A Husband's Regret (The Unwanted Series)(19)

"Forget it," he snapped, before she could even think about formulating a  response. "It was a stupid question, and it's really not that  important. As long as you don't leave with my daughter, I don't give a  damn what you do." Somehow the words sounded hollow and untrue, ringing  with bravado and not much conviction. They avoided each other's  eyes-each afraid of the truth they might spy in the other's gaze.





  

"I have to go," she muttered evasively, getting up from the chair. He jumped up too and caught her arm to halt her progress.

"Wait." She stood quietly in his grasp, her eyes searching his harsh  features warily. He looked moody and uncertain, not at all sure of what  he wanted to say or even why he'd halted her progress.

"I don't want you to go by yourself," he said, almost reluctantly. "I  want one of the security team to go with." Bronwyn frowned at that. She  had always hated the discreet security detail that had followed them  just about everywhere after they had first gotten married and had  complained about it so much that he had cut her personal detail down to  one supposedly unobtrusive guard to keep her happy. Bronwyn had agreed  to the compromise because the one guy had been better than a team, but  she had never felt comfortable with what she had always felt was a  blatant display of wealth.

"Bryce, I don't want to have some gorilla following me around all afternoon," she snapped, and his lips tightened.

"I'll ask Cal to take care of the matter personally." Cal was his head  of security and Bronwyn had always liked the quiet man who read  Shakespearean sonnets in his spare time. She hadn't really seen him  since her return. She was relieved to learn that he still worked for  Bryce since she had feared that she might have gotten him into trouble  after instructing him to take that fateful night off two years ago. She  had wanted a private and romantic evening with her husband and had  dismissed the entire staff. She knew that it was probably one of the  only reasons she had been able to disappear so completely. Cal had left  only a skeleton staff on duty that night. Her personal guard, not  expecting her to leave the house that night, had also been given the  night off.

"I'm glad Cal still works for you," she said, all the heat fleeing from her voice and expression.

"He's been acting as my personal guard," Bryce said before making an odd  sound in the back of his throat. "You still have my numbers right?" he  continued hesitantly, and she nodded again. "If you need anything, or if  you feel ill, call me."

"Bryce." She smiled reassuringly up into his eyes. "I'm fine, but in the  unlikely event of that status quo changing, I'll be sure to give you a  call." His eyes frosted over.

"Don't mock me, Bronwyn," he said coldly, and she shook her head, alarmed that he had misread her humor.

"I wasn't," she assured gently, lifting her hand to cup his jaw. "I'll  be fine, but I promise to call you if I feel ill." He stepped away from  her soft hand, leaving it hovering in midair. He continued to look down  at her for a few long moments.

"I'll tell Cal to meet you in the garage. Let him do the driving," he  said bossily before swivelling on his heel and leaving the room. Bronwyn  sighed despondently and stared after him for one long, wistful moment  before straightening her shoulders and leaving too.



Alice met her at the restaurant entrance with a warm hug and a smile.  Her mischievously sparkling eyes traveled past Bronwyn's shoulder to  where Cal stood hovering in the background, before tossing a  conspiratorial glance back over her own narrow shoulder. When Bronwyn  saw a large man, similarly dressed in black suit and dark glasses  standing a little off to the side, desperately striving to look  "unobtrusive" behind Alice, she laughed in genuine amusement.

"All the cool kids have one these days," Alice wisecracked cheerfully, her expression so comical that it set Bronwyn off again.

"Where's Tristan?" Bronwyn asked Alice after their initial warm greetings.

"I told Pierre that this was a ladies' afternoon and as such he had to  take Tristan to the office with him." She grinned. "He was a bit  reluctant. He loves having the baby around, but Tristan has this nasty  habit of chewing important documents. Pierre still shudders every time  he thinks of a certain document that got gummed just minutes before he  had to hand it back to the legal department. The way he tells it, he had  no option but to give it back as is. He made no comment about the drool  and as such none of the legal team had the courage to say anything  either. They merely retyped everything before sending it off." She  laughed conspiratorially.

