by Francis Ray
“I have no intention of telling anyone at the moment,” Madelyn said quietly. “As the father I thought you should be the first to know.”
“I’m not the father,” Daniel repeated adamantly.
Hurt and anger filled her eyes. “I saw the doctor Wednesday, and I’m between seven and eight weeks’ pregnant, Daniel. If you’ll check your calendar, you’ll find that the Petroleum Ball was eight weeks ago tomorrow. You haven’t forgotten what happened when you followed me home, have you?”
Pictures of them entwined on her bed flashed into Daniel’s mind. His body hardened. He’d go to his grave remembering the softness of her body, the drugging taste of her skin, the soft cries she emitted as he sank into her moist heat.
From the slight parting of her lips, she remembered as well. She had been all the woman he wanted or needed. He hadn’t touched another woman since that night. Too bad she hadn’t felt the same way.
“What about the next night or the night after?” he asked.
Madelyn flinched. She stared at him in stricken horror. “Are … are you saying … But you know you were the first.”
“It’s been my experience that first doesn’t always mean only or last,” he said tersely.
His words stunned her. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Daniel had no such problem.
“How many people do you think are still with their first lover—and if by some miracle they are together, how many of those have remained faithful?” he asked sharply.
“I don’t know and I don’t care. But I wasn’t raised like that. I’m not like that—I could never be like that,” she told him, her voice rising in anger with each word she spoke.
“And that’s the only reason this conversation didn’t end the moment you told me why you came. By now you’d be talking to my lawyer.”
Outraged, she gasped.
“But good women make bad decisions. I know how naive you are, how hurt you were. You obviously trusted the wrong man.”
“Obviously,” she said coldly, her meaning all too clear.
A muscle leaped in his jaw. “Do you honestly think you’re the first women to walk through my door and make such a claim?” His expression harshened. “I’ve had two other paternity suits brought against me. The last one less than six months ago. Both claims were proven false.”
His implication sent a shaft of red-hot anger through her. “Because their claims were unfounded doesn’t mean that you aren’t the father of this baby.” Hurt beyond measure, Madelyn continued despite the agony she felt. “They probably wanted money. I haven’t asked you for anything, nor will I ever.”
“They didn’t either at first,” Daniel said with derision. “Each one went on and on about how they only wanted their child to know its father.”
“And you believe I’m just like those women? Trying to get what I can?” The anguish was unmistakable in her thin voice.
“Whatever your reasons, I don’t make mistakes like that,” he said with biting finality.
“You just made the biggest one of your life. One day you’ll realize just how big.” Standing, she yanked her purse strap over her shoulder.
Disbelief etched itself on his bronzed face. He took a step toward her. “You’re going to have a paternity test and try to bring a suit against me?”
“What kind of woman do you think I am?” she asked, infuriated, then continued before he could answer. “To do that I’d have to have testing done now. Amniocentesis can be dangerous, Daniel. I won’t risk my baby’s life for anything. And despite what you might think, being pregnant and single is not something I want to broadcast to the world.”
His black eyes narrowed. “Then what are you going to do?”
She stared at him a long time before she answered. “You gave up your right to ask that question.”
His entire body jerked as if he had been struck forcibly. “Don’t play games with me, Madelyn.”
“I never did and I never will.” He was entitled to his doubts, but that didn’t mean he could attack her character and suspect her motives. Her chin lifted. “Thank you for seeing me.”
His brows bunched in surprise. “You’re leaving?”
“I see no reason to stay. There’s nothing left to be said. I’d like to remember our last meeting together at least ending cordially.”
His eyes rounded at the full implication of what she was saying. Pleased to leave him looking confused and not so sure of himself, she turned and started from the room.
Dizziness swept over her. She swayed. In her haste to leave, she had forgotten what sudden moves did to her.
“Madelyn!” Daniel’s hands circled her forearms.
Eyes closed, she waited for the spinning to stop.
