Page 12 of The Bad Girl and the Baby

Chapter Four

Darcy stirred her coffee. He wasn’t going to come.

She felt like shit, but then, she hadn’t slept. Because she’d messed up. Again. She shouldn’t have lost her temper. She should have tried to be nice. Though she had said please—that word had nearly killed her—however contrary it was to her nature. But she’d been churning all day since she’d met Lulu. And then there he was and…

The truth was, she’d convinced herself that all she needed to do was check that Lulu was safe and happy. Then she would have done her duty to her sister, and she could relax. She hadn’t intended to be part of Lulu’s life—though actually, that wasn’t quite the truth. She didn’t feel she deserved to be part of Lulu’s life. If she hadn’t screwed up that day with Steven, if she’d behaved in a more rational manner, then she would have been there for her sister. And Lulu would have had a mother to care for her, not some messed up ex-fighter, who hadn’t a clue how to tell one end of a baby from the other.

Emma had turned her back on her, siding with her husband. But Darcy knew her sister would have come to her senses eventually and seen Steven for what he was. And Darcy would have been there to help her get away from him. Start a new life. Instead she and her sister had been estranged. She hadn’t seen Emma since the court case. She wouldn’t have even known about Lulu’s birth if Sam hadn’t told her. Sam had known Emma well; her sister had often come to the gym to meet Darcy, and he was fond of her, though their friendship hadn’t survived Emma’s marriage. Among his other attributes, Steven had been a racist bigot. It was one of the reasons he’d disliked Darcy so much, and had done his best to drive a wedge between her and Emma. Because in Darcy, their Japanese heritage was clear, and he hated any reminder that his wife had mixed blood.

But ultimately, Emma had forgiven her. Shortly before the accident, she’d written to Darcy, asking her to make sure Lulu was okay if anything ever happened to her. Had she had some sort of premonition?

Why the hell hadn’t she left the bastard?

So Darcy had been determined to check that her niece was safe and happy, and then she’d planned to back out of her life. Because she was trouble and no good to anyone.

But from the moment she’d set eyes on Lulu, she’d experienced a connection she hadn’t even imagined was possible. It tugged at her heart, and from that point on, everything had changed.

Now she couldn’t walk away. She needed to see her niece again, just be a small part of her life. She didn’t intend to make a nuisance of herself.

She’d had a go at Matt Peterson last night about leaving Lulu with a stranger, but really, he was probably doing the best he could. Lulu looked healthy and happy. And Darcy had talked to the nanny. The woman was well trained and came from the best agency. It must be costing him a fortune and she knew from the report Nate had drawn up that Matt wasn’t a wealthy man. All he had was his captain’s salary.

But he’d pissed her off.

And she’d lost her temper. The story of her life.

Plus, he’d been so angry that she’d had a little frisson of concern—maybe he shared more than looks with his brother. Maybe he had a disposition to match. In which case, she owed it to her sister, and her niece, to somehow get Lulu away from him. Though she had no clue what that would involve. She was hardly in a position to take on a kid, even if she wanted to. She was on parole, for God’s sake.

This morning, she’d made no concessions to her appearance. She’d dressed all in black to suit her mood, black jeans, a black T-shirt and Doc Martens. What was the point? He wasn’t coming. Clearly, he believed the load of crap Steven had told him about her. Mentally unstable? She almost wished the bastard was alive so she could kill him.

She glanced at her watch. Nine o’clock exactly.

Something made her look up. There he was, right on the dot. He spotted her at the table and weaved his way toward her. He wasn’t in uniform this morning but looked immaculate, in gray pants and a white button-down shirt. Even his shoes were shiny. Hair combed, cleanly shaved. He looked…perfect. He stopped by the table, and she looked up and into his blue eyes.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“What changed your mind?”

He shrugged and sank into the chair across from her. A waiter appeared, and Matt ordered a coffee. “You want anything else?” he asked her. They were being so civilized. She hadn’t even touched her drink yet, so she shook her head. He sighed. “It occurred to me that we need to finish this. I have the feeling that unless we’re clear, you’re going to keep coming at me. And I don’t want that. I want you out of our lives. So what’s it going to take?”

Was he trying to buy her off? Her temperature rose with her temper. “You think you can pay me to get out of Lulu’s life?”

“We just need to settle the price.”

He was amazing. “You don’t have enough money.”

“How do you know until you ask?”

“Because you live on your salary and right now, most of that goes to pay nannies and babysitters.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“The same way I knew you’d be at that club the other night. I had you investigated.” What the hell was she doing? He was here, and she was supposed to be getting him to listen to her, not winding him up. Actually, he didn’t even have to listen to her. He just had to read the report lying on the table between them.

At that moment, the waiter arrived with his coffee and he bit back whatever words were hovering on his lips. Darcy took a few deep, calming breaths. She could do this. “I’m sorry. But I knew nothing about you, and you refused to speak to me. I had to find a way to get you to listen. Whatever your brother told you about me, it’s not the truth.”

“Why would he lie?”

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