"According to Pierre it was ‘damned embarrassing.'" She imitated her  husband's voice and accent perfectly, and Bronwyn's grin widened  appreciatively. "Apparently he has an important meeting today, but I  hardly ever get time to myself, so while he may grumble, he doesn't  really mind. In fact, he'll never admit it but he gets a total thrill  out of having his son to himself for part of the day."





  

"Well, I still feel a bit guilty about leaving Bryce with Kayla,"  Bronwyn admitted. "He's been remarkable with her, but I feel like he's  been doing all the work."

"So?" Alice interrupted coldly. "You have been doing all the work for  the last two years, and you've paid for it with your health. It's time  for Bryce to put in some hours."

"But . . ."

"And you can't tell me he's not enjoying this time with her. He's  getting to know his daughter, and from what I could see last night, he's  totally in love with her."

Bronwyn nodded with slight smile.

"So no more guilt; just enjoy yourself. As far as I can tell, you haven't had too much fun over the last two years."

Bronwyn's smile faded, and Alice shrugged, the gesture so Gallic, it could only have rubbed off on her from her husband.

"I know nothing about your situation, Bronwyn," she said quietly. "But  Pierre's version of events, definitely gleaned from his friend, was so  one-sided that I'd always vowed to reserve judgment until I met you. And  there seems to be a whole lot that Bryce left out when he told Pierre  his story. I mean, he had certainly never told Pierre that you were  pregnant. I can't tell you how shocked Pierre was when he learned that  you were back in Bryce's life and with a child!"

Bronwyn blinked stupidly at that. Pierre hadn't known about her  pregnancy? She had a sudden vivid flashback of Rick in her room at the  hospital. It hadn't really sunk in at the time; she had been frightened,  panicky, and floating on a medicated cloud, but her brother-in-law had  looked startled at Bryce's first mention of a child. How could Bryce not  have told Rick or Pierre about their baby? Had he told his "crack" team  of private investigators? It was a bizarre detail to leave out. If he  really wanted to find her, why wouldn't he have told anybody about her  pregnancy? Surely it would have made his search easier. Granted, some  instinct had urged her to use her maternal grandmother's maiden name  over the last two years, just in case Bryce decided that he wanted her  baby and not her. It had been bothersome because she'd had to keep  changing doctors and clinics; nobody would have believed her "forgotten  ID" story twice.

"Bronwyn?" Alice's voice seemed to come from a great distance away, and  Bronwyn had a hard time focusing on Alice again. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't he have told Pierre or Rick about the baby?" she mused aloud, and Alice frowned

"That's a good question," Alice murmured. "But one that only Bryce can  provide the answer to." Bronwyn nodded absently but found it hard to  focus on anything else for the rest of the afternoon. She enrolled in  the sign language classes after lunch. The clinic offered afternoon and  evening classes, and Bronwyn opted to attend a day class once a week.  She and Alice also arranged a standing lunch date on the day that she  would attend the class.

"So every Tuesday? Same time and place?" the other woman double-checked  as they said their good-byes a couple of hours later. "And next time,  let's keep the husbands out of the conversation!"

"I'm sorry if I seemed a little distracted," Bron apologized quietly. "It's just . . ."

"Forget it, you and Bryce obviously still have a great deal to work out."





CHAPTER SEVEN

The house was in chaos when Bronwyn returned home half an hour later.  Kayla was screaming her head off in the den while Bryce held her  writhing little body in his arms as he frantically tried to soothe her.  Celeste stood to the side, wringing her hands nervously, a concerned  look on her plain face.

"Oh my God! What's going on here?" Kayla's crying worsened when she  heard her mother's voice. She managed to pull herself out of her  father's arms and launched herself toward her mother, her unsteady gait  nearly sending her off balance.