by Nita Brooks
“I’d like to.” He watched her closely. His body still. Waiting. “I’m sorry about you and Nathan. I know you loved him.”
She walked around the couch and sat on the opposite edge from him. “Breaking up with Nathan was the right thing to do.”
“I hope I didn’t—”
“And it had nothing to do with you.” She wasn’t ready to tell Richard about what happened with Nathan. She still cared about Nathan, and until she knew what was happening with her and Richard she wouldn’t put Nathan’s personal life in Richard’s hands.
Richard pressed his lips together. He ran a hand over his top lip. Guess she’d sparked his own frustration. “Yvonne—”
“I’d gotten over you. I’d finally gotten past the pain in my heart and believed I could move on. Finally decided to trust again and you come back. All my plans to give Jacob a stable life, ruined.”
Richard slid closer to her on the couch. “You don’t need him or me to give Jacob stability. You’ve already done that.”
“I know I can provide for him. I wanted him to have what I didn’t have. I wanted him to have a father.”
Richard jumped up from the couch and paced toward the wall before swinging back to face her. He placed the palm of his right hand against his chest. “He has a father. I will never walk out on him.”
“I want to believe that.”
“You want to believe it because you know I’m being honest. You want to believe it because you know what’s between us didn’t go away after six years. We both know we would be together if we’d done things differently.”
She stood and pointed at him. “Not us. You. You walked away. You killed us.”
“And you buried our relationship under fifty thousand dollars.” The words were stated simply with no accusation. She still felt the sting.
She tried to turn away, but Richard closed the distance and took her wrist in his hand. “To hell with the past. None of that matters right now. Let’s stop rehashing it. When I said I needed a clean break, I meant it, but that’s not the only reason I sold my company shares. I don’t want to have to consult with Natalie before I do something with the business. The only thing Natalie and I should consult each other on is how we take care of Nadia. I gave up everything I ever wanted to carry on the legacy of a man who lied to me in the end. I don’t want anything to do with my father’s company, or his plans for me. I want you to know that nothing will pull me away from being the man who should have been there for you and Jacob from the start.” He tugged on her hand and pulled her closer. “Build a future with me. Let’s fix what others tore to pieces. I won’t hurt you like that ever again.”
“You said that before.”
“Before there was Natalie. My dad, the business. Not anymore, Yvonne. Today, there’s me and you and our son.” His eyes were serious as he met her gaze. His hands clung to hers. “I won’t let my father’s corrupt idea of a legacy have control over the parts of my life I want to embrace.”
“I didn’t ask you to do this. I didn’t want you to give up everything to prove something.”
“I didn’t give up the business to prove anything to anyone. I did this to prove something to myself. When I walked away from you before, it was because I tried to do the right thing. Not only for Natalie, but for my family’s corporation. I lost so much more instead. Natalie and I both knew we weren’t in love, but convenience and money made everything else seem okay. I couldn’t imagine a world where I wasn’t there for my child. Instead I turned my back on you and lost so much time with Jacob.” His voice broke. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Family is the most important thing to me. You, Jacob, Nadia, and, yes, Natalie because she is the mother of my child. But you’re the woman I want to be in my life. You’ve always been the woman I want in my life. I don’t want to push; I know your engagement just ended, and that you’re afraid to trust me. But I’d like to know if there is even the hope of a future for us. I’ll give you all the time and space you need, but please let me know if we have a chance.”
Yvonne closed her eyes. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. Not because she needed him in her life. Not because she wanted a father for her son. Not because she couldn’t be happy if she didn’t have the perfect family. She wanted him because the ache in her heart she’d hidden from the world, from herself, had only intensified each day since he’d walked back into her life. Years ago, she’d given him her heart without a second thought and he’d crushed it to mush. Despite all of that, she’d forgiven him. Accepted that their time hadn’t been right six years ago, but maybe they were right for each other now.
The relief of letting go of her pain manifested itself in silent tears. Warm, strong fingers brushed away her tears with a gentle caress. His forehead pressed to hers. His hand cupped her cheek. Richard wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body closer against his. He held her close, cradling her as if she were precious.
“Why can’t I get over you?” she whispered. Pain, longing, and fear squeezed her lungs. This man had the power to give her joyous expectation and panic.
She opened her eyes. Hope and a small hint of relief filled his dark gaze. “If you hurt me again, I’ll survive, but if you hurt Jacob, I’ll hurt you.”
“I know you will,” he said seriously. He brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “Can I kiss you now?” His voice was a low, rumbling caress.
Yvonne tilted her head up and brushed her lips over his. “No, I can kiss you.”
He trembled just a little. His arms pulled her in closer. Six years of craving made their kiss wild and desperate. The walls were down. There were no bonds or commitments to stir up guilt as she led him to her bedroom.
“Look at me,” he said later when she lay breathless in his arms. A thin layer of sweat coated their bodies. Her memories of how good things were between her and Richard had not been inflated.
Yvonne slowly lifted her lashes. The emotion in his eyes took her breath away. “I love you. Always you. Only you.”
