Temptation - Brenda Jackson [46]
He moved away from the door to walk over to stand in front of her. “You shouldn’t assume anything. My investigation isn’t over. And do you know what your problem is, Sheila?”
She stiffened her spine at his question. “What?”
“You assume too much and usually you assume wrong.”
She glared at him before moving away to sit down on the sofa. “Okay, then you tell me, Zeke. How are my assumptions wrong?”
He dropped into the chair across from the sofa. “First of all, my aunt’s phone call. She knew about the case I’m handling for Brad. And she knows Brad is my best friend and that I intend to clear his name or die trying. She was right. I intend to keep an eye on Sunnie and that might be the reason I hung around you at first. But that’s not what brought me back here. If you recall, four days went by when I didn’t see you or the baby.”
“Then what brought you back?”
“You. I couldn’t stay away from you.”
He saw doubt in her eyes and knew he had his work cut out for him. But he would eventually make her believe him. He had to. Even now it was hard not to cross the room and touch her. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a pullover sweater and in bare feet, she looked good. Ravishing. Stunning. Even the puffiness beneath her eyes didn’t take away her allure. And where she was sitting, the light from the fading sun made her skin glow, cast a radiant shine on her hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me there was a chance the test results would come back early, to prepare me?”
“Because I know how attached you’ve gotten to Sunnie and I didn’t want to deliver bad news any sooner than I had to. And what you assumed regarding that is wrong as well. The test results were not conclusive that Brad isn’t Sunnie’s father.”
She leaned forward and narrowed her gaze accusingly. “But you were so convinced Bradford Price is not Sunnie’s father.”
“And I’m still convinced. The test reveals there is a genetic link. Now I’m going to find out how. It’s not Brad’s sister’s child, but he did have a brother who died last year. I’d only met Michael once and that was when Brad and I were in college and he showed up asking Brad for money.”
Zeke drew in a deep breath as he remembered that time. “Michael was his younger brother and, according to Brad, he got mixed up with the wrong crowd in high school, dropped out and became addicted to hard drugs. That’s when Mr. Price disinherited him.”
She nodded. “What happened to him?”
“Michael died in a drunk driving accident last year but foul play was never ruled out. There were some suspicious factors involved, including the amount of drugs they found in his system.”
“That’s horrible. But it would mean there was no way he could have fathered Sunnie.”
“I thought about that possibility on the way here. He would have died a couple of months after she was conceived. It might be a long shot, but I am going to check it out. And Brad also has a few male cousins living in Waco. Like Brad, they enjoy their bachelor lifestyles, so I’ll be checking with them as well.”
She leaned back on the sofa. “So what will happen with Sunnie in the meantime?”
“That decision will be up to Social Services. However, I plan to have Brad recommend that she remain with you until this matter is resolved.”
He saw the way her eyes brightened. “You think they’ll go for it?”
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t. This is a delicate matter, and unfortunately it puts Brad in an awkward position. Even if Sunnie isn’t directly his, there might be a family link. And knowing Brad the way I do, he will not turn his back on her, regardless. So either way, he might be filing for custody. She’s doing fine right here with you, and the fewer changes we make with her the better.”
He stood and crossed the room to sit beside her on the sofa. Surprised, she quickly scooted over. “Now that we got the issue of Sunnie taken care of, I think there is another matter we need to talk about,” he said.
She nervously licked her lips. “And what issue is that?”