Unwrapping the Playboy Read Online Free PDF Page B

grip on the armrests, Lilli sank down into the chair again. But she was still far from relaxed. Until this ordeal was over, she doubted she would ever relax again. “What do you need from me?” she asked, ready to tell Kullen as much as she was able.
    So many things I can’t even begin to enumerate them. “To begin with, I’m going to need the boy’s birth certificate,” he told her.
    It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess why Kullen wanted to see it. He wanted to see the name in black-and-white. “I left the space blank.”
    So, she hadn’t lost the ability to read his mind. “You didn’t list the boy’s father?”
    Lilli shook her head. “No.”
    Was she ashamed to put the man’s name down? Or had the pharmaceutical heir threatened her with something to make her leave the space blank?
    â€œWhy?”
    Why did Kullen have to dig like this? Her reasonsdidn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that Dalton’s mother wanted to take Jonathan away.
    But because Kullen was waiting and wanted an answer, she gave him one.
    â€œI wanted nothing to do with Erik Dalton. Besides, Jonathan might have Dalton DNA, but he was—and is— my son. I loved him, I wanted him. And I was going to make a home for him. And that’s what I have been doing for the last seven years.”
    â€œAny idea why Mrs. Dalton is suddenly suing for custody after seven years? Did you get in contact with her?” He watched her expression to see her reaction as he asked the question.
    â€œTo tell her how sorry I was for her loss?” Lilli guessed. “No, I didn’t.” She realized that Kullen might have thought she had done it for another reason. “To tell her that she had a grandson? Again, no.”
    He wasn’t ready to lay this line of questioning to rest yet. “Did you send photographs to her son while he was alive, showing your son’s progress?”
    â€œNo. After I sent him the note telling him that he had a son I never wrote or had any contact with him again.”
    He studied her carefully. Would he be able to tell if she was lying to him? He was no longer sure. “Then he never wrote back or tried to get in contact with you later on?”
    â€œNo,” she said with feeling. “He could have cared less about being a father. If anything, I’m sure he was relieved that I didn’t want him in Jonathan’s life in any manner, shape or form.”
    But that left a very loose end. Leaning back in hischair, Kullen continued to study her as he asked, “Then how do you explain how Mrs. Dalton found out about Jonathan?” He gave her a way out. “Or don’t you know?”
    Lilli laughed shortly. “Oh, I know. She said she was going through Erik’s things about a month after the funeral and she found my note telling him about the baby.”
    â€œSo he kept the note.”
    He made it sound as if that proved there was some sentiment involved. Erik Dalton hadn’t had a good bone in his body. If there had been one, it would have fled, horrified. “If he consciously kept the note, it was probably to use as a bargaining chip at some future date in case he needed it.”
    â€œBargaining chip?” Kullen repeated. “Who would he be bargaining with?”
    That was easy. “His mother. Seems she’s very big on continuing the family line.”
    Now it was making sense. “And now that her only son is gone, she’s set her sights on her grandson.” It wasn’t a guess.
    Lilli sighed as she pressed her lips together. “That’s about it.”
    Since he’d got her talking, he pressed his advantage. The more information he had, the better he could serve her. “What happened after she found the note?” he asked.
    The events were indelibly etched on her brain. And she would forever regret taking pity on the woman. Her mistake had been to