The Mogul's Reluctant Bride - Book Two (Billionaire Brides of Granite Falls)

by Ana E Ross

“Who’s Mrs. Jackson? A favorite teacher?”

  “No. She was one of my foster mothers.”

  Kaya watched Bryce’s chest rise and fall on a deep sigh. The fact that her heart wasn’t palpitating in her chest proved that the moment had arrived when she could trust him with her past. How could she not after what they shared today?

  He settled back against the sofa and pulled her back into his arms. “You want to talk about it?”

  “I think I’m ready.”

  “Take your time. We have all night.” He tucked her snugly to his side and draped his arms about, offering her comfort and protection.

  Kaya took a deep breath and rested her hands on Bryce’s thighs, feeling his strength and heat through his silk robe. “Jack was right about me spending time in juvenile detention, but it wasn’t for prostitution.”

  Kaya waited for a gasp, a twitch of shock at her confession, but got nothing. She turned her head and gazed up at him. “Did you know?”

  He nodded, his eyes sweeping her face apologetically. “After that fight in Steven’s office the day we met, I hired a detective. I was determined to use every means necessary to get custody of the kids, even if it meant bringing you down. Your record was sealed and I was ready to find a way to unseal it. But,” he continued, his voice holding a hint of shame, “after we kissed that night in the library, I burned it. I didn’t care anymore, because I think somewhere in the cold region of my heart, I knew we would end up where we are right now. Besides, hurting you would have hurt the kids. I’m sorry.”

  “No need to apologize. You were fighting for children you love. I wish I had somebody to fight for me when I was a little girl.” She settled back against him, reveling in the comfort and strength he offered her.

  “Tell me about that little girl, Kaya. I want to know her.”

  Kaya faltered on a smile. “She’s scared.”

  “I’m holding her hand. Why did little Kaya spend time in juvenile detention?”

  “She was arrested for shoplifting.” What a relief to get it off her chest. She hadn’t spoken about that dark period of her life since she walked out of that place, eleven years ago. The events had been sealed in her heart, just as surely as the records of her crime had been sealed by the court.

  “What did she shoplift?”

  “Food.”

  “Why?”

  “She was hungry.”

  He sat up again and held her hands while he gazed into her eyes. “Why was she hungry? Where was her mother?”

  “She’d abandoned her.”

  His eyes flashed anger. She lowered her gaze to his hand that covered hers on her lap. His touch was warm and comforting at first. Then, as the silence and his anger grew, his fingers tightened.

  Kaya soaked up his compassion like an old, dried-out sponge that had been pulled from the broom closet and dunked into a tub of hot water. Nobody had ever stood up for her. Nobody had been surprised that her mother had simply walked off and left her. She was just another unwanted child in Florida’s child welfare system.

  “Where was your father?” His grip loosened.

  “He left when I was five years old.” It was so much easier to talk about him after reading Lauren’s letter. He’d done what he had to do. If her mother had turned him in, he would have gone to prison, and neither she nor Lauren would have known him. They may not have known each other and she would have never met Bryce, the one man in this world she knew she was born to love. “This morning Jason asked me to pack up his parents’ things and put them into storage.”

  “He told me. It’s a good sign. He’s accepted you. He trusts you.”

  She nodded. “I found a letter in Lauren’s closet that was addressed to me. You’ll understand our relationship and the secret about our father better if you read it.” She went to the table in a corner of the bedroom and withdrew the letter from her purse. “It was in a shoebox that contained some personal items of my father. It cleared up a lot of doubts and confusions I used to have about him. I don’t understand how the box survived the fire that destroyed their home,” she said, walking back to the sofa.

  “When Lauren came to Granite Falls, she left some boxes in a storeroom at Fontaine Enterprises. She never got them until after they moved into L’etoile du Nord.”

  “Lauren would have been heartbroken if she’d lost the only tangible memories she had of Daddy,” she said, handing Bryce the letter.

