Take My Breath Away

When he heard Gwyn mentioned, Carlos calmed down a little. He took the kid from Evelyn. "We can't let Sheffield know he has a daughter," he warned. He realized they couldn't hide it forever, so he added, "At least, not until she's three! Remember what's at stake." He paused and cast a stern gaze at Terilynn. "Especially you, Terilynn, if you let Sheffield know, you and Joshua will have a hard time. And, Evelyn, you can't tell Sheffield until you guys are married. If you do, I won't allow the marriage to happen."

Evelyn reacted quickly and her eyes lit up with hope. "Married? You mean, I can be with Sheffield?"

Carlos' lips twitched. Did he say the quiet part out loud?

Terilynn felt he was being unreasonable, and howled, "Dad, why mess with me and Joshua? You can't bully Sheffield, so you take it out on us. That's unfair!"

"Fair? Who said anything about that? You'd better get your boyfriend to toe the line," Carlos snorted. Although he couldn't bully Sheffield now, he could at least make things hard for Joshua, a common prosecutor.

Blowing on her nails, Terilynn winked at Carlos. "Then we'll elope."

"You..." Carlos couldn't even complete his thought.

"Keep your voice down, honey. Don't scare Gwyn," Debbie reminded him.

Carlos hastily patted the little girl on the back and coaxed her in a soft voice, "I'm sorry, Gwyn. I didn't mean it. Don't be afraid. You're okay. Yeah. You're good." He smoothed her hair back. His lovely granddaughter was the only thing that could calm him down.

The other three women shook their heads without a word.

The next morning, Joshua and Terilynn walked into the offices of Theo Group. They had Gwyn in tow. They entered the elevator from the underground parking lot and went straight to the top floor, so almost no one saw them.

In the CEO's office

Sheffield was hard at work. Gillian put Nastas down, adjusted her clothes, and walked over to the young CEO's desk. She put on her best smile and said, "My brother-in-law asked me to drop off Nastas with you. He's been missing you."

Sheffield was about to turn her down, but changed his mind when he thought o

was told.

Gwyn randomly picked out a fresh strawberry.

Then Sheffield told the boy, "Your turn."

The boy picked up the pack of milk tablets again and clumsily fished out a piece. He handed it to Gwyn. "Eat, please."

But Gwyn turned her face away. The boy seemed a little angry now and barked, "She won't talk!"

'Really?' Sheffield's face immediately darkened at the boy's words. "Hey, you. What are you talking about?"

"She's dumb!" Nastas said this loudly, afraid his big brother might not hear what he said.

The next second, Sheffield caught the little boy's arm and gave him a pop on the butt. "You are so rude! We don't point out people's faults here. Besides, she's not dumb or mute! Now, you won't say that again, right?"

Actually, it didn't hurt at all. Sheffield wasn't aiming for that. But it was the first time that Nastas had been disciplined by Sheffield. He was sad and afraid, so he cried, stammering, "N-no."

Only then did Sheffield let go of him and lifted him from the sofa. "You're a man. Act like it and quit crying!"

"Sorry, big bro." The boy hiccupped and stopped crying.

"That's better. Let's eat!" Sheffield turned to Gwyn and scooped her up in his arms. In a tender voice, he cooed "Gwyn, is that a good strawberry?" He took out a tissue and wiped the juice from her face. But she made no reply to his question.

Gwyn just took another bite of the strawberry, and nodded.