Dana and Paul had gotten married.
Connor had realized that this fake marriage was never going to be enough for him.
And now he wanted out.
She spoke at his shoes. “You can’t do thi—”
“You’ve hardly been home for Dylan over the past ten days.” The words were as harsh as a whip. “You spent last Sunday and most of this past weekend at work.”
To avoid him. Because she’d been unable to bear the tension, the antagonism between them. She looked up, her gaze unconsciously pleading with him. “I’ll make sure—”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I have to end this. For Dylan’s sake.”
His words cut deep into her heart.
If she’d thought the pain unbearable before, she now bled pure grief. This was what she’d feared all along. Marriage to Connor was supposed to have roadblocked this outcome.
The first burst of angry determination fired up. No. She wasn’t going to let Connor shove her out of Dylan’s life because he hadn’t gotten the woman he’d really wanted.
She put out of her mind those glorious hours when they’d managed to live together only too well … that magical wedding night that had changed everything between them … that had made it impossible for her to live under the same roof when she knew Connor still loved Dana.
It was unbearable that Dana’s wedding had triggered that night of ecstatic passion and incredible emotion. It was worse that he was going to end their arrangement because of a woman who didn’t deserve him.
She swallowed the thick ache that misery had lodged in her throat.
“This is all about Dana.”
Her voice came out all wrong. Instead of sounding cool and composed, it was an accusatory croak.
“Dana?” He did a wonderful job of looking totally blank.
“Yes, Dana.” So he was going to make her spell it out. “Dana, who used to work with you, who used to share your bed—”
“I know who Dana is,” he cut in impatiently, putting his hands on his hips and managing to look even more intimidating than ever. “But I fail to see what she has to do with this discussion.”
“Everything!” Couldn’t he see it? It was so obvious. “She got married last week.”
“Yes, I know Dana got married. So what?”
Somehow Victoria didn’t think he’d appreciate her telling him he was still hung up on his ex. Especially if he was desperately denying that truth to himself.
Denial was a terrible thing. Ask her, she knew all about that. She’d been telling herself for two years that she disliked Connor, despised him, that he was the most arrogant jerk she’d ever met. When the truth was so much more shameful. She wanted him, she craved him, she’d been wanting to crawl into his bed and do exactly what they had the night of Dana’s wedding.
And she’d reveled in every minute of it.
But she wasn’t telling him her sordid little secret. “You only married me to get back at Dana.”
“That’s utter rubbish.” His eyes had started to blaze with unfamiliar emotion.
She drew a shaky breath. “It’s not rubbish—”
“It’s crap.” He glared down at her. “We got married because of Dylan. You’re making it sound like I’m still hung up on Dana—I’m not.”
Maybe she was over-reacting.
According to the newspaper article, he had known Dana and Paul were getting married. No argument there. Victoria tried desperately to regroup her thoughts.
His eyes snapped with fury, and it took all Victoria’s determination to carry on with him towering above her like a dark lord full of fury and wrath. But she had to—if she wanted any chance at keeping Dylan.
“But knowing that they were getting married is different from living with the reality of Dana wedded to Paul.” If his love for Dana was anything like the unfurling love she’d discovered for him, that would have been terribly painful. “It took her out of your life permanently. I can understand—”
He edged closer, knee to knee with her now.
“You understand nothing!”
“I can understand,” Victoria continued as though he’d never interrupted so rudely, “that you wanted to get back at her. And what better way than by going through with our wedding?”
To Victoria’s dismay, he didn’t deny it.
After a long moment, she said, “Clearly you’ve since decided that our marriage isn’t what you want.” Because Connor loved Dana.
When he finally spoke again his voice was icier than she’d ever heard it. “Spare me the psychobabble. The issue here is not Dana, it’s your commitment to Dylan.”
Her commitment to Dylan was not in question; he was her child, for heaven’s sake. And it was time Connor learned that.
“You don’t want to be married to me because I’m not Dana. I can understand that. But you need to understand that I’m not giving Dylan up. He’s—”
“I’m not going to give you a choice, Victoria.”
“You have to,” she said with grim satisfaction. “I’m coguardian, joint custodian, and I’m—”
“And I am Dylan’s biological father!”
Horror struck, she leaped to her feet. They stood face-to-face, both breathing raggedly.
“You’re Dylan’s father?”
He nodded.
“You can’t be! Michael is his father.”
She wanted to howl. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Dylan couldn’t be Connor’s baby.
Not with everything the way it was between them. The way it had always been, right from that very first meeting when she’d wanted him after one look and he couldn’t even remember her darn name. They could not possibly have created together the perfect being that was Dylan.
It was too cruel to be true.
“I’m his biological father. It’s my seed that gave him life. And I will do whatever I can to protect him. He’s my son.”
Just the sound of that possessive claim knocked the bottom out of her world.
Victoria put her fingers to her throbbing temples.
She wasn’t giving up her baby. Connor was going to have a fight on his hands like he’d never seen before. The fight for his company against Dana and Paul would be nothing compared to the war she would wage.
She flung her head back, and their gazes locked. “Even if that means throwing out his mother? Yes, I donated the egg that Suzy carried in her body. That makes him part of me. What do you think Dylan will think when he learns about that when he’s older?”
Connor’s eyes had turned to slits of dark ice. “I don’t believe you.”
“Why should I lie? It wouldn’t get me anywhere.” She stood toe-to-toe with him. If she let him win this battle it would be over. She had to convince him. “I can produce the donor agreement to prove that I’m his mother. And you’re not kicking me out of my son’s life because you’ve realized you can’t get over your worthless lover.”
Under her shock and the growing anger there was hurt that he thought her so unworthy of motherhood. But she was dammed if she would let him see how much she cared.
“I’m not in love with Dana,” he said into the hush that had fallen.
She studied him, looking for signs of subterfuge. “You don’t need to pretend with me.”
He grimaced. “I’m not pretending. I got over her a while ago. And it’s been surprising to learn how many people think I’ve had a lucky escape.”
A feeling of immense relief fell over her. If he wasn’t in love with Dana, and if they were both Dylan’s parents, then there was no reason for him to push her away.
Except that he felt she hadn’t been a very good mother.…
Victoria sank back onto the couch and dropped her head in her hands. “Dylan is more important to me than anything in the world.” Half-fearful of what expression she’d find, she parted her fingers and gazed up at Connor through the gaps.
The cushion lowered as he dropped down beside her. “But what about your job? That’s always been your number-one priority.” His face was stern, but at least he was listening.
“I love my work, Connor.”
How could she explain to him that her work was her security blanket? The thing in life that made her feel worthwhile. He’d think her a total nut.
So instead, she said, “Don’t push me out of Dylan’s life. He’s all I have left of Suzy and he’s the only child I’ll ever have.”
“You should have told me sooner.”
“I considered it. But I promised Suzy that I wouldn’t tell anyone. I finally convinced myself that you should know. But I couldn’t find a way to tell you. What stopped you telling me?”
He shook his head. “At first there was just so much to cope with, I honestly never considered it. Then once you moved in I thought that you were already so stressed that I might take Dylan away from you, that if you knew he was my son you would become even more anxious. I wanted you to settle down a bit before I told you.”
“I suppose that’s why you’re kicking me out now,” she said sarcastically.
Connor’s expression changed. “Tory—”
Her mobile rang.
“Leave it,” he ordered as she dropped onto her knees and rummaged in the side pocket of her laptop bag.