Tied To You (9 page)

I arrived at work ten minutes early, as was my habit. I wasn’t entirely shocked to find my manager waiting for me, telling me Mrs. Watts was expecting me. I’d vaguely anticipated this, but with the move yesterday and the flurry of excitement, I hadn’t allowed myself to dwell on it too much.

Mykael had left before me this morning, to meet a client for breakfast, so it was just me making my way to the top-floor office alone. It would have been that way anyway, because I couldn’t in good conscience mix my personal life with my professional life and insist on dragging along my boyfriend to meet his mother for what was probably going to be a disciplinary meeting at minimum.

I was actually a little surprised she was acting already, especially by summoning me during work hours, but I supposed she wanted to deal with me and have me gone as quickly as possible. I was fully expecting some sort of offer to go away and never come back, which I knew I wouldn’t be accepting.

After the childhood I’d had, and the last six years spent being so lonely, there was no way I was throwing away a chance of happiness with Mykael just because his mother didn’t approve. Directly after meeting her Saturday, my inclination had been to do so, but I had calmed down since then and realized that no matter how much she objected, she couldn’t stop us from having a relationship.

Something had changed between Mykael and me over the weekend, something moving us a step closer toward his original goal of marriage, and in the end, Nila Watts wasn’t even a factor in my decision. Or not much of one.

I was feeling a little less brave than my thoughts implied as I knocked before entering her office a few moments later. It was so spacious and luxurious that it made Mykael’s nice office seem like the janitor’s closet. I didn’t bother to pay much attention to the décor or my surroundings as I focused on Nila, not letting my gaze waiver as I crossed the room to her desk.

She was seated, which was a bit startling. I’d expected her to stand up and tower over me, since she was several inches taller. I couldn’t decide what kind of message she was trying to send—either that I was too unimportant to acknowledge as anywhere near an equal, or that she was so powerful she had no need to make an overt show about it. I didn’t know her well enough to guess which.

I stood in front of her desk, awaiting an invitation to sit. She simply stared up at me with a cold look on her face. I could have made an effort to say hello or give some kind of greeting, but my voice felt trapped in my throat under the intensity of her glower. My mouth was much too dry to speak for the moment, so I just stared at her as the stretch of silence lengthened.

She spent a moment observing me, looking me over from head to toe. Finally, she leaned back just a bit in her chair, steepling her fingers together on the black wood. “There’s a folder in front of you. Open it.”

I looked down to see a plain white folder with only the law firm’s name embossed in navy ink. My hands tried to shake when I lifted the folder, but I refused to let her see the reaction. I opened the folder, and a check fluttered out. I picked it up, giving it a brief glance. All the zeros following the one made my stomach churn with nausea when I realized just how badly she wanted me gone.

Without allowing much of a reaction to show in my expression, I stuffed the check into the side pocket of the folder and looked at the papers. Without waiting for an invitation, I sat as gracefully as possible in the chair so I could read quickly.

The first page was notification from HR terminating my at-will employment. I swallowed thickly, dreading the idea of looking for a job, especially one with the benefits I had here, while pregnant. Still, I refused to betray my dismay and tried to keep my expression blank.

There was no explanation offered, but I knew in our state she didn’t have to give one. I wasn’t a contract employee or partner, so she could fire me for whatever reason she wanted, or simply no reason at all. At the bottom of the page, there was a check attached with a perforated line that included my severance pay. Apparently, this part was being handled separately from the bribery attempt to remove me from her son’s life completely.

Without commenting, I turned the page facedown on the opened folder and read the next one. It was a nondisclosure agreement forbidding me from mentioning any details of my employment here, the reason for my termination, my personal relationship with Mykael, or the outcome of that dalliance.

I blinked at the word.
Dalliance.
Like we were some kind of sordid fling. It might have started that way, or at least with overtones of sordidness, but she had no idea how we felt about each other. It wasn’t some cheap sexual relationship where I had deliberately trapped him by getting pregnant. I was certain she believed that, but I knew the truth.

With no comment, and making no attempt to reach for the pen nearby, I turned that page facedown as well and went to the last one. I stared at it uncomprehendingly for a moment as I read over the date and time, trying to process what it was. Finally, the realization that she had made me an appointment at the Brookstone Women’s Facility for Friday afternoon penetrated the fog of confusion.

Anger burned in me. I didn’t think she was concerned about the baby’s health. I also didn’t think this was some attempt to get a DNA test performed before birth to establish paternity. With an ambiguous name like Women’s Facility, it seemed likely there was one business, and one business only in which Brookstone engaged. She wanted me to terminate my pregnancy. Unable to hide my shock and horror at that notion, I dropped the page and glared at her. “What is this?”

