Ambush

Chapter 55

Alex stood in the dark room with the stiletto in her hand, ready to make a drastic decision. Then she was startled by Tom McLaughlin’s voice.

“Do you have to go?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“I need to tell you something. Just so I feel good about where we are. And I don’t want you to think I’m keeping any secrets.”

Alex just stood in the darkened room wondering if she should say something like, It doesn’t matter. Because it wouldn’t in just a few seconds.

Tom kept talking anyway. “I didn’t tell you that I have a daughter.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you to think I was trying to hide something. I also don’t want to freak you out. But I have a three-year-old named Emily.”

“Are you married?”

“No. I asked Emily’s mother to marry me when we found out she was pregnant, but she wasn’t interested. Now I have to fight hard to make sure I’m as involved in Emily’s life as I want to be.”

Alex didn’t know what to say.

Tom said, “I hope this doesn’t change anything. I had a great time, and I hope we can see each other again.”

To Alex it did change something. It added something to her careful calculations. Suddenly she thought of a girl, not much younger than Gabriela, calling out for her absent father. Her father, who was a decent, hardworking man and didn’t do anything wrong.

He sat up in bed and reached for the light on the nightstand.

Alex quickly dropped the hand with the stiletto into her purse.

Tom said, “Let me walk outside and get a cab with you.”

“It’s really not necessary.”

“I can’t let a defenseless woman stand alone on a street corner in New York.”

A smile spread across her face. “I guarantee you won’t be letting a defenseless woman stand on the street. Go back to bed. Dream happy dreams.”

Alex leaned down until she was just a few inches away, the stiletto still in her hand. He looked up at her from the bed, exposing the underside of his jaw.

She hesitated for a moment, then kissed him on the lips. She didn’t say another word as she slipped out of the apartment.