She squashed the thought. This was all an act. That was how he looked at it. And it was time for her to follow suit.
Sabrina had taken the opportunity in the last boutique to change into one of the outfits she’d chosen that very morning, the soft skinny jeans with the mossy green cashmere sweater topped with a thin leather jacket. With their dual sunglasses in place, they could play the part of any young family enjoying an early autumn day with their son in Central Park.
As they’d meandered their way toward the zoo, Alex had gone from somewhat fussy to outright unbearable in his stroller. All day long Sabrina attempted to deny the physical effect of Vlad on her senses. Now it was worse, because it turned out that the more irritable Alex became, the more patiently Vlad reacted. There was nothing that pierced her heart more squarely than this austere man reacting so tolerantly to the little boy who’d unknowingly wreaked such havoc on his life.
“Hey, who wants a dirty water hotdog?” she asked, spying the cart on the corner near the entrance to the zoo.
“Me, me, me!” As expected, Alex had an instant mood change.
“A what?” Vlad raised an incredulous black brow as he watched Sabrina and Alex inhale two hotdogs with everything on them. Sabrina laughed out loud as Alex finished the process with his face covered in mustard and ketchup.
“You can’t call yourself a New Yorker if you haven’t tried one. C’mon, Vlad, they’re amazing.”
He looked as if he was suppressing a smile, but he held up a hand and said, “Next time.”
Sabrina rolled her eyes.
By mutual agreement, they exited the park after a brief stroll into the zoo where they were spotted by journalists and duly photographed.
Back at the apartment, Sabrina realized the surprises were not over. Vlad had, somehow during their morning’s absence, contrived to have Alex’s room turned into a little boy’s dream escape. It was painted a cool violet gray already, but now there were added warm reds on plenty of cozy pillows and bedding. Low shelves held little trucks, boats and ships, as well as stuffed animals, a selection of soccer balls, footballs, softballs, and basketballs. There were also books all suited to a child Alex’s age and a little beyond. A seaside mural had been painted on one wall.
Alex had no idea that the space was for him and the look he gave Sabrina was priceless. Tears welled in her eyes as she saw the overwhelming joy in his, but she could see the uncertainty there, too. She kicked off her stilettos and sat down with him on the carpet, pulling a pillow behind them and asking him to choose a book for her to read to him.
After she settled him for a nap, she found Vlad in his office. She got right to the point. Her mother had raised her well.
“On behalf of Alex and…um, me, I just want to tell you, I’m stunned. His room is nothing short of amazing.” She twisted her hands together. “I just
wonder at the effect it will have on him to leave this all behind when this is over. And of course that’s not your problem. Don’t think I’m not extremely grateful. I am. I could never give him a fraction of what is in that room.”
Her voice trailed off.
He raised one broad shoulder.
“I have the ability to do this. I wouldn’t keep him from enjoying the small pleasures of that room no matter how short the duration. For the time being, this is his home and that is his room. Play your part well, and you will be amply compensated. He will live a good life thereafter.”
Wow. It was jolting to know that Vlad could see the end game so soon after beginning the very game. Play her part well? It sounded so, skeezy. But that was how his mind worked. See a problem. Attack. Solve. And right now he was attacking her on her weakest flank. Anything that would make Alex’s life better was something she’d sign on for. He figured that out fast and used it.
“Well, thank you again, anyway.” Sabrina started to back out of the room having said her piece.
“Can I ask you something?” He turned those navy eyes on her full blast.
“I, yes, sure.” She paused, back against the door. “About Alex, I noticed he doesn’t really speak too
much? Is that…?” “Is it normal?”
Sabrina stood straighter and her voice took on a seriously protective tone as her inner lioness emerged.
“The pediatrician says he will speak when he’s ready, some kids wait till preschool. He’s very intelligent…” Her voice trailed off again as she fought the feeling she was a student ordered to the principal’s office. This was what would happen if social services visited. She would have to explain herself, her parenting, and her lack of ability to place Alex in a proper school setting where he would begin socializing with kids his age and gain language skills.
“No, obviously I can see that he’s very bright, just wondering. I don’t know a damn thing about kids.” He shook his head and turned back to his desk and the stack of paperwork that awaited him there.
Sabrina knew that the sooner Alex could attend preschool with other little kids his age the faster he would want to communicate. She had been with him since he was born and by now, she knew his needs so well he didn’t have to say much. He didn’t have to say anything really to have those needs met. She could hardly blame it on Vlad much as she might want to. She had delayed sending his application paperwork to the preschool because she feared the authorities discovering she was Alex’s sister. But she knew Alex needed the company of other kids his age. Right now, that was something she could not provide and it weighed on her.
“So, Sabrina?”
“Yes?” She stopped again at the door.
“Tonight we can share a snack with Alex when he has his dinner. Mrs. Egan is coming over and we’re going out.”
“Out? Oh.”
She lifted her eyebrows, but she didn’t ask any questions. This was his ballgame. Obviously part of the PR campaign.
And besides, Sabrina was flummoxed, truly unnerved, by the constant sense of his gaze on her body. He would look away and, of course, he might look into her eyes at times but then always, as if pulled, she felt his navy gaze scorch over her breasts or her hair and often her legs. He didn’t say anything; she wondered if he was truly aware he did it, but it left Sabrina weakened with the need for his hands, his lips and his body to follow suit. She was left feeling like a blithering fool unable to form words, a victim of everything he had taught her body to crave.
Mrs. Egan arrived as Alex was starting his dinner and Sabrina and Vlad became superfluous at that point. Alex greeted the older lady with enthusiastic delight.
Moments later when Vlad left the room to change, Mrs. Egan shook her head at Sabrina after giving an all- encompassing glance around Vlad’s spectacular apartment.
“Sure an’ Alex looks just like his daddy,” Mrs. Egan declared in her charming lilt as she set out Alex’s dessert, and what could Sabrina say?
People were funny. They saw what they wanted to see, and Mrs. Egan had romanticized this situation as a great reunion between star-crossed lovers. Just because Alex and Vlad shared similar coloring, the case was closed in her book. Sabrina could see Mrs. Egan wondered if she had lost her marbles for keeping her relationship and Alex’s supposed parentage a secret. And Sabrina couldn’t refute anything that Mrs. Egan’s comment implied. Vlad wanted everybody to believe they were together, and she had to follow the script.
Although she had no idea where they were going, some devil had her choose one of her favorite looks from the day’s shopping spree, something she had chosen without the assistance of the personal shopper. Was it only that morning?
She examined her reflection in the six-foot Venetian glass mirror that would have been equally at home in the Gritti Palace. Long black leather leggings tucked into thigh-high black boots, topped by a flowing, asymmetrical, black sweater reminiscent of angora. The trick of the sweater was that it covered a barely there cropped, silk blouse.
She felt good: she felt sexy and powerful. Like she could stand up to the worst Vlad could throw at her. She’d blown out her hair so that it fell in smooth ripples down her back. Pale lip-gloss and lots of mascara and she was ready.
Vlad’s text was to the point.—Please join me in my office when you’re ready.—
Shaking her head at his abrupt tone that was almost redolent of the way she had been summoned as a VGI employee, Sabrina was forced to remind herself again. This wasn’t a romance, this was all for show. She might not be an employee any more, but she was still doing a job.