For the Sake of Their Son (The Alpha Brotherhood #5)(19)
Author: Catherine Mann

Elliot chose his words wisely to set the stage before they went inside. “Remember how when we were kids, we hid in the woods and tossed blankets over branches? I called them forts, but you called them castles. I was cool with that as long as I got to be a knight rather than some pansy prince.”

They’d climbed into those castle forts where he’d read for hours while she colored or drew pictures.

“Pansy prince?” She chuckled, tapping his chest. “You are anti-fairy-tale. What happened to the kid who used to lose himself in storybooks?”

He captured her finger and held on for a second before linking hands. “There are knights in fairy tales. And there are definitely castles.”

“Is that what this is about?” She left her hand in his. “Showing me a fairy tale?”

“Think about coming here in the future with Eli.” He stared at his son’s sleeping face and images filled his head of their child walking, playing, a toddler with his hair and Lucy Ann’s freckles. “Our son can pretend to be a knight or a prince, whatever he chooses, in a real castle. How freaking cool is that?”

“Very cool.” A smile teased her kissable pink lips. “But this place is a long way from our tattered quilt forts in the woods.”

His own smile faded. “Different from our childhood is a very good thing.”

Her whole body swayed toward him, and she cupped his face. “Elliot, it’s good that our child won’t suffer the way we did, but what your father did to you…that had nothing to do with money.”

Lucy Ann’s sympathy, the pain for him that shone in her eyes, rocked the ground under him. He needed to regain control. He’d left that part of his life behind and he had no desire to revisit it even in his thoughts. So he deflected as he always did, keeping things light.

“I like it when you get prissy.” He winked. “That’s really sexy.”

“Elliot, this isn’t the time to joke around. We have some very serious decisions to make this month.”

“I’m completely serious. Cross my heart.” He pressed their clasped hands against his chest. “It makes me want to ruffle your feathers.”

“Stop. It.” She tugged free. “We’re talking about Eli. Not us.”

“That’s why we’re at a castle, for Eli,” he insisted as the limousine stopped in front of the sprawling fortress. “Einstein said, ‘The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.’ That’s what we can offer our son with this unique lifestyle. The opportunity to explore his imagination around the world, to see those things that we only read about. You don’t have to answer. Just think on it while we’re here.”

* * *

With the baby nursing, Lucy Ann curled up in her massive bed. She took comfort in the routine of feeding her child, the sweet softness of his precious cheek against her breast. With her life turning upside down so fast, she needed something familiar to hold on to.

The medieval decor wrapped her in a timeless fantasy she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with. The castle had tapestries on the wall and sconces with bulbs that flickered like flames. Her four-poster bed had heavy drapes around it, the wooden pillars as thick as any warrior’s chest. An arm’s reach away waited a bassinet, a shiny reproduction of an antique wooden cradle for Eli.

Her eyes gravitated toward the tapestry across the room telling a love story about a knight romancing a maiden by a river. Elliot had chosen well. She couldn’t help but be charmed by this place. Even her supper was served authentically in a trencher, with water in a goblet.

A plush, woven rug on the stone floor, along with the low snap of the fire in the hearth, kept out the chilly spring night. The sound system piped madrigal music as if the group played in a courtyard below.

Through the slightly opened door, she saw the sitting room where Elliot was parked at a desk, his computer in front of him. Reviewing stats on his competitors? Or a million other details related to the racing season? She missed being a part of all that, but he had a new assistant, a guy who did his job so seamlessly he blended into the background.

And speaking of work, she had some of her own to complete. Once Eli finished nursing and went to bed there would be nothing for her to do but complete the two projects she hadn’t been able to put on hold.

She’d expected Elliot to try to make a move on her once they got inside, but the suite had three bedrooms off the living area. One for her and one for him. The British nanny he’d hired had settled into the third, turning in after Lucy Ann made it clear Eli would stay with his mother tonight. While Mrs. Clayworth kept a professional face in place, the furrows along her forehead made it clear that she wondered at the lack of work on this job.

This whole setup delivered everything Elliot had promised, a unique luxury she could see her son enjoying someday. Any family would relish these fairy-tale accommodations. It was beyond tempting.

Elliot was beyond tempting.

Lucy Ann tore her eyes from her lifetime friend and onetime lover. This month was going to be a lot more difficult than she’d anticipated.

Desperate for some grounding in reality before she weakened, she reached for her phone, for the present, and called her aunt Carla.

* * *

She’d made it through the night, even if the covers on the bed behind her were a rumpled mess from her restless tossing and turning.

Lucy Ann sat at the desk at the tower window with her laptop, grateful to Carla for the bolstering. Too bad she couldn’t come join them on this trip, but Carla was emphatic. She loved her home and her life. She was staying where she belonged.

Who could blame her? A sense of belonging was a rare gift Lucy Ann hadn’t quite figured out how to capture yet. In South Carolina, she’d dreamed of getting out, and here she craved the familiarity of home.

Which made her feel like a total ingrate.

She was living the easy life, one any new mother would embrace. How ironic that at home she’d spent every day exhausted, feeling like Eli’s naps were always a few minutes too short to accomplish what she needed to do. And now, she spent most of her time waiting for him to wake up.

She closed her laptop, caught up on work, dressed for the day, waiting to leave for Elliot’s race. She still couldn’t wrap her brain around how different this trip was from ones she’d shared with Elliot in the past. Staring out the window in their tower suite, she watched the sun cresting higher over the manicured grounds.

Last night, she’d actually slept in a castle. The restored structure was the epitome of luxury and history all rolled into one. She’d even pulled out her camera and snapped some photos to use for a client’s web design. Her fingers already itched to get to the computer and play with the images, but Elliot was due back soon.