Honest Betrayal

by Girard, Dara

  Suddenly the big house felt so empty; she so alone. And for once she didn’t want to be alone. She picked up the phone and dialed without thinking. Having memorized his number from his business card. His voice came on the line before she could hang up. “Hello, Brenna,” Byron said.

  “How did you know it was me?”

  He ignored the question. “Did you need something?”

  “I just wanted to know how the case was shaping up.”

  He paused. “Is that really why you’re calling?”

  “Of course.”

  He was silent a moment then said, “I’m splitting a pizza between myself. Like to come over?”

  An eager delight gripped her. “Yes.”

  He gave her the directions then said, “I’ll see you soon.”

  Later Brenna stood inside his exclusive condo complex. When she rang the bell, he answered the door dressed in jeans with his worn green shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, displaying his powerful forearms.

  She held up a bag of vanilla wafers. “I brought dessert.”

  He kicked the door wider. “A woman after my own heart.”

  They sat in the living room and shared a veggie pizza. His place was comfortable as always. Instead of a crowded dorm room there was a chrome kitchen and large entertainment center and furniture from an expensive catalog. Everything was exactly how she would have expected it to be.

  Brenna rested her head on the couch. “So why didn’t you get married?”

  Byron picked up a third slice of pizza. “I don’t think you want to know.”

  “Of course I do.” She tapped a finger against her lips. “Let me guess. You found the perfect woman and she turned you down leaving you forever heartbroken.”

  He gave a world weary sigh. “No, I found the perfect woman and she asked me to marry her and I said no. I’ve regretted that day for years.”

  Brenna shook her head unmoved. “You could have called.”

  “I wanted to become a top lawyer first. If I was going to come back on my knees, I wanted some leverage.”

  “I don’t see you on your knees.”

  “I’m waiting for the right moment.”

  “That moment will never come.” She pulled out a card and placed it on his lap. “However, if you ever want to use my services.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” He studied the card then tucked it in his back pocket. “So have you spoken to him?”

  “Stephen—”

  “No, your husband.”

  She became irritated. “Why are you so interested in him? What does it matter?”

  “You and I both know that it matters. Or do you want to pretend that it doesn’t?”

  “If I told you I was unhappy would you feel better?”

  “Maybe. Are you unhappy?”

  “No. Why do you ask?”

  “Because I want to know what’s going on.”

  Brenna stiffened. “Nothing.”

  Byron swore under his breath then leaned towards her with sharp, assessing eyes. “You wanted someone tonight. I know you, Brenna. You can fool others, but you can’t fool me. You needed someone and I want to know why it was me. Why did you call me?”

  She turned away. “I was lonely.”

  “And you couldn’t reach him?”

  She poured more cola in her glass then took a long swallow.

  “You didn’t call him, did you?”

  “No.”

  “Doesn’t he know about the case?”

  Brenna shook her head frustrated. “I don’t know.”

  “You didn’t tell him?” Byron said surprised.

  She tapped the side of her glass. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  She stood. “I’d better go.”

  “Why not? Doesn’t he care?”

  “Yes, he cares.”

  He stood, blocking her path. “Are you afraid of him?”

  She moved around him. “No.”

  “Then why don’t you call him?”

  “I can’t.” She grabbed her handbag and headed for the door.

  “Why not? He’s your husband.”

  Her patience snapped. She spun around. “In name only! There. I’ve said it. My marriage is a sham. So now you can gloat. Now you can feel relieved I’m not happier than you.”

  Byron searched her face confused. “But why? I don’t understand.”

  Brenna took a deep breath, hoping to sound casual. “We have an agreement. He helps me with my medical bills and I play his wife. He needed one and I happened to be available. It works for us.” She smiled bitterly. “Poor Byron, now you have another reason to pity me.” She opened the door. He extended a hand and closed it.

  “No,” he whispered, his breath warm against her neck. “I envy him.”

