A Clandestine Corporate Affair (12 page)

He walked behind her, looping his arms around her waist, and kissed her cheek. “How long have you been up?”

“Since six. I wanted to get the turkey ready to go in the oven before Max woke up.”

He watched over her shoulder. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You could pour us some coffee while I finish these dishes. I heard Max stirring, so he should be up any minute now.”

As if on cue, they heard a screech from the baby monitor.

“On second thought,” Ana said, “why don't you get him and I'll pour the coffee?”

When he got to Max's room, he was standing in his crib, clutching the railing. He squealed happily when he saw Nathan.

“Merry Christmas, Max. Are you ready to open presents?” He lifted him out of his crib, quickly changed his diaper—which even he had to admit he was getting pretty good at—and carried him out to the living room. Ana was waiting with their coffee and milk for Max. Nathan sat on the couch, and Max curled up in his lap to drink his bottle.

Just as they got settled Ana's cell phone started to ring. She rolled her eyes and said, “Ugh. It's my dad.”

“You don't have to answer it,” Nathan said.

“No. I refuse to play that game with him.” She snatched it up off the table and flipped it open. “Hello, Dad.”

She listened for several seconds, then said, “I've been calling all week. When I didn't hear back I assumed you weren't having dinner this year and I made other plans.” Another pause, then she said, “No, I will not change my plans. I have a stuffed turkey waiting to go in the oven.”

Nathan could hear her father in full rant clear through the phone.

“I regret that the food will go to waste. If you had called
me back and let me know—” More yelling from his end. “No I am not trying to be difficult. I just can't—” She lifted the phone away from her ear, snapped it shut and shook her head. “He hung up on me. Apparently dinner was at three.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She shrugged and tossed her phone onto the table. “It's his loss. He needs us more than we need him.”

She was right. They were a family now. Her father had become the odd man out. And Nathan couldn't help feeling a twisted sense of satisfaction over that. Professionally, Ana's father was at the top of his game, respected and feared. Personally, he was a miserable excuse for a human being.

“So,” Ana said, smiling at Nathan and Max, “Who wants to open presents?”

A
na sat curled up on the couch in front of the fire, sipping coffee and watching Max play with his presents, although he seemed to be having as much fun with the boxes as the actual toys. Nathan sat on the floor by the tree, assembling all of the “some assembly required” items. He had loved the “World's Greatest Dad” beer mug from Max, and the San Antonio Spurs season tickets from her. And she still couldn't believe he had booked them a week on a Disney cruise! Honestly, she had expected something less original, like fine jewelry, for which she'd never really formed an affinity. She inherited all of her mother's jewelry and wore that when the event necessitated it. But a trip, just the three of them, where no one would know or care who they were, sounded like heaven on earth.

Overall, she would have to say this had been a pretty awesome Christmas so far. Despite her father's call. She couldn't even work up the will to be angry about it. She
just felt sorry for him. He didn't know her at all anymore. Maybe he never had. And the really sad part was that he didn't even want to try.

Oh well, his loss. Maybe if she held her ground, and refused to let him manipulate her any longer, it would force him to take a good hard look at himself.

Although somehow she doubted it. She'd always just assumed he started acting this way after her mother passed away, but what if he'd always been so self-centered and stubborn? Ana was only six when her mom died. Maybe her memories of them as a happy family were nothing but childish fantasies.

“Finished!” Nathan said, holding up the assembled toy triumphantly.

“And it only took you an hour,” she teased.

He got up from the floor and sat beside her on the couch. “I have to admit, I have a new appreciation for all the toy assembly my father did over the years. Although I could have done without the shouting and cussing.”

“In our house the butler assembled the toys.”

He slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Things will be different for Max.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and smiled. “I know.”

For a long time they sat there together, listening to Christmas music, watching Max play. Eventually Ana had to get up and put the turkey in the oven, then she got all the side dishes prepared, and the potatoes peeled and ready to boil. When Max went down for his afternoon nap, Ana and Nathan crawled into bed and made love. Afterward, Nathan fell asleep, so Ana showered, dressed and checked the turkey's progress. It still had another hour to cook, but it was already a deep golden brown and smelled delicious. So far so good.

She'd left her phone on the kitchen counter with the ringer off, and when she checked the display she saw that there was a missed call from her father at 3:05 p.m. Maybe he thought she'd been bluffing, and was probably calling to find out why she wasn't there. She hoped he learned a lesson from this, but knowing him, he would only accuse her of being selfish.

Well, that didn't matter anymore. She couldn't make him see something that he didn't want to see.

