His Son. Her Secret.

Chapter 13

Slowly, she turned her head back toward the mouth of the alley. For a second, she saw nothing. Just random people passing by going about their day. Was she being paranoid? It was possible. The fear of almost getting caught could have sent her senses into overdrive; even her own shadow could spook her.

If only that were the case.

It took a second, but Beth saw him. A man. Standing just beyond the edge of the alley. He wasn’t walking by like the rest. No. This man stood still, watching her.

Her breath caught. He wasn’t dressed in a black suit like the men she’d seen with Santiago. No. This one wore a pair of dark jeans and a white T-shirt like a regular person, but that told her nothing. There was every possibility that this man was part of the men who had kidn*pped Kaleth in the first place.

A beat passed, and still, he didn’t move. Didn’t look away. Beth’s grip on Kaleth tightened. Her heart started pounding again, harder this time. Her instincts screamed it now. She took a slow step back. Then another.

To her surprise, the man didn’t follow. But he didn’t leave either. He just watched as though he knew exactly what she would do, and it was of no consequence. Yeah, Beth wasn’t about to stand there and wait to see what his deal was.

She turned and ran as if her life depended on it.

***

“You have to get rid of him tonight.”

The words echoed in Beth’s brain like an annoying song she couldn’t get out of her head. Of course, everyone panicked when Beth told her friends about the creepy man watching her in the alley.

Belle had managed to hack into the cameras of one of the boutiques, and Beth had watched with growing anxiety as the footage showed the man had kept his distance but had clearly been following her. It also looked as though he had purposefully made sure she saw him, which made no sense, but it certainly ramped up the fear factor.

“If you can’t get in, just leave him on the lawn and get the hell out of there.” That had been Mal’s helpful suggestion. The woman was seriously starting to piss Beth off, but she hadn’t said a word in response. She’d also completely dismissed the suggestion.

The house was cold as though someone had deliberately set the thermostat low. Beth moved fast without actually running, using the shadows as cover. Her boots barely made a sound against the polished steps. The mask clung to her face, damp with heat, leaving only her eyes and mouth exposed. Her pulse was loud in her ears like a warning drum.

This was insane. She was insane. She had to be for her to be breaking into Santiago’s house to return his son.

Belle had only managed to disable a hidden side door used by servants that led straight to the basement of the house and pool room. Neither of those locations had sounded particularly safe for the child, so Beth had done something stupid and crept into the main house so she could leave the boy in a better place.

Yeah. Avi and the others would rip her a new one for this, but she just couldn’t leave a baby in a pool room full of water or a dark basement and hope a servant would notice him before the child got cold and hungry.

Beth tightened her grip on Kaleth, careful not to jostle him. He was warm against her chest, his small body tucked into her as if he belonged there. Like he trusted her. She had to do this right.

“Almost there,” she whispered under her breath, not even sure if she was talking to him or herself.

Finally, at the top of the stairs and the ground floor of the house, Beth looked around, unsure of where to go. Almost all the lights were off, which made it difficult to know which room was which. Logically, she knew she could have just placed the sleeping child on the tiled floor. At this point, nobody would miss his presence, surely.

She didn’t. Instead, she found herself walking towards the first door she spotted down the corridor. It turned out to be a study cloaked in darkness except for the moonlight coming in from the closed French doors.

Her eyes adjusted quickly, scanning the space. Big desk. Bookshelves. And a comfortable couch. Perfect. Suddenly, her chest tightened. This was it. She had to put him down and run. For a crazy moment, she didn’t want to.

“Okay… Okay…” she breathed. There was no point delaying it and risking discovery. Kaleth wasn’t her child, and she couldn’t keep him. The very idea was utterly ridiculous, even though something in her hurt at the thought of never seeing him again and carrying him. Stupid.

Beth shook her head as though that would shake things back in order in her brain. Then she crossed the room fast, dropping to one knee by the oversized couch. Her hands shook slightly as she unbuckled the baby carrier and eased Kaleth down, adjusting his clothes so he wasn’t exposed to the cold.

For a second, she hesitated. Her fingers lingered. He stirred a little, his small hand brushing her wrist. Beth swallowed hard. “You’re home,” she whispered softly. Something twisted in her chest. Relief. Fear. Maybe a little regret.

Then she stood up and slipped back out the door she’d entered without a backward glance.

“Don’t move.” The deep voice hit like a gunshot, sending a tremor down her spine. Beth froze. No! No! No! s**t!

This couldn’t be happening. Of course, Beth had known it was a possibility, but at that moment she realized she had never truly contemplated what she would do if it happened. That had obviously been stupid on her part.

Now, with no plan in mind, she had no choice but to slowly and carefully straighten. She didn’t turn right away. Didn’t need to. Somehow, as though a sixth sense she hadn’t known she possessed, she could tell who was behind her. Hell, she could practically feel him.

His presence saturated the air. Heavy. Controlled. Dangerous.

Finally, Beth turned and confirmed her suspicion. She also confirmed just how screwed she was. Because Santiago stood in the doorway, half-shadowed, gun raised, eyes locked on her like she was already dead and he was just deciding how.

Potential bullets aside, Beth couldn’t help notice how much more mesmerizing the man was up close. Yeah, her brain had gone there without her permission. But how could she not? His jawline looked sharper with a stubble past the decent five o'clock shadow. Hard eyes that didn’t waver, even though they looked equally dangerous as they were tired.

Even this late in the night, the man still wore a white button-down with the top buttons open as though he hadn’t quite gotten rid of his work attire after he left the office. Although she had already seen pictures of him on the internet and across the road, she was still impressed by the stretch of the material over his body, which let her know that the man didn’t sit around and get fat.

No. This was a man who took care of his body with the same determined focus he was using to aim the gun at her, which said a lot about her chances of getting away. Damn, she'd really screwed up this time.

“Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my house?” he demanded, voice low and cold enough to slice.

Yeah, the man was focused. Focused on ending her.