Harbour of Refuge (18 page)

The love on his brother’s face made him think about a child with Halyn. As swiftly as he’d had the thought, he sobered.

“What’s wrong?”

Forcing a smile, he shook his head. “Nothing. Hand her over.”

He took his niece and held her close. It hurt to imagine that he’d never be able to hold his and Halyn’s child in this way.

“You’re full of crap, Enzo. What’s going on?” Gio asked in Italian.

“I…I don’t think it’s anything I should mention.”

They sat in the living room, Cynzia tight against his chest, content and quiet. Gio rested his ankle on one knee. “What’s going on?”

“She can’t have children,” he replied in Italian. “Halyn.”

“She doesn’t want them?”

“No, she can’t have them. She had cancer when she was younger. I was just thinking I wouldn’t be able to hold a child of my own like this.” He gazed down at the baby in his arms. “I didn’t get to hold Liev either. I know it’s not like she tried to get cancer and I’m thrilled she survived, but part of me wants a child from me.” He shook his head. “How awful of a person does that make me?”

“It doesn’t make you an awful person, Enzo. It makes you human. You’ve found a woman who has you thinking of family. Only she can’t give you what you are thinking a family is. You need to realise that’s not it.”

“Meaning?” He readjusted her pacifier before glancing back at his brother.

“If you married her, do you think she would treat Liev different because he wasn’t hers?”

“Hell no!” Enzo cleared his throat and apologised to the baby in his arms.

“Family is more than blood, Enzo. You could adopt.”

He’d honestly not given it any thought. But why not? His brother was right. They could. He nodded and stared at his niece.
Would you like a cousin or two more, little one?

“I’d really like to know when you started thinking children with this woman?”

He flipped his brother off without turning his attention from the girl in his arms. “Your daddy is going to get his ass kicked if he keeps down this road,” he murmured in Italian.

“Stop lying to my daughter.”

“See, we have to stick together,
piccolina
,” he said switching in English. “It’s hard being the babies of the family.” He smirked at his brother. “And I’m not lying to her.”

The front door opened and in walked Jaydee. Enzo watched the look that appeared on Gio’s face when he saw her. Anyone could tell he was madly in love with his wife.

“You are lying,” Gio said, rising to his feet. “Seriously, Enzo, think about it. If she truly means something to you. Keep an open mind.” He walked towards his wife and kissed her.

Enzo watched for a moment before turning away and speaking to Cynzia. “They keep that up and you’ll have another sibling before too long.”

Jaydee came over, kissed her daughter and walked off all without a word to him. The door shut behind her and he watched Gio return to the sofa across from him.

“You look good holding her.”

Enzo smiled. Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention from his brother. Liev stood there on the stairs, one hand curled around the banister.

“Good morning, Liev. Did you sleep well?”

Gio turned and smiled. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” the small voice came. He made his way down the rest of the stairs and to Enzo’s surprise, took a seat beside him and whispered something in Russian to his cousin.

“Enzo, you get some batter started for waffles. I’ll go check on the boys and make sure they’re still sleeping.” Gio headed up the stairs.

“Come on, Liev. Let’s get some breakfast made.”

They worked together, Enzo one-handed with Cyn in his arm, until Gio returned to help out. Despite not being hungry, since he’d eaten with Halyn, Enzo had a waffle when Liev gave him one.

He helped his brother with diapers and feeding the triplets before he and Liev headed off. Peering in the rear-view, he saw Liev reading a book. “I was thinking we should go get you some school supplies today, what do you think?”

Brown eyes peered up at him. “Okay.” Back to the book.

At least it’s more than just a nod. I’m making progress, I have one-word responses now.
He drove past his apartment and headed into town. Once they’d parked in a lot, they got out and headed for an office supply store.

Basket in hand, they walked down an aisle when a feminine voice called his name.

“Mr Cassano.”

He turned and bit back his instinctive groan. A petite woman in tight clothing hurried up to him. “Yes?” he asked.

“Sorry to bother you, I’m Amber Watkins. Not sure if you remember me but I was at the school same time you were registering your boy here.”

