Tell Me No Lies

by Shirley Wine

  Logan snatched up the phone and talked rapidly into it as he moved towards her.

  Keir elbowed him aside. ‘What is it? Your father?’

  ‘It’s Connor. He fell and they’re operating on him now,’ she managed to gasp as she fought to escape Keir’s grip. ‘Let me go, I have to go to him.’

  She needed to get to her baby.

  Now.

  Logan snapped the phone shut. ‘They’re at Waikato Hospital. I’ll drive you there.’

  Chapter Thirteen

  Keir lost all grasp of the situation as he stared at the trembling, ashen-faced woman in his arms. He heard Logan say to Victoria, ‘I’ll drive you. Don’t panic. Connor will be okay.’

  ‘How can you say that? You don’t know.’ She rounded on him.

  ‘Connor?’ Keir struggled with confusion.

  Victoria’s anguish jolted him harder than a fist in the solar plexus. Victoria has another lover? He recoiled in denial.

  Did she lie to me?

  Anger and betrayal seeped under his skin. He had trusted her and honestly believed she was different. ‘Who in hell is Connor?’

  Logan gripped his arm. ‘Not now, Keir.’

  Jealousy ripped through Keir, but before he could demand an explanation his father took charge.

  ‘You go and get the car, Logan.’ Caine caught Victoria’s hand, shaking it gently. ‘Which hospital? Waikato?’

  ‘Yes. Please hurry, Connor might die.’

  Keir watched Logan sprint for the door and shook his head to clear his befuddled senses.

  ‘Keir, help Victoria out to the car.’

  Caine’s urgency was contagious and Keir instinctively obeyed the curt order as he struggled to make sense of the situation.

  He glanced at the woman in his arms. It was obvious that whoever the hell this Connor was, he clearly meant a good deal to Victoria.

  And a few miserable hours ago she was warm and giving in my arms.

  Boulders of bitterness filled his gut as he was forced to consider how much he knew about this woman. Had he made yet another mistake? Was Victoria like every other woman he knew, a liar looking out for her own interests?

  When will I learn that no woman is trustworthy?

  Torn by conflicting emotions, Keir supported Victoria and followed his father.

  In the corridor, Muriel cornered them. ‘Where are you going?’

  Keir watched his father dislodge his stepmother’s hand from his arm. ‘Victoria needs to get to the hospital.’

  ‘Who cares? Put her in a taxi.’ Muriel’s lips curled in a sneer.

  Keir clenched his hand into a fist.

  Logan laid a hand on Muriel’s arm, clearly distressed. ‘Mother, please don’t. Tori’s my friend.’

  Muriel rounded on Logan. ‘You need friends like that promiscuous little slut like you need a hole in the head. She lays it out for your stepbrother.’

  Victoria trembled in Keir’s arms and he itched to shut Muriel’s vicious mouth once and for all.

  ‘Logan, get the car.’ Caine’s command sliced through air thick with tension. ‘And Muriel, shut the hell up.’

  Keir glanced from his father to Muriel, and he had the peculiar sensation of walking on quicksand. He’d never heard his father speak to his stepmother like this, and God knows Caine had just cause.

  ‘How dare you?’ Muriel hissed.

  ‘My son and Victoria are more important than your petty gripes. Give my apologies to our guests. I’m sure they’ll understand.’

  Muriel turned to Keir and Victoria, but once again his father stepped between them and his wife.

  ‘One more word, Muriel,’ Caine said very softly, ‘and I’ll blow all of your dirty secrets clean out of the water. Understand?’

  The threat was effective.

  Muriel clamped her mouth shut and went po-faced as she levelled a venomous look at Caine before she turned and walked away.

  Keir was still trying to make sense of that scene as he helped Victoria into the back seat of Logan’s car. As his father settled into the passenger seat, Keir took a moment to really look at him. With a sense of shock, he realised that the man he’d always regarded as tough and invincible looked old and beaten.

  Guilt reared its ugly head.

  So often his father had tried to make amends for the past and heal the breach between them, and acutely uncomfortable, Keir remembered how often he’d repudiated every attempt. Instead he’d nursed his hurt and wounded pride. He pushed aside the uncomfortable thought and turned his attention to the woman in his arms.

