“You’re right. I don’t need a man to take care of me. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”
“Then there’s the fact that he put you up in his apartment, which I’m to assume was to keep you close. Lucas isn’t ready to be a father, Jenna, and he never will be.”
I picked up my glass and took a sip of my water just as Clarissa set our lunch down in front of us.
“The truth will come out. I just wanted to speak with you first,” he said.
He had me backed into a corner and this whole thing was stupid and a waste of my time. I wasn’t playing these games.
“You’re right, Lincoln. Lucas is this baby’s father, and your grandchild. But we both had an agreement that he will have nothing to do with the baby and I will raise it on my own. I want nothing from your son.”
“But you’re working for our company and you rented his apartment. It seems like you want something.”
“I was in a bind and he helped me out. You know what?” I set down my fork in disgust. “I saved that project for your company and this is how you treat me? You should be fucking grateful I did what I did. Lucas didn’t ask me to do it. I saw it in his office in the penthouse and I took it upon myself to do something to repay him for letting me stay there after I broke my foot in his building.”
“I am grateful to you, Jenna. Don’t misinterpret that. But that’s over and done with. Now we have a new set of problems.”
“So you’re saying my child is a problem?”
“I’m saying it’s a problem if Lucas were to be involved.”
“Why would that be a problem?” I cocked my head at him.
“Because when you feel, you stop thinking. And when you stop thinking clearly, everything goes to hell. Lucas has firsthand experience with that.”
“Is that some bullshit line you’ve been feeding him his whole life? And what about his mother?”
“She was a woman I met and had a few good times with. She meant nothing to me. When she told me she was pregnant, I sent her to get an abortion. She couldn’t go through with it, so I paid her off and she left town. Before she gave birth, she filled out some paperwork at the hospital listing me as the father and the emergency contact. When the hospital called to tell me she had passed away during childbirth and to come take Lucas home, I really didn’t have a choice. I didn’t plan on keeping him, but then I saw an opportunity to keep our family legacy going just like my father always wanted. But it stops with Lucas.”
“You’re a real piece of work, Lincoln. And I would never in a million years let my child be involved with your family. In fact, this baby won’t even have the Thorne name.”
“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. Lucas has enough responsibilities, and he doesn’t need to add a child to the mix of things.”
I pushed my plate away, wiped my mouth on a napkin and threw it on the table.
“Are we finished here?” I asked as I got up.
“I believe so.”
“I’ll take a cab back to the office.” I reached over and grabbed my purse.
“Jenna?” He called out to me and I turned to him.
“I think you should reconsider working for Thorne Technology. As good as you are, I can’t be having any distractions, and neither can Lucas. Name your price?”
“My price?”
“I will pay you a reasonable sum of money to get out of New York and never contact Lucas again. That way, you won’t have to work, and you can solely focus on raising that child. You’re a very smart woman and you know what the right thing to do is.”
“Let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you. I’m sure I can come up with a good number that will benefit us both.” I turned and left the restaurant.
I thought my parents were horrible people, but Mr. Lincoln Thorne took the cake as far as parenting went. Now, everything was crystal clear where Lucas was concerned. He was merely a puppet and his father was the puppet master.
Chapter 19
Lucas
I was heading to my office when I heard Jenna call out my name. Backing up and stepping into her office, I could tell she seemed off.
“What’s up?”
“Can you come over after work? I need to talk to you about something.”
“Is it really important? I have plans tonight with Danny.”
“If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be asking.”
“We can’t discuss it now?”
“No, Lucas. We can’t. For fuck sakes, just forget it,” she shouted.
“No.” I sighed. “I’ll come over. Watch that attitude, Miss Larson.”
“When you watch yours, I’ll watch mine.” Her brow arched at me as she spoke in a snippy tone. “It works both ways, Mr. Thorne.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I shook my head and headed to my office.
I had a late lunch, so I wasn’t worried about dinner when I stood outside the door of Jenna’s apartment at seven p.m. After I knocked, she opened the door and I stepped inside. The smell of something enticing infiltrated the air.
“Are you cooking something?” I asked.
“I’m making baked spaghetti. It’ll be done in a few minutes.”
“I hope you didn’t make that for me because I don’t plan on staying.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, Lucas. I made it for me and the baby. We’ve both been craving carbs like crazy the past few days.”
“Oh. What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked as I followed her to the kitchen.
She grabbed a glass of scotch from the counter and handed it to me.
“You’re going to need this,” she said.
I furrowed my brows at her as I held the scotch in my hand.
“You may want to sit down on the couch.”
“For the love of God, Jenna. Just tell me whatever it is you have to tell me,” I spoke in an irritated tone.
“Your father knows you’re the baby daddy.”
“WHAT!” he shouted as he fell into the stool at the island.
“I told you you’d want to be sitting down.”
“How? How does—did you—”
“Before you start going batshit crazy,” she held up her hand, “let me explain.”
I threw back my drink and pushed the glass to her for another.
“Your father asked me to lunch today because he wanted to discuss something. I had no idea he wanted to talk about you and the baby. He backed me into a corner, Lucas. He put two and two together and figured it out. Let’s be honest, he’s a smart man and you really don’t have to be smart to take a look at our situation and figure it out. By the way, your lecture is coming next.”
“What? What the fuck does that mean?”
“He’s going to confront you about it. I promised him I wouldn’t tell you about our meeting. But, considering he’s a vile and despicable human being, my word means nothing when it comes to him.”
“What the hell did he say to you?”
“He told me to reconsider working for you and he gave me a lecture about you and how you’re not ready and willing to be a father. I told him we agreed that I was raising this baby on my own, but that wasn’t good enough for him. He wants to pay me off to leave New York and never have contact with you again.”