His Son. Her Secret.

Chapter 9

“You hired more security?”

Santiago looked up from his phone. A full plate of breakfast and cold coffee sat in front of him, untouched. For a second, he only blinked at Derrick as though his brain had gone on snooze and needed to reboot before he could respond.

Early morning sunlight filled the large dining room with its large glass, ornate table capable of seating twelve. It was like sitting in a museum with spotless furniture, white walls, and abstract white and black paintings hanging on the walls.

Of all the rooms in the house, this was the only one that didn’t have any reminder of his son since they never took their meals in there, so it was no surprise that this was the room Santiago had decided to hide in this morning as he waited for any kind of news.

“Yes,” he answered finally.

Derrick’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You could have just asked Father to send you some of his men,” he clipped.

Santiago scoffed despite his dark mood. “At what cost?” In truth, he’d thought about it. Then he remembered who Eduard Burns was. “I would like to still own a soul when I get Kaleth back.”

“Santiago, it’s been four days. Perhaps… Perhaps it’s time for some drastic measures.”

“I have already taken drastic measures,” Santiago said. To make his point, he leaned his body a little and retrieved a gun he’d tucked into a side holster and gently placed it on the table next to his untouched breakfast.

Derrick’s eyebrows lifted. “Planning to shoot someone?”

Santiago shrugged and then turned his head toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, his jaw tight. He hadn’t wanted to go down this road. It felt too much like stepping into the shoes Eduard had designed for him from the time he was a kid, but what choice did he have?

“Only the person who has my son.” Whoever they were, Santiago hoped they were going through hell; either way, he planned to make sure they got personally acquainted with the place once he got his hands on them.

***

Babies should come with instruction manuals. Seriously!

That was Beth’s thought as she stood in the middle of the tiny apartment she shared with her friends. Her eyes were fixed on the small human in her arms, as though he had personally set her up for failure.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “We’re fine. Everything is fine. We’ve got this.”

The baby blinked up at her. He couldn't talk other than some random words thrown in the mix of gibberish, but if he could, Beth was certain he would have told her a very unconvinced ‘Yeah, right.’ In fact, he didn’t need words. His eyes said it all.

Beth huffed. “Don’t judge me. I’m trying here.” She shifted him awkwardly, trying to remember how she’d held him earlier without it feeling like she was carrying a fragile bomb. He squirmed. She adjusted. He squirmed again.

“Stop moving,” she whispered. “I’m trying not to drop you.”

From the couch, Belle didn’t even look up from her laptop. “Pretty sure that’s not how you reassure a child.”

Beth shot her friend a glare. “Excuse me, are you allowed to offer criticism if you are not helping?”

“Wow, someone is touchy,” Belle teased, typing away. She looked up for a second, her lips twitching at the sight of Beth still struggling to settle the child on her hip. “Maybe you should put him down. It’s obvious he wants to walk.”

Her glare intensified. “Absolutely not! Have you seen this place?”

Belle looked around, eyebrows raised like she couldn’t see the problem. Across the room from the kitchen area, Mal also leaned to the side and gave the living room a disinterested glance before shrugging.

Beth huffed. Did she have to point things out? Fine. “Cables. Glass table. Cracked tiles. Should I go on?”

“Oh.” Belle shrugged a shoulder. “Well. I guess then hold on to him.”

“Thanks for your words of wisdom,” she deadpanned.

Belle grinned. “You are welcome."

Unbelievable. Beth shook her head and turned her attention back to the baby. He stared at her. Then, slowly, his face scrunched. “Oh no,” Beth said immediately. “No, no, no… Don’t do that. Please.”

Too late. A wail ripped out of him, loud and offended as though she had personally ruined his entire life. Beth froze. “Oh, God.” The crying only got louder.

“What do I do?” she demanded, looking at the others.

Mal raised a brow. “Oh, that’s all you, sweetie. Better figure it out fast; it looks like he’s gearing up for a long-winded opera performance.”

“Seriously? That’s all you are going to say?”