She leaned forward slightly. “Even someone like you could figure out what it is. If you want that check, you have to meet all the terms of the agreement. I didn’t put them in writing, of course, but I think we can come to an understanding. After you get rid of it, you’ll leave the state. I’d prefer if you left the country, but I can’t force you to do that. If you ever come back, I’ll destroy you.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “You don’t think trying to force me to abort the baby of the man I love is going to destroy me, Nila?” Fuck authority and respect. She wasn’t getting Mrs. Watts out of me anymore. It was all I could do to choke out her first name. There were four letters in Nila, but I that I could think of a much more appropriate four-letter word to describe her. “I’m not interested in your terms.”

She didn’t even bat an eyelash. “That is just a starting point for negotiation. I’ll double the offer.”

My eyes widened, and I shook my head unconsciously as I fathomed just how much she must hate me, or at least the idea of me being with her son and the mother of his child. “Not even for ten times the amount.”

She arched a brow, looking intrigued. “What exactly do you want then, Ms. Chastain?”

My stomach dipped, though I shouldn’t have been surprised she had learned of the connection. No doubt, she had sicced her investigators on me over the weekend. They might have come from this very law firm, because there was an entire team of investigators for different lawsuits that worked out of the building. It probably hadn’t taken her five minutes to learn I was Wayne’s daughter stepdaughter.

“In an ideal world, I’d like you to welcome me into the family and support Mykael’s choice. I’d be thrilled if you loved our child and acted like a real grandmother, because I’ve always wanted a family that felt like a genuine family. Since we both live in the real world, I’d settle for you just leaving me alone while I do my best to stay out of your path.”

She sniffed. “You’re trying to make me believe you have no interest in that money?”

I lifted the check and slowly tore it in four pieces. “You can’t buy me off. I’m not leaving Mykael for any amount of money, and I certainly wouldn’t get rid of our baby. I understand why you might perhaps judge me based on my association with Wayne Chastain, but I’m nothing like him, and I have nothing in common with him. I love Mykael.”

Abruptly, I realized that was the second time I had admitted that to her, though I had not yet said it to him. I pressed on, determined to deal with that later. “If you would just give me a chance—”

She cut me off with a harsh laugh. “A chance to do what? To run his political prospects by saddling him with a child that probably isn’t even his? Should I give you a chance to have unfettered access to his bank accounts and our family name? He’s worked too hard and comes from too good of a family to waste himself on the likes of you. There is no way you are going to bring that child into our family. I won’t allow it.”

I rolled my eyes as I stood up, pausing only long enough to grab my termination letter and the severance check attached. They were fairly mine, but I wasn’t going to take anything else. “I really hope you’ll get over this bitterness, Nila, and accept I’m part of Mykael’s life now, and we’re having a baby together.” My tone was surprisingly gentle, and I realized I actually felt sorry for her.

Her shortsightedness could end up costing her a close relationship with her son and would almost certainly keep her from enjoying the status of grandmother to our baby. I refused to have him or her exposed to a woman who considered the baby inferior. She wouldn’t hesitate to show that or take out her anger on our little one, so if she couldn’t accept me, she certainly wouldn’t have any role in my baby’s life.

“I’m not done with you yet. I know what kind of girl you are, and you won’t hold him for long.”

I gave her a small smile, but I knew it was a sad one. “I actually feel sorry for you.” Her eyes widened, and I was afraid she might have a heart attack right there.

“Believe it or not, you’re actually quite a bit like my stepfather. He’s so blinded by his own ignorant hatreds that he refuses to see the possibilities in people. I’m sad that you’re the same way, but I’m grateful that Mykael managed not to embrace your ideals anymore than I did Wayne’s. I hope you change your mind and come around, but until you do so, I don’t want to see you again.”

Without looking back at her, I turned and strode from the office. I heard her shriek my name as the door closed, and it surprised me. She’d seemed unlikely to lose control. I nodded to her secretary, who looked startled either by me leaving in one piece or by his boss’s outburst, and quickly made my way to the lift.

Once inside the elevator, I considered stopping by Mykael’s office, but it would do no good. He was only a junior partner and couldn’t overrule his mother’s decision to fire me. Besides, the idea of continuing to work here under the hateful gaze of Nila Watts held no appeal at all. I’d rather do anything else than that.

