Page 54 of Vengeful Seduction
With the talk of a baby, I had to make things move faster. What I wanted to tell him would give him much less reason to be grumpy. “Kaye’s upset. Get over here as soon as you can.”
“Upset?” he actually sounded happy about that. It made me sick at him and myself.
The poor woman was in tears because she wanted to have my baby and I was denying her that. I would give her anything she wanted, just not a human who would belong to both of us, entangling us forever.
No, I could not have that at all.
“Yes, I’ll let her tell you why that is. Hurry.”
“I’m already in my car, heading your way. Is it odd that my whole body is tingling in anticipation of holding her?” His question doubled me over.
If he had been right in front of me, I’d have plunged my fist right into his chest and ripped his heart out.
Heartless bastard!
Kaye
How could he?
If he had told me he didn’t want a child, maybe it would be different. After all, I hadn’t checked with him about it before we got married. Some people didn’t want a family. David had the right to what he wanted.
I would have been disappointed if he was one of those people, but he hadn’t actually said he was. In fact, he had seemed almost to want a child, but just wanted to wait for some unknown reason. He wouldn’t talk about it or even think about it, and I just couldn’t understand why.
Disappointment crushed my heart, weighing it down, and I wept bitterly as I sat on the front porch. There was a swing there, and I let myself rock gently back and forth, the motion somewhat soothing. Tears rolled down my face in a torrent, one I couldn’t have stopped if I had tried, so I didn’t even bother.
It was never going to happen. I was never going to get what I wanted. The baby that my arms ached to cradle was never going to be there, because my husband just wouldn’t allow it to happen.
Damned if I could understand why.
The sound of tires had my eyes opening and I saw a car drive up our driveway. It was dark outside, the sun having just gone down, but I saw a man inside the car and it didn’t take a lot of sleuth work to figure out who it was. It had to be Brent. What other man would be coming here this late?
That thought made me realize I should get dinner. I had been hungry and it likely wasn’t helping with the emotional torrent racing through me. But I felt so damn hopeless and watched with dull eyes as Brent got out of the car and walked toward me.
He didn’t seem surprised to see me, even though I was sitting on the front porch, obviously crying. He just gave a soft little sigh, then settled down beside me on the two-person swing and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
It felt good at first. My husband was being so unaccountably cruel and to have someone just hold me—it felt comforting. I let myself relax into it, resting my head on Brent’s shoulder and sobbing like I would never stop.
“What is it?” he asked, and I had to fight to calm myself down enough to even speak. I took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly, slowly, I was able to talk.
“I asked him about a baby. I told him I want to start a family. He told me I had to wait,” I whispered, wondering how trivial all of this sounded to this big deal businessman. Did I sound like a complete idiot?
Honestly, I didn’t even care. It mattered to me, whether it should or not. But I didn’t quite dare to look at him. Brent was always so strong, so dominant, and he rarely seemed to take anything seriously.
I didn’t think I could handle it if he laughed at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said instead, sounding strangely sober, at least for him. It seemed he did take my problem seriously, which was even more of a relief. After David’s reaction, I’d been worried maybe I was going crazy. “That has to suck.”
Yes, it really did. I sobbed harder into his shoulder, but there was relief there too. I wasn’t crazy. Brent didn’t seem to think so anyway. It wasn’t much, but it helped a little.
“It’s never going to happen,” I whispered, finally stating my fears out loud. “I don’t know if he just doesn’t want a family or what it is. Maybe he’s afraid to let himself want something like that again. But I’ve always wanted a baby.”
Brent sighed softly as he reached for me, tilting my chin up so I met his green eyes. They seemed to shimmer in the darkness. There was compassion and comfort there.
“He doesn’t deserve you, you know,” Brent commented abruptly, his eyes fixated on mine. “He’s an idiot if he doesn’t know what he has. You’re incredible. Way too good for him.”
Something about the way he spoke to me made the skin on the back of my neck prickle. Maybe it was because he was so willing to say those sorts of things about his friend, who should surely have his loyalty over me.
Why was he always taking my side?
