The Blackstone Heir

“Jacob?” Luke said, hunching forward into his line of vision. “Jacob, are you okay? Where’d you go?”

Reaching out, Jacob picked up his half-full glass of wine and lifted it to his lips to perform the ultimate wine drinker’s depravity. He chugged until every single drop was gone.

Then he set the glass down carefully and lay his palm flat beside it, praying the solidity of the table would ground him in the spinning room.

Luke lay his own palm on the table, mirroring Jacob’s. “You cool?” Their version of letting each other know they were there.

And just like that, the words came to him, along with the anger. “I think I’m a daddy.”

Two (#ulink_86cdee83-5c19-50f7-89c7-8e854d09d68f)

Twenty-four hours later, Jacob finally stopped seething enough to confront KC. When he’d imagined what it would be like to find out he was going to be a parent, he’d pictured being across the table from his wife at an intimate dinner or seated next to each other in a doctor’s office. Instead, the most gorgeous woman in the world had made him a father—and failed to mention it for twelve months.

The numbness had melted into rage, keeping Jacob awake long into the night. He went over the figures time and again. They hadn’t spoken for seven months—he was ashamed that he could remember it to the day. He didn’t have a lot of experience, but he’d guess the baby to be three to four months old. So how long had she known she was pregnant before she left? Two months? Three? Either way, they’d definitely been together when she found out. And those curls proved the baby to be a Blackstone heir.

He knew better than to see her before he calmed down. He couldn’t be responsible for his actions while struggling with the deepest emotions he’d ever known. Control was his drug of choice—being out of control was something he preferred to keep well hidden. So he waited until he had his reactions under lock and key, and then he got in the car and drove.

KC lived a little outside town in a tiny house. Though there were other houses around, it wasn’t really a subdivision. More of a series of dwellings that had sprung up over time as family members and friends and even acquaintances bought land and started building. The result was individual, with plenty of space and large trees. Ideal starter homes. Just imagining the possibilities ignited his anger once more.

He knew she’d be there—familiarity with her schedule gave him an advantage.

Sure enough, the door opened before he even knocked. She didn’t speak, but simply turned back into the house, leaving him to follow. His gaze tracked her, cataloging every inch as she walked to the far end of the living room. Yeah, that body had changed, all right.

If he’d known what he was looking for, he’d have noticed right away. He’d been too busy searching for a connection in her eyes. But drinking in the whole package in jeans and a tank top, he saw the more dramatic curve from her waist to her hips, the added fullness in her breasts and a touch of softness in her jawline.

He’d thought nothing could make her more beautiful, but somehow having his baby had. And he hadn’t been allowed to be a part of it.

Irritation with his attraction only ramped up his intensity. Carefully shuttering every window to his soul, he faced off with her in true Blackstone fashion.

He jerked his head in the direction of the driveway. “Someone else here?” he asked, referring to the car parked behind hers. So help him, if there was a man living here, he just might explode. Had she moved on that quickly? Had she let another man care for Jacob’s child?

“Mom,” she said quietly, slightly dampening his fuse. “She’s in the nursery with Carter.”

His throat almost closed. “Carter, huh?”

“Yes. Jake Carter.”

Jake. Her nickname for Jacob—spoken with laughter, with intensity, with passion. It seemed more personal to name the baby that than to give him Jacob’s last name.

“So you admit that he’s mine?”

“Of course,” she said, as if it made perfect sense under the circumstances. How could anything she’d done make perfect sense?

He stalked closer. “Why would you do this, KC? Was I really so horrible to you that you refused to let me be a part of—this?”

“That was never the issue, Jacob—”

“Then what was?” A really deep breath helped him lower his voice. It kept rising without his permission. Control. He needed control. “What was the issue, KC? Because I can’t imagine one big enough that you told yourself it was okay to deceive me. To keep my son a secret from me.”

Her arms crossed over her ribs, pushing those delectable breasts higher in the tank top. Something he shouldn’t notice right now. At all.

“I did not deceive you. I never lied. I was going to tell you. I just hadn’t figured out how.”

“So he’s three months old?”

“Yes, a week ago.”

“So at any time in the past twelve months you could have picked up the phone. Or hell, just answered the phone when I called.”

“I was afraid to. Going away just seemed the safest thing until I was sure what to do.”

Jacob was surprised by the low rumble of his voice. “Safe? How? What the hell would safety have to do with it? I would never hurt you.”

“I know that, Jacob, but it wasn’t—”

The emotional roller coaster of the night caught up with him, pushing him past reasonable thought. “Know what? It doesn’t matter. Fact is, you deprived me of three months of knowing my—son,” he choked out. “Not a note, a card or a call. Hell, not even a text. By the way, I’m pregnant. That’s all it would have taken, KC, but you didn’t even have the decency to do that.”

He’d made himself available, chased after her like a dog with no sense, and this was what he got for it.

He came even closer until he loomed over her petite frame. “So now, I’ll have what I want.”

He wished her deep breath didn’t draw his gaze downward. The low-level buzz of desire beneath his anger made him want to curse. He should not be attracted to a woman who could betray him. But he couldn’t help it.

“Jake, please let me explain.”

He refused to look in those turbulent eyes again. “Too late. No talking. No thinking. Now I will act.”

She straightened, bracing her spine, which was just as well.

“Carter will come home.”

Her jaw clenched. “He is home.”

“My home.” Some sick part of him took pleasure in the panic creeping over her features. “He’s a Blackstone. He should be with his family.”

She swallowed hard. “Jacob, please don’t do this.”

“Mark my words, KC. I will make you regret what you’ve done. I promise.”

* * *

As soon as he’d stormed out of her house, KC began to dread the moment Jacob would act on his threat. The longer she waited, the more her stomach hurt.

She knew she’d made a bad choice, but given the circumstances, she thought she’d done the best she could. Waiting until James Blackstone was dead to tell Jacob about Carter had seemed like the safest option for protecting her baby, along with her family. In the absence of a reliable husband or father, her mother had given her all to raising and providing for KC and her brother. KC had felt that pull of loyalties every day that she’d been away, but in the end, she’d chosen to take care of the women who had raised her. Her mother and grandmother would have no defense against James Blackstone if he’d retaliated by taking away their livelihood on a whim.

But Jacob didn’t believe her, because he was acting on emotion, not facts.

How did she get him to listen to those facts now? She knew James’s lawyer, Canton, could work all kinds of voodoo if he wanted. Was Jacob even now making arrangements to take her baby from her? The thought shook her deeper than any of the rest. Not just for the typical mommy reason: being away from her child for more than a day was more than she could handle right now. But Jacob was essentially an unknown as a parent.