“You’d be doing itforhim. Think of how cruel kids will be, knowing he was the result of some tawdry affair,” Sienna said. Claudia flinched but she seemed to know better than to try to frame it as something pure. “He’ll never escape it. His whole life he’ll be Zane McCreight’s bastard son. You don’t want that for him any more than I want my children to be devastated by this. Because they will be. They’ll never see their dad the same way again. They’ll always resent him. And you.” She glanced at the baby. “And him, just for existing.”
Sienna stood up hoping to relieve the tension that had built up in her muscles. She took a few steps to the wall of windows, then turned back to Claudia. “I’m offering you a chance at a new life filled with money you never thought you’d have. You’ll be able to buy your son anything he wants. Opportunities most parents would kill to give their child. He’ll be the only living link to a legend. Peopleeverywhere will love him. They’ll want to know him. And heisthe child of a musical genius, so it’s not entirely false.”
“Yes, it is.”
“It’ll be a huge boost to your career.” Feeling a wave of desperation, she turned to Dean. “Am I right, Dean?”
Dean ran his hand over his mouth before answering, as if hating himself for what he was doing. “Yep. The entire industry would have a soft spot in their hearts for you. Fans too. A record deal would be as easy as a phone call. And not some crappy deal. A good one.”
Sienna almost smiled. “Instead of being the villain, you get to be the victim. The loving woman who lost so much and bravely brought a son into this world alone to carry on Mike’s legacy. Think of it. The cover ofRolling Stone—you and the baby.”
Claudia’s eyebrows knit together, and Sienna was certain she was going to say no, so she went on. “It’s just a name on a birth certificate. That’s all. It’s a simple lie that’s not too far from the truth. If Mike had lived, you two might have had children.”
“Mike had a vasectomy years ago,” Claudia answered. “What if his doctor does a tell-all?”
Shrugging, Sienna said, “These things reverse themselves sometimes.”
“Honestly, people willwantto believe it’s true. They want some piece of him to be left alive,” Dean said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat, then added, “The story would play beautifully for the fans, especially if we get the guys on board.Three Men and a Babyit. We say they’re helping to raise him.”
Sienna’s head snapped back. “I don’t think so.”
Dean gave her a hard stare. “It would obviously just befor show, Sienna, and it’s the only way to play this. The band coming together to care for Mike’s child and help Claudia out. Healing together after such a horrible loss.”
“That’s not necessary,” Sienna answered, not wanting her husband anywhere near Claudia again.
“How would it look if they didn’t?”
Claudia answered Dean’s question. “It would look terrible, and isn’t this whole plan about the optics?”
8 P.M.
CLAUDIA
Claudia sat at her kitchen table with only the light from the stove fan to help her see the numbers on her cordless phone. It was late evening, and Elliott was fast asleep in his crib while she sat alone in the dark sipping chamomile tea.
She was in shock at the speed at which everything had happened. The test results had only come back the day before, and already a lawyer in an office downtown somewhere was drafting up paperwork to make Elliott Mike’s legal heir. She and her son would inherit everything that had been put in trust while the estate attorneys had been searching in vain for a long-lost relative. The Malibu home. Millions of dollars. Luxury vehicles. Mike’s guitar collection alone would be enough to put Elliott through college from freshman year to a doctorate at any Ivy League college. Not that she would sell it.
Instead of feeling relieved that her financial problems would be forever behind her, Claudia felt dirty and sick toher stomach. But should she? After all, Mike had abandoned her, after years of her supporting and caring for him. She was the one who spent countless afternoons making herself invisible to ease his temper. And it washerwords that lifted the band back up to the top of Mount Everest.
So maybe she was owed this. And maybe it was okay to take it and never look back. For herself, for her son, and in a distorted way, for Mike too. She was finally getting the break she’d been waiting for her entire life, only not the way she wanted it. Not because of her talent. Because of a lie. And Claudia knew that the truth would haunt her. Maybe it wasn’t worth it. Maybe she should refuse and spend her life noble in her struggle, like most people do. Besides, what if this ruined a possible future with Zane? She knew it was a sliver of a chance at best, but still. What if she could’ve had him for the rest of her life, and wound up alone instead? The thought caused her breath to leave her body. She could still change her mind. Nothing had been signed yet.
Unable to spin around and around anymore alone, she dialed her mom’s number and gave her the news. The conversation went exactly as she knew it would. Doreen was immediately horrified by the plan until she told her what it would mean for them. “You can finally sell the business. Retire. You and Dad can travel the world. Live anywhere. Do anything you want.”
There was a pause that Claudia knew would come. Then, “How soon?”
“I’m not sure. It’ll take a few months to sort everything out. Dean has to sign an affidavit that the hair sample he took was Mike’s. A judge will look it all over, but no one is going to contest it because Mike didn’t have anyone else.” Her heart ached, thinking about how horribly alone Mike had been his whole life, even when he was with her.
“You know, it actually might be best for everyone involved,” her mom said. “I mean, it’s horribly dishonest, obviously. But the situation is already a terrible mess so there’s no simple way out of it. And this will save the children from being ridiculed for their entire lives. All of them, not just Elliott. And you’ll finally get what’s owed from those men. Not the way you want to get it, but still. The result’s the same.”
Her stomach churned. “Maybe I should call Dean and say no. I’ve felt sick since I agreed to it. It all feels … gross, to be hon?—”
“You feel gross because what you did was wrong.”
That horribly familiar sense of shame crept up from Claudia’s chest to the top of her head. “It feels wrong because I’m choosing to lie to my son about his father.” Her throat constricted. “He’ll grow up believing his father is dead when really he’s alive and well, living nearby.”
“His real father isn’t going to be a good dad, Claudia, and you know it,” her mom answered. “How many times has he come to see Elliott?”
“He hasn’t, but?—”
