Love in the Vineyard (Tavonesi #7)(81)

It was Adrian’s turn to poke at the fire. The flames leaped and then settled, like a cat disturbed from a nap. He did need to sort through his motivations. Was he any different from Eddie? Just because he wasn’t trying to force Natasha into a corner, was the result he sought any different? He wanted her in his life, but she had the right to make her own decisions and to do so without pressure. It would take time for him to examine his motivations, to be honest with himself and with Natasha. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do what he could to help her in the meantime. And to do that he needed information.

“Were you able to find out anything about Edward Markiston?”

“I’m not sure you’re going to be happy with what my team dug up.”

“I hadn’t expected to be.”

“Mr. Markiston comes from a wealthy West Coast family. He attended Stanford, where he was an honors student. But here’s the odd part, he dropped out before graduating. Went to officer candidate school and then flight school. He did five tours of duty in Afghanistan with the Air Force. Then his parents’ yacht went down. And his grandfather died. The grandfather controlled the family wealth. There’s a will that stipulates that Edward has to have an heir by the time he turns thirty or he won’t receive any of the funds.”

“Sounds like something out of an eighteenth-century novel.”

“People can behave strangely when fortunes, their mortality and their legacies are concerned.”

Adrian knew too well. His own grandmother had made each of his brothers and sisters wait until they were twenty-five before they could control the funds she’d bequeathed to them. But he believed she had their well-being in mind. The old man who had written the absurd will that was making Natasha’s life a living hell appeared only to care about the continuity of his lineage. His genes.

“He turns thirty this month,” his father added.

Rage lit in Adrian’s veins. “He’s using her.”

“Maybe.” His father steepled his fingers and held Adrian with a narrowed stare. “And maybe not. The timing could be a coincidence. Edward might or might not have known about the terms before his grandfather’s death four months ago.”

Santino could turn situations and look at them from all sides. That talent was one that had made him one of the top undercover agents on the planet. And evidently it was a skill Adrian had yet to master.

“Not long after that, Eddie saw Natasha on the Megatron at the game—with Tyler.”

“Precisely. Yet my sources turned up a couple of visits to the casino where she had once worked by tracking his credit cards. He was already looking for her before the ballgame.” Santino lifted an empty tumbler from his desk. “Will or no will, it’s possible that the man really does want to step up and be a father to the boy. And probable that he intended to make amends with Natasha.”

“Then he has a hell of a poor way of going about it, slapping court documents on her like he did.”

“Perhaps he doesn’t trust her. As the biological father, he has rights. The court will see that he hasn’t had any opportunity before this to be in the boy’s life.”

“He wants the money.”

“Very likely. But he’s also the boy’s father. It’s hard to judge motivation from a distance.”

Santino handed him a computer printout. “My contact secured a copy of the grandfather’s will.”

A strange hope sparked in Adrian’s chest as he read through the pages. “There’s no mention of marriage.”

“None.” Santino rose and poured himself a whiskey from the decanter on his desk. “Would you like one?”

“No. Hell no.” He was still taking in the fact that there was no marriage clause. “Natasha needs this information, needs to know about the terms of this will. And she needs to know that she certainly doesn’t have to marry the guy.”

“Information isn’t always the answer.” Santino eyed Adrian over the rim of his glass. “Do you love her?”

He hadn’t expected his father’s question. That the answer came, immediate and unambiguous, surprised him too.

“Yes.”

“And the boy?”

“Tyler. His name is Tyler.”

Adrian thought about the afternoon two days before when he’d dropped Tyler off at Brandon’s. How he’d felt when Tyler had hugged him and when Tyler had made a child’s case for his mom.

“Yes.”

His father raised a brow. “This could be complicated.”

“It already is.”

“You’d be raising another man’s child. Part-time at least. This man would be a part of your life whether you want him to be or not.”

“I haven’t asked her to marry me. I doubt she would after all this. She’s angry that I promoted her without consulting her. That I put both her and Enrique in this position.” He rubbed at his eyes. “She has so much to handle with Eddie, how can I ask more of her, demand more of her?”

“For far too long I made too many decisions for others. You have this trait, son. In abundance.” He smiled and saluted with his glass. “It comes from a good place, but there’s a shadow under it, an arrogance that must be mastered.” He walked across the room and pressed a finger to Adrian’s heart. “You always have to make room for choice, especially the choices of others. Men who make choices for others, even for very good reasons, become the worst sort of tyrants.”