“Madelyn—say something.”
The frantic desperation in Daniel’s voice more than anything enabled her to open her eyes. “Please take your hands off me and don’t shout.”
Dismissing the first request, he told her in a commanding tone, “Then stop scaring the hell out of me.”
“I wish I could. It’s not something I’m overly fond of, either.” Her eyelids fluttered closed again.
“Damnit, Madelyn, don’t do this to me again.”
“The world doesn’t spin so much if I keep my eyes closed,” she explained.
Quickly picking her up, he carried her to an overstuffed chair, then carefully set her in it. Her head rested against the high cushioned back. “I’m calling your doctor. What’s his name?”
“Dr. Scalar—and Daniel, do you think you could stop talking and asking questions for a few minutes?”
He didn’t want to, but he kept his mouth closed. He wanted to help her, and he couldn’t do that unless he had more information.
The feeling of helplessness was new to him and completely unacceptable. He was a man of action, used to seeing a problem and correcting it. But this was completely out of his realm of knowledge. Damn, he didn’t know anything about pregnant women!
Except they weren’t supposed to get excited. Guilt struck him in the chest like a powerful fist.
He gazed at the beads of perspiration on Madelyn’s forehead, her trembling lips, and wanted to strangle the man responsible. His hand flexed and felt her smaller one in his. Tentatively his other hand brushed across her forehead.
Perhaps he should call the doctor. She might not want his help, but obviously she needed someone. Seeing her needing help and being unable to give it tore at his gut. He’d give her exactly one minute. Sixty seconds and if she didn’t—
Her eyelids slowly fluttered upward. She moistened dry lips with the tip of her tongue. “Sorry.”
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, it will only come back up again,” she said and slowly sat up. “I can stand now.”
He hesitated only a few seconds before assisting her to stand. His attention remained focused on her face to note the slightest change.
“Does this happen often?” he asked when she was completely upright.
She let out a trembling sigh and swept wisps of hair from her cheek. “Depends on what you call often.”
“Madelyn,” he said in a tight voice that proclaimed he was unwilling to settle for anything other than a straight answer.
“It’s more of a nuisance than anything else,” she told him, shoving the strap of her handbag over her shoulder.
Black eyes continued to study her. “You’re sure you’re well enough to leave?”
“I’m fine now.”
He frowned, obviously unconvinced. “You don’t look fine.”
He hit a nerve. Unlike in San Antonio, this time it was his fault she wasn’t looking her best. “You try being pregnant with your hormones going crazy and throwing up your toenails all the time, and see how great you look.”
The sudden tightening of Daniel’s features told her she had let her anger undo any ground she might have gained with him in the last minutes. Anger and accusations would solve nothing and perhaps damage what
could be salvaged in time.
One of them had to resist the urge to strike out at the other. From the hard glitter in Daniel’s eyes, it wasn’t going to be him.
He had just shown he wasn’t completely indifferent to her. Maybe he just needed time. From the beginning he had told her he didn’t want long-term commitments. She couldn’t think of anything more long term or more of a heavier responsibility than becoming a parent.
If she didn’t believe that he was in heavy denial just as she had been initially, that he’d finally accept the baby as his, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t sit down and wail like a child. But that didn’t mean she’d hang around waiting until he did.
“Goodbye, Daniel.” This time she made sure she didn’t make any sudden moves as she left. The door closed softly behind her.
Her body trembling, Madelyn drew in a shaky breath and slowly made her way out of his outer office and down the hallway toward the elevator. She could get through this. She had to.
* * *
Daniel stared at the closed door. Emotions swirled through him like a dark cloud. Madelyn had left as quietly as she had come, leaving behind the elusive scent of her perfume and a rage churning inside him.
One tightened his body in remembered pleasure; the other tightened his fists with the almost irresistible urge to smash something.
He silently battled to push both from his mind. He succeeded, but then something more disturbing appeared. Madelyn, faint and pale. That picture would not go away.
