The plump-cheeked housekeeper came into the foyer with a smile, holding a stack of letters. “I was cleaning out some of your stepfather’s things, as you requested. I almost threw this envelope out with the rubbish but then happened to notice it had your name.”
“Leave it with me,” Eve gasped. Holding the envelope, she sat down on a hard chair in the dining room—afraid if she went for the cushy sofa in the parlor she’d never be able to get up again. Fake labor pains, she tried to tell herself. Braxton-Hicks contractions. But a moment later, as she leaned back into the chair, another pain ripped through her.
She took deep breaths as she’d learned in childbirth class—alone—and tried to control her sudden fear. Every nerve in her body told her that it was time. She was going into labor.
And she didn’t want to do it alone.
In spite of everything, she’d somehow thought he would come back for her.
But why would he? she thought savagely. After everything she’d said? He’d been willing to forgive her cold-hearted betrayal last June, but she’d been unable even to consider the possibility that he’d been telling the truth about her father.
Her father…
Gasping, she looked down at the envelope written in her stepfather’s hand. She ripped it open.#p#分页标题#e#
Dear Evie,
I found this letter among your mother’s possessions after she died. I didn’t know whether you should ever see it. Sometimes it’s best not to know the truth. I will let fate decide. Your mother always loved you, and so did I. God bless you.
There was another smaller envelope inside. She sat up straight, ignoring another sharp contraction as she saw her father’s sharp, faded handwriting. It was a love letter, dated the day before her father’s embezzlement had been revealed to the press.
Bonnie,
I can’t keep lying anymore. I’m leaving you. My secretary wants adventure like I do—like you used to. But don’t worry, honey. You and the kiddo will be fine. I’ve managed to get a chunk of money, the bonus they should have given me over the years.
I’ve left half the money for you.
Dalton
With a gasp, Eve crushed the letter to her chest.
She’d thought her mother had died of a broken heart.
She’d been wrong.
You never named your source. Who was it?
Sadly: I gave my word I wouldn’t reveal that.
Her mother had betrayed her father. But within months, she’d been smothered by the coldness of her own revenge. It was the same chill that had frozen Eve over the last five months.
Eve had unknowingly modeled her life after her mother’s. She’d given up love, selfishly thrown away her baby’s chance for a father, for the cold, dead satisfaction of revenge.
Oh my God, what had she done?
Eve cried out as another pain ripped through her. And this time, it really hurt.
“Miss Craig?” The housekeeper suddenly appeared.
“Call me Mrs. Xenakis,” Eve cried, rising to her feet. “I want my husband. Please—get me my husband!”
“Are you in labor? I’ll call the doctor—I’ll get the car around—”
“No,” Eve panted, placing her hands on her belly. It couldn’t be time, not yet. “We’re not going anywhere—not until—he’s here!”
She swayed, her knees nearly buckling beneath her as another pain ripped through her. Her baby was about to be born.
Eve looked around the elegant, cold, drafty mansion. She didn’t want to be the woman she’d been, buried in the past as her mother had been.
Eve wanted a future. She wanted her baby to grow up happy and secure, in a home full of life and color and joy. She wanted Talos as her baby’s father. As her husband.
She wanted to love him.
And she had the choice.
“Please get me the phone,” she panted.
“You stay right there,” the housekeeper pleaded, running to the nearby phone. She dialed the telephone number Eve gave her, then, after speaking, she held down the receiver. “His assistant says he’s unavailable, traveling in Asia.”
Unavailable? In Asia?
Talos must have decided he didn’t want her, she thought miserably. He was done with her.
“Did you tell him I’m in labor?” she panted.
“Yes, and that you’d like your husband to come to London as soon as possible. Can I do anything more?”
“No,” Eve whispered. There was nothing more to be done. Nothing more to be said. If he was in Asia, he’d never make it back to London in time.
Even if he wanted to.
Eve felt like crying.
As the housekeeper ordered the chauffeur to bring around the car, Eve covered her face with her hands. Why had she been so blind? He’d offered her his love with both hands, and she’d pushed it away. Now she was going to have their baby alone. She’d raise their child alone.#p#分页标题#e#