Love's Deception Read Online Free PDF Page B

do something right this time, didn’t I?”
    “Yeah. I’d say by the way that li’l guy’s beaming at you, you got yourself a fan for life.”
    “Trust me, buddy. I have no plans on screwing this assignment up.”
    “Well, good luck to ya. The worst you can do is turn out to be like my old man. Congratulations again. I got to head on over to the club. I’ll catch you later?”
    “Yeah, sure thing. I’ll tell Val you stopped by.” Travis continued to watch his son in the nursery, enjoying the strength of the newly formed bond.
    For months, he and Val had been preparing for a little girl. They’d even picked out the name Natalie, named after his eccentric grandmother. Now the name had been modified to Nathan. Visions of baseball and football games materialized in Travis’s head, and a double dose of testosterone pumped through his veins.
    Later, Travis peeked in on his wife and smiled at her sleeping form. “I’m a lucky man,” he declared and eased inside the door. She was even more beautiful now than the day he met her.
    As if sensing his presence, her eyes fluttered open. “Hi there.” She smiled.
    He loved her husky vibrato, the gentle curl of her hair and the warmth of her eyes. “Hi there yourself.”He rested a hip against the bed, then leaned down and kissed her.
    “Have you seen him?” Pride made her smile wider and even more beautiful.
    “Yeah. He’s something, ain’t he?”
    “Isn’t he,” she corrected playfully. Her few years as an English teacher made correcting everyone’s grammar a habit.
    “ He sure is .”
    They laughed, then just gazed at each other. A pool of love deepened within their hearts, making words unnecessary to express how they felt.
    Travis reached for her hand and kissed her wedding band. “Our little family is growing.”
    “I think this is the happiest day of my life.”
    “What about our wedding day?”
    “It’s a close second.”
    “I think they both tie for first place.” He laughed.
    “I love you,” she whispered.
    “I love you more.” He kissed the ring again. “You’re going to make a wonderful mother.”
    “And you’re going to make an excellent father.”

Chapter 6
    N athan reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper he’d received from Gina and stared at the name Elizabeth Townsend, administrative assistant of Cartel Enterprises.
    From what he understood from Gina, this was the woman who’d called about his father. Nathan contemplated contacting her to find out what happened yesterday. As the thought crossed his mind, a contradicting thought questioned why he even cared.
    “I’m going to drive myself crazy with this.” He balled the paper back in his fist and swore under his breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar outfit. His mind raced back to the beautiful woman he’d clashed with that morning.
    Despite the shame of his earlier behavior, he raced after the figure. When he rounded the corner, he stopped in his tracks. It wasn’t her.
    He took a calming breath to slow his accelerated heartbeat. A strange reaction, he thought as he turned and went in search of the cafeteria. In retrospect, he had to admit that the woman he’d discovered by his father’s side was gorgeous. So much so, he realized his harsh words were more out of jealousy than anger.
    When he remembered that the nurse had identified her as his father’s fiancée, he shook his head. The woman was too young for Travis.
    A few minutes later, Nathan sat relishing his first jolt of caffeine for the day while worrying over Travis’s condition. In the back of his mind, he wondered if there was something he should do. Anything would be better than this waiting game.
    He warmed to the thought. Maybe he could use this time to learn more about what had happened. He remembered the slip of paper and retrieved it from his pocket. The first place he would try to get some answers would be Cartel Enterprises.
     
    “You murdered my father!” Fire