Larenzo's Christmas Baby

Larenzo put his empty coffee mug on the dish drainer. ‘I should go,’ he said shortly, and Emma felt his emotional withdrawal like a palpable thing. ‘I don’t know when I’ll be home,’ he added. ‘Don’t wait for me.’

Emma nodded, feeling the rejection even though she knew she shouldn’t, and Larenzo left. He kissed the top of Ava’s head before he went, and Emma sat down at the table to finish her coffee, caught between missing Larenzo and enjoying the prospect of a day spent in the city. She was looking forward to going out and exploring New York, and yet, even though he’d just gone, she already missed Larenzo. She was so curious about him—this man who was hardened and suspicious, who could be so ruthless and cold, and yet also showed such gentleness and kindness.

Her cell phone rang and Emma slipped it out of the pocket of her jeans, and saw that it was Meghan.

‘Hey,’ she said as she answered the call and Meghan drew her breath in sharply.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Am I okay? Yes.’ Emma gazed out of the window at the view of Central Park, and then glanced at the remains of her perfectly toasted bagel. ‘I’m fine. Just finishing breakfast.’

‘Cavelli isn’t...he’s being decent to you?’ Meghan asked cautiously.

‘More than decent. He already has a bond with Ava. He even got up with her in the night.’ Emma pictured Larenzo wearing nothing but his pyjama bottoms, the lamplight washing over his bronzed skin, and she suppressed a shiver of desire.

‘Really,’ Meghan answered, the disbelief audible in her voice.

‘Yes, really. I told you before, Meghan, Larenzo wants to be a part of his daughter’s life.’

‘I didn’t realise you’d become his champion,’ Meghan retorted, and Emma sucked in a breath.

‘Meghan...’

‘Seriously, Emma, you’ve changed your tune since yesterday.’

‘I haven’t—’

‘How do you know Cavelli isn’t just pretending he’s interested in Ava—?’

Emma recoiled at the suggestion. ‘He’s not. Anyway, why would he?’

‘I don’t know, maybe he’s trying to polish his image for the public? Whatever it is, I don’t trust him, Emma, and you shouldn’t either. I know the charges against him were dropped, but you know the saying, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’

‘And sometimes there’s just smoke.’ The fierceness of her response surprised them both. ‘In any case,’ Emma continued, ‘you know as well as I do that I can’t keep Larenzo from seeing his daughter.’ And she didn’t even want to any more. Not when she’d seen how tender he was with her.

‘You still don’t have to live with him. I talked to that lawyer again and mentioned that Cavelli had practically blackmailed you into living with him. It could provide evidence that he’s unfit—’

‘Meghan.’ Shock as well as anger blazed through her. ‘You have no right to talk about my business with a lawyer.’

‘I’m looking out for you,’ Meghan cried. ‘Emma, obviously you still have some feelings for this man. That’s understandable, considering your shared history. But I think you’re in over your head. You don’t know Cavelli, or what he’s capable of. And someone has to be responsible and think about Ava—’

‘I am thinking about Ava,’ Emma shot back. Her voice shook with the force of her feelings. ‘Trust me, I am. And Larenzo is very good with her. I don’t want to keep him from Ava’s life, no matter what happened in his past.’

‘And what if it turns out he really is dangerous?’

‘It won’t. I trust Larenzo in that.’

‘How can you trust—?’

‘I just do, Meghan,’ Emma cut her off, knowing she meant it. ‘And I need to go now. Ava’s starting to fuss.’

Ava, who was happily chewing on a bagel, looked at her curiously. Emma disconnected the call and flung the phone onto the kitchen counter. Her whole body was trembling.

She wanted to deny everything her sister had said; she wanted to scrub her brain and pretend she’d never heard it. And yet beneath Meghan’s older-sister I-know-best attitude, Emma knew there was concern and perhaps even truth.

She still didn’t know Larenzo at all. It just felt as if she did.

Ava threw the bagel onto the floor, and Emma decided it was time to go out for the day. All of New York was waiting for her to explore, and she could certainly use the distraction.