He Belongs to Me by Theresa Rizzo

Blurb:
He Belongs to Me is a love story . . . a tale of betrayal and deception and of a young mother's determination to recover what belongs to her.
Forced to leave her baby and tricked into relinquishing her parental rights, four years later Catherine Boyd is back and she'll do anything to regain custody of her son--even reconcile with the husband falsely accused of killing their son's twin.
All in the name of love for a little boy, generations of pain and tragedy are exposed in a courtroom drama.
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Excerpt
“The court would have to examine every aspect of our lives. Our home, our relationship, our finances, our psyche. Our past.” He paused until she looked at him. “They’ll use our past to prove us unfit. I’m not going to live that nightmare again.” He couldn’t.

Catherine watched him. Immaculately groomed, he wore a dark suit, crisp white shirt, blue silk tie, and leather shoes comfortably, as if he were born to it. He was the classic picture of a powerful, young, up-and-coming executive, serious and unyielding. Thomas was being brutally honest with her. But he hadn’t pointed out anything she hadn’t already considered.

A court battle would hurt. Their tragedies and mistakes would ruthlessly be exposed and dissected. Then she thought about living on the periphery of her son’s life. A court battle would be ugly, but it also might be the only way.

“It won’t come to that. My parents are very private people. They won’t want the embarrassment of a trial.”

“They’d better not.” Thomas took off his sunglasses and leaned his forearms on his knees. He looked out over Lake Michigan while swinging the glasses back and forth. A few brightly colored sailboats cut through the glittering blue water. Further out, a long gray freighter boomed a warning at an approaching ship.

He squinted sideways. “If this doesn’t work, you’re on your own.”

“It’ll work.” It had to work. Drew was all she had. “I love Drew more than anything in the world. I know it’s asking a lot of you, but if there’s anything I can give you—do for you—I’ll try to make it up to you.”

“How’re you going to do that?” He glared at her. “If I agree, it’ll be for my own reasons. If we do this, I’ll have to move out of my apartment, out of the city, and buy a house near Drew’s school. I’ll probably have to get a car. We’ll have to live together and appear to be a loving couple. A social worker will snoop through the house, spying on us. We’ll have to share a bedroom—a bed. Can you be convincing?”

He had done his homework. Catherine bit her lip to keep from smiling; he hadn’t agreed yet. She leaned close and bumped his shoulder with hers, playfully. “I loved you once, and you’re still kind of cute. I’m sure I can muster up some enthusiasm for a little handholding and public kissing.”

His gaze focused on her lips as if thinking about kissing her. “For how long?”

What would his kiss be like? Hard and quick? Unhurried and seductive? Tongue? “Huh? Oh. As long as it takes. Once we get him, I’m sure there will be a lag time before we can divorce, but we should be out of your hair within a year—two at the most.”

He went back to studying the water one long silent minute. “Regardless of what happens, I will not back out of my son’s life again.” He turned to stare at her, a hard unyielding promise. “I thought Drew was better off without me but apparently not. I may not be the best dad in the world, but I will not walk away again.”

Author Bio-
Theresa Rizzo is an award-winning author who writes emotional stories that explore the complexity of relationships and families through real-life trials. 

Born and raised in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, she currently lives outside of Boulder, Colorado with her husband of thirty years. She’s raised four wonderful children who are now scattered across the country.
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