“In a way, she did. Noelle left her son with someone she trusted.”
Emilia frowned. “She should have trusted us.”
“I know.” Alex sighed. “We have to stop her from doing too much damage.”
“A baby, though.” Emilia murmured softly. “How could she just leave a baby alone?”
“She had a boy, you know. He looks a little like her.”
Emilia paused in her cleaning and looked up at him. “You plan on bringing him here? Noelle’s son?”
He nodded.
The maid flipped her hair off of her shoulder. “I will have the nursery dusted. It will take a few hours to get everything ready.”
“That is fine.”
Emilia nodded. “What does that have to do with the woman you want to bring into this house.”
“His foster mom has been caring for Noelle’s son for months. She knows him and loves him like he was hers. He needs to be protected. He needs to feel safe and for months, she has been the one caring for him. We are strangers to him. I invited her to live here so she can show us how to care for him. I’ve invited her here so we can learn from her.”
Leaning against the counter, Emilia eyed him suspiciously. “Who is this woman?”
“India Dare.”
“Your ex-girlfriend?”
“Noelle left her son on India’s doorstep.”
This time Emilia couldn’t hide her surprise. She frowned, her brows drawing in on each other. “Why would she do something like that?”
“Who knows? All I know is that for the last eight months, India has been caring for Noelle’s son and was on the verge of adopting him.”
“I remember her. Your mother really did not like that one.”
“My mother hasn’t liked any of my girlfriends. She thinks they are all gold-diggers.”
“So imagine, how happy she will be to learn I let one of them into this house?”
“India isn’t a gold-digger. She never was. Right now, she is the only person Noelle’s son knows. She has been his primary care provider for months. I couldn’t exactly rip the kid out of her arms.”
“How long do you plan on having that woman in this house?”
“However long it takes for Kier to get comfortable with us.”
“Hmm.”
Emilia fell silent and continued to clean. Alex took that as her acceptance. He would put Kier and India in the room across the hall from him for the time being. It would be the perfect opportunity for them to get closer. Her guard would be down around the kid. He could use that to his advantage.
He planned to use that to his advantage. He’d been trying to remember what had sparked the fight between him and India that final time. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember why they had broken up. He could only faintly remember the anger…
Knowing the person he’d been back then, he was sure she had probably told him “no”. Full of ideas and dreams, he wanted nothing more than to escape this town and his controlling mother. She was the only reason he had never pushed to go to boarding school.
He had never loved someone the way he loved India. She had a hold on him he could never explain. No one got to him the way she did and no one could get him worked up the way she could. Even as a teen, she’d been so sure of herself.
She never let the age difference between the two of them stop her from voicing her opinion. She would push back whenever he tried to push her towards something she did not want. It was rare for Alex to not get his way, especially back then. If he were honest, it was rare for him to not get his way now. India was the one exception to the rule. She wasn’t above turning him down flat.
He wanted India back in his life and he wasn’t above using his nephew to do it. Seeing her for the first time in years, he was struck by how little she had changed. Beautiful and strong, she didn’t back down when the Judge denied her adoption petition. She held onto her son and thought about what was best for him. He knew that was the only reason she agreed to move into this house with him.
****
Pulling up to the large Colonial mansion, India used to dread visiting. The Ivy was imposing from any distance. Filled with things she was sure cost more money than she had ever seen in her lifetime. Her stomach clenched with anxiety. God, she hated that house.
Putting her car in park, she cast a glance over her shoulder to see only the tip of Kier’s head and the occasional hand as he played with the teething ring she’d given him before she started the ten-minute drive. Leaving the home, she loved to deliver her son to a family like the Saint Clair's, felt so "Twilight Zone". She had no idea whether or not she could actually do it.
India rolled down her window and leaned back in her seat as she took deep bracing breaths. Truly, she did not know how she had gotten into this position. Maybe she should cut her losses... The Judge had denied her petition, she should just put on her big girl panties and hand Kier over to his real family. She just wasn’t ready to let go of him yet. She wasn’t ready for the heartbreak yet.
India had lived in Westbrook all of her life. The Saint Clairs were a pillar in the community. Most of the people in Town respected them. To some, they seemed untouchable. To her, they were everything that was wrong with being rich. They were selfish and entitled from having everything handed to them.
Alex could be pigheaded and arrogant. How often would he catch himself telling her what to do and what they should do? They used to fight so often because of it. The last thing she wanted to do was become yet another one of his lackeys.
“This is such a bad idea,” she sighed aloud.
Taking another deep breath, she slipped her hand over her churning stomach. Was she really going to do this? Was she really going to walk into that house on purpose and stay? Would she really be able to handle sharing space with Alex? He wasn’t the altruistic type. He wanted something from her.
“Mmmmhhh. Mmmmpphh…”
She turned back around at the sound of his mumbles. Even though she couldn’t see him, she could imagine what he looked like. His face was typically covered in drool and his eyes were always moving. Trying to see everything he could possibly see.
She could not believe she had spent the last few months caring for him, and she would not be able to spend the rest of her life watching him grow. She had already started dreaming about the person he would become. The things he would do and all of the accomplishments she wanted him to achieve.
Kier was so bright.
It made sense now that she knew who his uncle was. For all of his faults, Alex had always been smart. He could think circles around people. Not so much out of a natural ability, but out of sheer curiosity. He had always had such a thirst for learning. She could see that in Kier as well.
India turned back to the house and steeled herself for what she was about to face. Even without Elizabeth in residence, the Ivy was steeped in her imposing presence.
Rolling her shoulders, she sighed. Kier was the only thing that mattered. He needed her and she was going to be there for him. She was going to walk into that house for Kier. Everything she did was for Kier and his wellbeing.
CHAPTER FIVE
Alex could see how tense India was. She was holding Kier tightly in her arms as she walked through the front door and looked around. It had been years since she’d been inside of the Ivy. She wasn’t one of his mother’s favorite people and the Ivy was her seat of power. She would never willingly give India an invitation.