"Then Lois and I will take you home." He could sense some tension between his sister and her boss, Mr. Jacks, and there was no way that he would leave her here alone with him.

"Then I'll take her home," Jax interrupted, his gaze burning a hole into Brenda's soul.

Everybody turned to Jax, who looked as determined as he sounded.

Jared leaned forward. "Look, Jacks, you may be Brenda's boss, but she's not at work now. I'll see her and the boy home."

Jax didn't retreat an inch. "I said, I'll drive them home. I've got a few things to say to your sister, and I'm not going anywhere until she hears what I have to say."

"Damn it, you can't —"

"Jared, it's all right." Brenda fought to control the panic rising in her chest.

"But you don't have to —"

"I know I don't. But now that I think of it, there are a couple of things that I need to discuss with Jax – Mr. Jacks – also. Please don't make an issue of it, all right?"

If he did, Jax looked perfectly capable of revealing a great deal more than she cared to have revealed. If she hoped to salvage anything at all from this mess, she had to keep control of the situation.

Keep control? Get control was more like it.

********************

JJ kept up a running commentary all the way home, encouraged by Jax's gently urging. The boy talked about his uncle's ranch, about the horses and the cattle and dogs and cat, about his little cousin, John, and the great cookies his Aunt Lois turned out by the dozens. Jax ate up all this information with a spoon. You could see the pride in his eyes as he looked at his son. And this just gave Brenda even more heartache.

At last, Jax pulled up his Mercedes to the side of the road in front of Brenda's little house and killed the engine. JJ kept right on talking and Jax kept urging him on. "But I'm still glad to be home to be home," he confided. "My mama needs me to take care of her, you know."

Jax laughed to himself, this boy was five years old? More like fifty! He was so mature for his age, and his heart was bursting with pride. He glanced at Brenda, seated stiffly beside him. "I'll just bet she does," he agreed. "Doesn't your father —" "Got no father," JJ put in quickly. "But I got a bicycle. You wanna see it?"

"Oh, no, JJ!" Brenda threw open her car door. "Mr. Jacks —" "— Would love to see your bicycle, although that doesn't seem like a fair exchange for a father." Jax shot her a hostile glance.

Brenda sagged against her seat. "Don't, Jax. Don't do this. You have no right —"

"Right?!" His calm facade slipped badly, and she could see the anger in his eyes, but for JJ's sake it didn't reach his face. "You dare speak to me of rights?" As quickly as he'd revealed his churning emotions, he shuttered them once more. Turning to JJ in the back seat, he grinned. "C'mon, buddy, let's take a look at that bike of yours."

JJ blinked. "Okay." He cast his mother a concerned glance, but when she gave him a shaky smile, he seemed ready to accept it on face value.

********************

Jax was so tender and loving with the boy that Brenda could barely stand to watch them together. They examined his bike, then JJ pulled out his other most treasured possessions to share: the Dr. Seuss books; an array of plastic action heroes; an Indian arrowhead found on his uncle's ranch; and a chunk of fool's gold from Cripple Creek.

Only he wasn't the fool – his mother was. Brenda could hardly stand to be in the same room with them, yet couldn't bear to leave them alone for a second for fear of what Jax might say. Looking at Jax, she knew he was unpredictable, it was only a matter of time.

When bedtime arrived, Jax jumped at the chance to read a storybook aloud to the yawning boy. Leaning in the doorway, Brenda watched her son's father lean over and kiss the chubby cheek, then tuck the covers up around JJ's shoulders. He then placed a lingering kiss on his forehead before standing up to leave, but not before stopping once more to watch his son sleep.

Tears blurring her vision, she turned away, feeling very close to the edge of her control. She couldn't think, couldn't plan. She'd thought Jax knew the moment he looked into his son's blue-green eyes, but perhaps that was merely her own guilty conscience at work. Maybe he didn't know… Maybe he'd have reacted this way to any child… Maybe she was just borrowing trouble.

She crossed the living room and stood with her forehead pressed against the cold windowpane. She could still deny everything after all. How could he prove –?

His voice, coming from behind her, discouraged her. "I can almost understand how you could deprive me of my son, but how could you deprive your son of his father? I never thought you heartless, Brenda Barrett, but now I've got to wonder."

