Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One (20 page)

Cara slipped the greeting
card into her purse, unnoticed. Tonight was not the night for a
conversation about the man who had gotten her pregnant. Isaac was
certainly too young to understand. And if Victor heard Cara’s side,
she assumed he would see why she kept Isaac a secret from his
father.

Or would he?
Cara’s stomach twisted as she thought about
it.

Alexis had gone too far
this time, and Cara refused to be bullied. She took a seat on the
couch, thinking about her own form of retaliation.
How dare she stalk me and threaten me over my own
son?

* * *

The next morning, Cara and
Victor shared their usual “see you later” kiss in his office before
he went off to attend the first of many meetings.

As soon as she saw him
turn the corner to take the elevator, she walked up to Gary’s
desk.

“Yes?” Gary
smiled.

“Do you have a number on
file for Alexis Whitt? Cell phone, preferably.”

His lips formed a scowl.
He pushed his mouthpiece away and leaned forward. “Why?”

“I just need to speak with
her. It’s important.”

“Does Mr. Barboza know
about this?”

“No. Does he have
to?”

He lifted one brow.
“Yes.”

Cara let out a groan.
“Why?”

“He made it very clear
after the incident a few weeks ago that she was not welcome here
under any circumstances. That includes phone calls.”

“Well, yeah. She’s not
supposed to call here. But did he say anything about one of us
calling her?”

His eyes rolled. “He
didn’t really have to, did he? He will certainly want to know if
you contact her and I won’t feel comfortable keeping it a
secret.”

“Come on, Gary. Please. I
just need to talk to her this one time. That’s all. It’s really
important. I have to get a few things off my chest.”

Gary’s eyebrows
momentarily shot up at the thought of what Cara might say to her.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if you promise to tell Mr. Barboza
about it as soon as possible.”

Cara nodded. “I
will.”

“Okay. If you don’t, I’ll
tell him myself when he comes back to his office. Got
it?”

With a cynical chuckle,
she said, “Does he have any idea how loyal you are?”

“Actually, I think he
does.” His eyes narrowed at her. “And I can’t afford to damage my
reputation.” He turned to his computer and clicked a few times,
then scrawled a number on a memo pad and handed it to Cara. “Here.
Use it wisely. And by that I mean, put her in her
place.”

Cara smiled and said, “I
will,” over her shoulder as she rushed to her office. She
immediately shut the door behind her.

* * *

Alexis hummed a tune to
herself as she waved goodbye to some friends at the country club.
She was fresh out of the shower after an early morning tennis
match.

As she trotted through the
parking lot, her phone vibrated in her purse.

“Holy crap!” Alexis let
out a tiny squeal when she saw the name “Chubby Green” on her
caller ID. She programmed this mean nickname for Cara in her phone
weeks earlier with no intention of actually calling her. Seeing it
today made her giddy.
I finally got under
her skin.

Alexis stood still,
smiling ear to ear, and answered the phone in her cheeriest voice.
“Alexis Whitt speaking.”

Cara’s tone was cold.
“
You can do whatever you want to me but
leave my son out of it.
”

Alexis waited a few
moments then let out a long sigh. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

“Oh, please. You’re lucky
I haven’t reported you for violating the restraining order. I know
you were spying on us yesterday. I’m trying to be nice to
you.
”

She produced a single
laugh. “That’s unlikely. You have something to hide and you know
it. That’s why you called me yourself instead of getting Victor
involved.”

“No. I’m trying to have
mercy on you. Take the high road. I feel very sorry for
you.”

“There’s no reason anyone
should feel sorry for me. Especially you. I know you’re hiding your
son’s paternity because you don’t know how Victor will react. He
never knew his own father.”

“Exactly what do you think
I’m hiding?
”

“If you have nothing to
hide, then why are you asking?”

“Because it involves my
son. What is it you think you know about me?
”

Alexis had no hard
evidence, and her private investigator, Lindy, had found this a
difficult task. She chose to bluff, using Lindy’s reasoning. “You
tell everyone his father was a fling and you never knew him, but
you did. You knew him very well. And you chose not to tell the man
about his own son.”

Cara was
silent.

Alexis continued. “Victor
told me
so
many
times he wished he could remember more about his father. How do you
think he would react to the news that he’s involved with a woman
who is cruel enough to withhold that kind of love from her own
flesh and blood?”

Alexis heard silence, then
what sounded like muffled sniffling.
Is
she crying? This went way better than I could’ve hoped
for.

When Cara finally spoke
again, her voice was shaky. “
You’re a
terrible person. No matter what happens to me and Victor, he’s
never gonna want you back.
”
And then she hung up.

“Woo-hoo!” Alexis shouted
as she dropped her phone in her purse and dug out her keys.
I have her right where I want
her
. Hopefully Lindy would be able to dig
up some reliable information on the father, soon. Whatever it took
to get Cara Green’s big, fat claws out of Victor…

She hopped into her car
and checked her reflection in the rearview mirror, applying a fresh
layer of lipstick. She was just about to put her car in reverse
when her purse vibrated.

She giggled.
I hope it’s her again.

Her giggling stopped when
she saw her mother’s name and picture.

“Good morning,
Mother.”

Alexis was greeted by loud
sobs.

“Mother?” She turned off
the ignition. “Mother! What’s wrong?”

“Darling…your
father…
”

“What?” Alexis was
instantly frantic. Her mother was not the type of woman who cried
easily. This meant there was something desperately wrong. “What
happened to Daddy? Mother!”

“Come to the hospital.
Now.
”

Victor arrived on the
sixth floor of the hospital to find Colleen Whitt crying as she
paced the hall outside her husband’s room. A few people he knew in
passing sat in plastic chairs against the wall. They each gave
Victor a solemn look.

