His gut twisted like he’d been knifed as he pictured her as she’d been that morning. She’d cinched her robe tight around her waist and her face had been pale and gaunt looking. It had only been a week, but Kyle had been hoping she would begin to show signs of improved health. That her body might slowly take on the curves he’d always loved. Her eyes had barely met his.
Despite the nights they shared and the dependency of their bodies, they were more estranged than ever before.
She was his wife; he was her husband, but in reality, they were now strangers.
And the knowledge could almost have made him scream. The first time his phone buzzed, Kyle didn’t hear it. It took Maria three presses of the intercom before Kyle roused himself from his reverie and lifted the phone.
“Yes?” His voice was curt, his tone impatient.
“Ky, I’ve got a Juanita Smith here to see you?”
His frown deepened. “Send her in.”
He hadn’t seen Juanita in a year; the sight of her heavily pregnant frame squeezing through his door was a surprise indeed. He stood and moved to put a hand under her elbow.
“Hi Kyle,” she said, her smile lopsided. “How are you?”
“How am I?” He repeated, allowing her to press a kiss against his cheek. “Fine. And you? Are you as uncomfortable as you look like you must be?”
She laughed and nodded.
“Please, have a seat,” he gestured to the sofas but she shook her head.
“I can’t stay long, and it would take a forklift to get me out of there.” She ran her hands over her belly in a way that made something lodge in Kyle’s heart. What would it be like if Annie were pregnant? Watching her grow fat with his child was something he’d never thought about. Only her insistence now that she desperately didn’t want to risk falling pregnant had sparked the opposing desire within him.
“I just had to pick up some papers for Adam,” she explained hurriedly. “And seeing as I was here, I thought I’d drop this to you for Annie.” She reached into her handbag and pulled out an envelope. It was dogeared in each corner.
She grimaced as she passed it to him. “I meant to give it to her last time we caught up but I completely forgot,” Juanita explained.
“What is it?” He prompted, running a finger over the front. It bore the emblem of a nearby hospital
“Not sure,” Juanita smiled. “It’s happened once before with that place. Their admin systems must be a shemozzle. I guess it’s because she’s registered under her maiden name.”
Kyle nodded, his eyes latching to the front of the envelope. Annabelle Smith. He hated that. Why did she do it?
“Anyway, I guess it’s too hard for them to process our separate names and addresses... probably doesn’t help that we have the same birth dates too.” Juanita shrugged. “You’ll give it to her?”
“Of course.” He put the envelope onto the desk as though it wasn’t burning impatience through his soul. Was his wife sick after all? Was that what she needed him to help her forget? “How’s Adam?”
Juanita’s face flashed with pain. “He’s okay. He seems ... different somehow. A bit quiet.”
Kyle nodded.
“But I guess it’s for the best.” Only the way she said it made Kyle think that actually, she didn’t believe any such thing.
“Anyway,” she forced a smile to her face. “I’ve got an appointment with my doctor.”
He nodded distractedly and walked her to the door. When had Annie been in hospital and why were they writing her?
“Give my best to Adam,” he said generously.
“Thanks, Kyle. Thanks for everything.”
He nodded, watching as she waddled towards the bank of lifts and then turned to pass one final wave in his direction.
Kyle returned it before shutting the door, moving with a swift economy of movement back to his desk and the letter at its centre. He ripped the back off the envelope in his haste to reveal its contents then lifted the paper out.
It was a bill, and the date on it showed that it had been sent only a month earlier.
With a frown, he tried to make sense of the codes that had been used, but it was all hospital jargon. He crossed to his desk and fired his laptop to life then loaded a google browser.
Careful not to mis-type any of the letters, he entered them into the browser along with the name of the hospital and waited impatiently.
Seconds later, a link flashed in front of him. He clicked on it and blinked hopelessly at the words that swum in front of his eyes.
982-ki3p9: Gynaecological services (termination, D&C).
* * *
Luc had been staring at the piece of paper for several minutes as though he could intuit something beyond the accusatory billing code if only he looked long enough.
Kyle sipped the foam off the top of his beer, his eyes focussed across the room.
“Jesus,” Luc groaned finally, lifting enormous eyes to Kyle’s face. “She had an abortion?”
Kyle dragged a hand over his eyes. “Yeah. Apparently so.”
“I just can’t believe it. Not of Annie. Are you sure...?”
“Look at the invoice,” he snarled then regretted it instantly. “Sorry. It’s just floored me completely.”
“I can imagine.” Luc pressed the paper down. “And you’re absolutely sure that this bill wasn’t sent by mistake?”
He nodded. “I called the hospital to make payment. They were only too happy to confirm the billing code over the phone.”
“Have you talked to her?”
Kyle shook his head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea yet.” His body was thrumming with pent-up emotion. Anger, grief, hatred. “When I think of the ringer she’s put me through this last fortnight, making me feel like I failed her in every way during our marriage yet she was sitting on this.” He groaned. “How could she do it?”
Luc lifted his beer and took the head off it. “She must have had a reason. Maybe there was something medical? Maybe something was wrong with the baby and it wouldn’t have survived?”
