Fatal Scandal: Book Eight of the Fatal Series (29 page)

“I won’t hold that against you,” Tony said with a teasing grin.

“Tell me you’re not a New York fan,” Scotty said with a scowl.

“Guilty.”

“Ugh,” Scotty groaned. “That’s awful.”

Tony laughed, seeming charmed by the boy, which was no surprise to Nick.

“We spent a lot of time together,” Nick continued, “and over a period of months, the three of us became somewhat of a family. Scotty came to live with us permanently last summer, and now we’re trying to make it official.”

“Is he... Is he safe living with you?” Tony glanced at Sam. “What happened to you. It made the national news.”

“He has his own detail that watches over him around the clock,” Nick said.

“The kids at school think it’s really cool that I have agents following me around,” Scotty interjected, making the adults laugh.

“What grade are you in?” Tony asked.

“Seventh.”

“What’s your favorite subject?”

“Lunch and recess, which we only have on special occasions now that we’re in middle school.”

“He likes history too,” Sam said.

“Next year I get to take Spanish,” Scotty said, “but I also have to take harder algebra.” The face he made indicated what he thought of that.

“Math was never my thing either.” Tony looked at Scotty with a hint of longing that struck a pang of fear in the vicinity of Nick’s heart.

Lunch was served, and Scotty dove in to his favorite meal of spaghetti and meatballs with the usual enthusiasm. He glanced up at Nick. “Hey, Dad, would you hand me the cheese?”

Nick felt like he’d been struck by lightning.

Sam’s hand landed on his leg, giving him a squeeze that snapped him out of the state of shock.

Nick reached for the Parmesan cheese and handed it to Scotty, who smiled at him.

“Thank you.”

Nick covered Sam’s hand with his own, feeling battered by the variety of emotions swirling through him—fear, anxiety, determination and love. So much love for his son.

“My mom is a cop,” Scotty told Tony. “She catches killers.”

“That’s very cool,” Tony said.

While Sam and Nick pushed the food around on their plates without really eating much of anything, they listened to Scotty and Tony make small talk. After the waiter and busboy had cleared the plates, Tony asked if he might have a few minutes to speak to Scotty alone.

Nick wanted to say no, and judging from the way Sam tensed next to him, she did too.

“Is it okay with you?” Scotty asked them.

“Whatever you want,” Nick forced himself to say.

“I guess it’d be okay.”

On wooden legs, Nick got up, helped Sam up and walked away from the table with the two lawyers following them. They settled in another booth, Nick choosing a seat that kept Scotty in his direct line of vision. Tony’s attorney excused himself to use the restroom.

“I feel like I’m going to lose it,” Sam whispered as she clung to his hand.

“Stay calm,” Andy said. “Just let it play out.”

“What about the paper?” Sam asked.

“Tony has it, and he knows what we need him to do.”

Since they had no choice, Nick let it play out. But he was playing to win, and he wasn’t leaving here without his son.

* * *

Scotty wasn’t sure what to say to the man who sat across from him. Why had he asked to talk to him alone? Was this when he was going to say he wanted him to come live here, in New Jersey, with him?

“Are you happy?” Tony asked him. “Living with your mom and dad?”

“Yeah. They’re great.”

“They seem really busy. Do they have time for you?”

“Oh, yeah, we do lots of fun stuff together. We go to baseball games, and I play in a hockey league. My dad is an incredible hockey player. He taught me how to skate, and he’s helping me catch up with the other kids. And my grandpa Skip, that’s my mom’s dad, he lives right down the street from us, and I go see him every day after school. Shelby, she’s like a nanny but not really because I don’t need a nanny anymore, she comes every day and she’s teaching me how to cook all sorts of cool stuff. I have aunts and uncles and cousins, one of them a new baby named Ella. My cousins Ethan and Abby—they fight a lot, and my aunt Tracy says I’m the only one who can get them to stop fighting. My dad’s friends, Graham and Laine O’Connor, they’re like his extra parents, they have this super-cool farm with horses and I’m learning how to ride. One time, Laine and I made ice cream from scratch. I thought it only came in a box.”

Scotty stopped and took a deep breath. “I’m talking way too much. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I like hearing about your life.”

“Could I ask you something?”

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

“Are you... Do you want to... Are you going to try to take me away from them?” Scotty held his breath while he waited to hear what Tony would say.

“I was really surprised to hear about you. I was shocked. And to be totally honest, I didn’t believe it until you walked in here today and I saw myself at thirteen. I’m not going to take you away from them. I wouldn’t do that to you when it’s obvious you have a life with them that you love.”

“I love
them
. They’ve given me everything—a home and a family and my own room and an Xbox and posters on the wall and
everything
.”

“I’m not going to take you away from them, but I would like to know you, if that’s okay with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe we can email or text or talk on the phone once in a while and you can tell me how algebra is going and whether you like Spanish and if you scored a goal in hockey. Would that be possible?”