  Kaya sat sideways on the sofa, close to Bryce and watched the play of emotions on his face as he read Lauren’s letter. When he folded it and handed it back to her, there were tears in his eyes. There were so many issues in that letter that they needed to discuss, but she felt she should address the most pressing one.

  “They didn’t mean to hurt you by giving the children to me at first Bryce.” Kaya laid the letter on the coffee table. “Lauren wanted them to know the only family they had. She was giving me a second chance.”

  “I think they were giving both of us second chances by not destroying the first will.” Bryce chuckled. “She tried to get me to meet you, you know?”

  “Really?”

  “Mm-hmm. She asked if it was okay if she sent you a picture of me. I said absolutely not.”

  “Why? You didn’t think you would like me?”

  “Kaya, as you know, I had the worst reputation with women. Up until eight weeks ago, I was a player, and I didn’t want to toy with Lauren’s little sister’s emotions. Our friendship would have been ruined when I ended it like I ended all my prior relationships.”

  “You think you would have been able to walk away from me?”

  His eyes caught and held hers. “I don’t know. It would have been very difficult, more difficult than any of the others. But I was in a different state of mind, a different level of maturity in my life. I think you and I came together at the right time. Any sooner, and it could have been disastrous.”

  “Maybe you’re right. It wasn’t until after I met the kids that I realized I could love someone without fear of them leaving me.” She sighed. “Did you know about the condition in the second will prohibiting me from taking the kids out of Granite Falls?”

  “I didn’t. I’m as surprised as you are.”

  She believed him. “I guess their lawyer was only to reveal the condition if I got custody. What if I had?”

  He stroked a finger down her cheek. “I still think we would have ended up exactly where we are.”

  She smiled knowing that was a fact as well. “You remind me of my dad.”

  He cocked his head. “Really? In what way?”

  “The way you are with the kids. So patient, gentle, and devoted.”

  “That’s a sweet compliment. Were you close to him before your patents split up?”

  “Even after they split up. I used to see him every Sunday. We would go to the playground, the zoo, and the museum. Daddy loved to browse through museums. We used to have so much fun together.” She smiled easily at the few precious memories of spending time with her father. But just as quickly, it disappeared with thoughts of Nadine’s daily abuse. “My mother, on the other hand, was plain old mean. They fought constantly. It was usually about money. She always wanted more.”

  A tear slipped from her eye as she recalled the day her father walked out of her life. “Daddy was the only happiness I had as a child. Nadine knew that. She couldn’t bear the thought of me being happy. She told me that he left because he didn’t love me, and I believed her, until this morning when I read Lauren’s letter. I spent so many years hating him for leaving me with her.”

  “Your feelings were apropos. I can’t believe you and Lauren had no knowledge of each other’s existence. How did you finally find out about each other?”

  “At Daddy’s funeral. I was twelve. Lauren was practically an adult.”

  “You must have been shocked out of your minds.”

  “We were. We didn’t quite know what to make of one another. I was jealous of her, because she’d been raised by the father who
’d abandoned me and a mother who obviously loved her and was there for her. We exchanged telephone numbers, but then my mother left right after our father died. One night she went out with boyfriend-of-the-month and just never came back. When I woke up the next day, her clothes were gone. The child support check didn’t come that month, you see.”

  “What did you do after she left?”

  “I stayed in the apartment,” she said, burying her face in her hands for a moment. “Even though she’d been a despicable mother, I wanted to stay where she could find me, just in case she decided to come back. She was my mother, the only family I had.”

  She shuddered as the sting of Nadine’s neglect ripped through her like an old wound that ached on a rainy day. “I was so stupid to think that her feelings for me would change.” She pushed to her feet and walked to the windows. The rain was coming down in torrents and Kaya felt that in some divine way, it was washing her hurts, her fears, and her anger away. She felt as if she were being reborn.

  “You were just a little girl. You were scared,” Bryce said, following her, putting his arms about her. “It’s natural to want your mother at any age.”