His words sent a thousand flutters over her skin, into her heart, down to her soul. Had she ever stopped loving Richard? She’d cursed him, wished she’d never met him, but she hadn’t been able to kill the love she’d had for him. She knew that.
She placed her hand on his cheek. Leaned in and kissed him slowly. “I love you, too, Richard.”
Chapter 29
“I still can’t believe it’s been a year for you.”
Richard’s groan vibrated in his chest beneath Yvonne. The revelation of his celibacy came during their second round of post-sex discussion when she’d told him she was on birth control. After the greatest “uh oh” of her life, Jacob, Yvonne hadn’t trusted taking a pill a day and opted for an IUD after having Jacob.
“Why do you keep bringing that up?”
Yvonne grinned at him. “You don’t seem out of practice.”
Richard laughed and ran his big hand down her back to caress her backside. “I don’t ride a bike every day, but that doesn’t mean I forgot how to ride one.”
“True.” She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. A year was a long time. She knew his divorce was right before he’d come back into her life. “And you never once . . .”
“No. I never stepped out on Natalie,” he said forcefully.
She believed him. Richard didn’t like complications and having a mistress would have caused too many. That, and he really wanted to be an honorable guy. “Why did you two get divorced?”
His heavy sigh seemed to rise from deep in his soul. His fingers ran through her hair and he frowned at the ceiling. “We couldn’t pretend to make it work anymore.”
“Pretend?”
“Natalie didn’t trust me after we got back together,” he said. “I don’t think she would have gone through with the wedding if it wasn’t for Nadia and the merger.”
“Would the companies have still merged if she hadn’t gotten pregnant?”
Richard shrugged. “Our dads really pushed t
he merger. Two family companies that wanted to grow but keep it all in the family. That was their mantra. I’ll admit, during the time Natalie and I were split, the talks began to break down. Natalie’s father wasn’t happy about trusting the man who’d just left his daughter. Money can go a long way to healing wounded pride, he was just beginning to come around when Natalie told me about the pregnancy.”
“Even though she didn’t trust you, she stayed with you?”
“The first year was okay. The second I actually thought we could build a happy life.” He said the last part as if he were surprised he once believed that. She wasn’t surprised. Richard didn’t do anything halfway.
“What happened?”
His brows drew together. “I dreamed of you one night. Woke up thinking of you and called her your name. Our marriage steadily declined after.”
Yvonne cringed and lifted her head. “How are you still alive? I would have killed you.”
“I’m not proud of that moment.” He ran a hand over his face. “But that moment forced me to admit I’d made a mistake marrying Natalie. That was right before congestive heart failure finally took my dad’s life. Our last disagreement was when I told him I shouldn’t have married her. That I was going to consider a divorce.”
“I would think that would’ve been the time he told you I’d taken fifty grand and ran.”
“I’ve thought back on that day and wonder the same thing. Instead, he reminded me of my responsibility. Natalie and I had a place in society. We were a business power couple. Partners in business and life, and if I couldn’t make it with her then I couldn’t make it with anyone. Then he hit my conscience hard. Don’t ever say taking care of your child and marrying your child’s mother is a mistake. That’s what he said to me.”
“He made you feel guilty.” She couldn’t imagine one day using guilt to make Jacob stay in an unhappy situation. Above anything she wanted Jacob’s life to be filled with love, laughter, and success, but not at the expense of him being unhappy.
“His words made me try harder to make my marriage work.”
“Realizing you shouldn’t have married Natalie even though she was pregnant with your child shouldn’t make you feel bad.” Yvonne shifted until she was on her back next to him.
Richard rolled onto his side. Gentle hands traced up her stomach to the valley between her breasts. “I know that now. It won’t be easy, but we can make this work. All of us, for the kids.”
“I want to believe you.”
He turned her, so they faced each other, and their eyes met. “We’ll do this together and we’ll be the bigger people. For Jacob and Nadia’s sake.”
The way ahead was sure to be as hard as a concrete slab, but she remembered the way Jacob and Nadia laughed and played together. She wanted her son to know his sister and have a real relationship with her. Natalie may not want to play nice, but if they sat down like adults who wanted the best for their children then maybe they could make this work.
She pushed away her doubts. Pushed away the pain of their past. Right now, she was happy. In his arms, someplace she never thought she’d be again, she was happier than she’d ever admit to him. She ran her hands up the muscles of his chest and rested them on his broad shoulders. She rolled him onto his back and straddled his waist. “Let’s give it a try.”
Chapter 30
Yvonne had to travel to New York to film a special for her show. Her show! She still couldn’t believe viewers were excited to watch her do her thing, but she sure enjoyed every minute.
She’d hoped Richard would have had the chance to come up from D.C. and see her while she’d been in the Northeast, but he’d gotten caught up in business meetings. Apparently selling his shares hadn’t been as easy a process as he’d told her it would be. Natalie fought him, and even though his brother wanted to purchase Richard’s share, Natalie fought that idea even more.
