[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

grabbing at his coat sleeve.  That s blackmail! You know
I can t give up my baby!
 Call it what you will, Dani. I want Dominic. And I
want you. He smiled, but with no humor or warmth.  A
desperate man will go to any lengths to achieve his most
precious desires. I ll be back at six tomorrow night. Don t
bother cooking. I ll bring something myself so you won t
have to spend time in the kitchen. Before she knew what
was happening he leaned down to press his hard mouth
against her soft one. As a kiss is was tame. But she sensed
the unleashed passion he was holding in check. Then he
was out the door and she stood alone in her small hallway.
Rafe s parting words froze Dani to the floor, shocked by
his vow of possession before he abandoned her to consider
her fate. And Dom.  He can t take Dom from me. He
can t,  she muttered, leaning against the wall before
slumping to the floor as her trembling legs gave out from
under her. My God, what options did she have? The
rational part of her mind screamed none. And it was a sure
154
Autumn McCullah
thing she would lose Dom. With Rafe s wealth and
influence, he could do anything.
155
CHAPTER 10
The next morning, Dani was sure she was going to die.
Or at least she felt she would have to get better to die. Her
restless night had not helped her cold. If anything, it was
much worse. It took an enormous amount of determination
to force her body out of the nice warm bed, into the
bathroom to take some tablets for the fever she knew was
responsible for her pounding head. It took even more effort
to dress.
To add to her distress, she was no closer to a solution to
the problem created by Rafe s reappearance into their life
than she had been last night. Dani looked at her reflection
in the mirror. The quality of sleep, or lack of, added to the
dark circles under her eyes and the frightening pallor of her
face. Winding her long blond hair into a tight bun,
securing it on top of her head, she studied the results. She
grimaced at her reflection. Well it would have to do.
Dressing in a pair of dark brown slacks coupled with a
heavy beige knit sweater, she quickly dabbed coral lipstick
to her colorless lips to give her face a touch of color. She
sighed,  I look like Dracula s daughter.
And Rafe was the vampire. He was draining all life
from her with his threat to take Dom back to New Mexico
with him. She d sensed his impatience last night, so she
shouldn t have been so surprised when he forced the issue.
Decisions of this magnitude should be settled slowly,
carefully after protracted consideration of all the issues
involved. Whatever she decided to do was going to affect
all of their lives. It wasn t something to be done in haste or
under pressure. Dani shuddered remembering the last time
156
Autumn McCullah
she d rushed into action with little or no thought. It had
been just pure feeling and lust. And look how her marriage
had turned out. A disaster in capital letters.
At least she was much smarter now. There would be no
more illusions for her. The wall of ice encasing her heart
must remain frozen and impenetrable to any words of
caring or love from Rafe. Only Dominic allowed her the
freedom of loving. Love between mother and son. A
warm gentle caring between two human beings.
It began to snow just as Dani set off on the short walk to
work, Dom dressed to ward of the cold in a dark blue
snowsuit. He was tucked snugly in his stroller, a blanket
wrapped around his adorable bulky figure for added
warmth. As they entered the shop, the fine layer of snow
on their clothes and hair began to melt.
Pop was there to greet them as usual.  Kind of early in
the year for a blizzard, but all the signs point to just such a
thing before the night is out. His gnarled hands took the
stroller from Dani to push it to the back of the store where
Pop had his living quarters.  And you young Dom, I
suppose you would love to get out there and play in all that
white stuff?
Dom grinned up at Pop, lifting his arms up asking to be
held. Dani smiled at the beauty of her son s smile, the
warmth it brought to the room.  So far, he hasn t shown
much interest except trying to catch it on his tongue. We ll
see how he feels about it later, near Christmas when we
have an over abundance of the white stuff. But would
they be here for the holidays? A spark of fear flashed in
her over-bright eyes.
Pop might be well into his seventies, but he didn t miss
much.  How did your dinner go last night? And don t tell
me to mind my own business, because I m an old man. And
that gives me the right to poke this big nose in anywhere I
want. He helped her take off Dom s heavy clothing
before sitting him on the floor with his toys. Then he sat
Dani down at the table with a cup of hot chocolate and
coffee for himself.
157
  The first part went just fine, Pop. But... A fit of
coughing halted her in mid sentence.
Pop frowned at the sound of her congestion.  But, he
finished for her.  Rafe wants you and Dom to go home
with him. Pop made the statement as calmly as if it were
the most natural request in the world. He chuckled at her
astonished expression.
 How did you know? And how can you see any humor
in this? she stammered.
 I m an old man, Dani. I ve lived and seen a lot of
people, experienced more than most probably. If I had a
wife and child, and especially a background like your
husband, I d do the same thing. He has a lot to offer.
 You re not taking his side are you? Telling me I should
go back to New Mexico with him? Not after all this
time? Pop s defense of Rafe seemed like an act of
desertion.
 I m not telling you what to do, child. Just advising you
to give it a lot of careful thought before you make a final
decision.
 But Pop...
 No! Pop said waving a large hand of impatience.
 You listen to me and listen good. You won t admit it to
me or anyone else, let alone yourself. But you still love
Dom s father. Dani snorted in disagreement, but he went
on.  You were hurt and hurt bad, so now you ve sealed
yourself up in an emotional cocoon. Only a chosen few are
allowed to get close. Well, if what he says is true about all
that mess surrounding your separating, then he s paid his
dues. Probably more than you have, Dani. So you had
better give that some thought too. Pop stood walking over
to the sink with his empty cup.
 You re right about giving this a great deal of thought, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]