  Kaya folded her arms across her middle as her stomach quaked with the memories. “The food in the apartment ran out, then the phone and electricity were cut off. I managed without the phone and the lights, but food I couldn’t live without, naturally. It wasn’t so bad during the week. I had one of those free lunch cards. The weekends were horrible, though. When I couldn’t stand the hunger, I would go to the local supermarket and eat my belly full of fruit, bread, cheese, whatever was easily accessible. One day, the owner caught me sneaking out with a bottle of milk and a box of cereal. He called the cops and I was sent to a juvenile detention when they realized I had no one to take care of me. I had to stay there until my trial.”

  “He pressed charges against you? A child?” Disbelief rang in his voice.

  “He was tired of the local kids stealing from him. He was making an example out of me,” she said. “Luckily for me, my case worker knew the owner of the store and she persuaded him to drop the charges. Since my mother was nowhere to be found, I was placed in foster care.”

  “Tell me about your life in foster care.”

  “Some were good,” she said. “Others not so good. I moved around a lot. During that time, my mother came back into the picture and wanted me, but my caseworker found out that the man she was living with was a registered sex offender, so the courts denied her petition, and the two of them took off.”

  “Dear God. To think of what could have happened to you if she’d won custody.”

  Kaya shuddered in his arms. “When I was sixteen, I was placed with Mrs. Jackson. She was nice to me and she taught me how to cook. I stayed with her until I was eighteen and no longer a ward of the state. She died a couple years ago.”

  “I’m so sorry.” His voice was barely a whisper. “Did you ever try to find your mother?”

  Kaya traced a finger down the cool surface of the glass. “I hired a PI once. I just wanted to know why she couldn’t love me, why she hated me so much. He found her in New Orleans dancing in a nightclub. She always wanted to be a dancer. She’s very beautiful. Anyway, she told the PI that she didn’t have any children.”

  “Oh, Kaya.” Bryce held her tightly to his chest, his body shaking on a sob. “I’m so, so sorry you had such a horrible childhood. I will make up for it. I promise, darling.” He turned her around and pressed her head into his chest, his tears falling on her face, melting into hers.

  Kaya held on to him like her life depended on it. She had been abandoned and rejected so many times, by so many people—her father, her mother, her foster parents, and Jack. She couldn’t lose Bryce, too. She was so deeply and helplessly in love with him. He said he cared about her, but he couldn’t say he loved her, because deep down she knew he was still in love with Pilar.

  While they were having tea at the country club, Michelle had told her about the difficult path she and Erik had taken to get to where they were today. Michelle said she’d been patient with Erik because she knew he’d been in love with, and then hurt by his first wife, and that that kind of love and betrayal was not easily forgotten. Kaya would try to be as patient with Bryce as Michelle had been with Erik.

  “At least I know my father loved me,” she said. “You know that locket I wear sometimes?”

  “The one shaped like a fist?” He raised her face and leaned down to kiss her lips ever so softly, not seeking passion, but offering comfort and support.

  “Yes. Daddy gave it to me the last time I saw him. He told me that there was a code inside it that would open a safety deposit box at a bank in Palm Beach. He told me not to go to the bank until I was eighteen.”

  “What’s in it?”

  “A huge diamond, a document of authenticity, and a letter from my father explaining how he came into possession of the diamond. It belonged to my great-great-grandfather. Some Englishman gave it to him for helping him escape from Kimberley, South Africa, during the 1899 Anglo-Boer War.”

  “I’m aware of that siege. It lasted about four months. That mine yielded one of the biggest diamonds in the world—the Star of Africa. It weighed in at eighty-three and a half carats, I think. It was given to King Edward the Seventh of England, and is now part of the Crown Jewels collection in the Tower of London. I’ve seen it. Do you have any idea what such a diamond is worth?”

  “Quite a bit. I was tempted to sell it when I found out the kids had no money, but then the situation changed, and here we are. I would have hated to part with it. It is all I have of my family’s legacy to pass down to future generations.”

