nurse to be overpowered by a stun gun and little Riana Collingwood was gone. Though Hunter had vowed to do everything within his means to find the infant, chase every lead that came in over the 1-800 tips line, the grim odds were that they might never find her. Or learn the true reason for her abduction.
The timing of the explosion tonight in a rented house where the Collingwoods had planned to be reunited with their son was suspicious—especially following their daughter Riana’s kidnapping. And it cast Riana’s abduction and the aborted ransom demand into a whole new light.
Ross Collingwood had some powerful enemies. Men whose companies he’d ruthlessly overtaken, who had the financial means to discover his secrets and his vulnerabilities. And who might be determined to destroy his entire family and the Collingwood empire. The aborted ransom demand could have been part of the kidnapper’s goal to emotionally cripple Ross by leaving him agonizing over his daughter’s fate.
Hunter knew far too keenly, far too deeply that all the money in the world couldn’t protect a man’s heart. Love made a man vulnerable to his enemies.
While Hunter couldn’t be sure at this point, he had to assume the security measures set in place to shield Cort’s identity had been breached. He needed to take countermeasures to protect the baby from another possible attack. He owed it to his friend.
Carrying the diaper bag and Juliana’s carry-on bag he moved to the door, motioning for Juliana to wait while he opened the door and checked the exterior corridor to ensure the coast was clear.
“Where are we going?” Juliana demanded sotto voce as they headed out in the brisk night air, their footsteps muted on the concrete walkway.
“New York City,” he said in her ear, cupping her elbow. The scent of her hair reminded him of springtime and apple blossoms. He shook the distracting thought away and focused on checking their surroundings. He didn’t know how much time they had before details of the explosion hit the news.
“Is that where you live?”
“No, but I have a residence there where I can set up a command post to deal with the police and the lawyers and whatever else needs to be done. There will be some reaction in the stock market to his death and the future of the company.” Hunter grimaced inwardly as he scanned the parking lot. Ross Collingwood had been his friend, but he didn’t have time for grief. He was The Guardian. He had to do his job—protect Ross’s son.
The vehicles were dark and silent. Not a sign of movement. They descended the stairs. “The chopper’s in the parking lot of a mall just down the street.”
The street was deserted. The streetlights cast pools of light on the sidewalk.
Juliana adjusted the blanket around Cort. “Where do you call home, then?”
“A private island in the St. Lawrence Seaway. I hope you don’t like crowds.”
Her arms tightened around the baby. “I can put up with anything to keep Cort safe.”
Ahead, the chopper crouched like a giant glass grass-hopper in an asphalt field. “I’m relieved you feel that way, because it’s going to take some ingenuity to keep Cort’s identity secret from the world. I don’t think it was a coincidence that the explosion occurred tonight when Ross and Lexi would have been reunited with their child. And I can’t help wondering if Riana’s kidnapping and the explosion tonight are related—that someone wanted to destroy Ross Collingwood and his empire by killing him and his family. We need a strategy to protect Cort. If the media learns of his existence, there’ll be a circus trying to find him.”
Juliana halted in her tracks and a suspicious gleam entered her eyes. “I’ve done a good job protecting Cort on my own. What did you have in mind?”
Hunter hesitated, momentarily blindsided by the brilliant simplicity of the plan that formed in his thoughts. Sweat dotted his brow. Could it work? Juliana was pretty enough. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to feign an attraction to her. At all.
“Hide him in plain sight,” he said slowly as if his words were weighed down with lead by the decision he was making. “I live on an island. People in the surrounding community would be curious if I suddenly brought home an infant and a nanny. Bringing home a wife and a son would rouse less suspicion. Marginally less,” he added wryly. “But less.”
Her mouth dropped open. “A wife and a son? Just what are you suggesting?”
Every muscle in his body tightened with foreboding. He’d told himself a thousand times he’d never subject himself to the state of matrimony. Sinclairs were cursed in that regard, experiencing more bitterness than bliss.
But he wasn’t offering Juliana his heart, his bed or his money, he told himself rationally. There’d be a prenup. “I’m suggesting that we get married.”
Chapter Two
Juliana stared at Hunter in mute shock. Then she got angry and said the first thing that came to mind, the wrong thing, “You are absolutely insane.”
She regretted it instantly as his eyes narrowed on her like rapier blades and his mouth flattened into a deadly line. “Given my family history, I’d say that’s a foregone conclusion. What’s the matter, Cinderella, you never wanted to marry a prince?”
“That remark was completely inappropriate, Mr. Sinclair, but excusable considering my own poor choice of words,” Juliana retorted sharply, feeling heat blister her cheeks. She was half out of her mind with worry about her father’s condition and this man expected her to take his marriage of convenience proposal seriously. Still, caution honed from years of domestic service whispered a gentle warning in her ears. Whether she liked it or not, Ross had appointed Hunter Sinclair as Cort’s guardian. If memory and gossip served her correctly, the Sinclair family owned luxury hotels. Lots of them. She was at this man’s mercy and his whims if she wished to remain in Cort’s life and uphold her promise to her father.
She took a deep breath. “I assure you, I intended no disrespect toward you or your family. You simply caught me off guard. Are you sure someone will call about my father?”
“Yes. I’ve dispatched two operatives to ensure he receives the best medical care and personal protection. Someone will call as soon as there’s news.”
“Thank you.”
One of Hunter’s dark eyebrows rose. “You haven’t answered my other question. Had you planned on marrying a prince?”
He was baiting her. Intentionally. Maybe even testing her. Juliana had no intention of sharing her private dreams with this intimidating man. Nor did she want to offend him. She held Cort’s warm bundled body against her heart, knowing her father would urge her to do whatever duty necessitated.
After all, her father hadn’t thought twice about asking her to give up her career and branding her an unwed mother to protect Ross and Lexi’s son. She doubted her father would object to her skyrocketing up the social ladder by marrying a multimillionaire.
But as far as Juliana was concerned, it was a leap in the wrong direction.
Her insides trembled at the prospect of playing the mistress of Hunter Sinclair’s home—and the mistress of his bed, where, in the shadowed folds of the night, he’d surely look just as intimidating as he did towering over her now.
Lexi