  Logan drove competently and fast, negotiating Darkhaven’s long winding drive before turning onto the highway. The twenty kilometres between Cambridge and Hamilton were covered swiftly.

  Victoria was white-faced and trembling; her hands writhed in her lap and tension radiated off her in waves.

  ‘He’ll be okay,’ Keir murmured, driven to offer her some comfort.

  Victoria looked up at him, her whisky-coloured eyes almost black with fear and desperation. Jealousy and trepidation sat like a rock in his gut.

  ‘I should never have left him,’ she said in a harsh whisper as she gripped his arm with surprising strength. ‘I knew Daphne couldn’t cope.’

  ‘Daphne?’

  ‘My stepmother.’

  Keir shook his head, frowning. Why were her father and stepmother involved? It made no sense.

  Logan turned into the hospital gates and Keir was forced to put his questions on hold as Logan pulled up outside accident and emergency. Keir had his hands full assisting Victoria from the car.

  Logan drove off to park and Keir turned to Victoria. ‘Where to?’

  She looked at him blankly.

  ‘She’s in shock.’ Again it was his father who took command. ‘Let me see what I can find out.’

  Keir glanced from Victoria to his father. ‘Thanks, Dad.’

  As Caine strode across to the inquiry desk, Logan loped up to join him. After a hurried confabulation with the receptionist, they returned.

  ‘Andrew’s expecting you,’ Logan said briskly. ‘He’s in the waiting room outside the surgical unit. This way.’

  He ushered them along the wide, spacious atrium, stopping beside a bank of lifts. When one arrived, they all stepped inside and Logan pressed buttons that sent it flying upwards. It stopped and they alighted, stepping into a small enclosed reception area.

  Logan approached the desk and asked for Andrew Scanlan. The woman indicated a small waiting area where a lone occupant sat hunched forward, bowed head resting in his hands. He looked up as they approached and Keir knew that this was Victoria’s father, the likeness between them unmistakable.

  The man stood and held out his arms.

  With a small cry, Victoria pulled free from Keir and ran to her father, burying her face in his shoulder.

  ‘Hush. He’ll be okay.’

  ‘What happened?’ Victoria brushed away her anxious tears as she pulled back and looked up at him.

  ‘He tripped and fell and hit his head on the corner of the steel workbench in the stable. He has a depressed fracture of his skull.’

  Keir tried to follow a conversation that made little sense. He intended to rectify that.

  Now.

  Who was this Connor who’d thrown Victoria, her father, Logan and now his own father into panic? And what was he to Victoria?

  ‘Mr Scanlan?’ He stepped forward, hand outstretched. ‘Keir Donovan.’

  ‘Really?’ Andrew Scanlan put Victoria aside and stepped forward, drew back his clenched fist and landed Keir a cracking blow on the jaw. ‘I’ve waited nearly six years to give you that, you bastard.’

  Shocked by the unexpected attack, Keir rocked back on his feet.

  ‘Dad! No!’ Ashen and shaking, Victoria lurched forward and grabbed her father’s arm. ‘How could you? Are you insane?’

  ‘What the hell was that for?’ Reeling, angry and bewildered, Keir massaged his maltreated jaw. ‘Take another swing at me old ma
n and I’ll forget my scruples.’

  Caine stepped forward, put an arm around Victoria’s shoulders and guided her into a chair.

  ‘Andrew’s done nothing I haven’t been tempted to do,’ Logan said evenly.

  ‘Bloody wonderful,’ Keir muttered, shaking his head as he turned to Victoria. ‘An explanation would be appreciated.’

  Crimson flushed Victoria’s cheeks and she avoided his eyes.

  ‘Leave my daughter alone, Donovan.’

  Logan, always the peacemaker, stepped forward and did the introductions. ‘Andrew, this is my stepfather, Caine Donovan.’

  His even words diffused the tension. Logan’s hand settled on Victoria’s shoulder and Keir fought the urge to knock it off.

  She is mine, secrets notwithstanding!

  Caine stepped forward, shaking hands with Victoria’s father. ‘I’m sorry we have to meet under such circumstances, Andrew. Is the child seriously hurt?’