Kyle made a grunting sound. “That’s clutching at straws.”
“No, that’s why you need to talk to her. The Annie you know and love would never have had an abortion simply because you guys were having issues.”
“Having issues?” Kyle almost choked on his beer. “She was suing me for divorce. She was going to wrap up our marriage and toss it in the trash without so much as a goodbye.” He groaned. “A baby would have been pretty inconvenient.”
“Can you hear what you’re saying?” Luc demanded. “You love this woman, and not just because she’s gorgeous and she adores you. You love her because she’s a great person. You love her because she’s kind and sweet and smart and funny. Annie would never have just gone and had an abortion because she decided on a whim not to have a baby. That’s not Annie.”
Kyle squeezed his hand around his glass. “But she did. There’s the proof.”
“Yeah, but there must have been a reason.”
“Like what? Come on, Luc. You know as well as I do that no matter what she was told by doctors – even if your fanciful theory’s right – she should have talked to me. I should have been included. That was our child. Ours.”
“Unless ...” Luc shook his head. “Nah, forget about it.”
“Unless what?”
“Unless it wasn’t yours,” Luc pondered quietly. “What if there’s more going on here than you realise? What if she didn’t just up and leave. What if she met someone else and that’s why she wanted the divorce. I mean, she’s put the hospital bill in her maiden name ...”
Kyle finished his beer in one swig. “Christ. I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks a lot.”
“Sorry.” Luc winced. “I’m sure it’s not the case. But you need to talk to Annie to get to the bottom of it.”
Kyle compressed his lips. “There is no ‘bottom’ of it. It’s not a mystery to solve. I’ve got the bill. It’s done.”
“So what are
you going to do?” Luc prompted sceptically.
Kyle stood up and threw some bank notes down on the table. “I’ve got absolutely no damn idea.”
* * *
It snowed the whole way back to his apartment. He’d stared broodingly at the swirling weather, the letter burning from its niche in his breast pocket to the skin beneath.
So she’d left him, and shortly after had undergone an abortion. Why? Had it been to spite him? Or because she couldn’t bear the thought of having a child with him? Had she thought of calling him? Or had she truly believed she could divorce him and he’d never discover the truth? If her stupid brother hadn’t indulged his penchant for kleptomania, would he have ever found this out?
His fingers curled into fists by his side as he exited the Jaguar and stalked into the foyer of his building.
Had she mourned their child? Or been relieved to terminate her pregnancy and bring finality to their union?
I’m not going to risk getting pregnant.
She’d thrown it in his face in Aspen and he hadn’t listened to his instincts. He hadn’t listened to the voice in his mind that had told him it was a strange declaration.
She hadn’t said the more simple: I’m not ready for a baby. Or, I don’t think we’re ready to have a child together.
Instead it had been a panicked declarative. I’m not going to risk getting pregnant.
His gut twisted painfully as he stepped out of the lift and prowled into their home.
Annie was sitting as he’d imagined she would be, curled up in the window seat and staring out at the street below.
A thousand thoughts flashed into his mind. Accusations and epithets, words that were almost too cruel to speak. Out of nowhere he had the blinding image of what their child might have looked like and nausea rolled through him.
How had she done it? And why?
“Hi,” she looked in his general direction with a weak smile on her face then returned her gaze to the view of the street.
He couldn’t even bring himself to respond to the simple greeting. “Annie ...” Her name was a precursor for a sentence he couldn’t frame. She lifted her head back to his, her eyes enormous pools of inquiry in her face. “I saw Juanita today,” he finished softly, but the quietness of his words hid a slow-burning anger that threatened to consume him.
“Oh?” She pushed her legs off the banquette seat so that she was facing him properly. “Is she okay?”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. Annie’s eyes fell to it instinctively. He was so beautiful, it pained her not to walk to him and throw her arms around him. To kiss those lips and inhale his masculine scent. But they had an unspoken agreement, and she was determined to keep to her side of it.
Nights equalled sex. Days equalled distance.
“Fine,” he said after such a long pause that it took Annie a moment to recall what she’d asked.
“She gave me something for you. From the hospital. A bill.”
The colour drained from her face. Her body flashed hot and cold, as though she had a sudden fever. “That’s strange,” she said warily.
“It was a bill for an abortion,” he said darkly, his voice deep and husky. His eyes were barbed with emotion now and Annie understood, because she knew him, how difficult he was finding it to keep a grip on his temper.
“I see,” she murmured.
“You had an abortion. You were pregnant.”
Her whole body was shaking. She pressed her hands into her stomach on instinct, the painful memories threatening to suck her back with them.
“How the hell could you do this?” He shouted, before she’d had a chance to respond. “Of all the cold, callous things, I never expected you capable of this!”
“Kyle.” Her voice throbbed with feeling. “Let me explain ...”
“Explain what? That you were pregnant and didn’t tell me? That you were pregnant and decided that instead of having a baby with me you’d prefer to have an abortion? My God, Annie, if I hadn’t seen the bill for myself I wouldn’t believe this possible. That you’re capable of this ...”
