Free An Heir to Bind Them by Dani Collins Page A

boil.
    Hugging her baby’s tiny frame into her wet swimsuit, she told herself to turn around and walk out, leave Theo to his “real” family.
    Zephyr’s connection to the other children stopped her. Without her own cousin’s love and support, her life would be very different right now. Those sorts of ties were sacred to her and Zephyr wasn’t likely to enjoy many of them with her side of the family. Her parents and siblings were even less inclined to speak to her now that she had a bastard soiling the family name.
    Was Theo really as narrow-minded as they were, capable of rejecting a boy who hadn’t done anything except have the gall to come to life inside her?
    “Did you seriously just wet through this towel onto my arm?” Theo asked Androu in an aggrieved tone. “This kid hates me.”
    “He’s a baby. They don’t know how to be malicious.” So don’t blame Zephyr if you’re angry at me, she added in a silent bite.
    A tense twenty minutes passed as she took Evie and Zephyr into her bedroom to dress the girl and herself, leaving Theo charged with Androu. When she emerged, Theo wore a more truculent expression than any toddler. He held a naked Androu and a disposable diaper that looked worse for wear.
    “This is why I’m not cut out to be a father,” he charged. “I can’t even manage the basics.”
    “Well, you are a father, so I guess you’ll have to learn, won’t you?” she shot back, heart wobbling in her chest at her own audacity. But this was one thing she wouldn’t let the implacable Theo Makricosta block out. It was too important, and not just to Zephyr.
    “I wasn’t supposed to be. You promised. You said it would be a disaster—”
    “Zephyr is not a disaster. Do not— ” She cut herself off from raising her voice, looking away for a second to gather herself, afraid she’d frighten the children if she gave in to the press of emotions strangling her. Tears were right behind the anger so she swallowed hard, trying to keep it all from releasing.
    “We’re all frazzled and hungry,” she managed in a croaking voice. “I called room service while we were changing. I’ll dress Androu and once we feed the little ones and they’re settled, I’ll explain. All right?”
    He glared, but didn’t argue. An hour later, as she scrubbed faces and hands, he washed his own hands and grumbled, “I’m wearing more than they ate.”
    “It’s better than wearing what they ate,” she countered, not sure how they’d managed to be such a well-coordinated team when they were barely speaking. He’d let her lead, which surprised her, copying her actions with great care and concentration, as if there was a perfect system for feeding a baby.
    It was such a contradictory vision of him and did funny things to her heart. He was so gloriously inept, but so determined to master these little child-care tasks. Like he’d suffer terribly if he failed to do it right.
    Get smacked, maybe. With a belt.
    Oh, Theo . Her throat filled with words she couldn’t voice.
    “That’s gross,” he replied after taking a moment to get her meaning about what the kids ate.
    “It’s reality,” she murmured, lifting Zephyr from his chair and adding, “Do you want to watch them in the other room or finish cleaning up in here?”
    As the older pair toddled off in two directions, he gave her a boggled look. “Maybe we should call an agency.”
    She tensed. So much for their tentative accord. “You don’t want me and Zephyr here after all then.” It was all she could do to pretend his rejection of their son didn’t shatter her.
    “No, I mean we need more help. This is a lot of work! Has either of us sat down since we walked in here four hours ago?” He skimmed a hand over his dry but uncombed hair and stabbed a look at Zephyr. “But now we’ve got this development to manage, too. Discretion is more important than ever, so I guess that leaves us stuck doing it ourselves.”
    “Development?” she repeated,