“Yep.”

And here she’d thought she had friends who would always have her back. This entire baby fiasco was showing her a new shade to their friendship dynamics she hadn’t known existed. “You’re heartless.”

“Correction,” Mal said, pushing off the counter, still looking way too calm for the raucous the child's cries were creating. “I’m consistent.”

Beth opened her mouth to argue, but right then the cries stopped and something warm splashed against the front of her shirt and skin before splattering on the floor at her feet.

Her body went still. Slowly, very slowly, as though she feared to confirm what she suspected, she looked down. Yep. It was exactly what she dreaded. Her once clean, black T-shirt was now covered in half-digested milk and puree.

Beth blinked, gagged, and closed her eyes. “No.” She almost said it like a prayer that no one would answer. “No, no, no.”

The room was silent, the others just watching her. Beth lifted the baby slightly. It was worse than she thought. Not only had the little man managed to cover the front of her shirt in puke, but he had ensured he was bathed in it as well and as she watched, his right hand fisted the front of his ruined clothes, adequately covering his hand in the stuff, and then, before she could guess his next move, he lifted the hand and fisted the curls on top of his head.

“Oh, come on!” she burst out, her voice anguished. “Why would you do that?!”

“No,” Kaleth said, a cute frown creasing his forehead.

Belle covered her mouth, her eyes wide with amusement mixed with horror. “Uhm... Congratulations. I think you’ve unlocked Level Two: bodily fluids.”

That snapped her gaze up. “This is not funny!”

Mal snorted. “It’s a little funny. Especially his little frown.”

Beth looked like she might actually cry. “He’s broken!” That was the only word for it, because more projectile puke came out of his mouth, and now there was an even bigger puddle at her feet.

“He’s a baby,” Mal said, wrinkling her nose. “That’s kind of their thing.”

“Why is it so much?!” Beth demanded, panicking now as she tried to hold him away from her without actually dropping him. “Where is it all coming from?!”

“His stomach,” Belle said helpfully.

“Yeah, I got that part!”

Clearly not happy with the way he was being handled and the panic in her voice, the baby started crying again.

Beth groaned. “Okay, okay, okay… What to do? I should change him, right? Or maybe I should give him another bath?” God, she felt so out of her element it wasn’t even funny. “What if he pukes again?”

“Then you change him again,” Mal supplied, already turning away. “Good luck.”

At this point, Beth was certain she needed a miracle, not luck. She looked down at the baby. He hiccupped mid-cry, staring up at her like she had betrayed him by refusing to hold him close.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she muttered. “This was all you.”

Surely this was the worst of it, right? It possibly couldn't get worse than this, she thought as she made her way to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Beth wondered if she’d unknowingly challenged the universe with her thoughts and was now paying for it. The bathroom looked like a crime scene.

Beth stood over the open diaper bag, breathing hard as though she’d just fought for her life. “You are a menace,” she muttered in complete disbelief of what was happening and close to tears.

The baby lay on the towel she’d spread across the counter, chattering away as he kicked his legs like he was having the time of his life. The problem was that after the second bath she’d given him, it seemed Beth had taken a minute too long to put a diaper on him, and the child had shown off just how well he could aim his pee straight into a bag full of clean diapers.

“Oh, you think this is funny?” she asked him when he gave her a toothy grin.

“Beeeth!”

Beth narrowed her eyes. “Don’t ‘beeeth’ me.” Her heart skipped a beat, though. She suspected he was trying to say Beth, and it warmed her heart even though she knew she shouldn’t get attached and the boy learning her name was a bad thing. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Sighing, she looked down at the bad. It was possible the pee hadn’t gotten everywhere, but the idea of checking just exhausted her more than she already was. So, she grabbed a wipe and reached for the clean diaper she’d already put on the counter.

“Okay, just have to do this fast before you do something else. I’ve got this.”

Unfortunately, she did not, in fact, have this. As soon as she started working, the wipe slipped. The baby shifted to the edge of the counter. Beth’s heart jumped into her throat.