Rita Herron - Bayou Jeopardy

MACK’S HEART POUNDED so hard that he had to take a deep breath to calm himself. He thought he’d lost Lily years ago, and now here she was alive, in the flesh.

And looking like a knockout in that skintight black sheath. Just touching her stirred a deep ache in his soul.

And in his groin.

Her long blond hair was captured in a chignon with jewel combs holding the silky strands in place.

A reminder that her father had money and that she was too good for him.

Still, it hadn’t stopped him from wanting her—and having her—eight years ago.

It wouldn’t stop him now.

“Oh, my God,” Lily said in a choked whisper. “I thought…you died in the flood.”

“No.” Mack narrowed his eyes at her. “But I thought you were dead.”

Emotions flickered in her eyes. “You looked for me?”

“Of course I did,” he said with a muttered curse. “Dammit, I loved you, Lily. You were pregnant with my son.”

Lily paled. “I don’t understand. It’s been years.”

“I know it has,” he said sharply.

She raised her gaze to his, those damn emerald eyes drawing him in. “Father said he checked the listings and a guard said you died.”

Anger gnawed at Mack. Landry had lied to both of them.

Which made him even more certain that he was aiding the mayor in his scheme.

“Why did you wait eight years to come to me?” she asked.

Mack’s defenses rose as she turned the tables on him. “I did look for you, for months,” he said, his heart in his throat. “I kept checking the lists, the police departments and hospitals, and I called your father, but he told me you didn’t make it.”

Lily gasped and sank onto the sofa. “What…No…” She knotted her hands in her lap. “Why would my father say that?”

“You tell me.” Mack gritted his teeth as he realized her father had gotten what he’d wanted—he’d torn them apart.

Denial flickered in her eyes. “It has to be a mistake. Maybe he checked and couldn’t find out anything about you so he made up that story.”

“He spoke to me, so he knew I was alive. And he told me that you were gone, and obviously he knew you weren’t,” Mack said.

Lily frowned. “You were watching me tonight?”

“I was watching your father and the mayor,” Mack said. “Then I saw you on the veranda and was shocked to discover you’d survived.”

Lily dropped her head into her hands.

His chest squeezed. For the life of him, he wanted to believe that she had no part in her father’s or Barrow’s illegal actions.

But dammit, she had believed the worst of him. That still hurt.

“Where have you been?” she asked in a pained whisper.

“Living in the bayou, helping other folks find missing loved ones. Trying to find evidence to clear my name from those bogus arrest charges.” He didn’t tell her that he suspected her father had set him up.

“The charges you believed, Lily.”

Lily began to pull the combs from her hair as if she needed to do something with her hands. The silky strands fell around her shoulders, and she finger combed them, making his hands ache to do the same.

“That was because Lee Barnaby showed me proof,” Lily said, her voice rising an octave. “He had documents, evidence that you were taking bribes and selling drugs.”

Memories bombarded him. That night he’d been waiting on her call, worried she might go into labor.

Instead Lee Barnaby had slapped handcuffs on him and ruined his life.

“I know what you saw, Lily, but Barnaby fabricated all that evidence.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “You know what happened to my father, how I grew up. I would never take a bribe or sell drugs.”

Lily shot up from her seat. “What about that photo of you with your girlfriend, Mack? That looked pretty real to me.”

“My girlfriend? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Angelica, the woman with the sultry body and chocolate eyes,” Lily said. “I believe you call her Angel.”

Another shock wave rolled through Mack. “Good God, Lily, you can’t believe that I was cheating on you.”

Her beautiful pouty lips formed a frown. “He showed me pictures of you with her, Mack. The two of you cozy in a dark bar, in an alley, in a car.”

Mack hissed between his teeth. “Angelica was not my girlfriend. She was my C.I.”

Lily stared at him, the tension stretching between them, war raging in her eyes.

“I was working undercover with a federal agent named Ray Storm. He had evidence against Barnaby that would have put him away for corruption and drug trafficking. Two years before that, I arrested Angelica for dealing. She was an addict, but I persuaded her to slip me information.” He scraped a hand over his chin. “If we looked cozy, it was part of my undercover work, Lily. I swear it.”

Lily’s lower lip trembled. “You…really weren’t with her?”

“Never,” Mack said emphatically. “I loved you. And I did not accept any bribes.”

“Oh God, Mack,” Lily whispered. “I can’t believe my father lied to me and that Barnaby set you up.”

“His arrest should validate my story,” Mack said. Although, getting Barnaby was only the beginning. There were others on the take, bigger fish to fry.

For the first time since he’d entered the place, Mack’s gaze scanned the room. A second later, he saw what he was searching for. A photograph on the built-in bookshelves by the fireplace.

A photo of a little boy who looked so much like him that his throat swelled.

He picked it up, his heart pounding. The little boy had dark black hair like his, the same stubborn jaw and intense brown eyes. And that cowlick. Damn, he even had his cowlick.

Another photo of the boy caught his eye, this one with Landry at Christmas.

Anger at all the time he’d missed choked him. “Where is he? What’s his name?”

Tears glittered on Lily’s eyelashes. “Winston Mack Rivet. He’s spending the night at my father’s.”

So she had named their son after him.

“I have to see him,” he said, heading toward the door. “I’ve missed eight years of his life.”

Lily ran after him and grabbed his arm. “Wait, Mack, you can’t, not tonight.”

He swung toward her, his jaw clamped tight. “Dammit, Lily, I thought you two were dead. I…thought I’d lost you, but you were both alive all along.”

“I’m sorry, Mack.” Lily’s voice cracked. “I…I’m so sorry.” Mack was trembling. “What did you tell him about me?”

Lily blinked back more tears. “Just what I thought, that you died in the storm.”

“Well, I’m not dead,” he said. “And I want to see my son.”

“You will,” Lily said. “But he’s sleeping now, Mack. We can’t wake him up. Let’s wait until the right time.”

When would the right time be?

When he cleared his name? When he arrested Lily’s father?

Dammit, he had to find out the truth, but if he had to arrest her father, Lily would hate him.

And so might his son.

Mack reined in his temper. She was right. It would be a shock for Winston to learn his father was alive. No use doing it in the middle of the night. “How about in the morning? I’ll go with you to pick him up at your father’s.”

Lily rubbed her arms, her face panicked. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Mack. Especially considering the trouble between you and my father.”

“He lied to us both,” Mack said. “He owes us an explanation.”

Lily flinched. “I’m sorry, Mack.”

“Stop apologizing for him,” Mack said. “It’s your father who should be sorry. He never wanted us to be together, and by lying he got his wish.”

“Mack—”