Bayou Jeopardy. Rita Herron

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СКАЧАТЬ he suspected her father had set him up.

      “The charges you believed, Lily.”

      Lily began to pull the combs from her hair as if she needed to do something with her hands. The silky strands fell around her shoulders, and she finger combed them, making his hands ache to do the same.

      “That was because Lee Barnaby showed me proof,” Lily said, her voice rising an octave. “He had documents, evidence that you were taking bribes and selling drugs.”

      Memories bombarded him. That night he’d been waiting on her call, worried she might go into labor.

      Instead Lee Barnaby had slapped handcuffs on him and ruined his life.

      “I know what you saw, Lily, but Barnaby fabricated all that evidence.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “You know what happened to my father, how I grew up. I would never take a bribe or sell drugs.”

      Lily shot up from her seat. “What about that photo of you with your girlfriend, Mack? That looked pretty real to me.”

      “My girlfriend? What the hell are you talking about?”

      “Angelica, the woman with the sultry body and chocolate eyes,” Lily said. “I believe you call her Angel.”

      Another shock wave rolled through Mack. “Good God, Lily, you can’t believe that I was cheating on you.”

      Her beautiful pouty lips formed a frown. “He showed me pictures of you with her, Mack. The two of you cozy in a dark bar, in an alley, in a car.”

      Mack hissed between his teeth. “Angelica was not my girlfriend. She was my C.I.”

      Lily stared at him, the tension stretching between them, war raging in her eyes.

      “I was working undercover with a federal agent named Ray Storm. He had evidence against Barnaby that would have put him away for corruption and drug trafficking. Two years before that, I arrested Angelica for dealing. She was an addict, but I persuaded her to slip me information.” He scraped a hand over his chin. “If we looked cozy, it was part of my undercover work, Lily. I swear it.”

      Lily’s lower lip trembled. “You…really weren’t with her?”

      “Never,” Mack said emphatically. “I loved you. And I did not accept any bribes.”

      “Oh God, Mack,” Lily whispered. “I can’t believe my father lied to me and that Barnaby set you up.”

      “His arrest should validate my story,” Mack said. Although, getting Barnaby was only the beginning. There were others on the take, bigger fish to fry.

      For the first time since he’d entered the place, Mack’s gaze scanned the room. A second later, he saw what he was searching for. A photograph on the built-in bookshelves by the fireplace.

      A photo of a little boy who looked so much like him that his throat swelled.

      He picked it up, his heart pounding. The little boy had dark black hair like his, the same stubborn jaw and intense brown eyes. And that cowlick. Damn, he even had his cowlick.

      Another photo of the boy caught his eye, this one with Landry at Christmas.

      Anger at all the time he’d missed choked him. “Where is he? What’s his name?”

      Tears glittered on Lily’s eyelashes. “Winston Mack Rivet. He’s spending the night at my father’s.”

      So she had named their son after him.

      “I have to see him,” he said, heading toward the door. “I’ve missed eight years of his life.”

      Lily ran after him and grabbed his arm. “Wait, Mack, you can’t, not tonight.”

      He swung toward her, his jaw clamped tight. “Dammit, Lily, I thought you two were dead. I…thought I’d lost you, but you were both alive all along.”

      “I’m sorry, Mack.” Lily’s voice cracked. “I…I’m so sorry.” Mack was trembling. “What did you tell him about me?”

      Lily blinked back more tears. “Just what I thought, that you died in the storm.”

      “Well, I’m not dead,” he said. “And I want to see my son.”

      “You will,” Lily said. “But he’s sleeping now, Mack. We can’t wake him up. Let’s wait until the right time.”

      When would the right time be?

      When he cleared his name? When he arrested Lily’s father?

      Dammit, he had to find out the truth, but if he had to arrest her father, Lily would hate him.

      And so might his son.

       Chapter Three

      Mack reined in his temper. She was right. It would be a shock for Winston to learn his father was alive. No use doing it in the middle of the night. “How about in the morning? I’ll go with you to pick him up at your father’s.”

      Lily rubbed her arms, her face panicked. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Mack. Especially considering the trouble between you and my father.”

      “He lied to us both,” Mack said. “He owes us an explanation.”

      Lily flinched. “I’m sorry, Mack.”

      “Stop apologizing for him,” Mack said. “It’s your father who should be sorry. He never wanted us to be together, and by lying he got his wish.”

      “Mack—”

      “It’s true and you know it.” Mack inhaled a calming breath, questions bombarding him. “What happened that night, Lily? Where have you and Winston been all these years?” God, was she involved with someone else?

      Lily sighed. “The night of the storm, I went into labor. Daddy’s friend flew me to Alabama in his helicopter before the worst hit. I gave birth to Winston that night, and we lived there until a couple of months ago.” She rubbed a hand over her mouth, drawing him to those damned kissable lips. “Meanwhile, Dad was working with Mayor Barrow on the rebuilding campaign, and he convinced me to move back and help.”

      Mack gestured to the house. “But you didn’t move in with him?”

      Lily smiled sardonically. “No, I wanted to be queen of my own castle.”

      Mack nodded. “You always did like having your own space.” And she had stood up to her father. At one time, he’d even wondered if she’d dated him as an act of rebellion.

      Still, rebelling and helping him get dirt on her father were two different things.

      “What time are you going to your father’s house in the morning?”

      Lily chewed her bottom lip. “Eight. I want to have breakfast with Winston.”

      Eight СКАЧАТЬ