Ana straightened up the living room, stacking all of Max's new toys back under the tree until she could decide on a permanent home for them. At four she heard Max begin to stir and was about to go in and get him when the doorbell rang. She wasn't expecting anyone, and most people didn't just stop by on Christmas Day.

She walked to the door and pulled it open, her jaw dropping in surprise when she saw who was standing on her porch. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

“Since you insist on being stubborn, I had no choice but to bring Max's gifts to him.”

She
was stubborn? Was he kidding? “Now isn't a good time.”

“Who is it, Ana?” Nathan asked from behind her, holding Max, both still wearing their pajamas, hair mussed from sleep. Her father shouldered his way past her through the door. When he saw Nathan he blinked in surprise.

“Who the hell is this?” he asked, looking from Ana to Nathan, then his eyes narrowed, and she could tell the instant recognition set in. He turned to her, jaw tense, teeth gritted. “Why am I not the least bit surprised?”

“It isn't what you think,” she said.

“Is this how you punish me? By consorting with the competition?”

That stung, but she tried not to let it show. Besides, hadn't it started out that way?

He turned to Nathan. “If you'd kindly hand over my grandson, then you can get dressed and get the hell out of my daughter's house.”

Nathan didn't even flinch. He met her father's eye, wrapped an arm protectively around Max and said, “There's no way in hell I'm handing my son over to you.”

 

“Max is
this man's
son?” Ana's father growled, and Nathan had the feeling he'd just opened one big fat can of worms, but he hadn't been able to keep his mouth shut. He'd be damned if he was going to let that arrogant bastard boss him around. Nathan's role as Max's father trumped the position of grandfather any day of the week.

“Yes, Nathan is Max's father,” she said, with no apology, no regret.

“Ana what in
God's
name were you thinking?”

“This is none of your business, Dad.”

“The hell it isn't. Where was he when you were pregnant? For the first nine months of Maxwell's life? Or have you been seeing him all this time?
Lying
to me.”

“Nathan didn't even know about Max until a few weeks ago. But he's here now.”

“Not if I have anything to do with it.” He turned to Nathan. “I understand you're in line for the CEO position at Western Oil. I can only imagine how your connection to my family will go over with the board.”

Nathan tensed. He should have seen this one coming. “I suppose I'm about to find out.”

“No you won't,” Ana said. “Because my father isn't going to tell anyone. Because if he does, he'll never see his grandson again.”

Her father scoffed. “Maxwell adores his grandfather. You would never keep him from me.”

“If you ruin the career of the man I love, you're damned right I would.”

He blinked. “You're not serious.”

“You don't think so?
Try me.
”

“In that case, I want a paternity test. I want proof that he's Maxwell's biological father.”

Nathan opened his mouth to tell him to go to hell, but Ana spoke first. “
You
want? Because I don't see that's it's any of your business. That's between me and Nathan. Who, for the record, never even asked for one. He trusts me, unlike my own father, who apparently thinks I was slutty enough to be sleeping with multiple partners.”

He leveled his eyes on her. “Well, it wouldn't be the first time, would it?”

Ana sucked in a breath, and Nathan's temper shot from simmer to boil in a heartbeat. If it wasn't for the fact that he was holding Max, he might have actually taken a swing. But for his son's sake, he clamped a vise down on his anger. He stepped in front of Ana, saying in a very calm and even tone, “You're talking about the woman that I love. And that is the
last
time you will ever speak to her that way. Understand?”

Maybe her father realized he'd gone too far, because he actually backed down. “You're absolutely right, that was uncalled for. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it.”

“I'm going to get Max dressed,” Ana said softly, taking him from Nathan, leaving Nathan alone to deal with her father.

That wasn't the sort of thing Ana was just going to forget, and he had the feeling her father realized that. Though Nathan thought he was getting exactly what he deserved, a part of him was sympathetic. He knew what
it was like to lose his temper and say or do things he later regretted. The difference was, he'd been man enough to learn how to control it. Maybe this would be the wake-up call her father needed. Maybe he and Ana could begin to repair their fractured relationship.

After an awkward silence, her father said, “I have gifts for Max. Should I bring them in?”

He was actually asking Nathan's permission? Maybe he figured he had better odds with Nathan than with Ana. And unless her father was doing something to hurt Max, Nathan didn't feel it was his place to stand between him and his grandfather.

“Sure, bring them in.”

He opened the door and gestured to the man standing on the front walk. He'd been stuck in the cold waiting, his arms filled with packages. His driver, Nathan was assuming, when he saw the Rolls Royce parked at the curb.

