After all, this was the man who had thought nothing of kicking her out of their home after discovering that she was pregnant with his baby. The same man who had left her to fend for herself when she was at her weakest. He had also accused her of the most heinous of acts and no amount of guilt now could make up for his many sins. Any relationship that they tried to salvage from this wreckage of a marriage would be based on a foundation of guilt and misguided obligation.
"I don't think it can be fixed anymore, Bryce," she said reluctantly, moving toward his desk and sitting down in the huge leather chair across from him. He flinched and averted his face briefly before turning his head to look at her once more.
"So what do you want to do?" he asked tonelessly.
"I don't know," she admitted helplessly. "I think we would all be better off if we, you and I, were no longer together. Let's face it, after two years of separation, the next logical step is a mere formality."
"You want to leave," he said matter-of-factly. "Again."
"I didn't exactly want to leave the last time, Bryce," she reminded him pointedly. She was small-minded enough to enjoy seeing the barb hit home. "I just don't think this situation can be redeemed. Too much has been said and done to go back." He scrubbed a tired hand over his face before tilting his head back and shutting his eyes. After a few moments of silence, he opened his eyes and looked back at her with his piercing eyes.
"What do you plan to do after you leave?"
"I'm going back to university to finish my studies."
"Won't it be difficult to be a full-time student when you're a single parent again?" Her mouth gaped in surprise at the wholly unexpected question.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assumed that I was no longer a single parent." His eyes flickered with something akin to relief, and Bronwyn's surprise very quickly turned to horrified comprehension. "You thought I was taking her away from you?" He nodded in response to her shocked question.
"Whatever you may have done to deserve it, Bryce, I won't deny you your right to be a father to Kayla. Even though you once tossed away that privilege as cavalierly as you would a pair of old socks." Another direct hit. "And don't get me wrong here; I am not doing it for you! Kayla needs you in her life." He nodded again, this time more confidently.
"So you want to finish your studies?" he prompted after clearing his throat awkwardly.
"I'll have to find a decent place to live and a job to pay for-"
"That won't be necessary," he inserted hurriedly. "The job, I mean. I'll pay for your studies."
"The only money I'll ever want from you will go toward the upbringing of your daughter, Bryce. I can take care of myself!"
"This from the woman who was practically on her last legs when we found her? You will not run yourself into the ground again. I can, and will, take care of you."
"I am not your property; you have no right to speak to me as if I were," she said, seething, and he swore in frustration.
"Okay, can we compromise on this?" he asked meekly after what looked like a colossal effort to rein in his temper. "I have a suggestion." She waited silently for him to continue, her arms folded defiantly over her chest as she prepared for battle.
"You and Kayla stay here." He lifted a silencing hand as she started to protest. "No, wait, just listen. You and Kayla stay here, and that way, she and I would be able to see each other all the time. You find that job to pay for your studies, and you'll have built-in babysitters for Kayla in both Celeste and me. You won't be run off your feet, studying, working a part-time job, and caring for a demanding toddler. You also won't have to worry about rent and food."
"What's in this for you?" she asked suspiciously.
"Like I said, unrestricted access to my daughter," was his simple response. "And enough time to get to know her better."
"What about us? Our marriage?" She broached the subject warily, and he averted his eyes down to his clenched hands again.
"Well there is no more marriage, is there?" he droned tonelessly. "This house is big enough for us to live completely separate lives. We could work out some kind of schedule, times you may need certain areas of the house to yourself. Please don't reject the idea out of hand just because it came from me. It makes sense and you won't be killing yourself trying to make ends meet. I won't interfere with your life at all."
"What about your work?" she asked when his eyes were on her again.
"I work mostly from home these days." He shrugged and she hesitated, her mind busily going over every angle of his plan. "I do plan to spend some more time in the office in the future, but we have an excellent in-house day-care facility, so she'll never be too far from me."
"This can't be a permanent arrangement," she said after a long pause, knowing that she was compromising way too much. Her instincts were screaming at her to move out, but she kept thinking of Kayla and how much she adored her father. "And if I'm staying here, I'll want to pay rent," she cautioned, and he dipped his head in acquiescence.
"I know it can't be permanent, but it'll give you time to arrange your future; it will give me time to get to know Kayla and vice versa. You can pay a reasonable amount for rent, and the amount will include food and utilities. But if you're paying rent, you won't be able to pay for your tuition and books, so I'd like to give you a student loan, low interest, which you can pay off in your own time," he hurried on when it looked like she was about to protest. "It's a better deal than you'd get from any bank, Bronwyn. No strings attached. Once you've finished your studies and are settled into your new career, you'll be better equipped to move out, and Kayla will be old enough to understand."
"Bryce, that will take years." She was aghast at the thought of living in limbo for so long. But still, it was an awfully tempting suggestion, and Bronwyn knew she'd be a fool to turn it down when she had so few other options. But things were starting to get sticky again, too many ties and way too many complications. "We have to move on with our lives."
"And so we shall. We'll just be sharing a house, Bron . . . nothing else. This works out to everyone's advantage, and it's best for Kayla."
"We'll have to . . ." She cleared her throat, not really wanting to be the one to mention the inevitable. "We'll have to start proceedings."
"Proceedings?" He looked confused.
"Divorce proceedings," she clarified, and he very quickly averted his face, shielding his eyes from her.
"Yes, of course." He nodded before lifting his eyes to her face again.
"It will be awkward once we start seeing other people, Bryce." She decided to be the one to bite the bullet and speak the inescapable words. He cleared his throat uncomfortably before nodding again.
"I just ask that we both practice some discretion when it comes to that. Any . . . uh . . . any liaisons you . . . we see fit to start will have to be conducted outside of the home. For Kayla's sake, of course. Anything else would confuse her."
"That sounds reasonable," she agreed, even while nervousness ate away at her stomach. She wasn't sure that she was doing the right thing. Sure, she was taking the easy way out, but apprehension kept niggling away at the back of her mind. She got up gracefully and looked down at him for a long moment. "This marriage was probably never meant to be, Bryce. We were always too different." He averted his gaze, saying nothing in response, and Bronwyn sighed before turning away and heading toward the door.
"We were good together once." The words sounded torn from him, and she turned around to face him again.
"For a very brief time, so long ago that it seems like a dream now," she reflected, her eyes misty. She dipped her chin at him before leaving.
Bryce watched her go before slumping back into his chair and kneading his temples with his fists. God, how the hell had this happened? How could he have gotten everything so wrong? He thought back to that terrible night and fought the painful memories, but they were relentlessly flooding back.
CHAPTER NINE
That night, two years ago, Bryce had leaned against the doorframe and watched as Bronwyn, unaware of his presence, flitted happily around the kitchen. She had her back to the door and her sweet little behind, deliciously molded by the faded fabric of her jeans, had wriggled energetically to the beat of the lively salsa tune coming from the iPod speakers on the kitchen counter. She clearly thought she was alone in the house. It was something she did quite often: dismissed the servants to surprise him with a meal that she had lovingly prepared. He would be lying if he didn't admit to loving these moments of intimate domesticity. Eventually, he found the temptation of that cute little butt too much to resist. He crept up behind her to grab her hips and draw her back against him. She squealed in delight before turning in his grasp and throwing her arms around his neck. His own arms crept around her slender waist and they danced together sexily for a while. He started nuzzling her neck before she laughed and pulled herself out of his embrace.