  ‘Child?’ The word shocked Keir more than the blow to his jaw. ‘What child?’

  ***

  ‘Your son,’ Victoria said in a harsh whisper. This was not how she intended Keir discover she’d had his child. But Connor’s accident had changed everything. As she looked up into her lover’s dark eyes, she trembled.

  For long timeless moments no-one moved or spoke.

  ‘Connor is my son?’ Keir’s furious rasp eroded the stunned silence.

  His expression tightened the knots in her stomach and a violent tremor shook her whole body. ‘Connor is my child, Keir. You merely supplied the sperm.’

  Ashen pale, the bruise on his jaw already an angry red, Keir stepped forward and caught her shoulders in a grip so hard it hurt. ‘My son is in there facing life-threatening surgery, and you never even let me know he’d been conceived?’

  Staring up at Keir, for the second time in two days Victoria felt the ground beneath her feet shift. She had suspected that Keir would react badly, but she didn’t expect a direct attack. She was not the one in the wrong. An old and deadly anger resurfaced.

  ‘Is that so?’ She jerked free and stepped backward. ‘How did you expect me to contact you, thought transference?’

  ‘Why didn’t you ask your uncle?’

  ‘And discover what? That you’d lied through your teeth? That Seth Donahue didn’t exist?’

  Dull red suffused Keir’s neck and face.

  Her father grabbed Victoria’s arm. ‘Now look here, Donovan, stop trying to intimidate my daughter.’

  ‘That’s enough, Dad.’ She shrugged off her father’s hand. This was between her and Keir, and Keir had her undivided attention.

  ‘You keep out of this, old man.’ Keir glanced at Victoria’s father, his eyes glittering dangerously. ‘Or did you prevent your daughter contacting me?’

  Startled, Victoria looked at her father and saw the guilt he couldn’t hide.

  My God. Dad knew?

  Bewilderment and fear morphed into searing anger and she turned on Keir. ‘You thought I could be pregnant?’

  Keir folded his arms across his chest, watching her, his expression unreadable. ‘It was entirely possible.’

  What an understatement.

  Upset by his attitude and worried sick about her baby, Victoria turned away. From the minute she’d met him again at Darkhaven, she’d been fearful of Keir’s reaction, but she’d never expected such fury.

  After last night, of course he feels deceived.

  She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears, nausea churned in her belly and her skin went clammy. Was she about to throw up and add to her humiliation?

  ‘Keir.’ Caine laid a hand on his son’s arm. ‘Explanations can wait.’

  Caine Donovan’s calm good sense eased the searing tension in the waiting room.

  ‘You’re right, Father,’ Keir said, but as he glanced at her, Victoria was far from reassured. ‘We will discuss this later, Victoria. You owe me an explanation, and by hell it had better be good.’

  ‘When will we know anything?’ Logan asked.

  This was the question burning in her brain as worry and fear for her little boy overrode every other concern. Her father glanced at his watch and shrugged, and not about to wait a moment longer, Victoria went to the reception desk. ‘What’s happening to my son?’

  ‘Let me see what I can find out for you.’ The receptionist gave Victoria a kind smile as she picked up the phone and asked for a status update on Connor.

  Victoria heard the murmuring voice on the other end of the line, but she was unable to make out what was being said.

  The receptionist ended the call. ‘The operation is progressing well, but it’s taking longer than expected.’

  ‘How long?’

  ‘The surgeon will come out and see you when they’ve finished.’

  And that means what?

  Suddenly, all the tension got to her and she became light-headed. Strong hands caught her shoulders and she was grateful for their support.

  ‘Can you be a little more specific?’ Keir asked the receptionist over Victoria’s head. ‘Connor’s mother needs to know.’

  Victoria glanced up at Keir, fighting fear and panic.

  The receptionist called the theatre again. When she’d finished she looked at Keir. ‘The theatre nurse thinks they should be finished within an hour, barring any further complications.’

  Further complications? What was she meant to take from that?

  ‘Thanks,’ she muttered, not sure who to thank, Keir or the receptionist. She walked back to the waiting room and sunk into a chair.

  Guilt ate at her.

  Why had she left Connor with Daphne?

