Love in the Vineyard (Tavonesi #7)(84)

Adrian’s anger got the best of him.

“He’s in your life to get his money.”

“You don’t know that. You didn’t see him yesterday. He even kept his promise not to tell Tyler who he was. He understood that I need time to break that news.” She waved a hand. “And if he’s dealing with a deadline, he was probably dying to tell Tyler.”

“You can protect yourself. Protect Tyler. Get help. I have excellent attorneys.”

“I don’t want to be your project,” she repeated.

“I’m offering help, Natasha. You’re not a project.” He thrust a hand through his hair, his mind doing a rapid-fire scan of possible arguments to convince her. Truth was the best strategy always. “I’d do the same for any employee of the vineyard.”

He would. Not with the same motivation. But he’d still do it.

Tears brimmed in her eyes. She reached for a box of tissues and swiped at her cheek. Of course this was unwelcome news, but she was taking it much harder than he’d expected. He couldn’t help but feel he was missing something in the conversation. As if he’d skipped an entire page of the script and was now lost in the words resounding in her small kitchen.

“You would, wouldn’t you? For any employee.”

He nodded. “You can limit Eddie’s contact,” he added, grasping at the future he felt slipping away with her every glance. “With good legal counsel you can ensure that he has limited and supervised visitation until you’re sure he’s reformed.”

When she didn’t respond, he tried another tactic. “Don’t be stubborn. Let us help you. Pride will just hurt you and Tyler.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You think this is about pride? What pride could I have left? I’ve hit every bottom you can imagine.” She crossed her arms again, still clutching the tissue in her fist. “No, I’ve hit bottoms you can’t imagine, and that’s the problem. We come from different worlds, Adrian.”

He rubbed at the muscle twitching in his jaw. She wasn’t making any sense. It was as though everything had jumbled in her mind—Eddie, Tyler, her past, him.

“Natasha, I can help you. I can—”

“Look, thank you for your offer. And thank you for”—she pointed a finger to where he’d left the will on the kitchen counter—“for that.”

She lifted her head and the piercing look in her eyes nailed him.

“Thank you for everything, but you have to go. I need some space. I need to think. And if I’ve learned anything in the past few months, it’s that I can’t think straight when you’re around.”

She pointed to the door.

“Please go.”

He didn’t move.

“Please, Adrian. And I hope you’ll understand that I won’t be coming in to work today. Tammy can help with any emergencies. Or Enrique.” Her eyes widened. “What’s going to happen to Enrique?”

“Nothing for right now.”

“I want to know.”

“We can talk about him tomorrow. You have enough on your plate.”

Walking out the door was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. But she’d asked for space. And she’d been clear that she didn’t want his help.

The hardest thought to let in was that maybe Eddie really did want to be a father to Tyler. Maybe the guy had changed. Maybe she wanted Eddie to step into that role. Maybe it was best for her and Tyler to have a new start with Eddie—for Tyler to have a shot at life with his real father?

Hell, just because he wanted Natasha with every bit of his being didn’t make him a better candidate than Eddie.

But as he drove to the vineyard, her words rang in his mind. What had she meant when she’d said she couldn’t think when he was around?





The door slammed behind Adrian. Natasha resisted the urge to watch him drive away.

He’d do the same for any employee, he’d said. Well, he’d sure cleared up any romantic notions she’d been foolishly holding on to. She wasn’t going to be one of his precious projects. If he wanted salvation, he’d have to find another needy soul to help.

But as her anger dissolved, the real bugger of a thought moved in—how could she have been so wrong about his feelings for her?

She’d fooled herself, the one thing she’d sworn never to do again.

Drawing in a few deep, calming breaths, she leafed through the will. She didn’t need to read the words to know that no matter what Eddie’s motivations were, she was going to fight to keep Tyler safe from harm.

Maybe Eddie really wanted a relationship with Tyler. But maybe he only wanted the money. Still, maybe he wanted both.

Adrian was right about one thing—she needed to get counsel, to make sure that whatever contact Eddie had with Tyler would be supervised. For a moment she even considered that if she married Eddie she’d be there to protect Tyler, to oversee any and all interactions. But even before the thought finished forming, she knew such a rash tactic was absurd. With Adrian she’d discovered what it felt like to love. She couldn’t exist in a sham marriage, not even for Tyler’s sake.

Her thoughts banged around in her head more than the pots and pans she arranged and then rearranged in her kitchen. She scoured the counter. Cleaned the sink. After about twenty minutes, she threw the dish towel across the room.