His Son, Her Secret(12)

       
           



       

His hands stilled and then he snorted. "This is for Percy. You can have  your own bedroom. I don't expect you to sleep with me." There was a  brief pause. "It'd probably be best if we keep things simple between us  until we decide on what to do next."

"Agreed," she said. Which completely disregarded the fact that, at this  very moment, he was holding her in a highly not-simple way. Could she  really expect either of them to maintain a respectable distance? "Simple  is better."

"And you'll keep helping me with the restaurant?"

"Yes." The absolute last thing she could do now was quit her job. Even  if Byron was covering the rent, she still needed to maintain her  independence. He might not be looking for a fight-and she wasn't exactly  spoiling for one, either-but if things went wrong, she needed to be  able to pick up and start over again.

Again.

He swallowed. "And your parents? Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want my son anywhere near your father."

"They're not a part of this. I cut ties when we left."

He leaned back and looked her in the eye again. "Why did you leave? I  mean, we'd talked about getting our own place or you moving in with  me-but you wouldn't do it then."

The corners of her mouth turned down as she pushed back against tears.  She hadn't moved in with Byron before because moving in would mean  telling him who she really was and she hadn't wanted to risk it. Looking  back, she should have. But instead, she'd convinced herself that once  she finished college and got a job-that would be the time to leave home.  But she didn't explain any of that. Instead she said, "May and I had to  get out. My father was...unbearable." She shuddered again at the memory  of her father's completely unfiltered rage.

"Did he hit you?" Byron demanded, a fierce look in his eyes.

"No." But there are other ways to make a person hurt. "He threatened to  have me declared unfit and to take the baby after he was born."

"He did what?"

"Because it was you." This time, she couldn't push the tears back.  "Because of who you are. He wanted to make sure you'd never get the  baby."

For years, her father had berated Leona, her sister, her mother. All of  them bore the brunt of his rage. And she'd put up with it for far  longer than she should have because she hadn't known any better.

Until she'd met Byron. Until he'd shown her that there was a different  way to live, that people could actually care for each other. If only  she'd been brave enough before...

But then again, now she knew Byron's true colors. She could have  escaped her father only to be stuck with a man who'd abandon her anyway.

Still, it had been those times with Byron that had given her the  courage to leave home, single, pregnant and with May. She'd realized  then that she had to get out while she could, before Leon Harper got  ahold of her son.

Byron was staring at her in total shock. "He would, wouldn't he?"

She nodded.

A moment passed as he gaped at her. "Then there's only one thing to do," he finally said in a shaky voice.

No, she wanted to say, even though she didn't know what that one thing  was. She knew she wasn't going to like it, wasn't going to want it.

"We have to get married."





Six

This was his life now, he realized. Proposing marriage in whispers to a  woman who was crying, all so they wouldn't wake the baby. "Why hasn't  he done it yet? Why hasn't he taken Percy away from you?"

"I don't know."

"It's the only way to keep Percy safe, Leona, and you know it."

If they weren't married, what was to stop her father from charging in  like a bull elephant at any second? Byron had been out of the picture  for a year. He didn't know the specifics of family law, but he was  pretty sure his absence would count against him. He would beat Leon-he  was the boy's father-but it would be a long, exhausting battle.

Memories of his mother mixed in with all the current confusion-not just  the screaming fights, but how his father had had all of her things  loaded into a moving van before he'd served her with divorce papers. How  his mother had never quite recovered from being kicked out, from being  steamrollered in court and losing her children.

Could Byron let that happen to Leona? Could he live with himself if she  was the collateral damage in yet another Beaumont-Harper legal battle?

He should. She'd lied to him-twice. And not about whether or not she'd  spent too much money or hated his cooking or any of those petty things  other people lied about. She'd lied about who she was and the fact that  she'd given birth to Byron's son.                       
       
           



       

And yet... He couldn't do it. Because Leona was right about one  thing-it didn't really matter who'd done what a year ago. He couldn't  bear to think of her being destroyed like his mother had been. That was a  risk he wasn't willing to take.

He could barely think right now. Babies and apartments and a wedding. A ring. And a restaurant. Couldn't forget that.

And applesauce. He turned to the stove-yeah, it was done. He shut the  burner off to let it cool. For some insane reason, he wondered if Leona  had chocolate chips. If ever there was a time for cookies, this was it.

He turned back to Leona. She stood there looking as if he'd threatened  her to within an inch of her life. Maybe he had. But what were his  options? He could not let Leon Harper get his claws into Percy.  Everything else was secondary.

"At least until we're sure your father can't take over," he  rationalized. "And you can still have a private bedroom. I..." He took a  deep breath. "I cared for you a great deal. I hope that we can at least  be friends."

She dropped her gaze and he had the distinct feeling that he was making things worse. "Friends."

"For Percy's sake."

"Can I...think about it? Tomorrow's Friday. We probably couldn't get an appointment to get married for a week or two anyway."

"Sure." He tried to sound friendly about it, but he didn't think he  made it. "But I'll start looking for places tomorrow." Because even if  she didn't marry him, they still needed to live together.

But she'd marry him. She had to.

He should go. He'd just asked her to move in and marry him within the  space of a few minutes, and the pull to make cookies was only getting  stronger. She needed to think, too. "When will I see you tomorrow?" he  asked.

"I have to go to the office and update my boss on the project and draft  a few ideas for you. I promised," she added with a watery smile.

"Lunch, then? I'll have something ready for us."

"Not at the mansion, right?" Another small shudder went through her.

"No," he readily agreed. He didn't want another run-in with Frances. "At the restaurant."

"All right. Tomorrow around noon."

He transferred the applesauce into the container and sealed it. "For Percy," he said, holding out the still-warm sauce.

"For Percy," she agreed.

She didn't sound happy about it.

* * *

Byron went straight to the kitchen. It was late, though-George was  already gone. The normally warm, bright room was dark and quiet, except  for the echo of his footsteps off the tiled floors.

He flipped on the lights and assembled ingredients. Chocolate chip  cookies were a must. For lunch tomorrow, he told himself. And he could  try a few sandwiches. It was reasonable to think that he'd want to have a  simple lunch menu.

He fell into the familiar routine of creaming the sugar and folding in  the chips while the oven preheated. He didn't even have to think about  this recipe anymore.

Had he really asked Leona to marry him? Because she'd given birth to a son-his son, the one with matching red hair?

He needed a ring. He hadn't bought one the first time around. A ring would show her he was serious about this.

"There you are."

Byron spun to see Frances standing in the doorway. Instead of the gown  she'd been wearing earlier, she was in a pair of pajamas-thick, fleecy  ones with a bright turquoise plaid pattern. She looked fifteen years  younger than their twenty-nine years.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he lied. "Does something have to be wrong?"

Frances gave him a knowing smile. "You're baking cookies and God only  knows what else at ten at night? You and I both know that something's  wrong." A shadow darkened her face. "It's Leona, isn't it? I can't  believe you hired her, Byron. Do you enjoy getting jerked around?"

He slammed a bowl down on the island countertop.

"Jeez," Frances said, giving him a long look. "Spill it."

He didn't want to but Frances was his twin. They couldn't keep secrets  from each other if they tried. "You're going to tell me why you suddenly  moved back home?"