It took the man three trips back and forth to bring it all in, while Nathan and Ana's father stood not speaking. This was definitely not the way Nathan had expected to spend his Christmas. Families had a funny way of screwing up plans.

“So,” Ana's father said, when his driver had brought in the last of the gifts and gone back to the car. “Do you have plans to marry my daughter?”

He should have expected this. Still, the question caught him a bit off guard. “The thought had occurred to me.”

“I supposed it's too much to expect you to ask my permission.”

Was he kidding? At this point he would be lucky to get an invitation to the wedding. “I can't see that happening.”

“I suppose you'll be expecting a job with my company, and a corner office.”

Could the guy be more arrogant? Did he think the
entire world revolved around him? “I already have a job,” Nathan said.

His brow furrowed. “I'm not sure I like the idea of my son-in-law working for a competing company.”

Nathan didn't give a damn what he liked or didn't like. And he would have a serious problem working for someone like Ana's father, especially if he turned out to be the one responsible for the sabotage. Besides, he hadn't even proposed yet. Nor did he have any plans to in the immediate future.

Ana appeared in the foyer, holding Max. She'd dressed him in his Christmas outfit. “Have you eaten yet?” she asked her father.

“No.”

“Would you like to stay for dinner?”

He glanced over at Nathan. “If it's not an imposition.”

Did he suddenly see Nathan as the man of the house, or was he just afraid of making the wrong move?

“Why don't you take Max while I finish dinner and Nathan showers,” Ana said. He removed his coat and took Max from her, carrying him into the living room. Ana gestured Nathan down the hall, and he followed her into her bedroom. She closed the door and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face against his chest.

“You okay?” he asked, rubbing her back.

“After what he said to me, am I crazy for inviting him to stay?”

“If he meant it, maybe, but I don't think he did. I think he probably felt threatened and was lashing out without thinking. Men like him are used to being in control. Take that control away and they say and do stupid things.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She lifted her head and gazed up at him. “Thanks for defending me.”

“You defended me first. Did you really mean what you said?”

“What part?”

He touched her cheek. “When you said that I'm the man you love.”

“I did mean it.” She rose up on her toes to kiss him, whispered against his lips, “I love you, Nathan.”

Those four words made his whole holiday. The ultimate Christmas gift. Women had said it before, but it hadn't meant half as much coming from anyone else. No one knew him, or understood him, the way Ana did. “I love you, Ana.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “I better get back into the kitchen before I burn dinner.”

“I'll be in to help you in a minute.”

She gave him another quick kiss, then left him alone. While he was in the shower he could swear he heard the doorbell, but he couldn't imagine who else could possibly stop by. Maybe it was the driver, or he could have been hearing one of Max's new toys.

He shaved, and dressed in a polo and slacks, then headed out to help Ana. The second he stepped into the living room he saw that there was in fact someone else there and was incredulous when he realized the man sitting on the floor playing with Max was his brother, Jordan.

In that instant this went from one of the best Christmases of his life, to the holiday from hell.

Jordan saw Nathan standing there and rose to his feet. “Hey, big brother. Merry Christmas.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Nathan asked.

“He came by when you were in the shower,” Ana said, walking into the living room, wiping her hands on her apron. That part was pretty obvious. Unless Ana had been hiding him in a closet all morning.

Ana's father was sitting on the couch, looking amused by the entire situation.

“Is there something wrong with wanting to spend Christmas with my brother? And my
nephew
?” Jordan asked.

Nathan shot a look Ana's way.

“I didn't say a word,” she said. “He already knew.”

Nathan looked at Jordan questioningly.

“You've been acting weird for weeks,” Jordan said. “Then you give me that lame excuse about the cruise. You insult my intelligence, Nathan.”

They needed to have a word. Several, in fact. But he wasn't going to do this in front of Ana and her father. And especially not Max.

“Why don't we step outside,” Nathan said.

Jordan scoffed. “It's cold and raining.”

“Don't be a sissy,” Nathan shot back, realizing, when the false cheer slipped from Jordan's face, that he sounded just like their father. Somehow his family always managed to bring out the worst in him.

Jordan walked to the door and grabbed his coat. Nathan pulled his own coat on and followed him out onto the porch. It was cold and damp and the sky was spitting down icy rain.

“Isn't this cozy,” Jordan said, dropping all pretense of holiday cheer. “You spending the holiday with Ana Birch and her daddy. I guess now we know who to blame for the sabotage.”