  She didn’t turn although she could feel him close behind her. Every part of her aware of him. He extended his other hand effectively trapping her. He dropped his head and placed a kiss on her neck.

  The touch of his lips made her skin tingle. “Don’t,” she said softly.

  Byron kissed her again. “He won’t have to know.”

  “I’ll know.”

  “How do you know he isn’t somewhere else doing the exact same thing? He’s been gone for awhile, hasn’t he?”

  “That’s not the point.”

  His hand slid to her waist, he pulled her against him and she felt the evidence of his desire. “I want you Brenna. And don’t deny that you want me. You used to tremble like this so many times before. Do you remember?”

  Desire warred with anger. He shouldn’t do this to her and she shouldn’t let him. “Let me go.”

  “No.”

  She hit him with her cane.

  He released her and swore. “You’re being stubborn.”

  “I’m a married woman.”

  “You just said—”

  “I’m still married.”

  “And you plan to respect your vows,” he said sarcastic. “You plan to love, honor and obey? We both know you failed the first one. Except if you count loving his money.”

  She opened the door; he grabbed her arm. “You’re living a lie, Brenna.”

  “Let me go.”

  “I’m going to win you back.”

  “It will be nice to see you win something.”

  Byron gripped her shoulders. “Don’t underestimate me. You don’t know anything about those other cases. But I’ve won before and I’ve won big and when I want something I mean to get it. I admit that my life hasn’t been what I had expected, but that’s all going to change.” His hands slid down and captured her wrists. “I’m not ashamed of how I feel and I don’t want you ashamed of how you feel.”

  “You don’t know how I feel.”

  He caught her eyes. “Yes, I do.”

  Her breathing grew shallow and she turned away. “No.”

  “I know you’re good at lying to yourself.”

  “Yes, I’d convinced myself once that you truly wanted me, but not again.”

  “I did want you. I just couldn’t take the risk—”

  “Yes, I know.” Her voice cracked. “I remember.”

  “You came to me, Brenna.”

  “I made a mistake.”

  “No, you took a risk. A risk I should have made years ago. Well look, I’m taking the risk now. I want you. I want to start again.”

  She walked into the hall.

  “Take your time Brenna. Think things through and remember. If you need me I’m here.”

  Yes, he was here. Back in her life where she had always wanted him. That was the danger.

  ***

  Byron stood by the window and watched Brenna head to her car. He shouldn’t have let her go. Tonight or those many years ago. He’d never expected regret to be such a bitter pill to swallow. He was seriously beginning to wonder about his judgment and he knew others were too. Wallace Roberson, the DA, stopped by his office just to share his opinion.

  “I heard you took the Garrett case,” he said, s
ettling in a chair.

  Byron nodded. “Yep.”

  Roberson stared at him a long moment, his keen blue gaze clear with disbelief as though he’d hoped he’d misunderstood. When Byron didn’t say more, he sighed and smoothed down his long silver mustache. “Look if you want to start winning cases you don’t saddle yourself with a dog.”

  “The kid is innocent.”

  “Evans thinks you have a howler and her heart bleeds for almost every case that comes before her. Now if a PD thinks your client’s guilty, you know you’ve got an ugly case.”

  Byron shrugged.

  “What do you think your uncle would say?”

  Roberson cleverly hit a sore spot. Byron’s uncle had raised him and led him into the law. They’d both considered themselves avenging angels using the power of the law. But his Uncle was gone and he hadn’t recovered as quickly as he’d expected. He hadn’t been able to focus, he’d made mistakes in his last cases, but he wouldn’t make a mistake this time. He couldn’t afford to.

  “You’re not going to get him off.” Roberson leaned forward. “Make life easy for yourself. Convince him to enter a plea.”

  Byron continued to stare at him.

  Roberson shrugged and stood. “I guess I’ll see you in court.”

