Introducing Daddy. Alaina Hawthorne

skin. Then she’d pulled up her skirt to reveal the purple bruise on her thigh where one of them had stepped on her.

      Still, he’d left the next day.

      So had she.

      That memory renewed her strength. “Well, here we go again,” she said acidly. “you’ve started with Plan A and since that wasn’t working you jumped directly to Plan C.”

      “What? Plan A? What—?”

      “You see, Adam, over the past ten months I’ve had some time to figure things out. Whenever you don’t show up or do what you promised, you always do one of three things. Plan A is you deny it. Plan B is you say something like, ‘Okay, maybe I did do that, but it wasn’t so bad.’ If it’s Plan C you say, ‘Yeah, I did that and it was awful, but I’ll never do it again.’ But nothing changes. You always do exactly what you want no matter what you promised.”

      The surge of angry strength was quickly spent, and when Evie went on, her voice was almost lost even in that small, quiet space. “You send some little gift—or some big gift—and expect it to make up for any betrayal, any broken promise. But flowers aren’t the same as a phone call, and a new bracelet isn’t the same thing as coming home when you say you will. Material things don’t equal time. Or love.”

      Even though she spoke quietly, her words had their own power. “If you loved me so much, why didn’t I ever come first? Why wasn’t I ever number one on your list of things to db? Or even number two? Or three? Our marriage was always the very last thing on your list of things to take care of.”

      “Evie, you know how—”

      The elevator suddenly lurched, and Evie let out a little scream.

      “What the hell…?” Adam muttered.

      “It’s moving. Thank God.”

      In seconds they stopped at the thirty-eighth floor, and the doors slid open. Evie stepped forward, sick with relief to make her escape. When Adam followed her, she stopped so fast he almost ran into her. “This isn’t your floor,” she said.

      He almost snorted. “You don’t really think I’m just going to let you walk away, do you?”

      She knew arguing was pointless, so she turned and stalked across the elevator lobby toward the glass doors. Adam’s long strides easily carried him past her, and before she reached the door, he stepped in front and grabbed the brass pull.

      “Thanks,” she snapped.

      “My pleasure.”

      The receptionist’s desk sat on an emerald island of plush carpet set in the middle of a vast, marble floor and was flanked by deep leather couches and coffee tables. Behind her, a wall of glass looked north and west over the roofs of the Central Library and City Hall and beyond that to Allen’s Landing and the tangled interchange of Interstate 45 and the Katy Freeway. The heavy sky roiled and glowered behind her.

      At the sound of approaching footsteps, the stylishly gaunt young woman glanced up. Beneath the curving desk Evie could see that smoke-colored hose covered her shapely legs, and she wore forties-style shoes that revealed scarlet toenails. She gave Evie an assessing once-over, and her eyes registered cool disapproval, but when she saw Adam, her face broke into a radiant, porcelain-veneered smile. “Mr. Rabalais,” she gushed.

      “Hello, Lisa.”

      She beamed. “It’s so nice to see you.”

      The girl’s voice had risen and stretched out melodiously as she spoke to Adam. “So nice to see-e-e you.” Oh, barf, Evie thought, and stomped across the floor so her shoes would really squish. She stopped in front of the desk and set the basket down. A leather desk blotter, a magazine and a nail file were arranged artfully next to a small phone set, and a computer sat blank and silent on one corner of the desk. Untouched by human hands, Evie thought, judging by the blonde’s flawless manicure. “I have a delivery for Miss Van Kyle. Would you sign, please.”

      With obvious reluctance the girl tore her enraptured gaze from Adam’s face and looked at Evie. “Of course,” she said, and held out her hand. Her eyes immediately snapped back to their original target. “Is there someone I should buzz for you, Mr. Rabalais?”

      “No, but thanks, Lisa. By the way, this is my wife, Evangeline. Evie, this is Lisa Roark.”

      The girl’s eyes grew to the size of saucers, and she blushed very prettily and murmured something that sounded like, “It’s very nice to…I-I’m sorry I didn’t realize…”

      Evie crimped her mouth into a smile. “Delighted,” she said, and again glared at her husband. When the girl finished signing, Evie tore off the receipt, thanked her and turned. Adam’s movements mirrored hers. Neither spoke until they stepped back into the elevator.

      “Thank you for that, Adam.”

      “Delighted,” he replied.

      She felt him standing just behind her, his gaze boring a hole into her back. Her heart began to pound again and she stared at the ceiling, the door, the back of her left hand. When the doors opened, she practically leapt out. Obviously he planned to follow her to the garage. “What are you doing?” she flung at him over her shoulder. “You can’t follow me. I’ll start screaming. I’ll make a scene, Adam, I mean it.”

      “Scream away. I told you before, Evie. I’m not letting you out of my sight until we talk.”

      She kept walking, then she stiff-armed the swinging doors to the loading dock and all but ran down the short hallway. “Lots of luck,” she said. “You’re gonna look pretty silly running behind the van.”

      He didn’t answer.

      The instant she reached the loading dock steps, her heart sank. She looked left. Right. Left again.

      No van. “Oh, no.”

      “What is it?”

      Evie ignored him and walked to the security window. “My van…”

      The guard barely glanced up. “I told you, lady. Fifteen minutes.”

      Evie’s chest tightened. “Thanks a lot. Now what do I do?”

      He tapped the window with his pencil, and Evie saw the notice. For Towed Vehicles Call…

       Oh, great. How much is this going to cost?

      “Do you need a ride?”

      “No, thank you. I’ll get a cab.” As soon as the words were out, Evie had a sickening realization. And pay for it with what? Her purse was carefully stowed under the front seat of the van. Besides, she couldn’t afford cab rides. Even short ones. And how much was it going to cost to get the van out of storage? She could call Olivia, but then who would watch the baby?

      Evie wanted to cry. She’d been gone three times longer than she’d intended—almost an hour and a half. It was time to feed Juliette. The van was gone. Her purse was gone. She had no money. And worst of all, Adam would now know where she worked. All he had to do was read the name on the delivery receipt. Since her apartment was over the shop, he’d know where she lived, too. He’d said he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight until they talked, and she knew he meant it. She’d had plenty of experience with his stubborn streak over the years.

      This had to happen sooner or later. Before you get on with your life you have things to settle with him. Now’s as good a time as any. But Evie knew there would never be a good time to do what she knew she had to do. She’d put it off for months, but now events had overtaken her. Maybe it’s best, she thought.

      He was bound to find us someday.

      Her shoulders slumped. Apparently Adam recognized the disintegration of her resolve. “Come with me,” he urged. “I’m parked on the first level. You know I’ll be glad to take you back to work.”

      Evie sighed. “Lead the way.”

      She