Again, there was another painful silence. "Jesus, Byron," Matthew finally muttered. "I'd have thought, after our father left bastards scattered to the four winds, that you would have been a little more careful than that."
The condom failure from last night popped into his mind. "I was careful. But sometimes things don't work like they're supposed to. I need a prenup. We have to get married as soon as possible to make sure her father can't declare her incompetent and take my son away."
"No," Matthew replied flatly. "You absolutely cannot marry her. She's Harper's daughter for God's sake! Frances didn't tell me the details, but she made it pretty clear that someone had broken your heart and that's why you left."
"I am well aware of what happened. But I am not leaving any bastards to be scattered to the winds. He's my son and I'll do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Even marry a Harper."
"Are you into pain or something? You enjoy being Harper's punching bag? Because if you tie your horse to his wagon, that's all you're ever going to be," he groaned in exasperation again. "I don't think there's a prenup in this world strong enough to stand up to Harper's sharks. He could use you to take down the entire family. He already took our business from us, Byron."
"I know that," Byron snapped.
"Oh, for God's sake. Just take the boy. Legally, I mean. She didn't tell you about the baby, I take it?"
"No, but I'm not going to-"
"So we'll sue for full custody on the grounds that she's unfit to be a mother. And for the love of everything holy, do not sleep with her again."
Byron winced. He couldn't bring himself to deny it, but he couldn't confirm it, either.
"You already have, haven't you?"
"Yes."
Matthew let out a long, low growl of pure frustration. "Did you at least use protection?"
"We did. It failed. Again."
There was a noise in the background that could have been Matthew kicking or throwing something. "You have got to be freaking kidding me. Come on, Byron! Stop thinking with your dick for once!"
"I am not thinking with my dick, damn it. I am trying to make things right. I thought you'd appreciate that-isn't that what you do? I got her pregnant. I wasn't there when the baby was born. I missed the first six months of my son's life. I'm trying to make up for lost time. I don't care what you think about her-Leona and Percy are already my family. I want to make it official. And if you won't help me, then I'll do it myself."
Another long silence. Byron would bet money that Matthew was now rubbing his temples and grimacing comically.
"Does Harper know you're back?"
"I don't think so. Leona took her sister and basically ran away from home after I left. They don't have any contact with their parents. But she was worried her father would try to take the boy."
"He wouldn't win," Matthew said decisively. "You're the boy's father." Then, a moment later, he added, "There's no doubt about that?"
"None. The boy looks like me. Red hair and everything."
Matthew sighed heavily. "There'd need to be blood tests to confirm, but you must realize Harper wouldn't win. You're the child's father. You don't have to marry her to protect the baby."
"But he'd try," Byron insisted. "Harper would sue anyway and that would be almost as bad. He'd drag Leona through court and smear her name in every patch of mud he could find. Not to mention how much it'd cost to defend against him." When Matthew didn't immediately respond, Byron added, "You know what Dad did to Mom."
"Yeah, I know."
"I'm not saying the situation is ideal," Byron went on. "But I can't let that happen."
"And-despite all the facts of the matter-you trust her not to turn you over to her father? Not to use this kid to bankrupt the entire Beaumont family?"
Byron hesitated. Deep down, he believed that she wouldn't turn back to her father again. But...did he really trust her not to rip his still-beating heart out of his chest and hold it up for him to see? Especially after the way she'd driven off and stranded him here with the Realtor, all because he wanted to buy a nice house?
"That's not a good silence over there," Matthew observed.
Byron started pacing. "We're still working through a few issues." There. That was something that Matthew would understand.
"A 'few issues,' huh? And you want to marry a 'few issues'? Man, you are nuts."
"It runs in the family," he shot back. "You're the one who wanted me to get arrested to distract the press so you could canoodle in private with an actress."
"That's not exactly what happened, but that's neither here nor there," Matthew replied calmly. "So what do you want me to do?"
"I want a prenup that protects the rest of the family from Leona's father and guarantees that she and I will always have joint custody of Percy."
"You always did act impulsively," Matthew said in an offhand way. "Running off to Europe, now getting married. What's the kid's full name?"
"Percy Harper Beaumont."
Matthew sighed heavily. "And her middle name? I assume she's still Leona Harper at this point."
Byron had to think about that. "Margaret. And before you ask, mine is still John."
"I hadn't forgotten. Okay, fine. I'll talk to the lawyers and get them working on something. But for the love of God, don't marry her until the prenup has been signed, sealed and delivered, okay? If I were you, I'd think long and hard about marrying her at all. Even if you think this is a short-term solution and even if you have a prenup, the divorce would be a huge mess." Byron swore he heard Matthew shudder. "The press would eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We need to keep the whole thing as quiet as possible."
Byron looked back at the house, where no doubt the Realtor was on her phone. "Understood. But I'm buying the house anyway."
"Fine. Dare I ask how the restaurant is coming along?"
"Uh..."
"Byron," Matthew said in warning.
"No, it's coming along fine. I hired Leona to do the interior design."
There it was again, that noise that sounded like Matthew was breaking something. "Are you kidding me?"
"That's what she does," Byron quickly defended. "That's what she went to school for. She's got a lot of really good ideas-we're going to call it Caballo de Tiro, which is Spanish for draft horse. I've been testing out menu options and we've started lining up contractors. It's going to be great. Really."
"Caballo de Tiro?"
"It plays off the Percheron Drafts name but pulls in the European influences," Byron explained.
"Yes, I get it. So let me see if I have this straight-you hid in Europe for a year to get away from a woman, only to come back and hire her, move in with her, and marry her-all at once?"
"Don't forget the baby."
"Oh, no-who could forget the baby?" Matthew scoffed. "Got any other surprise children hidden anywhere? Didn't leave anyone knocked up in Spain, did you?"
"No."
"You're sure?"
"Didn't sleep with anyone, if you must know. So yes, I'm sure. No more surprises."
"Fine," Matthew huffed, making it plenty clear that it was anything but. "I'll deal with the lawyers. Stay out of the headlines, Byron."
"Thanks," Byron said, but Matthew had already hung up on him.
He stared at his phone. Well. That had probably gone as smoothly as possible.
Now he just had to convince Leona that this house and a wedding were all for the best. No matter what Matthew said, Byron knew that marrying her was not only the right thing to do, but the best for all parties involved. And he had to do it all without letting her break his heart again.
No problem, right?
Yeah, right.
* * *
If there was one valuable lesson that Byron had learned growing up as a Beaumont, it was that money talked. Loudly.
He told Sherry that he'd pay full price-and full commission-if everything was settled within two weeks and she kept quiet about both his new address and the people with whom he'd be living. Within a week, he was the proud owner of a fabulous family home. Now he just needed the one thing that money couldn't apparently buy-a family.
His life was a strange dichotomy right now, and he wasn't having much luck merging the two halves back into a recognizable whole.
During the daylight hours, he worked side by side with Leona. They met with contractors, finalized design plans and ate, of course. Byron kept tweaking the dishes or trying something that might work better-something that Leona might like better. They had long discussions about rotating menu items, which local sources to use for beef and herbs and exterior landscaping. She had no problem talking to him during the day.