  Victoria knew full well that her stepmother was in the last trimester of her pregnancy and having a hard time of it. And Connor, her precious little daredevil, was often hell on wheels. What if he died and never had a chance to know his daddy? She looked at Keir in helpless despair through the veil of her lashes as so many scenarios flitted through her fevered thoughts.

  What will I do if Connor dies? Or worse, what if my intelligent, bright-eyed little boy is brain damaged?

  Horror and dread reached into every corner of her mind as one fear built on the next.

  What if he can’t talk or walk? What if this brain injury puts Connor in a wheelchair, or worse, a coma?

  Would Keir accept a brain-injured child? After all, how well do I know this forbidding man? He may be Connor’s father, but he has no emotional bond with my little boy. Would Keir reject an imperfect child, out of hand?

  Fear and worry threatened to drive Victoria crazy, and woven through her twisted thoughts were Keir’s angry words. You owe me an explanation, and by hell, it had better be good.

  After last night she was far too aware that she’d given him good reason to be suspicious of her every action.

  Logan touched her shoulder. ‘I’ve made you a cup of tea.’

  Jerked from her tortured thoughts, Victoria looked up and took the polystyrene cup he offered her. ‘Thanks.’

  She sipped and shuddered at its excessive sweetness.

  ‘Drink it, Victoria,’ Keir said quietly.

  One look at Keir and her protest died. By the time she’d finished, the sugar rush had eased her shakes. Keir left her and Logan, returning a few minutes later with water and two tablets. She looked at him, eyebrows raised.

  ‘You need these for that headache.’ Before she could deny it, Keir held up a hand, a slight smile softening his stern lips. ‘Don’t, okay? No-one expects you to be superwoman.’

  Victoria grimaced but took the pills, exchanging the empty cup for the water. With a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall, feeling much calmer.

  After the longest half-hour of her life, a man entered wearing green scrubs.

  Victoria was on her feet, rigid with fear and her mouth parched, and Caine, Logan and her father ranged behind her.

  Keir’s arm encircled her shoulders as he whispered in
her ear, ‘Courage, Victoria.’

  ‘Connor?’ Victoria’s voice croaked.

  ‘Ms Scanlan?’

  ‘Yes.’ Apprehension turned her mouth acrid and the rock in her belly expanded.

  ‘Connor has come through the operation well. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet, and until he does we won’t be able to fully gauge the success of the operation, but we’re hopeful there will be no lasting damage.’

  She heard the surgeon’s voice as if he was speaking through water. Her knees gave out and she sank against Keir, her face pressed against his chest and his arms holding her in a protective cocoon. The sharp staccato of Keir’s questions vibrated beneath her cheek as weak tears overflowed. Victoria hated crying, but these tears were impossible to stem.

  ‘Cry it all out,’ Keir murmured, his breath warm against her ear.

  Above her head, she was aware of Keir issuing low-voiced orders and she pushed upright. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. She took it and blew her nose, and she swiped the tears from her cheeks.

  ‘Connor’s in recovery and won’t be transferred to the ICU for another hour. Father and Logan are going back to Darkhaven. You and Andrew can come with me and we’ll have breakfast,’ he glanced at his watch, ‘well, more like a late lunch, and then we’ll go to the ICU. No arguments, Victoria. It could be a long wait for Connor to recover consciousness and you need to eat, okay?’

  The mention of food, and the hollow sensation in her belly made Victoria aware of how long it had been since she’d eaten. As much as she wanted to object to Keir taking command, she knew that would be hypocritical after the way she’d leaned on his strength.

  Andrew turned to Keir. ‘I’ll go on ahead.’

  ‘You do that and we’ll meet you at the cafe.’ Keir waited until they were alone in the relative privacy of the waiting room. ‘We need to be on the lookout for reporters.’

  ‘Why?’

  Another couple came into the waiting area, and with an infinitesimal shake of his head Keir escorted Victoria towards the lifts. Once they were inside a lift and there was no chance of being overheard, Keir faced her. ‘Be prepared for a pasting from the press.’

  ‘What possible interest can they have in me?’

  A cynical smile touched his lips. ‘If you recall, last night you goaded Davina into ending our engagement.’