And now Xander was going to meet his son. The son he’d never known he had…
Dread filled her, but for Dan’s sake she had to hide it. She felt her heart thudding heavily inside her, like a hammer in her chest, her breath tight in her lungs. Several more diners came in, families mostly and some couples. She felt her tension rack higher. The sense of dread mounted. Since Dan was born she’d been safe from Xander. But now—
Oh, God, how am I going to cope with this? Xander, forcing his way back into my life—into Dan’s life—invading it, taking it over.
And there was nothing she could do to stop it. She knew that. With his wealth Xander could hire the best lawyers, demand access, even—fear knifed in her—fight her for custody. He would be ruthless. She had proof of that, bitter proof, from seven years ago.
Now that he knew of Dan’s existence, all she could do was try and protect Dan, protect herself, as best she could, not to let Xander walk all over her.
I have to fight my corner, not just roll over and givein. I have to think of Dan—only of Dan! What’s best for him—only that.
It was all she could cling to. Her heart clenched, and then her gaze fixed on the entrance. Suddenly Xander was there, pushing open the door and striding in, seeing them immediately, heading to their table. He was casually dressed, with a sweater under a jacket, but she could see tension radiating from him. It made her feel slightly, infinitesimally slightly, less wound up herself, to see him as tense as she was.
He paused, closing his hands over the back of the chair opposite the banquette. He wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were only for Dan.
“Hello, Dan,” he said.
His voice was husked. Laurel could hear emotion in it—but emotion as tightly suppressed as if he were crushing it with his weight.
Dan was looking at him. “Hello,” he said. There was wariness in his voice. Laurel could hear it, understand its presence. But there was more as well. Anticipation—
Something flickered in Xander’s face, Laurel could see, and then he was pulling back the chair, seating himself in it. He held out his hand towards Dan. “It’s nice to meet you, Dan,” he said.
For a moment Dan hesitated, then he stretched his own hand out. “How do you do?” he said politely. Laurel had been keen on teaching him politeness.
Xander’s expression changed. The visible tension in his face—darkening his features, drawing his brows together, tightening his jaw—suddenly vanished. A smile flashed across his face, and out of nowhere a knife went through Laurel. A memory knife—
He used to smile at me like that! A flashing smile, lighting his face, his eyes—
She heard him speak, and his voice now went with the smile.
“All the very better for meeting you,” he said to Dan. Said to his son.
Her eyes dragged from Xander—dragged from the past, the poisoned past, to the present, the present that Xander was poisoning for her yet again—and went to Dan.
She saw it happen, saw him return his father’s smile, saw Xander take his son’s outstretched hand and shake it solemnly. Then he let it drop, took up a spare menu, and opened it up.
“Okay,” he announced, “what are we having for lunch?”
“A hamburger, please,” said Dan. Laurel could see him visibly relaxing. Xander seemed to be too, but Laurel knew it was only for Dan, and it wasn’t for real. At her he had not even glanced.
“Sounds good,” said Xander to his son.
Dan looked at him. “Do they have hamburgers in Greece?” he asked.
For a fraction of a second Xander’s eyes went to her—so swiftly it might not have happened. But his answer was only for his son. “Yes, you can get hamburgers in Greece,” he said. He paused a moment. “You know, that’s where I come from.”
Dan nodded. “Mum said.”
“What else did your mother say?” Xander asked. It sounded innocuous; Laurel knew it wasn’t.
“She said it’s why you haven’t been to see me.”
“It’s one of the reasons, yes,” Xander said. His voice was tight. The glance he threw—again, so swiftly it might not have happened—at Laurel was murderous.
Then he looked straight at Dan again. His voice lightened. “But I’m here now, Dan. Here for you. Part of your life forever.”
For a second, a fraction of a second, that killing glance came her way again, as if daring her to contest his assertion. She said nothing. Then, to her relief, the waitress was there, ready to take their order. She was young, and Laurel saw her unashamedly gaze at Xander. She knew why. It was a familiar, so familiar a reaction to him. It had been her own, after all…once upon a time. A long, long time ago.
