Free Daddy Devastating by Delores Fossen Page A

elevator. He nodded to a man wearing a hotel uniform, who was in the room next to the suite changing sheets.
    The undercover agent, no doubt.
    “You think Milo will agree to me leaving?” she asked.
    “He’ll have to. One meeting is bad enough. I don’t want you involved with this any longer than necessary.”
    “I don’t want to be involved, either, but does that mean you think you’ll have the little boy by this afternoon?”
    “It’s possible, but even if it’s not, you and I are going to stage an argument for Milo.” He turned and faced her while they were in the elevator. “I want you to call me all the names you’ve been thinking about calling me. I want you to say it’s not going to work between us, and for me to get out of your life. And then I want you to leave. An agent will keep an eye on you when you go to your car, and someone will make sure you get safely back to the hotel.”
    That didn’t seem difficult, but it left a lot of things unanswered, too. “Then what?”
    “The next part will be easy. You’ll take Emily and Zoey, and leave for the estate. I’ll get the Richardson baby and hand him over to his parents.”
    That was exactly what she wanted to hear. So, it might all be over by early afternoon. Julia didn’t want to think beyond that, but she was certain this wasn’t the last she’d see of Russ Gentry.
    Once this investigation was over, he would return to San Antonio and challenge her for custody. The anger came with that reminder, and she could already think of some names to call him in front of Milo, when Russ and she had their fake argument.
    “As for this meeting with the Richardsons, I’ll just introduce you as my fiancée,” Russ continued. The elevator doors swung open, but he caught onto her arm to stop her from stepping out. “And don’t say too much around my partner, Silas. He’s the one who told the Richardsons where we were.”
    Julia couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “What?”
    “Yeah. That was my reaction, too. He’s either incompetent or…” But Russ didn’t finish the thought. “Don’t worry. I’ve arranged for extra security for you at the meeting. I don’t intend to rely on Silas for anything.”
    Great.
    So, she was walking into a meeting with terrified parents and an idiot agent who was possibly dangerous. Julia checked her hands. She wasn’t shaking, and she didn’t feel a wave of panic. Maybe she’d had so much anxiety dumped on her in the past twenty-four hours that her body was adjusting.
    “By the way, you look hot,” Russ mumbled to her, a split-second before they walked into the café off the lobby.
    “So do you,” she mumbled back, and was pleased that it actually caused him to pause a step. She was betting not too many things off-balanced a man like Russ.
    Russ smiled at her and ushered her toward the trio seated at a table in the corner. A tall blond woman immediately jumped from her chair.
    “Her name is Tracy Richardson,” Russ told Julia, in a whisper. “She’s the mom, and I want you to greet her as if she were an old friend.”
    Julia did. She walked to the woman and pulled her into a hug, probably surprising everyone at the table, especially Tracy Richardson.
    “We need to look friendly and cozy,” Russ whispered to all of them. The other two men stood, as well. “Because we almost certainly have an audience.”
    Julia glanced around the small café and didn’t see anyone suspicious, but that didn’t mean Milo’s man wasn’t using the infrared device to watch them.
    “Aaron.” Russ greeted the father in a louder voice. They shook hands. “Julia’s told me all about you.” The thin-faced man was dressed to perfection in a dark blue suit, white shirt and Ivy League tie. He had old money written all over him, and being from old money herself, Julia recognized it.
    Since the man in the suit was Aaron Richardson, that meant the other man was Silas Durant. Like Russ, she wouldn’t have picked him out