Secret Son, Convenient Wife(33)

She felt tears mist her eyes. Could her day—her life— get any worse? She was so emotionally drained. As one of the Chandlers now, did she have it in her to take this over all the years ahead?

“Gemma?”

She turned her back on him and blinked rapidly, seeing her son playing on the carpet with his toys but more aware of Tate. She didn’t want this man to see her crying. It would be the last straw for her. She had to remain strong, or fall in a heap.

“Gemma?” he said, more softly this time.

She remembered something. She spun back. “The humanitarian award! This might ruin it.” A sob escaped her lips. “Oh, God, I seem to be wrecking your family’s chances everywhere I turn.”

“Screw the award.”

“Wh-what?”

“I said screw the award. This attack on you is more important. I won’t have your character denigrated in such a personal way like this. You’re my wife now, and as such you should have respect.” His head at a proud angle, he took the papers out of her hand and strode to the door, purpose in every tense line of his shoulders, his intention obvious.

Don’t mess with his family.

Okay, so it wasn’t about her exactly. It was more about her position and probably more for Nathan’s sake than not. But that didn’t change something quite remarkable: Tate wasn’t blaming her for this.

And that had to be a first.



The rest of the day went by quietly and Gemma wasn’t unhappy about that. Except for dinner and time spent with his son, Tate stayed in his study, no doubt checking into this latest mess.

He didn’t mention anything more about it the next morning when she went down to breakfast, so Gemma didn’t either. Perhaps if he played with Nathan after breakfast, she might go into his study to check online. But, she decided, that would only upset her. Best to let Tate handle it. He had the means and the connections to get to the bottom of it fast.

Then over breakfast he said, “I’ve given Peggy and Clive the rest of the day off so they can visit their grandchildren.” He paused. “And my parents have invited us to lunch.”

Gemma groaned inwardly. The one place she didn’t want to be today was with his family. His mother was nice, but the rest of them hadn’t forgiven her for keeping Nathan from his birthright. Now they would have something more to castigate her about.

“They usually eat a late lunch,” he continued, “so we won’t have to leave until around one. That will give Nathan time for his morning nap.”

“Er…did you tell them about the photos?”

“I didn’t have to. Bree already told them.”

“How kind.”

He gave her a sharp look. “My sister was only trying to look after them.”

Gemma understood that, but it was at her expense. “And?”

“They want to get to the bottom of it as much as we do.”#p#分页标题#e#

She noticed he didn’t say anything about them not blaming her for bringing more ill-repute on their family name.

“Let it go for now, Gemma. There’s nothing we can do at the moment. I’ve got someone working on it, and we’ll find the culprit as fast as we can.”

He was right. She tried to relax. “At least they weren’t nude photographs,” she quipped, then froze. What on earth had made her say that?

“Should we be worried about that?” he demanded.

“Of course not!” She’d never been promiscuous with her favors. Except with him. But she refused to look away. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Not with him, not with anyone.

They glared eye-to-eye, then something lifted in his gaze and she could see he believed her. Before she could shake off the moment, she realized he was mentally undressing her, just like he used to…right down to her bare skin…sending her stomach into a flutter. Then he noticed her noticing, and he looked away, breaking the connection.

Thankfully Peggy came in then, but it took a while before Gemma’s pulse settled to its normal pace. After breakfast, she took the opportunity to escape, carrying Nathan upstairs to pick out an outfit for him to wear to lunch while Tate answered a call on his cell phone.

The morning passed surprisingly quickly. She brought Nathan back downstairs, but Tate’s study door was firmly closed. She kept busy, playing with Nathan on the carpet.

Then her eye caught sight of a local newspaper. She jumped to her feet, panic spurting through her veins. Could the story have reached the newspapers? She left Nathan to play close by with his toys while she sat on the sofa and combed the pages, shuddering with relief when she didn’t find anything. Even so, how long could that last?