Nine
The woman in the catsuit looked ready for a catfight, but Piper wasn’t about to bite. “I’ll leave you two with your privacy,” she said as she targeted the door as her means to escape.
Talia stormed into the room, blocking her escape. “Oh, do stay, chicky. The party is only getting started.”
Adan stepped to Piper’s side and moved slightly in front of her. “Calm down, Talia. If anyone has cause to be irritated, it should be me. You might have had the courtesy of notifying me of your impending arrival.”
“And you might have told me you married—” she pointed a finger at Piper “—this wench.”
“Piper is not a wench,” Adan stated with a touch of venom in his tone. “And your argument is with me, not her. If you will join me in my study, we will discuss our son.”
Talia smirked. “Here seems fine. After all, you’ve obviously been taking care of the bonking business in the bedroom with her for quite some time, according to the press.”
And Piper had only thought they’d covered all their media bases. “You can’t believe everything you hear or read, Talia. Adan has done whatever it takes to protect Sam.”
The woman nailed her with a seething glare. “Our son is not your concern.”
“But he is my concern,” Adan said. “And I am prepared to offer you a sizable settlement in exchange for retaining full custody of Samuel.”
Talia flipped a hand in dismissal. “Your attorneys have already worked that out with my attorneys.”
Adan’s expression was a mixture of confusion and anger. “How is that possible when I have not consulted the palace barrister?”
“Maybe you should talk to your brother about that,” Talia replied.
“The king knew you were coming?” Piper chimed in, earning a quelling look from Adan.
“Yes, he did,” she said. “I had Bridgette call when I arrived back in Paris. Rafiq wouldn’t let me speak to you, the duffer, so I hopped on a plane and came here. He practically met me at the door with the papers. I signed them and then I had to evade the houseboy on my way up here.”
Piper knew very little British slang, but it didn’t take much to interpret Talia’s words. “Then I assume you’re okay with giving Adan full custody,” she said, sticking her nose in where it obviously didn’t belong.
Talia screwed up her face in a frown. It wasn’t pretty. “No. I’m giving him to Adan. What would I need with a kid?”
A litany of indictments shot into Piper’s brain, threatening to spill out her mouth. Luckily Sam’s cry filtered through the monitor at that exact moment, supplying an excuse to bail before she blew up. “I’ll take care of him.” She brushed past Talia, resisting the urge to rip the expensive designer bag from her shoulder and stomp on it for good measure.
She took a few calming breaths as she quickly made her way to the nursery to see about the baby. The minute she walked into the room, Sam’s cries turned into wails, as if he somehow sensed the stressful situation brewing down the hall.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” she said as she picked him up from the crib. “Did you have a bad dream or just need some company?”
His sobs turned to sniffles as she cradled him in her arms, and then she realized he was in dire need of a diaper change. After she saw to that task, she considered instituting Adan’s plan to take the baby for a stroll around the grounds. She discarded that idea when she remembered she was still wearing her robe. Nothing like giving tabloid reporters more fuel for gossip should she get caught on camera. Of course, if any of the bottom-feeders had been hanging around in the past hour, which they had been periodically known to do since she’d arrived in Bajul, they would have a field day with Toxic Talia.
Her anger came back full throttle when she considered how the woman had agreed to relinquish her child without a second thought. Couldn’t she see what a precious gift she’d been given? Of course she couldn’t. She wasn’t concerned about anything that didn’t promote her personal gain...just like her own mother.
Piper refused to make this decision easy on the selfish supermodel, and with that goal in mind, she strode back down the hall with Sam in tow. She arrived at the open door to the suite in time to hear Talia say, “Now that everything’s settled, I’ll be on my way.”
“You’re not going anywhere yet,” Piper said through gritted teeth. “Not until you take a good long look at what you’re giving away.”
Talia spun around and rolled her eyes. “For the last time, this is none of your business, ducky.”
Undeterred, Piper walked right up to her and turned the baby around in her arms. “Look at him, Talia, and think about what you’re doing. It’s still not too late to change your mind.”
Adan took a few steps forward. “It’s no use, Piper. She’s made her choice, and she chooses her career. She wants no part in raising him.”
Ignoring Adan, Piper kept her gaze trained on Talia. “This is a life-altering decision. There’s no turning back if you walk away now. Is that what you really want?”
A spark of indecision showed in Talia’s eyes. “I can’t raise him,” she said, an almost mournful quality to her voice.
Piper’s disdain lessened as she witnessed the woman’s defenses began to crumble, one fissure at a time. “Are you absolutely sure?”
“If I were a different person, perhaps I could. But I’m never going to be good at it, and it would be unfair to him if I tried.” Then she surprisingly reached out and touched Sam’s fisted hand. “So long, little fellow. Be good for your daddy and your new mum.”
Talia hurried out the door, but not before Piper caught a glimpse of tears in her eyes. “Maybe I misjudged her,” she said as she placed Sam against her shoulder. “Maybe for the first time in her life, she’s doing something unselfish.”
Adan shoved a hand in his pocket, rubbed his neck with the other and began to pace. “Do you find it odd that all three of us have been betrayed by our mothers?”
In a way, he was right, but not completely. Piper had intended to tell him the truth before Talia’s interruption. She now recognized she walked a fine line between breaking a promise and bringing him peace. Perhaps she could avoid crossing that line by handing him only a partial truth. “There are some things you don’t know about your mother, and it’s high time you do.”
He faced her and frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You need to ask Elena,” she said. “She holds the answers, and she’s prepared to tell you.”
At least that was what she hoped.
* * *
A few moments later, Adan found himself standing outside Elena’s private office, his mind caught in a maze of confusion. He had no idea what Piper had been talking about, yet he suspected he would soon find out, even if he wasn’t certain he wanted
