Don't Make Our Son A Bastard Child

Deborah swayed on her feet. 'But it's just one night. I don't know how else I can pay you back for helping me.'

'You don't have to pay me back, especially not this way."

'Are you worried about Kira?' She took a quick step forward. 'She doesn't have to know. We can keep this between us. I won't tell her, I swear!' Austyn stepped back.

'She's ten thousand kilometres away! She will never know!' Deborah looked up at him, imploring with her eyes. 'Please, it's just one night, for old times' sake!' 'No,' Austyn repeated simply.

'I won't ask you for anything else, I promise! I won't try to win you back or take you away from Kira. She can continue being Mrs McCarthy, I don't mind!' "But I do."

to give

ats

Deborah refused up. 'Won't you at least give me tonight? I just want some nice memories for me to live on. Nobody will ever know.

'I'll know.' Austyn reached for the doorknob. 'If you've nothing else to say, good night."

'Wait!' She smacked a palm against the door. 'I do have something to say. What about Aiden?' Austyn paused.

'Aiden grew up to be six years old without having ever met his father. I don't want him to be fatherless for the rest of his life. Austyn, please, he's your flesh and blood. Whatever happened between us, you shouldn't take it out on him. Please don't turn your back on him!' Austyn just listened quietly.

He waited for her to finish before saying, 'Are you done? Have you said everything you've come to say?'

Deborah looked nonplussed.

Why was he acting so calm?

'If you don't have anything to add, my turn.' Austyn straightened up. 'First,

to happen between us. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever."

Deborah backed away one step, shaking her head 'No, I can't-'

nothing is going

'Let me finish. Second, I'm not going to cheat or Kira with you or with anyone else. You of all people should know how I feel about cheating.'

A Hard Cha

Deborah flinched like she'd been slapper

"Third, I didn't come here for you. Santoro hurt my wife, and I swore to make him pay. You just helped speed things along.

Deborah shook her head and covered her ears with her hands at the same time. 'No, I don't...I

don't believe that.'

'It doesn't matter what you believe. That's the truth. And fourth, the boy...Aiden, right? He will always be your son. If the paternity test confirms I'm his...father, I'll shoulder my share of the responsibility.' Austyn held back the rising tide of panic in his heart.

If Aiden was his son, his marriage with Kira would be over.

'I'll pay for child support, but he won't live with me. I'll even pay you to take care of him. I'll set up a trust fund in his name. He'll live comfortably for the rest of his life.*

Austyn stopped.

He waited for Deborah to absorb the news.

She was so shocked by what he said, she forgot to cry.

Aiden into you be

'You won't...you won't take You want him to be...to be a bastard child?"

'Deborah Connelly!' Austyn raised his voice. 'You made him a bastard child when you gave birth to him without my knowledge. You've had seven years to come clean, but you didn't. You chose to hide in a foreign country. You chose to let Aiden grow up fatherless. Do you think if you just show up with a boy in tow, I'll welcome you back with open arms? What do you take

me for?'

Deborah's lips trembled. 'But...I wanted to come back. Santoro...He threatened me. I had no choice."

'Why didn't you come clean when you first saw me? You had almost an entire week. Why did you try to play games and wreck my marriage?'

'I was...I was scared. Santoro said-'

'Are you telling me Santoro kept you captive for all seven years?'

'He did! He had his men follow me everywh-'

Austyn shook his head. 'You've told so many lies you probably lost track of some. Did you forget what you said when I first saw you a week ago?' 'Wh-what?'

father

'You said it was my who kept you captive You said he had you under house arrest for

seven years. You said you only escaped two months ago."

'He did!' Deborah gripped Austyn's arm.

He pushed her away.

'Sebastian sent men to watch me. I misspoke! It wasn't Santoro. It was Sebastian! Sebastian locked me up in a house!'

She spoke so fast, her words tumbled over each other.

'He locked you up for seven years?'

Deborah's mouth was half open.

She was about to say yes, but she caught the cold glint in Austyn's eyes.Exclusive content from .

"You...you knew?'

'Sebastian told me he did send men to keep an eye on you. But they were just there to prevent you from returning to Stamford. You weren't under house arrest. You could go anywhere you wanted. And they left after a couple of months.' Austyn knew Deborah lied to him, but he didn't trust Sebastian's side of the story, either.

Not at first.

But once he knew about Aiden's existence, he knew Sebastian was telling the truth.

His men would have found out about Deborah's pregnancy if they kept up their surveillance on her.

Deborah had to grab the door for support.

She was shaking and wheezing.

She couldn't form a coherent sentence.

All her lies were exposed.

'Go back to your room,' Austyn ordered. 'Don't try and pull this nonsense again.

He took a good look at Deborah's pale face.

She looked just as beautiful as seven years ago, but she was no longer the same woman.

'After we get Santoro, you and I are done. You are no longer my concern. In fact, you stopped being my concern seven years ago. The only reason I came with you was to get rid of Santoro. Nothing more. Do you understand?' He reached for the doorknob. 'Good night."

Deborah watched the door swing shut.

She just stood there, shaking.

Move And I'll Kill Him!

Nobody got a good night's sleep.

Everybody woke up the next morning with dark circles under their eyes.

Kai, the ever-capable assistant, rented a florist's delivery van for Deborah and a tour bus for

Damian's team.

Deborah was alone in the van while Kai and Austyn stayed on the tour bus

Santoro's call came at eight o'clock on the dot.

He gave Deborah directions.

She drove for almost an entire hour until she had left the town proper and was heading into

the suburbs.

The bus followed at a distance.

'Leave the coffin in the van,' Santoro ordered.

The van pulled up outside a half-finished building.

It had a gaping hole for a front door and metre-long cracks in the walls.

'Leave the keys in the ignition. Take the stairs.

Deborah dragged her feet until she saw Austyn gesturing at her from a bush.

She went into the building.

The keys to the van were with her.

Austyn had coached her on what to do.

There were no CCTV cameras in the building.

Santoro kept Deborah on the phone and directed her to a room on the fourth floor.

'It's the only room with a door." Santoro hung up.

Deborah found it and paused outside.

Austyn joined her twenty seconds later.

He signalled for her to knock

She did.

They heard footsteps from within.

As soon as the door opened by a crack, Austyn put all his strength into his right leg and gave it

a powerful kick

The door bounced back and hit whoever was behind it in the face.

Austyn pushed past Deborah and tackled the person to the ground.

The man groaned as his nose hit the concrete floor.

Blood squirted out.

Austyn pinned the man's arms behind his back and patted him down.

The man was not carrying weapons.

Austyn bound his hands with zip ties.

He scanned the room.

It was about the size of a newspaper kiosk with exposed rebars in the ceilings and no windows.

The man was alone.

Aiden wasn't here.

Deborah noticed the same thing.

She shrieked at the man, 'Where's my son?"

The man lay on the floor, face down, panting.

Austyn bent down and flipped him over. 'Shit."

Who...who's this?' Deborah stared at the man, stunned.

It wasn't Santoro.

She knelt on the floor and grabbed his shoulders, shaking them vehemently. "Where's my son? Where's Aiden?'

The man said nothing.

She slapped him across the face. 'Where's my boy?"

Austyn had kept Damian on the line.

He gave a quick update. 'Santoro must be in another part of the building."

The abandoned building had six floors.

'I'll ask my team to do a sweep. Be careful."

"I will."

Austyn pulled the hysterical Deborah away. 'Calm down. Santoro's still somewhere here. He saw you park the van, remember?"

317

Deborah's phone rang.