“Victor!” Colleen reached
out for him. “Thank you. I’m sorry I had to bother you.”

“It’s no bother.” He put
his arms around her, letting her shake as she sobbed against him.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Colleen stayed in his
embrace until she could speak without crying. Then she pulled away
and said, “It’s not good. He had a massive stroke.”

“Oh no. I’m so
sorry.”

“Well…” Her face crumbled
in tears, which she quickly wiped away with a tissue before taking
a deep breath, steeling herself. Her voice was quiet. “He’s asking
for you. There’s been some memory loss. He thinks you and Alexis
are still together. She’s in there with him right now.”

Victor winced as a thin
layer of tears covered his eyes. Instantly, he was racked with
guilt over doing such a poor job of staying in touch with Douglas.
“So I should talk to him?”

Colleen nodded. “If you
don’t mind. He thinks of you as the son he never had.” She
sniffled. “I’m so sorry for the way it all turned out.”

He shook his head and put
his arms around her, but she pushed him away.

“No,” she said. “Hurry.
Please.” She motioned toward the closed door behind her.

Victor was about to open
it when a nurse bustled through from inside as she scribbled notes
on a chart and hurried down the hall. Alexis stood at the side of
the bed with genuine tears flowing across her cheeks. Victor had
never seen her so frightened, and his heart filled with sympathy
for her. He rushed to her side, placing a gentle hand on her back
as he saw Douglas lying in bed. There were tubes all over him.
Machines all around the room beeped and made noises. And Douglas
looked small and shriveled; a shadow of the husky, jolly man
everyone knew him to be.

Alexis held his hand as
her fingers stroked his gray hair. “It’ll be okay, Daddy. It’ll be
okay.”

Douglas could barely open
his mouth to speak. “Daughter…sweet daughter…sweet girl.” His eyes,
barely focusing, drifted to Victor. “Son. Come
here…son.”

Alexis stepped back to
give Victor space, gesturing at him to take her place beside her
father.

Victor moved forward and
took Douglas’s hand. “I’m here.”

“Good.” Douglas spoke just
above a whisper. “Victor…take good care…of my girl…”

Victor’s eyes filled with
tears at the thought of losing his dear friend. He didn’t dare
correct him. Instead, he squeezed his hand tightly and said, “I
will, sir.”

Douglas inhaled deeply,
wheezing until he had enough air to speak. “A legacy…children…many
children…”

Victor took several
tissues from the box at the side of the bed and pressed them
against his closed eyes. They had this conversation many times
while he was still engaged to Alexis. Douglas confided in Victor
that one of his biggest regrets was not having more children;
Alexis was an only child. But Douglas seemed satisfied that Victor
and Alexis could go on to have a large family. Douglas always
called it a legacy. But now, there was no hope of that. At least,
not for Victor and Alexis. Douglas’s memory loss made this tragic
situation much sadder for Victor, who forced a grin and said, “We
will, sir.”

Victor was startled by the
door opening and two doctors rushing into the room.

“Excuse me,” one of the
doctors said as he pushed past Victor, who saw Alexis leaving and
followed her.

Colleen was on her phone,
talking and crying. Alexis walked to a row of empty
chairs.

Victor sat beside her, his
hand on her knee. “I’m so sorry about your father.”

Alexis shook her head and
pushed his hand away. “Don’t.” She reached for tissues from a box
that sat in the unoccupied chair beside her.

“I’m sorry. Didn’t mean
to—”

“Quit saying you’re sorry,
Victor.” She blotted her eyes. “That’s all I’ve heard for the past
hour. Everyone’s sorry. The nurses are sorry. Mother’s sorry.
You’re sorry.
Sorry
won’t change anything.” Her mouth formed a deep frown. She
gasped for air. “He’s not gonna make it. Doesn’t matter how sorry
anyone is.”

“Don’t say that. This is a
great hospital. He’s getting the best care. Besides, he was healthy
until this. He—”

“No, he wasn’t.” She shook
her head as tears fell to her cheeks. “He’s not healthy at all. His
doctors have warned him for years to take better care of
himself.”

Victor searched for the
right words to say until he realized there probably weren’t any.
This situation was nothing he could fix. All he could do was hope
and pray that his friend would get better, and come out of it
stronger and healthier than ever. He was about to go look for the
hospital chapel when Alexis spoke up.

“I did this,” Alexis said
in a grave tone.

Stunned, Victor asked,
“What are you talking about?”

“I did this. I’m the
reason he’s in there.”

“How?”

“Karma.” Alexis sniffled
as she wiped her cheeks. “Fate. God.”

Victor had never heard her
speak of such things. Alexis’s topics of discussion were usually
more superficial. It was as if she had aged thirty years in a
matter of minutes. “No. It doesn’t work that way,” he said. He
thought about the havoc she had wreaked in his life lately. From
the moment he walked onto this floor and saw Colleen, he had pushed
it all to the back of his mind. But it all came roaring to the
forefront now. And still, he knew no matter what Alexis did, what
heinous acts she committed, she was not to blame for her father’s
crisis. “You didn’t do this, Alexis.”

“How else do you explain
it then?” She stared straight ahead. “I don’t believe in
coincidence. I never have. Daddy taught me that. We make our own
way in this world.” She turned to Victor. “Please tell Cara I’m
sorry. I’ll never bother either of you again.” She stood and walked
numbly down the hall.

* * *

It was almost time to
leave work after a boring day at the office. Cara looked at the
clock for the hundredth time. She hadn’t seen Victor since early
this morning. Her only communication with him was a short, cryptic
email sent from his phone that said he was at the hospital with a
sick friend and would explain later.