  “Some things are worth a lot more than money. I still have my grandmother’s old coffee maker. Every time it breaks down, I get it fixed.”

  Kaya chuckled. “I was wondering what that old contraption in your kitchen was.”

  “Now you know.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “Since I’m married to one of the richest men in the world, I’ll put the diamond in trust for Jason, Alyssa, and Anastasia, and the children you and I will have.”

  His eyed darkened. “Are you trying to tell me something, wife? We made love three nights ago, and I think there’s some kind of test out there that can give results as early as the next day.”

  “You’re not opposed to us having children?”

  “Not at all. I want children. Lots of them, and I can’t think of them having any other mother but you. I watch you with the kids and I know you’ll be the best mother in the world. You’re patient and affectionate, and you can cook,” he added on a chuckle. “That’s all children need. If you can love the children of a sister whom you resented, I know you will love our children.”

  “And you’ll be the best father,” Kaya told him, gazing up at him with love and wonder in her eyes.

  “Let’s go to bed,” he said, taking her by the hand and leading her across the room towards the huge bed. “I want to hold you, let you know I’m here, show you how much I care.”

  Like an obedient child, Kaya followed Bryce, and when he pulled down the covers, slipped off her robe, then his own, and lifted her gently unto the bed, Kaya knew that she was exactly where she belonged. Home.

  But was Bryce? The fact that he was still living in this penthouse told her that he was still holding on to Pilar. He was still out in the cold, maybe closer to home, but not completely. Their roles had switched. She was no longer the reluctant bride who was not only afraid to make love with her husband, but who was also afraid to love him. Bryce was now the reluctant groom.

  Yet, when Bryce joined her on the bed, Kaya opened her arms to him. Maybe, just maybe, he’d come home tomorrow, she thought as he laid her out on his stomach, wrapped his arms about her and captured her lips with his.

  “I want you like this. Woman on top, all night long,” he said, capturing her mouth with his.

  Their lovemaking was slow and tender. Passion peaked. Emotions swelled, and t
ears fell, as they loved each other into the wee hours of the morning.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Kaya awoke to the faint hum of distant voices. She opened her eyes and tried to focus in the semi-darkened bedroom. She reached out her hand and groped around the bed. Bryce was gone. The place where he had lain and cradled her while he transported her from one thrilling orgasm to the next, last night, was now empty and cold.

  Kaya turned on her back and strained her ears to the sounds. She could distinctly make out the low baritone pitch of Bryce’s, and another equally low male voice that she didn’t recognize. She couldn’t fully make out the conversation, but she could tell that it wasn’t pleasant.

  When she heard the higher-pitched tone of a woman’s voice, Kaya jumped off the bed and reached for her robe. Shrugging into it, she tiptoed toward the foot of the stairs. The voices were louder, but she still couldn’t make out the conversation.

  With her heart pounding in her chest, Kaya eased quietly down the stairs until the hum became distinct words. She plopped down on a step, just before the stairway curved. Out of sight, but within hearing distance, she wrapped her hands around her legs and rested her chin on her knees. The position in which she was sitting took Kaya back to the day when her parents had made her sit on the steps outside their apartment while they argued inside—the day she’d seen her father for the last time. Her heart thundered with anxiety.

  “Why do you keep shutting us out of your life, Bryce? Just like your first marriage, we had to read about this one from the latest issue of Granite Falls People Magazine. We almost didn’t make it for you and Pilar’s wedding. And we weren’t even aware of this one. My own son has been married for over a month and I just heard about it yesterday.” The woman sounded close to tears.

  His parents, Kaya realized with a mixture of curiosity and confusion swirling inside her. Why hadn’t Bryce told his parents about her? She hadn’t given any thought to his relationship with them. He’d spoken of them briefly and affectionately the two times he’d mentioned them, but because her own experience with the parent/child relationship was so warped, Kaya never thought of asking Bryce about his. She’d thought it normal. Whatever normal was.