Chapter 8
“Can I have pancakes?”
Raj turned, startled to find a tiny girl standing in the doorway, wearing pink pajamas and holding the ear of a…he wasn’t sure what stuffed animal dangled by his daughter’s side.
“Pancakes?” he asked, feeling that shock of amazement at seeing her all over again. This was his daughter! By some miracle, this adorable human being was created during…! Perhaps he shouldn’t think about those wild nights in Helen’s arms. Not while he was wearing only a pair of loose shorts and no shirt. He’d just come up from the hotel’s gym, having worked out with two of his guards. He was sweaty, but energized, ready to tackle whatever came at him today.
Except for a tiny human being.
Angela was a mystery that he was delighted to investigate.
She looked around with an adorable expression of determination. “I want pancakes for breakfast.” She looked around again, then settled on his face. “You’re not wearing a shirt. Can I take off my shirt?”
“NO!” he snapped, horrified at the idea. Raj quickly looked around, and found his shirt draped over the back of a nearby sofa. He grabbed it and quickly pulled it over his head. When he could see her again, he knelt down in front of her to look into her eyes. Eyes that were startlingly similar to his own.
“Did your momma say you could have pancakes?” he asked, suspicious because of her belligerent tone.
She stood there, her thumb brushing absently over the stuffed…uh…animal’s…ear.
Raj saw the truth in her non-answer and the defiant, calculating look in her dark eyes. “I’m guessing she said no, didn’t she?”
The tiny girl’s features crinkled with irritation. “She says I need…” she hesitated, looking around.
“Protein,” another voice came from the far side of the room.
Raj stood up and watched as Helen came down the hallway, wearing the same clothes she’d worn yesterday. He made a mental note to have his assistant deliver new clothes at once.
“She needs protein in the morning,” Helen repeated. The woman who had kept him awake for more than half the night sauntered into the room, looking a bit worn around the edges. He noticed the dark circles under Helen’s eyes and wondered if they were caused by the same memories that had kept him up.
“How about some scrambled eggs and toast?” he suggested. The penthouse butler stepped into the room, sensing a food order was imminent.
“Can I have some sausage?” the small girl’s eyes lit up.
Raj chuckled and nodded his head. “Eggs, toast, and sausage,” he said to the butler, who nodded and disappeared.
“Did you sleep okay?” Raj asked Helen, walking over to her where she remained, hovering in the hallway as if she wasn’t sure if she should enter the main living area or run back to the privacy of the room where she’d slept last night.
“It was…,” she paused, then sighed. “I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind.”
“I know the feeling,” he replied, taking her hand and lifting it to his lips. He heard her swallow hard but kept her hand in his. “Thank you for staying here and trusting my guards to keep you and Angela safe.”
“Thank you for keeping us safe,” she replied with a faint smile. “Will we be able to resume our normal lives tonight?”
“We’ll see,” was his non-committal reply as he led her over to the silver coffee service. “How about coffee first?”
“Actually, I don’t drink caffeine any more. I stopped during my….,” she sighed, glancing over at Angela, who was busy setting up her stuffed kangaroo so that the creature could sit next to her for the meal. Angela was giving the kangaroo a stern lecture about proper table manners. “Pregnancy and caffeine aren’t a good combination.”
He turned and glanced at the butler. “Could you bring a pot of herbal tea?” he asked.
“Thank you,” Helen replied. “Tea sounds lovely.”
He led her over to the table. “I remember how much coffee you used to drink in the morning. And no breakfast.” He let his eyes travel over her still-slender figure. “Do you usually eat breakfast now?”
“I have to,” she admitted, smiling at Angela, who had run back to her room and grabbed several more stuffed animals. “Thank you for getting her pajamas and her friends. I don’t know when you did that, but she was so excited to find them sitting on her bed when she came out of her bath last night.”’
“My assistant arranged it,” he admitted. “I’ll have him get you clean clothes as well.”
She immediately shook her head. “No! Please, I don’t want anyone going through my clothes. I’ll…” she paused, running a hand through her hair. “I’ll be fine until I can get home later today.”
Raj hesitated, but then decided to dive right into the problem. “Honey, you can’t go home.”
Helen froze, staring at him. She glanced at Angela, relieved to see that she was sitting down on the sofa now with a stack of books, surrounded by her stuffed friends. She might be reading, or just looking at the pictures. Either was fine, as long as she didn’t hear that they couldn’t go home.