She flinched before his attack. Realizing she was in for the fight of her life, she lifted her chin and faced him. "You don't know what you're talking about, Jax. JJ isn't —"

"Don't compound your offenses by lying to me." His blue eyes blazed in a face curiously pale beneath its tan. "Everything fits: his age, the way he looks, even his name. JJ – Jared Jacks, unless I miss my guess."

Brenda could only shake her head in denial. "You're wrong, Jax," she uttered weakly. But she knew that he knew, and there was no way of getting out of this.

"Liar. I could show you pictures of me at about that age, and you'd swear it was me!" He sucked in a ragged breath, raking a hand through already disheveled hair. "Not that any of it matters. The minute I looked into his eyes, I knew… I knew he was mine."

"His eyes are blue," she declared, her voice shrill. "A lot of people have blue eyes." Not a lot of people had that gorgeous turquoise shade of blue, but perhaps he'd miss that point.

"I'm not talking about the color; I'm talking about the connection." He took a step toward her, and his angry expression softened. "When I looked into his eyes, it was like a bolt of electricity passing through me." His mouth tilted cynically. "Much like the way I felt the first time I met his mother, in fact – that shock of recognition."

"Oh, Jax…" Brenda turned away.

He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn back toward him. "He's my son."

She lifted her chin. "He's not! He's my son. I had him alone; I've raised him alone —"

"By choice," Jax interrupted. "What kind of a woman would make a choice like that when it wasn't necessary?" He shook his head slowly. "What kind of woman are you, Brenda Barrett?"

"The kind you'll never understand. The kind who doesn't want anything from you, except to be left alone!"

She had no idea how close she'd come to getting her wish granted, but now all bets were off! He had been willing to do anything for her, including leaving town just for her happiness, when all this time she had his son right under his nose, playing him for a fool! Well, this was one time that Brenda's needs wouldn't come first. He had a son now – a son. Jax's thoughts trailed off as he paced up and down Brenda's floor, practically wearing a hole in the carpet.

He finally turned around and walked back to a still shocked Brenda. He took the few steps that separated them and bent over her, his face mere inches away from hers. When he spoke, she could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips. "I don't know whether to wring that lovely neck of yours or pick you up and carry you off to bed," he grated. "I don't know which would bring me the most grief, so I guess I'd better do neither."

Only when he'd moved away from her did she realize that she'd forgotten to breathe. Sucking in a great gasp of oxygen, she stared at him, as unsure as he was about the consequences of the two choices he'd offered.

"Please – won't you just leave?" She forced the words out through lips so stiff they hardly moved. "For the last time, JJ isn't your son! I don't want or need anything from you, Jax. After all, I know how important I am to you, considering that you left me and married another woman a few weeks later. Believe me, I know where your priorities lie. Now, just go home!"

She turned away, not wanting him to see the deep vulnerability in her eyes. Jax would cause her nothing but heartbreak and that was something she couldn't expose JJ to. Her son was her first priority, and she would do anything to protect him. It was all for the best – it just had to be.

"Yes, I'll go." He put his hand on the doorknob. "But only because I've got to think about all this. I feel as if I've just been through some kind... some kind of earthquake. Considering what I've learned tonight, the big one in California pales by comparison."

"There's nothing to think about! JJ isn't your son! You've got to believe that."

His sigh sounded tired, like Brenda's denials. "Save your breath, Brenda. He's mine. He's mine, and tomorrow I'll tell you what I'm going to do about that."

"Do! But you can't —"

"Did you suppose I'd just walk away once I knew?" His brown brows arched. "Of course you didn't, which is why you've worked so hard to keep me from finding out."

"That's not true. I —" She stopped, biting her lip. "He isn't yours, Jax; he's mine. You don't know what you're saying."

"We both know what I'm saying." He opened the door, then hesitated. "And don't think you can grab him out of that bed and run. There's nowhere you can go, no place where you can hide, that I wouldn't find you. So please, save us all a lot of grief and stay put with my child."

She stared at him, lips parted while she drew shallow, frightened gasps. This was her worst nightmare coming true, she realized.

He looked satisfied that his words had gotten through to her – or at least he hoped they had. "Well, we'll talk tomorrow."

"No, I won't —"

"Yes, you will. I'm not asking you, Brenda; I'm telling you. You've forfeited all right to an opinion by keeping the truth from me. I'll try to understand that, since you've done a wonderful job in raising our son, but that's the past. His future is mine."

And with that last comment, he did to her what she'd previously done to him, and walked out without a backward glance.