Chapter 426
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Chapter 426:
Aaden gasped in surprise, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, his little arms wrapped around her neck. He rested his chin on her shoulder and patted her back with his small, clumsy hands.
Carmen squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled deeply. Aaden smelled of baby shampoo, warm milk, and cold morning fog. The scent flooded her brain. The agonizing despair that had been choking her for the last four hours suddenly eased its grip. Holding this boy felt like clinging to a life raft in the middle of a hurricane.
Crunch. Crunch.
Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed from the direction Aaden had come from.
Carmen froze. She kept her arms around Aaden, turning her head toward the sound.
Senator Justin Collins walked out of the fog.
He wore a perfectly tailored black cashmere overcoat, his posture relaxed, but his dark, calculating eyes locked immediately onto the sight of Carmen clutching his son. The GPS tracker he had discreetly placed on Ferris’s car had paid off spectacularly. He had known exactly where she would run the moment the lie was delivered. He masked the flicker of predatory satisfaction instantly, arranging his face into an expression of polite, shocked concern.
“Carmen?” Justin’s deep, resonant voice cut through the damp air. “What are you doing all the way out here p>
Carmen’s awareness snapped back. The embarrassment of being found on her knees in the mud at a cemetery crashed over her.
She let go of Aaden and scrambled to her feet, her hands shaking as she tried to brush the thick wet mud from her ruined coat. She wiped her face, avoiding Justin’s piercing gaze.
ѕ𝗵a𝗿𝘦 𝘆𝗼𝘂r 𝘁𝗵𝘰𝘶𝗴h𝗍𝘴 𝗈𝗻 ѕ.𝗰𝗼𝘮
“I…” Carmen stammered, her teeth chattering. “I was visiting an old friend. A relative p>
Justin didn’t glance at the blank stone. He didn’t call out her lie. He simply nodded, his expression perfectly neutral.
“We are here paying respects to an old family mentor,” Justin said smoothly. “I told Aaden to wait in the car while I made a call, but he must have slipped out p>
He took two steps forward, completely closing the distance between them.
He reached up, unbuttoned his heavy black cashmere overcoat, slipped it from his shoulders, and without asking permission, stepped behind Carmen and draped it over her shivering frame.
The coat still radiated his intense body heat. It smelled of expensive cedarwood cologne and quiet power. The heavy fabric settled over Carmen’s shoulders, instantly wrapping her in his warmth.
“You are freezing,” Justin said, his voice dropping an octave. “Your lips are blue. We are leaving right now p>
Before Carmen could respond, Aaden seized her cold, trembling hand.
“Auntie Carmen, I’m so hungry,” Aaden pleaded, looking up at her with enormous, earnest eyes. “Can we go get hot pancakes? Please p>
Carmen looked down at the little boy holding her hand. Her heart ached with the need to stay near him. The thought of returning to her dark, empty apartment — to the reality waiting there — was unbearable.
She looked up at Justin. His presence was a solid, immovable wall against her grief.
Carmen swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly nodded.