Yvonne wasn’t an I-told-you-so kind of person, but finding out that Natalie wasn’t going to make their future easy wasn’t something she wanted to be right about. Her plane home was delayed, which meant she didn’t get back in Atlanta until after eleven. She called her mom to ask if she’d keep Jacob over one more night and take him to school the next morning, instead of her coming to pick him up late. Rochelle agreed, and Yvonne headed straight for home. While she’d enjoyed New York, she preferred the warm, fall nights of Atlanta. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to be in her bed.
She pulled up to her home eager to get out of her clothes and into pajamas while putting off thoughts about the next project until tomorrow.
“What the hell?” she murmured to herself. A car with a rental tag was in her yard. Luxury sedan.
The light in her living room was also on. Whomever had come by was in her house. She pulled out her cell phone to call the police when her front door opened. Richard. She’d given him a key the week prior when he’d needed to get in with Jacob when she’d worked late.
She cut the engine and got out of the car. Her heart still pounding. “You scared me half to death. I was just about to call the police. What are you doing here?” she said as she rushed to the front door.
The closer she got, the better she got a look at him. His t-shirt and jeans weren’t wrinkled but there was stubble on his jaw, lines around his red rimmed eyes, and pain in his expression. Forgetting about the scare, Yvonne hurried forward to him. “Richard, what happened?” She placed her hands on his jaw and looked into his eyes.
Richard wrapped his arms around her waist and crushed her against his chest. His body shook as he held her. Yvonne wrapped her arms around his neck and held him. She ushered him inside and used her foot to kick the door closed.
“Richard, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong, baby?”
“She’s not mine.” He straightened. His eyes strained. “Nadia. She’s not my daughter.”
Yvonne’s world spun. No, that would be too wrong. He loved Nadia so much. She gripped his shoulders. “No, you must be mistaken.”
He shook his head. “No mistake. I had Nadia earlier this week. When I took her home, I hoped I could talk to Natalie about fighting the sale. That she’d be less defensive if it were just the two of us. She knows it’s inevitable. Then she . . . she said Nadia wasn’t mine. I don’t think she meant to tell me at first. Then she gloated about it. Said I deserved to have my world broken after all she gave up for me.”
Yvonne wished Natalie were in front of her right now. She’d snatch out every strand of hair on her head for putting that haunted look in Richard’s eyes. She took him into the living room. Kicking off her shoes and dropping her purse on the floor, Yvonne settled into one corner of the couch and pulled Richard down until his head rested in her lap. All her earlier fatigue was forgotten as she took care of him.
“Tell me everything.”
“She admitted she hadn’t been faithful long before I broke things off with her, but she’d preferred being the fiancé of a millionaire than the girlfriend of a blue-collar worker. Until I broke things off, and so she tried to make things work with the guy she really loved. I should have noticed, but honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to what Natalie did when we weren’t together. When I ended the engagement, she was free. Except he didn’t want to be a father and rejected her when she told him about the pregnancy. That’s when she chose option two. Tell me she was pregnant, and it was mine.”
The more he talked the more Yvonne wished she could get her hands on Natalie. She’d caused so much pain with her lies.
“Richard, I could kill her—”
“Don’t. She said I should have asked.” He shook his head and stared off as if he were watching his past on a projector. The protagonist about to run down a deserted alley to escape the serial killer instead of to the crowded street. “I didn’t ask. I didn’t even think to ask. I just believed her and did what I thought was right.”
The raw pain and loathing in his voice seared her heart. “I wish I knew what to say.” She ran her hand over his ha
ir.
He stared up at the ceiling. “There’s nothing anyone can say. The entire situation is bad.”
“Are you going to tell Nadia?”
He closed his eyes. Yvonne wiped the tear that trailed down his cheek with one hand. Wiped her own wet eyes with her other. “One day,” he said. “Not now. She’s still upset about the divorce and me moving out. Maybe if her . . .” he swallowed. “If her father were in the picture it might be easier, but I can’t turn my back on her. I can’t forget I raised her for nearly seven years.” His dark eyes popped open and met hers. “She’s my daughter, Yvonne.”
“I know.” The love in his eyes when he looked at Jacob was the same love when he looked at Nadia. Love that didn’t disappear just because of a revelation.
“Afterwards . . . I think Natalie realized she’d messed up. She begged me to forgive her. To still be a part of Nadia’s life.” He sat up and faced her. “Can you live with that?”
Yvonne frowned. “Why are you asking me? I wouldn’t dream of telling you to walk away from her.” Her father had walked away from her. She wouldn’t wish that pain on Nadia. Biology aside, Richard was Nadia’s father.
“Because it involves you, too.”
“How?”
“I know we’re just finding our way back to each other, but one thing is true. I’ve got you back in my life and I don’t want to lose you again. I love you. I love Jacob, and the idea of losing you both scares me. Just when I thought we could work things out, this happens. If you don’t want to deal with Nadia knowing she isn’t my daughter . . .” He swallowed hard. “I’ll have to respect that.”
She thought about what he asked. The difficult road they faced if she agreed to be with him. She thought of Nadia. How the sweet girl didn’t deserve any of this. The vicious games Natalie had played with their lives. Watching Jacob try to understand why the sister he liked was suddenly not his sister. Telling Richard he could love her only under the condition he ignored the love he felt for a child he’d raised for six years.