Unbreakable Bond by Rita Herron

the case. “What?”
    Slade slanted her a sideways look as he changed lanes. “Did your father come to the hospital when the baby was born?”
    Fresh pain squeezed her heart. “The doctor called him. He was on his way when I went in to have the C-section.”
    â€œDid he see the baby?”
    Emotions threatened to choke her as she remembered the harrowing birth. “No.” She rubbed her temple in thought. “He didn’t arrive until later, after the fire had broken out.”
    Slade twisted his mouth sideways. “What about Hood or any of his family members? Did they come to the hospital?”
    She heaved a breath. “It may sound crazy after the way William treated me, but I did call him when I went into labor. I thought he had a right to know that his daughter was about to be born, that he might change his mind when he saw her.”
    A muscle ticked in his jaw. “But he didn’t?”
    â€œNo. He ordered me to sign the papers and give her away, and not to ever bother him again.”
    â€œCold son of a bitch,” Slade muttered.
    His comment eased some of the tension knotting her shoulders. “I remember thinking that myself. How could anyone be so unfeeling about their own child?”
    A heartbeat of silence passed between them. “I don’t know either,” he said in a gruff voice. “But that apathy gives him motive.”
    â€œDoes that mean that you’re not dropping the investigation?”
    The air vibrated with uncertainty and questions. “No, I’m not dropping it,” he said. “I may not find the answers you want, but I am a man of my word, and I will get you answers.”
    Â 
    S LADE REQUIRED VERY little sleep, but food was a different story. He pulled into the diner in town for a late lunch before heading to the hospital. He wanted to question the nurse on duty the night Nina had given birth.
    It was way past the lunch hour, and the diner was nearly deserted, so they slid into a booth in the back. Slade ordered the deluxe burger and fries, and Nina a bowl of homemade soup. But she barely touched it.
    â€œHave you had contact with William over the years?” he asked as he bit into his burger.
    She sipped her tea. “Not really. I heard things through the gossip vine in town. About his graduation from law school, when he took over his Dad’s practice. And I saw a write-up in the paper about his country-club wedding. Apparently it made the society page.”
    Climbing the social ladder seemed to be a high priority to the Hoods. But at what cost?
    â€œYou were in love with William?”
    She shook her head and leaned her head on her hand, looking exhausted.
    â€œNo. I was young, Slade. Trying to fit in. Shy. And I was trying to impress my father.”
    â€œYou went out with William to impress your father?”
    A sarcastic laugh escaped her. “I realize that sounds ridiculous. But I was seventeen with no mother. More than anything I wanted my father to be proud. And the Hoods were the type of prestigious family he wanted me to end up with.” She offered a self-deprecating smile. “So I was flattered when he asked me to prom. Then later…”
    â€œLater what?”
    â€œLater, I saw how selfish and conceited he was, and I didn’t even like him, much less love him.”
    Slade ordered himself to resist the temptation to cover her hand with his, to soothe her distress.
    But he lost the battle and did just as his heart commanded. Her hand felt small and cold and in need of a big one to cling to, and something twitched inside him urging him to be that someone. That everyone else in her life had let her down.
    You might, too, a voice inside his head taunted.
    Her fingers curled beneath the weight of his hand as if grasping on, and panic set in. He couldn’t make promises to a vulnerable woman like her.
    Not when he knew he’d walk away in the end.
    He was too damn broken to