“What do you mean? We stayed last night only because of what happened with Paul and Nathan yesterday.”
Raj shook his head, then took her hand and led her down the hallway so that they could speak in the penthouse “office” without little ears overhearing.
After closing the door, he turned to face Helen. For a brief moment, he debated telling her the whole truth, but the dark circles under her eyes warned him that she wasn’t ready for the whole truth. Not yet, anyway. Over the next few days, he could give her bits of the truth, so that she wouldn’t get overwhelmed.
Shifting the direction of the conversation, he said, “I think that you and I should head over to the building that was being discussed yesterday and find out what’s going on with the Grishoms. If I could guarantee that Angela will be well cared for by my guards, would you come with me to the site and take a look? Let’s find out what’s there that is so important that they needed to drug people to get it sold.”
He paused, watching as she pressed her lips together. “That…might be a good plan.”
“Plus, you’re rightly concerned about your reputation. If you ever want to be taken seriously in this industry again, then you need to find out what Paul and Nathan were trying to do.”
“That’s a good point,” she agreed, nodding. The wariness evaporated from her blue eyes. Instead, he saw her mental gears starting to turn. She frowned thoughtfully. “Have you spoken with your attorney and accountant? Are they okay?”
“Yes. One of my guards drove them directly to the hospital after yesterday’s meeting. A blood sample was drawn, but we’re still waiting to hear the results.”
Helen pursed her lips as she thought through the next steps. “I can head over to the project site and walk through the building to see what’s going on. I don’t have the pictures from the presentation yesterday but I should be able to get into the building tonight after everyone goes home.”
Raj didn’t like that suggestion. “You said Paul took the papers from you before you were allowed to go into the conference room.”
Helen bit her thumbnail. “You’re right.” She turned, pacing along the carpet of the sunshine filled office. “Maybe I can get into Paul’s office somehow. He probably has a copy of the project presentation on his desk, right?”
He chuckled, leaning against the desk as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Why don’t you let my guards do that?” he suggested. “They have a few more…skills…that could help with the stealthy aspect of the job.”
Immediately, Helen shook her head. “No, this was my mistake. I never should have gotten wrapped up in this mess. I don’t want anyone else to put their reputations on the line for me.”
Raj chuckled and she spun around, frowning.
Helen scowled at the man. “What’s so funny?” she demanded, mimicking his posture.
“Nothing,” he replied, shaking his head at her. “Just…I guarantee that my guards can get in and out of that office building without setting off alarms. In fact, they’ve probably already logged into the office building’s security system and know how to turn it off and on.”
It took a moment for Helen to realize what he was actually saying. “No way!” she gasped. “We all needed key cards to get into and out of the office. Even if we had to use the restroom, we needed a key card.”
He waved his hand in the air. “That’s child’s play for my team.” He stood up and walked towards the door, taking her hand in his. “Trust me, they’ll have the information for us before we get back from walking through the site.”
Out in the hallway, Helen tugged on his hand and Raj stopped, looking back at her. Instantly, his body tightened when he saw her nostrils flare.
“Did you just work out?” she whispered, her voice low and she licked her lips.
“Earlier,” he replied. “I haven’t showered yet. Do I smell bad?”
Slowly, Helen shook her head, her eyes moving over his short-sleeved shirt. “I just…,” she started to say and attempted to pull away. But their laced fingers held her in place.
“Helen?” he prompted, pulling her slightly closer. “Talk to me,” he urged. “We didn’t spend a great deal of time talking the last time we were together.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, his finger soft and gentle. “Why don’t we fix that this time?”
Helen opened her mouth to say something, to argue with him. She wanted to tell him that this was just a temporary moment in their lives. When they’d discovered what Paul and Nathan were trying to do, Raj would return to his country and she’d be alone again, trying to find a new job. They’d meet each other only when they were handing Angela off for visitation and…the thought made her heart ache.
“Talk to me,” he urged again. “What are you thinking?”
“You smell good,” she replied, thinking it was the safest response. It wasn’t. Safe, that is. She’d just admitted that she still wanted Raj in a physical way. But that was “safer” than telling him that the thought of not seeing him again, or only seeing him when it was his turn to take care of their daughter…or maybe she was merely agonizing over the fact that Angela wasn’t just her daughter anymore?
Yes, that seemed likely.
“Momma!” Angela came running down the short hallway. She was dressed in a pair of pink jeans and a white top, and the outfit looked more expensive than anything Helen had ever purchased. Her hair was tied up with pink ribbons and she twirled around, showcasing her adorable outfit. “Look what Emily helped me put on!”
