Aldon took a quick step away from her.
Lynch walked over to Mattheus then, the only anchor he seemed to have in the room. “My mom and Aldon are friendly enemies,” he remarked, smiling slightly.
“Not so friendly right now, either,” Raina proclaimed. “All this commotion is disrupting our plans. And, I do not take well to having plans disrupted. I have friends arriving in an hour and I need to be there to greet them. People are coming from far and wide.”
Just then there was another knock on the door, this time long, strong and steady.
“Oh my God,” said Tara, suddenly breathless. “They have to be here.”
“Who?” asked Raina bewildered.
“My former girlfriend and our son,” Lynch answered plainly.
CHAPTER 6
The door to the suite opened slowly and in walked a beautiful Caribbean woman, Bala, with a little boy at her side. The boy had huge dark eyes, curly hair and a wonderful smile.
The entire room fell totally still.
“This is Paulie,” said Bala, unflinchingly.
Paulie looked up at everyone and grinned, his huge eyes sparkling.
Not a word was spoken and no one moved.
“We were told you wanted to meet us,” said Bala, now slightly on edge.
Cindy stepped forward to welcome them. “Thank you for taking the time to come,” she said.
“How are you, Paulie?” and she smiled at the wonderful child, who gave her his little hand.
“I’m good,” said Paulie, looking around, an obviously unwelcome guest.
“Would you like something to eat?” asked Cindy, playfully.
“Okay,” he remarked.
Cindy took some chocolate that was in a basket on the table and handed him a piece.
“Thank you,” said Bala.
“And how about you, Bala?” Cindy asked.
“I don’t need anything,” Bala remarked, not even looking over at Lynch one time. Lynch did not look at her, either. “What did you want us here for, anyway?” Bala went on.
“Tara wanted to meet you,” said Cindy. “Do you know who she is?”
Bala nodded softly, looking down. “She’s Lynch’s bride to be.”
Cindy motioned to Tara to come over, but Tara could not stop staring at the child. He’d captured her attention completely.
Raina, however, had no compunctions about stepping forward though. “Okay, what’s this, blackmail?” she hissed, directing her fury at Bala.
At that, Lynch stepped forward and pulled his mother away. “Bala has nothing to do with this,” he remarked. “She’s a good person, a wonderful mother.”
“Bala has nothing to do with what?” asked Raina incensed. “And who is this child exactly?”
“Paulie is my son,” said Lynch, unable to look at him at all.
Raina’s face twisted into a shock of horror, pain and outrage, as she glanced at the child for a quick moment. “He’s your son, according to who?” she demanded.
“Mother, please,” said Lynch.
“You’ve had paternity testing, I assume?” Raina continued.
“Yes, I have,” said Lynch.
But with or without the testing, it was obvious to Cindy when she looked at the child, that he was directly related to Lynch. Aside from his light brown skin, his eyes, smile and nose were a carbon copy of his father.
“So you had a fling with an island woman,” said Raina, “and now you’re telling us that you’re saddled with this child?”
“I’m not telling you anything like that,” Lynch protested.
“So, why are we gathering? What’s all this about?” Raina refused to honor the significance of it.
Lynch turned to his mother slowly then. “This is your grandson, mom,” he said.
Raina stopped in her tracks and looked at him horrified.
“Don’t talk like that, Lynch, not now. Don’t ruin everything we’ve worked so hard for. You’re about to marry Tara. The wedding is set, only a couple of days. Important people are arriving. This is not something we want announced.”
“But it’s public knowledge now, Raina,” Aldon stepped in.
“Oh no, it isn’t,” Raina glared at him.
“Aldon dug this up, those are his private detectives over there,” Lynch filled his mother in.
“So, all of us in this room know about it,” Raina spit out. “But not anyone else. And no one else will! Over my dead body.”
“It’s not a matter of who knows or doesn’t know,” Tara stepped forth.
“What is it a matter of then, dear?” Raina took her on.
“I never knew a thing about the child,” said Tara, trembling. “In all the time we were together, Lynch never said a word.”
“So, the child didn’t know a thing about you, either, did he?” Raina quipped. “What’s the big deal?”
“Who knows what else Lynch is hiding? How can I trust him now?” asked Tara.
Raina was completely unmoved by the question. “Listen, I’ll take care of this, so that neither you nor Bala will know anything further about each other’s lives.” Then Raina turned directly to Bala. “You are the mother of this child, I assume?” she said in a totally businesslike fashion.