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much worse...until she heard the creak of footsteps on the stairs. Parker heard them, too, because he reached for his gun. Obviously, he hadn’t been expecting anyone.
    He had promised that they would be safe here. But Sharon was beginning to fear that they wouldn’t be safe anywhere—not with someone determined that they die.
    The steps squeaked again. There was more than one person coming up the stairwell. While Parker was armed, he was outnumbered. And even if he had another gun, Sharon had never touched one, let alone knew how to use one. She could only watch helplessly as he moved toward the stairs—putting himself between her and Ethan and the threat to all their lives....

Chapter Five
    Curses echoed inside Parker’s head. He had been so certain that he hadn’t been followed. He’d been so certain that he had done everything necessary to keep his son and Sharon Wells safe. He hadn’t even told his family where he was bringing them, just that he had a place.
    As a head rose above the stairwell railing, the curses slipped through his lips. “Damn you, Logan! I could’ve shot you....” His twin had admonished him many times for sneaking up on him. Why hadn’t the lesson applied to himself?
    “I wasn’t sure if you knew about this place,” Logan said. “But Mom was insistent that I find you.”
    And her head rose above the stairwell railing as she pushed past her oldest and rushed over to the youngest Payne. The new grandmother uttered a wistful sigh as she stared down at the sleeping baby.
    She had known about her grandchild for only a few hours, but it was obvious she already loved him. Something gripped Parker’s heart, squeezing it tightly, and he realized he loved the baby, too. Ethan was a part of him.
    And a part of Brenda Foster. She had lied to him. She had tricked him. Those tactics had made her such an effective district attorney that she had been one of the youngest judges ever appointed to the bench. And her ruthlessness had made her both one of the most respected and most hated judges ever.
    Parker had been flattered that such a successful woman had been attracted to him. But while he’d been her bodyguard, he had refused to act anything but professional with her. So she’d fired Payne Protection. He had been attracted to her combination of beauty and brains, and once he no longer worked for her, he had acted on that attraction.
    And, unbeknownst to him, they had created a child. She hadn’t just lied to him once; she had continued that lie with every day she had kept his baby’s existence from him. What had compelled her to finally have Sharon Wells bring the baby to him?
    What kind of trouble was she in? Because of her ruthlessness as a judge, she had made many enemies and had constantly received threats to her life. But why would those criminals threaten the life of the father of her child and her nanny?
    “I’m actually glad you showed up,” Parker begrudgingly admitted to his overprotective twin.
    “What?” Logan reached for his gun and glanced around the condo as if looking for intruders hiding in the shadows. “Were you followed?”
    “No. I was careful.” If he hadn’t been, he and Sharon would already be dead. “But I need to leave for a while. I need to go see someone.”
    And find out what kind of game she was playing....
    This was about more than a criminal with a grudge or the hit would have been on Brenda. Not on her nanny and the father of her child.
    “So I need you to protect Sharon and...my son....” He could say those words that he thought he would never say because he couldn’t not claim that beautiful little boy as his. Like his mother, he already loved the child. “I need you to protect them while I’m gone.”
    “Where are you going?” Logan asked.
    Sharon just stared at him because she obviously knew where. She knew that he would have to go to Brenda. He would have to see her and maybe have a few choice words with her.... He couldn’t believe how