Oh yeah, he remembered her. Divorced mom who seemed to be on the lookout for a father for her son. She gave him a predatory smile before she crouched—showing entirely too much cleavage to both him and his son—and said hi to Liev as well.

“Anyway, I saw you here and wanted to make sure you knew the school put out a list of everything the children will need for the school year.”

Shit. He’d forgotten to check on that. She must have understood as she reached into her purse and pulled out a sheet. “I have an extra one so here. Don’t want you to get him things he may not need.”

“Thank you, Ms Watkins.”

Her smile was sickeningly sweet. “Oh please, call me Amber. I can’t wait to work with you throughout the year. We’ll have to get you signed up to the PTA and such things. It’ll be wonderful.” She headed off with a wave and another blast of too much perfume.

He sighed and looked at the paper, then it turned into a groan. Of course. Her home and cell number were on the top.

* * * *

Halyn smiled as she waved at the two children who left the shop, purchases in hand with their mother. Some days went faster than others. This one had flown by.

“You seem happy,” Stacy, one of her employees, said, as she leaned on the counter beside her.

“I am. How are you doing? How’s school going for you?”

“Busy but good. We have finals coming up.”

“Oh, right, the end to summer term.”

“Yes, trying to finish early.”

“You’re going to be great.” Stacy was going for child psychology and teaching for younger children.

“Well, working here has definitely given me exposure to all types of children. Happy, sad—”

“Spoilt,” Halyn interrupted.

Stacy chuckled. “Oh, how true. Either way it’s showing me I need to have the patience. And you agreeing to have a reading time also helps. Plus it gets my name out there.”

She rubbed Stacy’s shoulder. “Sweetie, you’re gonna be great.”

“I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate your help and support.”

“You never have to thank me. I’m glad you walked through that door, you’ve been a godsend to me. So let’s call us even.”

Stacy had no parents and had been struggling to continue in college when they’d met. She’d walked in the store looking for a job, desperate. While Halyn hadn’t really needed any help, she’d felt for the young woman. She’d been in that position herself when she’d gone to college, not having a lot of money and needing a job to make it work, so she’d hired her. Years later, they were good friends and she thanked the good Lord every day that Stacy had walked into her life.

“You know they say there’s a storm coming. You rode here, do you want to leave early so you don’t get caught in it?”

“Always looking out for me, aren’t you?”

“I try,” Stacy said. “You don’t make it easy.”

She laughed. “That’s because I’m older than you.”

“Humph.”

“Does she listen to you, Stacy? Because she didn’t seem at all concerned about listening to me this morning.”

Halyn looked up to see Enzo right inside the door. Her breath left her in a whoosh. It wasn’t fair how good he looked. Jeans and a button-down shirt that hung over the waistband yet did nothing to hide his gorgeous ass.

“Good afternoon, Mr Cassano,” Stacy said with a smile. “And here’s Liev, good to see you.” She crouched by him. “We just got some new games in, would you like to come see them with me?”

Halyn watched the adorable boy give a solemn nod then follow Stacy. She bit her lower lip as she noticed Enzo moving closer to her. Not even two minutes in his presence and she was thinking about getting them somewhere private and removing his clothing.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked, grateful her voice didn’t crack.

“Came to see you.” He rested against the counter, chin propped on one fist. “We were out shopping and swung through.”

Her belly clenched as he stared at her with those incredible brown eyes. Before Enzo Cassano, she’d always considered brown eyes to be bland. There’d been electric blue, stunning greens or greys, but brown had just been…brown. Not anymore. His eyes were so vivid in her dreams.

“That so?”

He dropped his gaze to her lips and slowly back to her eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”

“That was nice.”

“I had an ulterior motive.”

She’d basically do anything he wanted, so long as he continued to stare at her as if he wanted to engulf her. Donate blood, sell a kidney, a lung, whatever. “Do tell,” she murmured.

The bell over the door chimed and he winked at her before barely brushing their lips together. It took all she had not to lean into him as he drew away then walked off down the aisle.