As I started to leave the building, pausing only long enough to grab my purse and jacket since I hadn’t brought anything else more personal in during my brief receptionist tenure, my feet automatically set off in the direction of my old apartment. I paused at the crosswalk, realizing I should turn the other way instead. At least if I was going back to Mykael’s place, that was.

I’d already taken most of the things I wanted for my apartment last night, and movers were due to deal with the rest and put it in storage later in the week. I had also turned in my notice via a note in the office’s drop slot.

Deciding his mother’s maneuver changed nothing, I turned around and walked back the direction toward his apartment instead. I made myself at home, because this was technically my home now, and waited for Mykael.

I just hoped he supported my decision to have nothing to do with his mother until she changed her mind. That was the only thing I really feared. What if he couldn’t support that? I hoped it was a needless and baseless fear as I busied myself unpacking before eventually starting dinner as the day dwindled away.

***

My mother often got to work early, so I ensured I was waiting in her office when she came in the next morning at seven a.m. Gabriella was at home in my bed, fast asleep, and knowing she was there soothed my anger a little. I had been shocked when I’d come home last night to discover what my mother had done, and I’d been more horrified than she had been when she’d told me my mother had expected her to abort our child and disappear.

Gabriella had taken it with equanimity, either because she’d already been preparing herself for the possibility, or because she’d had all day to process it. I had been seriously angry and wanted to storm upstairs to her apartment, but Gabriella had distracted me with dinner and soothed me, making me promise to calm down before I did something I would regret.

That she could still care enough to worry about my relationship with my mother after what my mother had done touched me in an unexpected way. Somehow, I had managed to calm down throughout the evening, but the first sight of my mother strolling into her office, and completely unaware of my presence, threatened to send me to that same rage-filled state as yesterday.

I held tightly to the chair arms as I waited for her to turn from the coat rack and notice me sitting in front of her desk. She did a moment later, letting out a satisfying squeak of surprise as she clutched her heart. I glared at her.

There was a hint of anxiety in her expression, but it faded quickly enough to one of pleasant neutrality. “What brings you here so early, my son?”

I shook my head at her attempt at willful obliviousness. “What do you think brought me here, Mother?”

She let out a careless laugh as she moved around the desk to take up her leather throne, sitting down with an air of no guilt and no concern. And clearly no compassion. “I can’t imagine what brings you in so early. Does this have something to do with the Wilkins case? That’s the one you’re working on now, isn’t it?”

I shook my head. “Actually, it has to do with the fact that you tried to get my girlfriend to abort our baby yesterday.”

Her eyes widened, and she did a good imitation of someone who was hearing something shocking for the first time. “That’s outrageous. I would never—”

I scowled at her. “Don’t even try it, Mother. I believe her one hundred percent. I saw the termination letter and the severance check.”

She blinked at me, her expression revealing nothing. “It’s improper for you to be involved with her. You can’t be screwing the receptionist, and if you insist on maintaining an inappropriate relationship, we can’t have it plainly displayed for the entire company and clients. Therefore, I had to let her go.”

I snorted. “Yeah, okay, whatever. But what you didn’t have to do was try to give her a boatload of money to have an abortion and disappear. I knew you would be difficult and disapprove, but it never occurred to me that you would actually try to get her to kill our baby.”

Her lips tightened, but she shrugged a shoulder. “I still have no idea what you’re going on about, darling. Are you sure she’s not making up tales to cause trouble between us?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to even entertain the idea. I’d seen the letter last night, and I remembered the look of regret on Gabriella’s face when she had told me about the incident. She’d looked fearful, perhaps even a little panicked, when she realized she hadn’t brought any proof of what my mother expected her to do.

I was certain she’d thought I wouldn’t believe her, but I had. My mother could be cold and ruthless, and she hadn’t hesitated to unleash that side of herself on the woman I loved. She wasn’t going to talk her way out of this. “Drop the pretense, Mother. I know you offered her money, but I can’t understand why you would want her to kill your grandchild.”

Her expression turned angry, her eyes even colder. “That
thing
is not my grandchild. She’s a Chastain, and you know what they’ve done to your sister. I won’t acknowledge her or that
thing
.”

Her words made me seriously angry, and I couldn’t hold back the urge to slam my fist onto her desk. The wood reverberated in the sudden silence as we stared at each other, perhaps both shocked by my outburst. My temper was usually cooler and calmer, more glacial like hers. I leaned forward slightly, keeping my voice low and steady. “That
thing
is my son or daughter, and Gabriella will be my wife, if she’ll have me. I want you to stay away from her and our child.”