Stalking to his door, he jerked it open. “Gwen, cancel my appointment with Ames. Explain to him something came up,” he instructed his secretary without breaking his long strides past her desk. Opening the door leading to the hallway, he was just in time to see Madelyn step into the elevator.
* * *
Madelyn stepped into the crowded elevator with a sigh of relief. While waiting, the feeling of light-headedness had returned. She had never been sick in her life except for colds, and she was becoming tired and aggravated with her body.
The elevator stopped two floors later, and a well-dressed man in his late fifties wedged himself on despite the sharp looks of the other passengers. Madelyn was just glad the elevator was moving again … until she became aware of the cloying scent of his cologne. The muscles of her stomach clenched in protest.
Eyes closed, she started to inhale deeper, caught herself before making the mistake, and exhaled instead. As soon as she breathed in again, the queasiness returned, only worse.
She swallowed, swallowed again. Nothing helped. She needed to get some fresh air. Leaning her head against the cool paneled wall, she opened her eyes and kept her gaze locked on the lit panel clicking off the floors.
Finally the panel blinked 1. Seconds later the doors slid open. Straightening, she started from the elevator. A wave of dizziness hit her halfway across the busy lobby. She paused, blinking her eyes in an attempt to clear her head.
She had to get to her car. She took another step, then another. Faintly she heard someone ask if she was all right. She tried to answer, but found her tongue as uncooperative as her unsteady legs. The last thing she remembered was someone shouting her name.
* * *
Time stood still for Daniel when he saw Madelyn falling.
He raced toward her, catching her just as she would have hit the marble floor. Her eyelids were closed, her lips slightly parted.
Daniel thought his heart had stopped. His legs were shaking. Hell, his whole body was shaking. What if he hadn’t been worried about her and decided to follow?
Pulling her close, he quickly carried her to a couch on the far side of the spacious lobby and laid her down. Going down beside her, he took her limp hand in his. “Madelyn, please open your eyes.”
“Should I call an ambulance, Mr. Falcon?” asked a uniformed security guard who had hurried over.
“No. Just see that we have some privacy.” The middle-aged man moved away, but Daniel didn’t notice. All his attention was centered on the woman lying so still. “Madelyn—Madelyn, please say something.”
Long black lashes fluttered, then opened. “Daniel? W-What happened?”
“You fainted. You can’t keep scaring—” Shutting his eyes, he drew in a deep shuddering breath. He jerked them open when he felt the tentative brush of fingertips against his cheek.
“I didn’t mean to scare you again. Pregnant women do silly things sometimes.”
A soft gasp from behind a crouched Daniel caused Madelyn to glance upward. Directly behind him was a stunning African-American woman elegantly dressed in a pale pink suit.
The gold buttons had the distinctive interlocking CC of Chanel. She wore her short, dark brown hair in a breezy cut that complemented perfectly the contours of her oval face. She appeared to be in her early forties.
Catching Madelyn’s gaze on her, the woman smiled and placed a slim, manicured hand on Daniel’s shoulder. The square-cut emerald surrounded by diamonds on her ring finger sparkled like green fire. “I see you have been keeping secrets from me again.”
Daniel tensed at the sound of the crisp Bostonian accent. He almost groaned. She was supposed to be in New York. But when had Felicia Ann Everett Falcon ever done what was expected of her?
Of all the times for his mother to return unexpectedly, this was the worst. He didn’t have to see her face to know she was ecstatic with thoughts of finally getting to bounce a grandchild on her knee. So far he and Dominique both refused to give her any.
She might as well know it wasn’t going to happen. He glanced up at her. “It’s not what you think.”
“I-I’m all right now.” Madelyn struggled to rise. “Thank you, but I’ll be late meeting my husband.”
The smile left his mother’s face. She sent Daniel an accusing look.