Straightening up, she met the eyes of the person standing there. He looked vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place from where.

“Something I can help you with, sir?”

“Are you the woman dating Enzo Cassano?” He looked at the notepad in his hand. “Halyn Jennings?”

He moved briskly towards her and Halyn fought to keep the scowl from her face. That was a mighty personal question, and she truly enjoyed her privacy.

“And you are?”

“Ernest Macklin. Reporter.”

She blinked. Definitely not impressed. “And what difference does it make Mr Macklin, if I am?”

“I’d like to interview you.”

“For what?”
And why?

“Nobody has gotten your side of how it is to discover the man you’re dating has come to have a son.” He stepped closer and pulled out a pencil, putting it to paper. “His son, do the two of you get along?”

Protectiveness swarmed her and she fought a growl. “You leave his son out of this.”

“So you are Halyn Jennings?”

“Any idiot could figure that out. I own the store.” She made no attempt to hide her derision. She crossed her arms. “You need to leave.”

“I thought I saw him come in with his son. Perhaps I could get a picture of the three of you, to add to your interview?”

“There will be no interview. And you leave the boy alone.” Hands at her sides, she tried to control her breathing.

“You sound personally involved. Why are you protecting him?”

“He’s a young boy who doesn’t need to be dragged into the spotlight. Get out.” She clenched her hands into fists, mentally begging Enzo and Liev to stay out of sight.

“What if I’m here to shop?”

“As store owner, I have the right to ask anyone whom I feel may endanger my clientele to leave. You fall into that category. Get out, before I call the cops.”

The man gazed past her and made a move to head farther into the store. Halyn moved like lightning and blocked him. Ernest towered over her by a good six inches, and outweighed her by at least hundred pounds. His shaggy hair made her think grunge—however, his cold eyes made her suspicious. She’d never much cared for reporters.

“I asked you to leave.”

“Is he here?”

“You said you wanted to interview me. I’ve declined, and since asked you to depart my store. I won’t ask again.”

Blue eyes met hers and she refused to show how he intimidated her. “Don’t get in my way, little girl. I want an interview and I want to know about his child.”

Little girl
. That was almost laughable. She’d not been called that in years.

“Everything okay up here, Ms Jennings?”

Stacy. Bless her, she had showed up.

“Call the cops.” Halyn never looked away from the man she continued to block.

“Right away.” Charged silence before Stacy connected with someone on the other end. “I’d like the cops to come to Pointer’s Toys. There’s a man who refuses to leave and is threatening my boss.”

Ernest glared as if he’d not thought she would actually do it. Halyn didn’t take her gaze off him
—
she still shook with the extent of her anger.
How dare he?

“This isn’t over.”

“I think it is. You’re never welcome in my store again.” She arched an eyebrow. “You wanted a comment from me. There, you have it.”

“I’ll be back.”

“And I’ll have you arrested.”

He muttered something very unflattering under his breath before pivoting on his heel and slipping out the door.

“Are you okay?” Stacy asked rushing to her side.

“Yes.”

“Stacy,” Enzo said in a deep voice. “I need to talk to Halyn in the back.”

“Not a problem, Mr Cassano.”

Before Halyn could say a word, Enzo had propelled her in the direction of the back room. He closed the door and kissed her.

So not what she’d expected. Melting against his hard frame, she sighed into his mouth. His tongue delved deep, stroking the roof and sides of her mouth. She gripped his shirt and held on.

“Don’t ever,
ever
do that again,” he growled against her lips.

“Do what?”
Seriously, am I supposed to think after a kiss like that?

“Put yourself in danger.”

She drew back, released his shirt and frowned. “I wasn’t in danger. He was a reporter. Besides, it’s my store.” Okay, so there had been that threat towards the end, but she wasn’t about to mention it to Enzo.

He grabbed her shoulders, holding tight. “Some reporters will do whatever it takes to get a story.”

“I know. And I’ll be careful.”

“What did he want?” There was a menacing quality to the question.

She swallowed. “He wanted to know how I felt about you suddenly having a son. And stuff about Liev.”