My Son(9)
“When I go to court, my lawyers will make sure that they overturn the will” he had stated “As his natural father I will be awarded custody”
She had stood before him miserable and lost, her eyes focussing on a spot over his head
“But you’re right” he stated “He has lost too much already”
Her eyes had flicked down to meet his in confusion
“So you’re going to leave him here with me” she said hope entering her voice
“No” he said “I am asking you to come with him”
Kelly stood for a few seconds in total shock before she had spluttered
“Me.... come with…but I can’t”
“Why” He asked
She had looked around herself not able to find an answer
“Listen, Kelly, Max is coming to live with me whether you like it or not. But it will make every thing easier for him if you are there”
“Are you offering me a job as his nanny” she asked in disbelief “Is that how you think you can avoid having to fight me in court…. By turning me into his nanny”
Marc had sighed in exasperation
“No, that’s not what I meant. You work from home anyway, so you can work just as easily from my home as you can here.”
“How do you know I work from home” Kelly asked warily
Marc De Santo did not even flinch as he continued “You don’t think that I wouldn’t have the woman looking after my son investigated” he stated “I know everything about you Kelly Brown. I know you paint commission work, from children’s stories to portraits, that you live on your own, how much you have in the bank and even that you own this house with no mortgage on it”
She had looked at him in horror
“You had me investigated...” she finally managed to blurt out
Ignoring the outrage in her face he had continued
“The point is that you can rent out this house and move in with me” the look in her eyes causing him to add
“It’s a big 10 bed villa Kelly, with a compliment of staff”
“You can stay and help Max to adjust, and no I’m not offering you a job… if that’s a problem to you”
Kelly had looked thoughtfully at him
“For how long” she asked
“For as long as you feel he needs you” was the response
Kelly had stood for several seconds intently watching Max contentedly finishing the bottle in his chubby hands before throwing it onto the floor with a giggle.
She knew that if s
he did not accept this offer she would never again see her little boy, and she knew that she could not cope with that loss. Turning her head to look at the man before her she had nodded her head slowly
“OK Marc I’ll come, but remember you said that I could stay for as long as I wanted, and I’m not ready to give up my son”
He had smiled “Neither am I… neither am I”
CHAPTER TWO
After he left, Kelly did something she had not felt able to do since Trudy’s death; she opened the box with Trudy’s personal belongings. She had kept everything locked up within the box because she felt that one day it would help Max to know his mother better, however, she herself had not felt ready to look through the contents, still hurting from her death.
In amongst all of her personal effects, Kelly had found the items she was looking for, the many diaries she knew would be there, and she had known that the answer to everything lay in those books. Trudy had been an avid writer and recorded her whole life within these volumes and often she would find her curled up on the sofa filling in an entry her expression full of such concentration, this image bringing a small lump to her throat.
Despite her friend’s death, Kelly had felt it would be an invasion of her privacy to delve into those very personal journals though with a small smile to herself she realised how stupid that sounded now, but the time had come when answers were needed and Kelly had to know why she had not told Marc about Max.
Therefore, that night once Max had been washed and put to bed she had curled up on the sofa and began to pour over the diaries looking for answers, taking a while to finally find the entries in which Trudy documented how she had met Marc at a social event. Trudy had described how he had swept her off her feet with gifts and flowers and how much of a wonderful lover he had been, Kelly having no difficulty believing this based on the effect he seemed to have on her every time he was close. She had never met a man who’s presence was so sensual not even….swallowing the lump that had risen deep within her, she had pushed that memory to the back of her mind , her thoughts wandering as she had remembered the party at which she had first met Marc.
Kelly had felt awkward and out of place that night, as she had followed her cousin around the room, there only to cheer up Trudy, who seemed to come alive with the constant attention of the many men she knew. Having bumped into Marc, Trudy had introduced him to her, and he had lightly kissed the tips of her fingers. She remembered the way a shiver had tingled through her whole body firing something deep within her. She hadn’t known if it had been the open admiration in the darkest eyes she had ever seen or the most dazzling smile he had flashed her which had turned her legs to jelly and for a second she had held her breath at the physical sensations which this man had unleashed within her.