“If I say yes, would you sign the paper?”

“I’m going to sign the paper no matter what, but I’d really like to talk to you once in a while.”

Hearing that Tony planned to sign the paper, Scotty was suddenly unable to breathe. He dropped his head into his hands, desperately trying not to cry in front of a man he’d just met.

And then Nick was there, his hand on Scotty’s shoulder. “Everything all right?”

Nick sounded scared, and Nick never sounded scared—except for when Sam got herself into some sort of trouble.

Scotty looked up in time to see Tony pass the signed paper to Nick.

Nick took it from him and then shook Tony’s hand. “Thank you so much.” He sounded like he was going to cry, and Scotty could certainly relate.

“Thank you for coming all this way. I appreciate it.”

When Nick squeezed his shoulder again, Scotty stood and reached out to shake Tony’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Sure.”

“I, um, I’ll need your phone number.” Scotty withdrew his phone from his pocket and punched in the number Tony recited. Then he looked across the table at him. “I’ll call you.”

“I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”

Nick led him over to where Sam pretended she wasn’t crying. “Come on, Mom.” Scotty extended a hand to her. “Let’s go home.”

* * * * *

Acknowledgments

Thank you for reading
Fatal Scandal
. I hope you enjoyed it! I want to extend a special thanks to the readers who have embraced Sam and Nick’s journey and are always asking for the next book. Your excitement and enthusiasm keeps me actively engaged in the Fatal Series, and I look forward to many more adventures with Sam and Nick. This book was especially challenging as Nick, Sam and I adjusted to his new role as vice president. I’m enjoying the addition of new characters to the landscape as well as the way this storyline forces me—and Nick—out of our comfort zones.

Readers will be excited to hear that
One Night With You
, a novella detailing the first time Sam and Nick met, six years before
Fatal Affair
, will be out in June of 2015. I’ve been working on this for a while now, and I’m looking forward to getting it out to all of you. Also coming in 2015 are the first seven Fatal books in print with all new covers! Look for
Fatal Affair
and
Fatal Justice
in stores in May,
Fatal Consequences/Fatal Destiny
and
Fatal Flaw
in June,
Fatal Deception
in July,
Fatal Mistake
in August and
Fatal Jeopardy
in September. Books 8, 9 and 10 will be coming in print in 2016.

As always, an extra-special thanks to Captain Russ Hayes with the Newport, Rhode Island, Police Department, who serves as my consultant and sounding board during the writing of these books. Russ is always quick with an answer or an idea, and I can’t thank him enough for his ongoing help in keeping the police aspects of the Fatal Series as close to reality as I can get them.

Thank you to “Jack’s” team: Julie Cupp, Lisa Cafferty, Holly Sullivan, Isabel Sullivan, Nikki Colquhoun and Cheryl Serra for all your help and encouragement, and to my family, Dan, Emily and Jake, for their never-ending enthusiasm for my career.

Thanks to my agent, Kevan Lyon, my editor, Alissa Davis and Carina Press executive editor Angela James for all their support of the Fatal Series. A special thank-you this time around to Farah Mullick with Harlequin, who has championed the Fatal Series in print with such incredible results. Thank you, Farah, and the entire team at Harlequin and Carina.

If you enjoyed
Fatal Scandal
, consider leaving a review at Goodreads and/or the retailer of your choice. Your reviews help other readers to discover the Fatal Series, and I appreciate every one of them.

When you finish the book, dish about the details, with spoilers encouraged, in the Fatal Scandal Reader Group at
www.facebook.com/groups/FatalScandal/
. If you haven’t yet joined the Fatal Series Reader Group, you can find it here:
www.facebook.com/groups/FatalSeries/
. Also, if you’re not on my newsletter mailing list, you can join at
marieforce.com
for regular updates about new books and possible appearances in your area.

Thanks so much for reading!

xoxo

Marie

About the Author

Marie Force is the
New York Times
,
USA TODAY
and
Wall Street Journal
bestselling, award-winning author of more than 35 contemporary romances, including the Fatal series, the McCarthys of Gansett Island series, the Treading Water series and the Green Mountain series as well as numerous stand-alone books.

While her husband was in the navy, Marie lived in Spain, Maryland and Florida, and she is now settled in her home state of Rhode Island. She is the mother of two teenagers and two feisty dogs, Brandy and Louie. Visit Marie’s website at
marieforce.com
. Subscribe to updates from Marie about new books and other news at
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. Follow her on Twitter
@marieforce
and on Facebook at
facebook.com/MarieForceAuthor
. Join one of her many reader groups! View the list at
marieforce.com/connect
. Contact Marie at
[email protected]
.

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ISBN-13: 9781426898761

Fatal Scandal: Book Eight of The Fatal Series

Copyright © 2015 by Marie Sullivan Force

Edited by Alissa Davis

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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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