The Baby Battle Read Online Free Page A

mind? I really do have a lot to do.”
    Stephanie was already gathering the twins’ things. “Call me. I love you. We’ll get through this together.”
    Nodding, fighting tears, Olivia mouthed her thanks, but no sound came out.
     
    “I DON’T GIVE A DAMN what time it is in Beijing,” Tag roared into his office intercom. The return trip to the city had taken half the time. The Hummer’s gas pedal had been linked to his fury. “Get my lawyer on the phone—now.”
    Alice sassed, “I would be happy to if you’d ask politely. Do you have any idea how many job offers I’ve had in this building alone?”
    Sighing, Tag said, “Look, sorry about the attitude. I’m going through something that—”
    “You’re too pigheaded to open up about?” As Alice was prone to do, she walked in and helped herself to his private office, plopping into one of his guest chairs. Taking a Hershey’s Kiss from a bowl he kept alongside his pictures of Maria, she said, “Don’t think I didn’t know something big was up the second you stormed out of here this morning, Tag O’Malley. You might think you’re hot stuff, but—”
    “Not now,” he said with a shake of his head. “This isn’t about my obsessive need to win every contractnegotiation or drill the deepest wells.” Withdrawing the lab’s packet from where it felt as if it was burning a hole through his suit, he slid it across the desk to his longtime secretary and friend. “I know I must come across as an egotistical ass a lot of times, but this is serious.”
    He followed the track of her eyes as she read. His eyes welled along with hers when she gasped.
    “You have a son?” she asked quietly, returning the letter to the desk. “A sweet baby boy who’s just down the road in Valley View?”
    He nodded. “I saw him, Alice. I could’ve reached out and taken him into my arms. Do you remember how desperately Maria wanted a son? We tried everything, and now…a baby appears like magic, only cruelly, he’s not mine.”
    “Biologically not yours?” Alice wrinkled her nose.
    “You misunderstood. Scientifically he’s mine. He has my grandmother’s fiery hair. I meant that for the moment my son legally belongs with this Olivia Marshall woman. The most obstinate female to ever roam the earth. She wouldn’t even let me hold him. She actually stooped so low as to involve the police.”
    Alice clucked and shook her head. “I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like for you. But, Tag…” Reaching out to him, she covered his hand with hers. “Put yourself in her shoes. When there’s something you want, you hunt it like a lion after a gazelle. Tact has never been your strong suit.”
    “But I was on my best behavior, and she still wouldn’teven listen. It was like she was a second grader holding her hands over her ears while screaming la la la at the top of her lungs. She wasn’t rational.”
    “Would you have been?” Voice softening, Alice reasoned, “Given her position? A stranger shows up at your front door, demanding you hand over your child?”
    “I guess not,” he begrudgingly admitted. “But she could’ve been civil. You know, at least tried to understand my point of view.”
    “I know,” she crooned, “but, honey, unless you’ve been a parent, you can’t understand the burning instinct to protect your child. I’m sure once she’s had time to think about the situation, she’ll be much more reasonable—helpful, even, in setting up visits and such.”
    “Visits?” He snorted. “I don’t want to just visit my son. He’s mine. Meaning that at least half of the time he’ll live under my roof.” Rising, he paced.
    Going to him, she put her hands on his shoulders. Ordinarily he considered Alice a part of the family. He welcomed her mother-hen-style advice. But this was one time when he’d rather she keep her mouth shut. What didn’t she get about the fact that this wasn’t his usual battlefield? When it came to matters concerning