Daniel didn’t know whether to thank Madelyn or shake her. He did know he wasn’t letting her out of his sight until he made sure she had stopped all this fainting nonsense. “Can I take the car?” he asked his mother.
“Of course, dear. I’ll get a cab back to the house.”
He turned his attention back to Madelyn. “Do you think you can walk, or do you want me to carry you?”
“I’d rather not be on the ten P.M. news.”
He glanced around the lobby. The security guard might have kept the crowd back, but he and Madelyn remained the center of attention “Point taken.”
Easing her legs over the side of the couch, Madelyn slowly stood with Daniel’s help. Thankfully she felt only a brief moment of dizziness.
“Don’t you dare go out on me again,” he ordered anxiously.
She looked at the frowning woman before answering. “You don’t hav—”
“Yes, I do. Ready?”
Madelyn was too conscious of the people watching them, of the unknown woman only a few feet away, to protest any further. She only hoped no one connected with the media was around.
On the sidewalk Madelyn saw the big, silver Mercedes and the chauffeur rushing to open the back door. Her steps faltered. Now she understood what he had meant about “take the car.” She had some pride left. “I’m feeling better. I can drive home.”
“Humor me. I’ll take care of your car after I’ve taken care of you. Now stop dragging your feet.” Exerting more pressure on her arm, he started her toward the waiting sedan.
She didn’t protest any further. She was too tired. As soon as she leaned against the luxurious buttery soft leather seat, her eyelids drifted downward. “I hate this.”
“Don’t blame the baby,” Daniel said, a hint of censure in his deep voice.
Thick, black lashes swept upward. She stared at the man she had so easily fallen in love with, the man who didn’t love her in return, the man who didn’t understand her, the man she was coming to realize she didn’t understand, either.
“We never really knew each other, did we?” she said again.
“No,” he agreed.
“Well, Daniel Falcon, know this. This child will never hear
blame or hatred or mistake or fault or any other words that make a child feel he or she did something wrong. Because I don’t want to think of the life growing inside me in those terms. I may have acted irresponsibly, but I plan to take responsibility for my child.”
“Raising a child isn’t easy,” he told her evenly.
“Life isn’t easy,” Madelyn said and closed her eyes again.
Daniel studied her closely. Was she shutting him out or sick again? He didn’t know, but he felt easier since her forehead was dry, her breathing even.
She never acted the way he expected. She hadn’t blamed him when she told him of her pregnancy; rather she had informed him. One hell of a difference.
There were so many questions he wanted to ask her—only he wasn’t sure if he was ready for the answers. Her betrayal cut deep. Until this afternoon he would have believed it of any woman in his past, anyone except Madelyn.
Although he had known her for only a short while, he had known her brothers for over two years. Kane and Matt Taggart both possessed high standards of integrity and honesty. And while it didn’t necessarily mean their sister possessed those same qualities, since they always spoke so highly of her, Daniel hadn’t thought differently while he was with her.
But he had been wrong.
Whether out of passion or anger or need, she had gone to another man. In the past Daniel had insisted on loose relationships because he wanted no ties. He wanted to be able to move on whenever he was ready. Although he had wanted Madelyn with a hungry urgency he had never experienced before, he still wasn’t ready for anything long term. Ties and commitment didn’t fit into his plans.
His parents had shown him how destructive love could be, but it was Jeanette who made sure he never forgot. Poor needy, pitiful Jeanette. She’d wanted so much to be loved and hadn’t the foggiest notion of how to love in return.
Madelyn hadn’t behaved like Jeanette or any of the other women who had come and gone in his life over the years. Most of them were fascinated with the public’s perception of Daniel Falcon, and not the man. He understood their reasons and used them for reasons of his own.
Greedy, selfish women weren’t likely to be hurt when a relationship was over. They were in it for the kicks, the prestige, and the benefits of being on the arm and in the bed of a powerful man. The game was to make it seem as if the parting was mutual. Then they’d move on to the next man and the next. “Night crawlers,” Luke used to call them.