Page 94 of Moonstruck Kiss

Mum takes a deep breath. “I still can’t believe it myself. How could he possibly do that?”

“Money? Prestige? Promotion?” Josie says bitterly. “What I can’t believe is that he’s related to the beautiful Quinn family. And if he hadn’t undergone all the paternity tests, I’d even go so far as to say that he couldn’t possibly be the father of such an amazing, delightful child.”

That breaks my internal dam, and I start sobbing.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Josie says, putting an arm around me.

A loud knocking on the door made me jump.

“I’ll get it,” Mum says.

I already know who it is even before Mum opens the door. I refuse to look.

“What are you doing here?” she asks angrily.

“To tell you all I’m not a mole,” Brax answers.

“You had no idea that Teews made an offer to buy us before we told you about it?” Dad asks in an ominous tone.

I spot the bobbing of Brax’s Adam’s Apple. It’s so obvious as he takes a big gulp.

No.

More tears run down my cheeks.

“Leave now, Brax,” Dad orders, walking up to him. “Before I punch you to the ground.”

“Please, please, let me explain,” Brax says earnestly. “Joey…can we talk, please?”

Despite my grief, there’s clarity about me that knows I won’t rest until I hear what he has to say.

“Everyone, sit down,” I say, pulling out tissues from the box on the coffee table.

Reluctantly, Mum takes the other end of the couch while Dad plonks down on my only armchair, which leaves Brax having to grab a dining chair. He places it next to me and sits.

Unbidden, I glance at him and I’m struck by the grief in his features.

I look away. If the reports are true, then this man is a very good actor. But…I need to hear him.

“How do you explain it?” I ask bleakly, hoping he has a perfectly good explanation.

Brax takes a ragged breath before answering. “I swear to you I’m not a mole. I came here because of Ollie. I extended our stay because of you.”

“So Teews is not your client?”

“I only just found out yesterday that my boss, Lando, signed them up. He was courting them to become our client, but he never told me that they finally signed with us.”

“When did you know he was courting them?”

“Over a month ago.”

My heart sinks. “You were already here? Weren’t we already friends then? And you didn’t tell me anything?”

Brax leans forward. “We still hadn’t made up from our quarrel last year when I first knew. Besides, those conversations with my boss were confidential. I just couldn’t discuss those kinds of information with anyone.”

I shake my head, stunned by his disclosure. “Is that why you decided to apologise to me? You realised I was attracted to you, and you took advantage of that to pull information out of me about our business?”

“No! Like I said, I was never told that Teews signed with GX. There was no reason for me to gather any information from you.”

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