Claiming the Captain's Baby by Rochelle Alers

Author:Rochelle Alers [Alers, Rochelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-10-12T19:38:41+00:00

Chapter Eight

Giles experienced the peace that had evaded him for years as he held Mya’s hand when they strolled along Second Avenue. She had changed into a pair of jeans, pullover sweater and running shoes.

“I’m sorry about my father,” he said after a comfortable silence.

“Don’t apologize, Giles. Your father said what he wanted.”

He glanced at her delicate profile. “And what’s that?”

“He wants us together and I’m willing to bet that he also wants Lily to become a Wainwright.”

“You’re probably right about his granddaughter becoming a Wainwright. Dad views being a Wainwright as akin to American royalty. My great-grandfather came to this country broke as a convict. Like so many other immigrants during the turn of the century, he and his new bride shared a railroad flat on the Lower East Side with several other families. Patrick took odd jobs, while my great-grandmother took in wash to pay their share of the rent. Patrick managed to get a position as a building superintendent for several buildings on Houston Street, which allowed him to move into an apartment rent-free. Meanwhile his wife had become quite an accomplished seamstress and would occasionally sew for people in show business. They had three sons and a daughter, who died from diphtheria before her fifth birthday.

“James and Harrison knew their only path out of poverty was education. They graduated high school and enrolled in City College for a tuition-free college education. James became a teacher, while Harrison went into law. Meanwhile, Wyatt, the middle son took the opposite path of his brothers. He dropped out of school in the tenth grade and hired himself out as a bagman for a local thug running an illegal numbers operation. The police never suspected Wyatt because he looked much younger than sixteen. He made certain to stay off the streets during school hours to evade the truant officers, and after a while, he made more in a week than his law-abiding siblings because he had a gift for playing and hitting the numbers. His father gave him an ultimatum—go back to school and get a high school diploma or move out.”

“Did he move out or go back to school?”

“Yes. He went back to school. I’m telling you this because I want you to know that the Wainwrights haven’t always been legit.”

Mya leaned into him. “Don’t forget so-called robber barons used dubious means to become very wealthy men.”

Giles told Mya that his great-uncle had amassed a small fortune and, with the assistance of his gangster mentor, bought a run-down tenement and renovated it. He moved into one of the apartments and rented the others to his criminal friends who used them for everything from bookmaking to fencing stolen goods. However, Wyatt drew the line when it came to drugs and prostitution. He was sweet on a young black girl who lived in the neighborhood but nothing came of it because interracial relationships were taboo at the time.

“Once he bought his second building, Wyatt decided it was time to leave his criminal past behind.

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