I should have taken charge of this situation a lot sooner.
‘I am a friend of your mother’s,’ I told the boy, repeating what we had told him all those weeks ago in Barcelona. Perhaps it was less of a lie now than it had been then.
Although, ‘friend’ was far too simple and straightforward a term for what Belle and I shared.
‘I would like to be your friend too,’ I added.
The boy’s eyes widened, but instead of replying to me he glanced at his mother. ‘Mummy, you said I’m not supposed to talk to strangers. Can I talk to him?’
I had to admire his bluntness and his brutal honesty, even as part of me died inside at the word ‘strangers’.
The reality of the situation hit home. This boy was my son, my own flesh and blood. His Galanti heritage was evident in every part of him—not just the dark, wavy hair, the shape of his face, the pure blue eyes so like my brother’s, but also in his directness, his boldness, his bravery, his determination to stand up for his mother. The way I had once tried to stand up for mine.
And because of Belle’s and my mistakes, our fears, our weaknesses, our selfishness, I could not claim him today.
Belle knelt beside the boy and banded an arm around his waist to tug him against her side. His arm wrapped around her neck, his attachment to her somehow making the regret and the longing grip my chest even harder.
In that moment, I made a promise to myself. No more running. No more hiding. For my sins, I could not claim my son today, but I would do everything in my power to make sure I could claim him soon. Very soon.
‘It’s okay, Cai,’ Belle said softly, her voice breaking with an emotion that I could feel echoing in my own chest. ‘You did the right thing to check with me first,’ she said and the boy beamed, basking in his mother’s praise. ‘But Alexi’s right, he isn’t a stranger...’ Her throat moved as she swallowed and I could see the sheen of moisture in her eyes. This was as hard for her as it was for me. My irritation eased a little bit. ‘He is my friend. And I think it would be lovely if he could become your friend as well.’
The surge of possessiveness surprised me.
I wasn’t the boy’s friend. I was his father. And I wasn’t Belle’s friend either. I was her lover.
I knew I would need to hold back my fierce determination to claim the boy until I had learned a lot more about being a parent.
But I would be damned if I would pretend not to be more than a friend to Belle, especially after last night.
Our gazes met over the boy’s head and the blush on her pale cheeks flared. Awareness bristled in the air between us.
‘Do you have a car, Mr Alexi?’ the little boy asked, forcing my attention back to him. The smile he sent me lit his whole face—and displayed a pair of captivating dimples. ‘I love cars.’
The child’s serious, cautious expression had disappeared. My heartbeat slowed as memories of Remy bombarded me. My son was a complete charmer, with the same sunny disposition my brother had always possessed... Sweet and uncomplicated, more than a little cocky and unfailingly optimistic. How foolish I had been to be so scared of getting to know him, when in many ways I knew him already... And had missed him terribly.
‘I own several cars,’ I said, an idea occurring to me. ‘Do you like racing cars?’ I asked, already well aware of the answer to that question after our brief meeting in Barcelona.
The boy nodded enthusiastically, his eyes widening. ‘Yes, I love racing cars the best of all.’
I decided to use his enthusiasm to my advantage. So many things about this child were familiar to me, but I was not familiar to him. I wanted that to change, and soon—so why not use every weapon in my arsenal to win the boy over?
‘I own some racing cars,’ I said and the little boy gasped—his excitement so innocent and unfettered it was all the more endearing.
‘Really?’ he said.
I nodded, his awestruck expression a sop to my battered ego.
‘Perhaps you and your mother would like to come to the Galanti test track today,’ I said. ‘And you can sit in our latest prototype?’
The boy began to jump up and down, his excitement no longer containable. ‘Can we, Mummy? Can we? Pleeeease?’
It was beneath me, but a part of me couldn’t help being pleased that at the very least I had managed to best Camaro’s offer of a month ago. I wasn’t in competition with Renzo for the boy’s affections, any more than I was for his mother’s affections, but still I could not deny the triumphant feeling in my chest.
‘Yes, of course,’ Belle said. ‘Jessie can go with you both. I have to stay here to...’ She paused, trying to come up with a plausible excuse not to accompany us, I had no doubt.
Lifting off my knee, I stood up and held out a hand to haul her up too.
‘Perhaps Jessie would like to take my...’ I began, but then paused as Belle’s fingers jerked in mine. I had been about to reveal my relationship to the child. ‘To take Cai,’ I corrected myself, ‘to get dressed, and we can talk?’