The name of someone new startled her. “Emily?”
“Yeah!” Angela replied, jerking her thumb behind her. “She came with a bunch of games and said we’d have to ask if it was okay if she played them with me.” Her big, brown eyes widened hopefully. “Can I, Momma? I can play the games with her, right?”
Helen glanced at Raj. “I asked my assistant to hire a sitter for today. My guards have vetted her and she’ll never be left alone with Angela. Not for a moment.”
Helen was startled. A babysitter? When she needed a sitter, she had to call four or five different women she knew and arrange a time weeks in advance. Then she was charged about twenty dollars an hour. Usually, it was easier to just stay home.
“Yes, that sounds great,” she replied.
“Yeah!” Angela yelled, throwing her arms in the air. Then she flung herself against Helen’s legs, hugging her. “Thank you, Momma!”
She pulled away and grinned up at Raj. “Will you play with us?”
Raj bent down and gently touched her nose. “Let’s have some breakfast and then we’ll figure out a schedule for the day, okay?”
“Okay!” Angela said and put her hands into his. “I think you’re my daddy. Are you?”
Helen and Raj both froze, looking at each other. Then Raj looked down at the little girl. “Yes, honey. Yes, I’m your father.”
Angela’s grin widened and her dark eyes sparkled with delight. “I thought so. You look like me. And my momma told me that I looked like my father.”
“That’s very perceptive of you,” Raj replied.
“Does that mean that I get to call you Daddy?”
Raj swallowed and Helen felt his shock. And his delight. She noticed the way he was fighting back the powerful emotions and wanted to hug him.
“Yes. I would be thrilled if you would call me Daddy.”
Angela, bless her heart, took both of her parents hands and pulled them into the living room, explaining the games that the babysitter had brought, describing the games she knew how to play as well as the ones she didn’t understand, but cautioned that she was a very smart person and would learn them quickly.
The sitter was a blond woman in her mid-twenties who immediately handed Helen a resume. “I’ll let you and your husband review my qualifications. If you’d like to request someone else through the hotel, I won’t be offended at all.”
Helen gasped when she saw the gorgeous table overflowing with eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, fruit, orange juice, and fresh coffee. There were other covered dishes, but Helen was too overwhelmed to take it all in. Usually, she was rushing around, trying to finish getting dressed, check her tote bag, make Angela’s breakfast, make her a lunch along with several types of healthy snacks, trying to remember what was on the agenda at her daughter’s day care in case permission slips or a special outfit or…whatever might be needed.
It felt odd to just…sit down and eat food that someone else had prepared.
Nice, but odd.
“My guards have already done a background check on Emily, in case you are worried about her qualifications,” Raj said, pouring a cup with herbal tea for her.
“And she’s okay? This…Emily person…she checks out okay?”
“Definitely okay,” he vowed, taking a muffin and breaking it in half. “Plus, she’ll be watched by my men. They understand the significance of today.”
“What’s a ‘signicans’?” Angela asked, stuffing a forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth. “Does it have to do with my new daddy?”
Helen smiled, charmed by her daughter’s intelligence. “No, sweetie,” she explained. “Significance means that something is important.”
Angela turned serious eyes to Raj. “I think you’re significans, Daddy.”
Helen smothered a smile as she saw Raj’s entranced expression. He looked down at the open muffin, as if wondering what he was doing.
He swallowed and nodded. “I think you’re significans too, ya asal. ”
Her eyes narrowed with that last word. “What’s that?”
He grinned and the charming man was back. “That’s a term of endearment in my country.”
This seriously intrigued their young daughter and she shifted onto her knees. “Tell me what it means!”
For the next five minutes, Raj taught her words in Arabic and Angela repeated them. Helen remembered her college French teacher explaining that the muscles in one’s throat develop early in youth. Exposing children to different languages early in childhood helped them learn to mimic accents with those throat muscles.
Helen had no idea if that was true or not, but she smiled behind her cup of tea as Angela stumbled over the new vocabulary words. It took a couple attempts, but eventually Angela pronounced them all perfectly.
When she glanced at Raj, Helen could see the pride glowing in his eyes. Their daughter was brilliant! Of course, every parent thought that about their offspring, but in their case, Angela truly was a treasure.
When breakfast was over, Angela jumped down from her chair, then ran over to Raj, lifting her arms up in the universal signal that she wanted to be picked up.