She scowled at me, shaking her head. “If you marry that girl, you’ll derail all chances of a bright future. No one will support you. People admire you as a black man entering politics with a strong conscience and strong family values. You’ll throw all that away by getting married outside your race to a white girl whose stepfather is in the opposite political party.”

It was tempting to hit the desk again, but it had done nothing besides make my hand sting. Instead, I took a few deep breaths and focused on maintaining control. “As I’ve told you many times, I have no interest in politics. Even if I did, and I knew for sure that marrying Gabriella would ruin all prospects for me, I’d do it in a heartbeat anyway. I want her and I love her. She’s having my baby, and if you can’t accept that, there’s nothing else to say.”

My mother, stubborn to the end, shook her head. “I can only hope you come to your senses before you actually make it official. At the very least, let me draw up a prenuptial agreement for you.”

I sighed heavily. “Open the folder on your desk, Mother.” I had to admit I enjoyed that part, re-creating a touch of the scene she had thrust upon Gabriella yesterday. I watched with anticipation as she opened the folder, suddenly gasping in horror as she read the words. She shook her head, looking up at me as she said, “No, you can’t do this.”

I just grinned at her. “I already have. I’m going to sell my share of the firm to Alan Bristol, which will give him a controlling share, if I’m not mistaken? I’ve turned in my notice with HR, and I’ll soon be leaving the practice. I’ve never enjoyed corporate law, so I’m going to do something I want to do.”

She glared at me, her rage bubbling to the surface. “Fine, waste your life. Throw away everything on some white girl and a kid that probably isn’t even yours. You’re nothing but trash if you do this, and I won’t acknowledge you or forgive you. You’d better not expect any kind of financial support from me.”

I enjoyed winking at her. “That’s okay, Mother. I’ll be just fine on my own without anyone else’s money.” As I stood up from the chair, realizing I might never be in this office again, I almost laughed like a loon.

I felt surprisingly free and liberated, and I realized just how much the path I had chosen had weighed on me. From the time I was little, my mother had spelled out the expectations before me, that I would apply myself diligently to get good grades, graduate as quickly as possible, and complete law school at the top of my class. Then I would join her firm and work my way up to taking over for her someday.

I couldn’t believe how easily I’d fallen in line without ever questioning what she had set for me. It wasn’t until I had met Gabriella and started reevaluating what I had and what I wanted that I’d realized the law firm and the partnership weren’t even on the list.

With a bounce in my step and a jaunty wave to my mother, I strode to the office door. I paused before opening it, turning to look at her once more with a stern expression. “I meant what I said. Stay away from Gabriella and our baby. She has nothing to do with the Chastains, and Wayne Chastain’s sins aren’t hers.”

My mother glared at me, but her voice was cool and composed when she said, “I don’t just hate her because she’s a Chastain. You’ve given me plenty of reason to hate her all on her own.”

I compressed my lips to keep from saying something angry, knowing if I betrayed any other reaction besides absolute calm, it would please my mother’s sadistic side. “Hate her all you want as long as you stay away from her. Goodbye, Mother.” She didn’t speak again, and neither did I as I let myself out of the office and headed toward the elevator to go down a few floors to my own.

I had a case to finish and some work to wrap up, but I expected to be out of the law firm by the end of the month. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do yet, having made the spur-of-the-moment decision that I was handing in my notice depending on my mother’s reaction this morning as I had walked to the office. Now, endless possibilities lay before me, and I sorted through them as I went about my daily work.

I already knew I didn’t want to join another large law firm devoted to corporate law. Nor did I want to be a public defender or a defense attorney. The ideas made my stomach my skin crawl. I didn’t want to interact with the worst dregs of society, even if they were entitled to legal representation. That was their right, but it wasn’t going to come for me
.
Nor did I want to prosecute people with the broken justice system we had.

Midmorning, I had an idea and put in a call to an old friend from law school. Haley was happy to hear from me, and when she heard I was looking for a job, she practically hired me over the phone. I promised I would stop by for a proper interview later in the week, but we both knew it was just a formality. Thanks to a generous grant she’d recently received, she had the budget to hire help, and I had the desire to work in her pro bono family law office.

I was completely optimistic about where my life was going, and though I was saddened by my mother’s truculence, I couldn’t allow it to sway me from the relationship I was building with Gabriella. I certainly couldn’t allow it to detract me from being the father my child deserved. I hoped she would come around, but if she didn’t, we would still be just fine without her.