Million Dollar Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

never pay. They’d let the kidnappers sell him
     or…or worse.
    Maria’s throat went dry as she backed away from the bassinet and the cruel reality
     that was forcing its way into her mind. There was no way to get her baby back. No
     way…
    Her back touched the crib, and the other child inside it cooed and chirped at her.
     She turned.
    What if the Fortunes believed that it was Bryan who’d been taken? No one knew James
     even existed. What if…
    What if she took little Bryan…for just a little while? Just until the ransom was paid
     and James was safe again. Then she’d switch the babies back, make it all right. Somehow….
    Somehow.
    She bent over the crib, gathering Bryan Fortune into her arms. “You won’t mind so
     much, will you, little one? I’ll take good care of you, and you’ll be back with your
     mamma in no time at all. It’s not so much to ask, is it? To save my baby’s life?”
    The baby smiled as if in response, and Maria wrapped him in a blanket and snuggled
     him close, smelling his baby smell as tears welled up in her eyes. “God, this all
     went so wrong…so wrong…”
    She paused on the way out, licking her lips as she looked once more at the note in
     the bassinet. This had to look real, it had to be convincing. Cradling the baby close
     with one arm, she quickly picked up the note, using the edge of a receiving blanket
     to cover her fingers. No fingerprints. She mustn’t leave a trace. She carried the
     note to Bryan’s crib, dropped it inside, and hurried away before she could change
     her mind.

Two
    A s they walked up the stairs, Claudia and Matthew fell into step, side by side, hand
     in hand, leading the way. Leaving Lucinda to walk at Holden’s side. And the whole
     time, she swore he never took his eyes off her. She got the feeling he had some special
     X-ray vision that could see right through her clothes. Then again, that view was one
     he’d seen before—and it hadn’t made much of an impression on him then.
    He certainly did seem to be paying attention now, though.
    Men. She wished she could think like they did, feel like they did. All she wanted
     was a relationship that could develop into something…something like Claudia had with
     Matthew. She wanted a husband, a baby…
    God, she wanted a baby so much….
    But all her efforts at relationships had turned out in one of two ways. Either the
     man she was seeing wanted no commitment at all or he wanted too much of one. Mostly
     the latter. One man after another had bid her adios when it became apparent that she
     wasn’t willing to give up her practice, or her plans of building a clinic, to devote
     her full attention to him.
    Maybe she didn’t need a man at all. Maybe all she needed was a willing sperm donor.
     A one-night stand.
    “So, Lucy,” Holden said. “What are you doing after the party?”
    She blinked at his interruption of her rather uncharacteristic and slightly shocking
     train of thought. She told herself not to imagine his gold-blond hair and sky-blue
     eyes on a little baby. The baby that she’d lost all those years ago—maybe the only
     baby she would ever have a part in creating. But she imagined it anyway, and an evil
     thought entered her mind. About poetic justice. About his potential as a sperm donor.
     It was totally unlike her to think of such things as trickery and deception. But where
     Holden Fortune was concerned, it did seem justified.
    And she already knew he was fond of one-night stands. “Um, why do you ask?”
    They’d reached the top of the stairs. Claudia and Matthew were already heading down
     the hall, but Holden stopped there, turning to face her. “I don’t know, really. I
     guess…I’d like to make up for being such a jerk to you in high school.”
    She felt the blush creeping into her face. “So you do remember.”
    “No, I really don’t. I mean, I remember you, but not the part about being a jerk.
     But Claudia says…” He stopped. “I said the wrong