His mistaken Identity

Chapter 10

“Which part made you do it?” she asked. Bitterness bled into her voice, giving it a clipped, cold tone. Her arms tightened around the blankets that shielded the baby like she could somehow protect him from the ugly reality before them. Suddenly her throat felt tight, like a rock had lodged in her pipe. By sheer determination to voice her hurt and anger, she swallowed the lump in her throat and continued, “Was it the responsibility of a child or you just got tired of me?”

There was so much hurt and hate in her voice Christopher was speechless for a long moment. It was like receiving a slap across his face. He blinked, but he was still confused. The woman didn’t make sense. What she said made no sense to him. For a moment he wondered if she was fully compos mentis. Finally he told her, “Woman, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Cut the bullshit, Enock!” she bellowed once more.

Her raised voice was beginning to draw attention to them. Christopher quickly realized and looked around cautiously. He took note of a few people that had been leaving and were now watching them. They were not being very subtle about it either. After all, everyone loved drama, especially when it didn’t involve them. Any second now he knew he would see cell phones coming out and the amateur paparazzi would be filming them.

“Uhm… perhaps we can continue this discussion somewhere more... convenient,” he suggested with a grimace. He could already guess the response he was about to receive.

“There is nothing to discuss. I only found you because I wanted to see for myself what a snake you are.”

Christopher winced. If the woman was going to continue throwing accusations and insults, he definitely needed to get her away from his work environment. He had a reputation to keep and a business to protect. Dammit.

He flipped the key fob in his hand and unlocked the car doors. “Please get into the car. Let me take you to my house, then we can talk.”

“Ha!” She looked even more pissed than before. He didn’t know how that was even possible. She had already looked a hundred percent upset to begin with. He was certain steam was coming out of her ears already.

Jane looked at him up and down. Her lip curled with disgust. She still couldn’t believe that Enock was standing in front of her. He looked even better than the last time she had seen him, less than six months ago. The transformation was almost impressive if she pushed away the anger she felt towards him. His betrayal burned like acid under her skin and at the back of her throat.

“I am not going anywhere with you.”

Her hand twitched. God, she wished she could walk up to him and slap him across the face. Or even scratch him with her nails. If she was brave enough, she would kick him right in the nuts. It wouldn’t take away the grief she had felt, or even make her feel any better, but it would be satisfying to just see the shock and maybe even pain that would obviously cover his face if she did it.

Just then, he spoke in response to her refusal to go with him. Jane blinked and tried to focus her mind enough to catch what he was saying.

“We need to talk and this is not the place.”

Like hell they did. She knew exactly what she wanted to say to him and it didn’t require a fancy place to say it. “We have nothing to talk about. You faked your death and abandoned me with your son. For God’s sake, Enock, we got kidnapped because of you! My son was almost killed because of you! You are worse than a lowlife.”

Christopher moved fast and covered the distance between them. His actions were so unexpected and her eyes widened in alarm before she took a step back almost tripping over her own feet. Christopher shot out his hand and steadied her.

His quick rescue did not go well. It was as though his touch had burned her. She jerked her elbow away with enough force to lose her balance again. Exasperated, Christopher caught her once more.

“Calm down before you hurt yourself and the child,” he said in a firm authoritative voice.

Jane blinked. She had never heard that tone before from Enock. It was enough to pause any further reflex she might have had to get away from him.

He looked down at the bundle of blankets she held tightly to her chest where a baby whined insistently. Only a tiny hand could be seen. A small fist that shot through the blankets and waved in the cold air.

Christopher looked at the child’s mother. She was glaring at him. So much accusation and hurt swimming through her eyes.

Unexpectedly, he found himself mesmerized for a moment. He had thought her beauty was hidden by the sickly paleness of her skin, the skinniness and fatigue written all over her body like hideous tattoos. But he had been mistaken. Even with a wrapper around her head like an old person, this close he could see she was actually a very beautiful young woman.

The length of her eyelashes drew his attention. He was close enough to almost count them individually. They were so long and dark as though she had added makeup to them, but he was sure she hadn’t. His eyes then moved down to her lips. She had trapped her lower lip between her teeth.

Christopher blinked like he had been zapped by current and quickly returned his eyes to hers. He blinked several times more to clear his mind from the terrible idea that had just crossed his mind.

He tried to remember what he had wanted to say. Thankfully, a sudden sound from the baby helped snap his thoughts into place.

Christopher cleared his throat. “There is clearly a misunderstanding here.” He gave her a hard look to silence her when it was obvious she was going to interrupt him. “I suggest I take you back to my house then we can clear everything up.”

When she stubbornly shook her head he added, “If you will be more comfortable… we can go to your place instead.”

That seemed to give her a pause. Her brows drew together in a deep, thoughtful frown. Christopher did not know what that meant. Maybe she didn’t want him to know where she was staying, he concluded.

She really seemed unable to decide as though he had just cornered her between a mountain and shark-infested waters. He could see the idea to go to her place was not top on her list, but she had already shown a strong negative reaction to going to his. But they had to pick one, standing in the parking lot of his business under the curious watch of passers-by wasn’t an option.

He decided to push a little, they really needed to talk. Not only was he curious as to how she had gotten away from the kidnappers and who they were, but he also wanted to know why he had been involved in the matter. And he was not going to have the conversation standing in the car park of his offices getting soaked by the light drizzle that still persisted.

He had to make her see reason. He decided to try another approach. “Think of the child you are carrying there… It is cold and wet out here. He could get sick, and so could you.” He paused so that could sink in, then added, “I very much doubt you want to add sickness to the list of your problems.” And he could clearly see the woman had problems. He just wasn’t sure if insanity was one of them yet, though.

It took her a few seconds, but she finally relented and gave him a nod.

Relief washed over him. Christopher moved fast and opened the passenger door to his car. She looked at the inside of the car the same way a person would look at a guillotine, but eventually, she adjusted the child in her arms and got in. He closed the door and jumped behind the steering wheel. Quietly, he hit the central locking system and locked all the doors as he turned the engine on.

You can’t be too careful, he thought as he drove out of the car park and headed for his house.