My Son
Chapter One
The ringing doorbell had caused Kelly to start, the paintbrush in her hand jumping from the canvas before her. Stifling a curse which never made it to her soft red lips she had given a small laugh at herself, scolding herself for the way she always jumped when disturbed at her work. Rising quickly from her desk on which was scattered an assortment of brushes and paint pots she had half ran to answer the door.
“What did you forget this time” she had exclaimed with a laugh in her voice, knowing that her friend Claire was always forgetting something, as she had opened the door with a flourish and a wide smile on her lovely face.
However, the smile had frozen on her lips as she had seen who actually now stood on the doorstep, her eyes staring incredulously at him.
The man was tall well over 6 feet, dark haired and breathtakingly handsome and Kelly had recognised him instantly. Staring, her heart had seemed to drop coldly within her stomach, as she had clung to the door, her legs starting to shake, feeling as though they might buckle under her at any moment.
The man had taken in her panic and smiled coolly down at her.
“Miss Brown” he drawled
“My name is Marc De Santo…” he began, before she had finally managed to speak
“I know who you are Mr De Santo” she had mustered, her voice cold and unfriendly
Marc De Santo had frowned in return, his dark eyes taking on a harder glint as he had fixed her with as equally a cold look
“Then..” he had said walking past her into the flat “You’ll know why I am here”, momentarily stopping to look down into her large blue eyes
“I believe you have my child” he had stated flatly, before walking on.
Kelly was aware of closing the door as in panic she had watched him move lithely down the small hall way into her living room, and her mind was transported to two weeks previously.
Sitting in the lawyer’s office she had listened as the will of her friend had been read. Kelly had held back the tears at the loss of Trudy, killed the previous week in a terrible car accident caused by the driver of the car she was a passenger in. Her eyes had grown hard knowing that the driver had escaped with hardly a scratch while her poor friend and cousin, Trudy had been killed instantly. She remembered grimly how the driver had been more worried about his car than he had at having caused a person’s death, or having left a child motherless. Her blood had turned cold remembering how he had tried to blame Trudy for the accident claiming that she had grabbed the wheel “for no reason”, with little satisfaction knowing that the police had proven that he was 3 times over the limit for driving and had been assured that he would face serious charges with the death of his passenger. She had looked down sadly at her hands thinking how Trudy had no luck with her choice of men and wishing that things were different.
“Now with regard to Max” the lawyer had read, Kelly’s head snapping up, pulled out of her melancholic thoughts. This was the part she was most interested in. Trudy had no real assets and owed more than she had in the bank. However, Max was by far her greatest treasure
“It is my most ardent wish that my son Max be brought up by my next of kin, cousin and friend Kelly Brown. She has been more of a mother to him than I have ever been, and it is my wish that he stay with the person who will give him the happiest and most stable upbringing”
Kelly remembered placing her hand to her mouth in a sob full of relief, and how finally the tears had started to roll down her cheek unchecked. Poor, poor Trudy she had cried while promising herself that she would bring up her young son to know his mother.
She had remembered smiling with relief at her lawyer as she had asked him
“Does that mean that Max will stay with me” the smile disappearing as he had shifted uneasily in his chair, Kelly knowing that there was a problem
“Erm…well….” he had said uneasily
“While your cousin is very clear about her wishes for her son, there is a natural father who needs to be contacted”
Kelly had looked at him a note of disdain in her voice
“I don’t think that we have to worry about the father” she had said
“He doesn’t really care about Max, never has”
“Never the less” the lawyer had continued
“He will still have to be informed”. The elderly gentleman had smiled more gently at her and quietly added
“Until then he will continue to reside with you and if as you say the father is not interested will then permanently live with you”
Kelly had felt uncomfortable about having to inform him, she had known that Max was the son of the renowned playboy Marc De Santo, but whenever she had tried to bring up the subject to her cousin she had been told
The ringing doorbell had caused Kelly to start, the paintbrush in her hand jumping from the canvas before her. Stifling a curse which never made it to her soft red lips she had given a small laugh at herself, scolding herself for the way she always jumped when disturbed at her work. Rising quickly from her desk on which was scattered an assortment of brushes and paint pots she had half ran to answer the door.
“What did you forget this time” she had exclaimed with a laugh in her voice, knowing that her friend Claire was always forgetting something, as she had opened the door with a flourish and a wide smile on her lovely face.
However, the smile had frozen on her lips as she had seen who actually now stood on the doorstep, her eyes staring incredulously at him.
The man was tall well over 6 feet, dark haired and breathtakingly handsome and Kelly had recognised him instantly. Staring, her heart had seemed to drop coldly within her stomach, as she had clung to the door, her legs starting to shake, feeling as though they might buckle under her at any moment.
The man had taken in her panic and smiled coolly down at her.
“Miss Brown” he drawled
“My name is Marc De Santo…” he began, before she had finally managed to speak
“I know who you are Mr De Santo” she had mustered, her voice cold and unfriendly
Marc De Santo had frowned in return, his dark eyes taking on a harder glint as he had fixed her with as equally a cold look
“Then..” he had said walking past her into the flat “You’ll know why I am here”, momentarily stopping to look down into her large blue eyes
“I believe you have my child” he had stated flatly, before walking on.
Kelly was aware of closing the door as in panic she had watched him move lithely down the small hall way into her living room, and her mind was transported to two weeks previously.
Sitting in the lawyer’s office she had listened as the will of her friend had been read. Kelly had held back the tears at the loss of Trudy, killed the previous week in a terrible car accident caused by the driver of the car she was a passenger in. Her eyes had grown hard knowing that the driver had escaped with hardly a scratch while her poor friend and cousin, Trudy had been killed instantly. She remembered grimly how the driver had been more worried about his car than he had at having caused a person’s death, or having left a child motherless. Her blood had turned cold remembering how he had tried to blame Trudy for the accident claiming that she had grabbed the wheel “for no reason”, with little satisfaction knowing that the police had proven that he was 3 times over the limit for driving and had been assured that he would face serious charges with the death of his passenger. She had looked down sadly at her hands thinking how Trudy had no luck with her choice of men and wishing that things were different.
“Now with regard to Max” the lawyer had read, Kelly’s head snapping up, pulled out of her melancholic thoughts. This was the part she was most interested in. Trudy had no real assets and owed more than she had in the bank. However, Max was by far her greatest treasure
“It is my most ardent wish that my son Max be brought up by my next of kin, cousin and friend Kelly Brown. She has been more of a mother to him than I have ever been, and it is my wish that he stay with the person who will give him the happiest and most stable upbringing”
Kelly remembered placing her hand to her mouth in a sob full of relief, and how finally the tears had started to roll down her cheek unchecked. Poor, poor Trudy she had cried while promising herself that she would bring up her young son to know his mother.
She had remembered smiling with relief at her lawyer as she had asked him
“Does that mean that Max will stay with me” the smile disappearing as he had shifted uneasily in his chair, Kelly knowing that there was a problem
“Erm…well….” he had said uneasily
“While your cousin is very clear about her wishes for her son, there is a natural father who needs to be contacted”
Kelly had looked at him a note of disdain in her voice
“I don’t think that we have to worry about the father” she had said
“He doesn’t really care about Max, never has”
“Never the less” the lawyer had continued
“He will still have to be informed”. The elderly gentleman had smiled more gently at her and quietly added
“Until then he will continue to reside with you and if as you say the father is not interested will then permanently live with you”
Kelly had felt uncomfortable about having to inform him, she had known that Max was the son of the renowned playboy Marc De Santo, but whenever she had tried to bring up the subject to her cousin she had been told