caught me coming out of Damien’s apartment and it made it onto the Gossip Blogs for a few days. Coming out of the Devil’s layer, was the headline. It must have been a slow news day for them to care that much about me. Luckily they didn’t see Lake or at least they were wise enough not to report it. Sonya wouldn’t stop talking about it and the rest of the staff kept giving me odd looks.
When the results came out, Damien called me to his office. I could have said no but trying him would be another mark against me.
“The test is positive,” he says as soon as I enter his office. Nicole who opens the door for me, makes a face. What’s with her? Maybe because she knows? I try not to think about her and focus on Damien. Sleek as always in a white shirt, navy tie and navy suit pants, he throws the results on the desk. I don’t bother checking them. I know he’s telling the truth.
“We have to tell him,” he says as he walks around his desk and comes to stand in front of me.
“Can you give me some time to think of a way to break it gently to Lake?”
“Break it gently? I’m not a convict. Why would you need to do that? You’re telling him tonight or I am.”
Lake’s in his room when I come back from work. He’s playing with a new Lego set Damien bought for him. It’s among one of the many toys he filled his son’s room with. During the three days we’ve been here, the room has gone from a plain guest room to something similar to Lake’s room at my apartment but grander. Even the sheets are Spiderman-themed now, and the French, Greek, and Spanish-speaking nanny he got is an upgrade from the monolingual Paige. Greta is a little older than Paige and is currently doing a degree in childcare at some prestigious nanny institute. Mary Poppins herself would have been envious of her skills.
“Mom!” he drops the Lego pieces he has in his hands and he runs to me on his short awkward legs. Dragging me by the hand to the center of the vast room he says, “Look at what Greta and I built!” On the floor next to Greta lays a half-finished Lego bat cave.
“Wow! Impressive!” I’m genuinely surprised by how quickly they’ve been able to build something so big and complex. Lake rarely stays put long enough to invest time in a project like this. Greta sits with her legs tucked underneath her as she puts back some of the blocks into a case. “Your son is wonderful,” she says getting up.
I hold out my hand to help her stand. “Thank you for your time.” Unlike with Paige, our conversations don’t end with a discussion of money since Damien has taken care of all that. One would think it wouldn’t make them awkward, but it does.
“Do you think I can keep it when it’s done?” Lake jerks my hand again. “Can you ask Uncle Damien if it’s okay?”
A pang of guilt hits me at the pit of my stomach. “Lake you don’t have to ask. It’s yours.”
He beams. “So can I take it home?”
“Lake honey, can you wait here while I usher Greta out?”
He slumps down onto the floor and picks up a block. “No problem.” I thank Greta again as she leaves and go back to Lake’s room, my shoes feeling weighted by lead and my hands clammy. For god sake he’s your son. Telling the truth should not fill you with dread.
Lake is still playing with his legos when I get back to his room. I perch myself on the corner of his bed.
“Lake honey can I talk to you for a moment.”
Lake looks up, nods, and goes back to his toys.
“It’s a serious matter.”
He reluctantly drops the toy and comes to stand between my legs. I lift his little body up and place him on my legs. “Remember when you asked me if you had a father?”
He nods.
“I’ve spoken to him and he wants to meet you.”
His eyes widen. “Where is he?”
I take a deep breath. “That’s the thing. You’ve been staying in his home for the past three days.”
He frowns and then his mouth forms an O as what I am saying dawns on him “Are you saying that Uncle Damien is my father.”
I nod. “I think he’d prefer it if you call him dad than Uncle Damien.”
Rather than seeing Damien enter the room, I feel his presence. When Lake sees him, Lake seems uncertain. “It’s true, I say. Ask him.”
Lake turns to Damien. “Is it?”
He nods. Lake gets off my lap and rushes over to him. Damien receives his hug just as enthusiastically and drops to his knees to embrace him. “I’ve always wanted a Dad,” Lake says.
“And I’ve always wanted a son,” Damien replies. When I look at Damien, I swear his eyes are filled with tears. I’ve never seen him crying. I thought he had no tears. But he does. He saved them for his son.