“I don’t understand why she even had a bill. And why she gave it to you,” Annie stuttered, knowing even as she said it that these thoughts were the last things that mattered.
“Of course your first concern is to why your lie was uncovered.” He stepped closer to her, his expression like thunderclouds and tidal waves. “You’re so much more like Adam than I ever understood. I don’t think the two of you have an honest bone in your bodies.”
“Kyle,” she said loudly, beseechingly. “Just listen.”
“No, Annie.” He squared his shoulders and stared down his nose at her. “You’ve had so many chances to explain, and now that you’ve been discovered, that explanation no longer has any merit.” How could he sound so calm when he was being ripped to shreds by the intensity of his feelings?
“I want you to get out of my house.” His eyes narrowed as he dragged them from the tip of her head to her petite, bare feet. “Get out, and wait for my lawyer to be in touch.”
Her shaking was uncontrollable now. “No,” she said, shaking her head, her expression anguished.
“Yes,” he contradicted, stalking through the apartment and grabbing a coat and pair of boots from their bedroom. He threw them at her feet and spun away.
“Get out,” he said as he walked from the room.
“Kyle,” she ran after him, reaching for his arm.
But he ripped it out of her grip as though she’d tried to pour flame over him. “Do not touch me. Don’t you dare.” He closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, the cold hatred was back. “That was our baby. Ours. You should have told me.”
“I can explain...”
“No.” He swallowed back bitterness. “There is no explanation you could give me that I would want to hear. Get out.”
“Kyle,” she sobbed, and reached for his arm again. “Please.”
“Please what?” He demanded. “How could you do this? How could you sleep with me night after night knowing how this would change things?”
“I didn’t have an abortion,” she blurted. If she’d had more time she might have tried to frame the sentence better. Only everything he said showed her how close they were to the precipice of their relationship and Annie knew only one thing for absolute certain: She couldn’t lose him. Not again.
“This would beg to differ,” he roared through the apartment, lifting the bill out and pressing it into her hand. And now she understood this was more than just anger. He was grieving. It had all happened so suddenly, discovering about the pregnancy and its conclusion. “Or did the hospital make it up, Annie? Was this a lie?”
And for a man used to being hurt and deserted, even by Annie, it was only natural that he would jump to the worst conclusion.
“I was pregnant,” she said, grabbing his hand and holding it so tight that short of bending her fingers backwards painfully he had no choice but to tolerate the grip. “I didn’t know.” She stared into his eyes, though it was so much harder to look at him and say what she was confessing to. “When I left you, I was a mess. I was in a downward spiral that knocked me sideways. I was hardly eating. I existed on a diet of black coffee and dried biscuits. I stayed in bed for two weeks straight.”
“Are you actually expecting me to understand why you did this?”
She sobbed. “Please let me finish.”
Her shaking was distracting him. He went to remove his hand but she wrapped her fingers more tightly around it. “I spent months in a weird haze. I wasn’t myself.”
“So? You chose to leave me! If you were upset then it was your own doing.”
She bit down on her lip. “Let me finish,” she said once more. “If you want me to go at the end of this, I will.”
“Fine.” Now when he pulled his hand she let go, and he crossed his arms across his chest. It wasn’t a particularly encouraging gesture but she knew that their only chance for a future together rested on the next few moment
s. “But for God’s sake, Annie, hurry up. Right now I’m sick to death of the sight of you.”
Pain clawed at her being. “I lost the baby.”
It was the only thing left to admit. The truth. Saying the words brought a form of relief to her, even though emptiness and shame followed swiftly behind. She couldn’t look at him now. Her face took on a hollow expression as she recounted the details of that day. “I woke up feeling sick. But by the afternoon I was vomiting and could hardly walk. I was in the most excruciating pain.” Her face was ashen. “I was on my way home when I passed out, crossing a street. That’s the last thing I remember before someone called nine one one and I ended up at the hospital.”
Kyle shifted his weight from one foot in the other. He tried to keep a grip on his temper but confusion was nudging it aside. “The bill says termination.”
She shook her head. “I know. That’s not the first bill. Losing a baby is blood expensive, actually, let me tell you.” Her voice trembled with an attempt at a laugh but it was totally the wrong place and the laugh morphed into a sob. “I had to have a procedure,” she swallowed. “Because I was a few months along. It wasn’t straight forward.” She blanked her eyes shut. “It was awful, actually. A nightmare. I guess that’s just the billing code for what I ... for what ... for what happened to me. I could check it against the bills I have ...”
He spun away from her and paced to the kitchen bench. He pressed his weight against it. “No. That hardly matters.” He closed his eyes, allowing the facts to click into place. He needed more information. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“And tell you what? That I’d been so selfish I hadn’t even noticed I was pregnant?”
“Annie,” he shook his head in despair. “This wasn’t your fault.”
“That’s what the doctor said. But we both know it was.”
His eyes were clouded with emotion. “Why? Why do you say that?”
The Billionaire's Ruthless Revenge Page 11