  Byron turned from the window and picked up the empty pizza box. He had two fights on his hands. One to get Stephen off and the second to get Brenna back. He knew she had no idea what kind of family she had married into, but he’d dealt with the Randolphs before and knew what damage they could do. She was alone and sad just as she’d been all those years ago when he’d seen her alone in the library. He’d rescued her then and he’d rescue her again. First he was going to find out all he could on Hunter Randolph.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Hunter left the airport parking lot glad the Detroit conference had been a success. At the office he was annoyed to discover that nothing had changed. Unfortunately, he doubted anything would change. But what should he do? Hide in the sand and ignore where the company was headed while he flew here and there to be kept out of trouble? Should he leave? Leave the one thing he’d been groomed to become? He pushed the thought aside as he sorted through the office mail.

  He looked at the phone and wondered if he should call Brenna and tell her he was back. The conference had been the first time he’d been away from her. Over a dozen times he’d picked up the phone to call her only to put it back. He didn’t know what to say. She wouldn’t miss him. She’d lived on her own before. And if anything had happened she knew how to reach him. He sat back and read an office memo. There was another discrepancy with inventory. He swore. There was no reason for this. But there was no way they would let him change things.

  He balled his hands into fists. He had to think, reason, rationalize. He pulled out Daniel’s card from his desk drawer. He shouldn’t have kept it, but this time he hadn’t been able to throw it away. He placed it on the desk and sat back, glancing up at the ceiling. The reflection of light on his watch created a dot of light.

  He suddenly had a flashback to when he was young and his mother had been his world. He remembered she used to wear earrings the size of silver dollars that dangled against her neck. Once, she’d taken him on a walk and suddenly started laughing. He looked at her confused and asked her why she was laughing.

  “Because I want to,” she said. “I don’t have to have a reason.” She bent down and met his eyes. “You must always have the courage to do what’s right for you.” She cupped his chin. “Promise me.”

  “I promise,” he said, knowing he would have promised her anything.

  She nodded satisfied and straightened. “Then you’ll always be happy. Some people won’t understand, but you’ll be too happy to care.”

  Was that truth or her madness speaking? He wondered if she had been happy or delusional. Back then he’d never fully understood why she had left him behind. Career or not she could have written him a letter or sent him a postcard. One moment she had been there; the next she was gone. Leaving him with a father and uncle determined to make sure he had no traces of her in him. He had complied with their constant admonishments of his temper, wild ideas, and his ability to laugh easily. He didn’t want to be like her. He never wanted to hurt anyone as she had him.

  Although he now knew her disappearance hadn’t been intentional the pain didn’t ease. If she’d been mad, why hadn’t he sensed anything? She was childlike at times, but she never scared him. But perhaps he was too young to know the difference. And at times when he was with her, he knew she wanted to be somewhere else. With Ruby he never felt that. She moved almost seamlessly into his life as though she’d always been there.

  He loosened his fists. The past didn’t matter. Only the future. He should only think of the future.

  Doran stopped in front of his door. “Well, well, well,” he drawled. He stepped inside and sat down. “Look who’s back.”

  Hunter glanced up without interest. “Hello to you too.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “About what?”

  “That fact your wife’s family is causing a mess.”

  He furrowed his brows. “What are you talking about?’

  “I guess the case wasn’t big enough to reach you. However it was big enough to reach the papers here. Grandfather was annoyed that they had made a connection with us. Fortunately, it was a distant one.”

  Hunter stilled. “What are you talking about?”

  Doran smiled pleased to deliver the bad news. “Seems your wife’s brother decided to bash an old man in the head because he stole from him.”

  Hunter stared at his cousin suspicious of his smug tone. “This is a joke right?”

  “We weren’t laughing.”

  “Brenna would have called me if there was trouble.”

  Doran’s mouth spread into a polite sneer. “Don’t worry. She’s found another shoulder to cry on.”

  Hunter leaned back tapping a beat on the desk. “Go on.”

