His Rules: Ludlow Nights - Book1 (A Ludlow Nights Romance) by CC MacKenzie Read Free Book Online Page B

swearing never to return. As soon as Alicia turned eighteen we married. She had no parents, only her grandmother. The old girl was glad to see the back of her grand-daughter and I couldn't understand why. Later I learned why, but by then it was too late."
    Christopher stood and walked over to the window to stare unseeing into the rose garden.
    "We had a baby girl. Beautiful little thing. Big blue eyes, dark curly hair. During the day I was training hard and on weekends I had to travel to games. I was earning good money and was too young and too damn stupid to see what was staring me right in the face." He turned to Nico, his blue eyes bleak. "Alicia was a drunk. A bad drunk. I came home late one afternoon to find our baby alone in the house screaming in her cot, her nappy heavy and her little bottom bleeding from sores. Her mother had gone out and just left her like that. I took the baby and left the house that day. I went to my parents. They welcomed us with open arms. And then I filed for divorce."
    Now Christopher ran his hands through his hair, down his face.
    Nico had a very good idea where all this was going and now his heart beat faster against his ribs. But he kept silent and waited for the rest of the story.
    "The divorce was filthy. I won't bore you with gory details. She got lawyers, good lawyers, and managed to gain custody of our daughter. No matter how badly a mother behaves, when they're that young there's no way any court will give custody of a baby to the father. I'll never forget the triumphant look on Alicia's face when she took my daughter from my mother and just walked away. Both of them vanished, never to be seen again. That's the last time I saw my baby girl, until today."
    "Anastacia?"
    Christopher closed his eyes and nodded once.
    "Anastacia. That's what we called her. Alicia took my baby, walked away from the house, from her friends, from anyone who knew her. I've spent the last twenty-two years hunting for my ex-wife and my daughter. It was as if they just dropped off the face of the earth. When I saw the picture today it was like looking at Alicia. I knew it was my daughter and when I saw her first name I was certain. Then I found out she worked for you... And here I am."
    Heart heavy, Nico shook his head.
    "Are you sure it is her?"
    Christopher whipped out a couple of crushed photographs, handed them to Nico.
    He blinked.
    Good God, the woman holding the baby was the spitting image of Ana, right down to the eyes, the mouth, the hair and the slight build.
    He returned the photographs to Christopher.
    "You would not have found her, mi amigo . Her mother died when Ana was ten and she entered the care system."
    The man went a paler shade of grey as he swayed on his feet.
    Nico moved fast to support him into the chair and thrust the glass of whisky in his hand.
    "Good God, Nico. How am I going to approach her? What the hell am I going to do?"
    Nico had no idea.
    However, he did know quite a bit about Christopher's daughter's past. (If Anastacia was indeed his daughter and that would have to be verified.) A past that had shaped her into the ferociously independent woman she was today. A past that had made her mercilessly stubborn. A past that had her view the world at large in black and white. And a past that made her guard her heart too well. How was he going to tell Christopher that Ana believed her father had abandoned her and destroyed her mother?
    Nico shoved his hand through his hair.
    Dio, what a mess.
    And he was slap bang in the middle of that mess.
     
     
     

Chapter Seven
    She was late.
    Very late.
    While Christopher Rucker was meeting with Nico at Ludlow Hall, Anastacia, still in her little shift dress, was doing her level best to totter in her ridiculous high heels down a smart London street. With great difficulty she attempted a sort of mincing run. If she wasn't careful, she'd break her neck, or at the very least her ankle.
    Today was Friday and she had a happy hour bar date with her