  “Miles has been, shall we say, very solicitous? It’s always nice to see a friend so available to look after our interests. But I’m sure you know from previous experience. You know how comforting it is to have someone else look after your wife.” He shrugged. “But as they say, when the cat’s away the mice will play.” He stood flashing a cruel grin then left.

  Hunter gently closed the door then sat behind his desk. If he were a jealous man, he’d be upset. Fortunately, he wasn’t a jealous man. He never got jealous. Even when he had returned from a trip and discovered that Angie was in love with Doran, or that Janice had decided to marry Michael he hadn’t been jealous. No, he wasn’t jealous now.

  He wasn’t jealous that Brenna had gone to Miles instead of him. He didn’t care that everyone knew about it. He wasn’t jealous that she had shared her fears with another man. That she made him look foolish as she had once done before. No, he wasn’t jealous. He was mad...almost as though the madness his family whispered about had seeped through the cracks of his mind ready to claim him. Ready to turn his thoughts into chaos. Ready to program his brain so that all he could see was Brenna and Miles plotting and planning behind his back. Whispering and laughing and...

  He shut his eyes against the image only making it clearer. He pressed his palm against his eyes. It was a betrayal of loyalty, not jealousy, that made his blood feel like acid shooting to his skull.

  He took a deep breath and let his hands fall to the desk. He had to remember the messenger. Doran was no friend of his. It could be harmless. It could be nothing. But he knew it wasn’t. If Stephen was in trouble, Brenna should have called him. Him and nobody else. He took another deep breath gathering his control. No he wasn’t jealous and now he was no longer angry. He was a practical man. He’d let Brenna explain herself.

  ***

  Exhaustion sat like a heavy blanket on her shoulders by the time Brenna reached home. Fortunately, she’d convinced her dating consultant Margaret to help in the office,
but it didn’t lessen the load. Her heart lifted at the sight of Hunter’s car in the driveway and a bit of her exhaustion fell away as she walked to his study. She was surprised not to find him behind his desk. Instead he sat in the corner his body encased in darkness while the lamplight shone on the thick book resting on his lap.

  She walked towards him, her voice filled with warmth and greeting. “You’re home.”

  “Yes.” He snapped the book closed and set it aside. “Disappointed?”

  She hesitated confused by the statement. “Should I be?”

  “I’m not sure. Would you like to take a seat?”

  “No.”

  “I want to talk to you so I thought you’d like to be comfortable.”

  “I am comfortable.”

  “Good.” He stood. “Why didn’t you tell me about Stephen?”

  Brenna sat down heavily and stared up at him. “I didn’t want to concern you.”

  “Why not? It’s my duty to be concerned. I’m your husband.”

  “I know. You don’t need to tell me.” She glanced at her hand. “This ring is a suitable reminder.”

  “Shame that you would need a reminder.”

  A shiver of guilt coursed through her. “What does that mean?”

  Hunter clasped his hands behind him and began to pace. “I realize that this was the first time we’ve been apart and I recognize the possibility that my absence may be misinterpreted as negligence.” He stopped in front of her, his eyes measuring her as though taking inventory. “But I can assure you that every day...” He stopped and cleared his throat. “That your well being was of utmost importance to me.”

  Brenna stared at him confused then suddenly smiled relieved. “Oh, I get it.” She stood. “You wanted a more enthusiastic welcome home.”

  She meant to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his face so her kiss fell on his lips. His lips were softer than she remembered. Had it been that long? So long that she’d forgotten how delicious he tasted. How his slow, drugging kisses could make her forget everything. How unhappy she was. How nearly every day she questioned her decision to marry him. How in his arms she didn’t care that he remained elusive and that her feelings for him were so unsure.

  Hunter brought her body close, knowing she could never be close enough. He inhaled her sweet scent as he kissed her face, her shoulders, her throat, wanting to remind her that she belonged to him just in case she forgot. Instead he learned how much he belonged to her as her husband. That acknowledgment felt like fire racing through his veins melting any icicles of fear that she would leave him. This was right, she knew it was right.